Gymnastics super fit / Muscle in the gun clip

I've wondered from time to time if anyone take's M.I.A.'s third world revolutionary lyrics seriously. The answer appears to be yes as Leighton Meester tells Vanity Fair "I like fun music, too, like M.I.A. She has good things to say."

Also, I consider myself a huge Garbage apologist, but Taylor Momsem strains credulity when she says "Garbage is my all-time favorite band." Meanwhile, it's a bit shocking to learn that there now exist famous people who were two years old when "Stupid Girl" was released.

Comments

Get used to it Matt, it just gets worse and worse. I remember my last year of college when I met a freshman who didn't know who Kurt Cobain was. Then again, that college freshman was probably your age!

Posted by Brian | July 10, 2008 3:45 PM

It's a bit shocking to me to learn that there now exist famous people who were two years old when "Radio Free Europe" was released.

Posted by JSG | July 10, 2008 3:46 PM

"Paper Planes" always makes me think of The Wire.

Posted by UberMitch | July 10, 2008 3:47 PM

It's a bit shocking to learn that there now exist famous people who were two years old when "Radio Free Europe" was released.

Posted by JSG | July 10, 2008 3:47 PM

I'm a huuuge MIA fan, but if your listening to her music for the lyrics you probably should get ready to put away the Mao and Che t-shirts when you reach drinking age in a few years.

Posted by Derrick | July 10, 2008 3:48 PM

"Paper Planes" was in an episode of 'The Wire?'

Posted by Stacy | July 10, 2008 3:52 PM

John McCain was two years old when Chamberlain came back from Munich

Posted by cleek | July 10, 2008 3:54 PM

With such finely nuanced lyrics as, "All I wanna do is *bang**bang**bang**bang**click**cha-ching* and take your monay", how could we not appreciate M.I.A.'S unique vision. :)

Posted by Nardini | July 10, 2008 3:59 PM

You're missing the biggest "oh my god I'm so old" event of the week.

Kevin from the real world is running for congress.

And I'm glad there's someone else who's an apologist for overproduced rock/pop. I think Rock Band will keep a lot of this stuff alive.

Posted by Nicholas Beaudrot | July 10, 2008 3:59 PM

Who the hell is Leighton Meester?

Posted by lh | July 10, 2008 4:03 PM

"Paper Planes" was in an episode of 'The Wire?'
No it was not. But the lyrics make me think of it anyway, if only because of the line "Hit me on my burner prepaid wireless."

Posted by UberMitch | July 10, 2008 4:05 PM

Nick Beaudrot's link truly does make me feel old.

Matt:

"takes." Please. These typos are getting egregious to the point where they may constitute a battery in certain jurisdictions.

Posted by Jack Roy | July 10, 2008 4:11 PM

Joh McCain was two years old when the Andrews Sisters released "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" !

Posted by Dan F. | July 10, 2008 4:12 PM

@Nicholas Beaudrot: And I'm glad there's someone else who's an apologist for overproduced rock/pop. I think Rock Band will keep a lot of this stuff alive.

Here here! Can't imagine Arcade Fire and the Decembrists on Guitar Hero or Rock Band. But Heart's Barracuda? Awesome (even if the GH version is a cover).

My "oh my god I'm so old" event: explaining to my gf what it was like when Bobby Kennedy was shot.

Posted by Shine | July 10, 2008 4:14 PM

MIA is terrible hipster rap. Listen to Nas or something.

Posted by Jake | July 10, 2008 4:23 PM

I consider myself a huge Garbage apologist

I knew there was something I liked about you, Yglesias.

Posted by FMguru | July 10, 2008 4:28 PM

Brian, as I recall Matt said he graduated HS in 1999--same as me--and anyone that age who has never heard of Kurt Cobain is foreign or lives in a cave.

Posted by mark f | July 10, 2008 4:32 PM

I know this dates me, but my shocking moment was when I first saw someone driving a '65 Mustang who was younger than the car.

Posted by mrgumby2u | July 10, 2008 4:35 PM

Well, she does have more records than the KGB, so that's impressive.

Posted by Francisco The Man | July 10, 2008 4:40 PM

My favorite perspective on age:

When my grandmother was born, Edison's kinetoscope hadn't yet been invented. When she died, it had been 12 years since men had walked on the moon.

