A series of illnesses has left me without the energy or inclination to put much effort into a theme this week. But at least I’m still posting, so I can’t be that bad off.

Eric Metronome “I Want You to Want Me” (Cheap Trick)
Cheap Trick’s original version combines a relentlessly chipper tune with very mopey lyrics. Eric Metronome has come up with an arrangement that really puts the hopeless desperate melancholy of the lyrics upfront. It completely changes the feel of the song.

Elli Medeiros & Etienne Daho “My Heart Belongs To Daddy” (comp. Cole Porter)
Percolating and sleazy at the same time. You’ve gotta hand it to the French.

The Bad Livers “Jailbait/Ring of Fire” (Motorhead/Johnny Cash)
They’re both love songs. Really. The world’s weirdest bluegrass band pays tribute to two of their influences.

Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” (Doris Day)
Last night my wife and I went to our local village’s “OakToberfest,” which featured music from both Anna Fermin and the Waco Brothers. Somebody very hip is programming the music for this thing, last year they had Robbie Fulks. Granted they’re all local bands, but still. They could have had a local Beatles tribute band or something.

While Ms. Fermin is a fantastic songwriter as well as an incredible singer, I have to post covers on this blog. So here’s one of the few good songs from her album Oh, The Stories We Hold. I was talking to the drummer and bass player about that album and they cheerfully told me “oh, we don’t like that one either.” Her most recent one, Go, is extremely good.

The Waco Brothers “Revolution Blues” (Neil Young)
That’s a disturbing song right there. Mr. Young wrote it from the point of view of Charles Manson, whom he met when Manson was an aspiring musician. The Wacos didn’t play this one last night, presumably because it was a family-oriented event.