Time for her must have looked like a rocket's contrail.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | July 10, 2008 4:40 PM

Can we just leave rapping to the Americans (and maybe Dizzee Rascal)? That is some seriously embarrassing shit. Kinda like Bonde do Role, but shittier. I've really tried to like MIA, but she consistently demonstrates why she's the most overrated "artist" of the 21st century. So far.

Posted by gerrard in the middle | July 10, 2008 4:42 PM

Okies, Cleek, that's officially my jaw-dropping moment of the week. McCain was 2 when Chamberlain was at Munich. /boggle

My OMG I'm old moment was when a kid referred to Marilyn Manson's cover of "Sweet Dreams" as "when MM sang that oldies song". Grrr... get off my lawn!

Posted by BethanyAnne | July 10, 2008 4:46 PM

Can we just leave rapping to the Americans (and maybe Dizzee Rascal)? That is some seriously embarrassing shit. Kinda like Bonde do Role, but shittier. I've really tried to like MIA, but she consistently demonstrates why she's the most overrated "artist" of the 21st century. So far.

Posted by gerrard in the middle | July 10, 2008 4:48 PM

Can we just leave rapping to the Americans (and maybe Dizzee Rascal)? That is some seriously embarrassing shit. Kinda like Bonde do Role, but shittier. I've really tried to like MIA, but she consistently demonstrates why she's the most overrated "artist" of the 21st century. So far.

Posted by gerrard in the middle | July 10, 2008 4:48 PM

For me it was learning that Alanis Morissette is a year younger than I am. Once it happens, it only gets worse, but I think now I'm used to it enough that I can watch Gossip Girl without falling into a spiral of despair.

(Did that season finale suck or what?)

Posted by Cliffy | July 10, 2008 4:53 PM

McCain just sent everyone in this video cartons of cigarettes.

Posted by asl | July 10, 2008 4:57 PM

Kevin from the real world is running for congress.

I'm not sure why that would make you feel too old. He was on the first season - 18 years ago. So he's got to be around 40 years old or so now, and that's not overly young to be a Congressman. There are several younger Congressmen - that red-headed Republican from Florida (whatever his name is) became a Congressman when he was like 26.

What makes me feel old (and unaccomplished) is that one of my college classmates is already a Governor, and one of my law school classmates is already a Congresswoman. Yikes.

Posted by Al | July 10, 2008 5:00 PM

I haven't the slightest idea what MIA says in any of her songs, any more than I have the slightest idea what Kurt Cobain says in any of his (I was literally incredulous when at some point I learned that the defining song of my generation had the lyrics "A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido" in the chorus). I simply don't care (I'm not saying that I'm better than anybody because of it, it just happens to be true). My wife's just the opposite, she's all about the lyrics. I find her enjoyment of Elliott Smith incomprehensible (if I want to listen to an undifferentiated drone for an hour I'll turn on a riding lawnmower), and she likewise finds my fondness for MIA baffling.

Posted by OhioBoy | July 10, 2008 5:24 PM

hey jake, if you're not going to enjoy music on its own terms, i guess you'll enjoy slinging your pithy little labels.

(MIA's a rapper now? she's somewhere on the rap-sing continuum between Madonna and Missy Elliot, i guess, but few people would use that term.)

Posted by trebor | July 10, 2008 5:28 PM

Hey, I was barely older than that when "Stupid Girl" was released.

You are referring to the Stones' version, right? Is there another one?

Posted by Gee | July 10, 2008 5:35 PM

OhioBoy, I'm not a big lyrics guy either, but to compare Elliot Smith to the drone of a lawnmower? Ouch. I don't know about that one.

As far MIA, she seems to be quite the polarizing artist. Saw her in Chicago last year. She kind of sucked live. But music that dependent on the beat usually does. Although LCD Soundsytem knocked my cock off.

Posted by Stacy | July 10, 2008 5:37 PM

Meanwhile, it's a bit shocking to learn that there now exist famous people who were two years old when "Stupid Girl" was released.

More disturbingly, it means that they weren't born when Curve's 'Doppelganger' came out, given that Garbage is/was basically a Curve covers band.

Posted by pseudonymous in nc | July 10, 2008 5:41 PM

Somehow, shooting all the rich people and taking their money sounds like a much better idea when it's suggested by a gorgeous babe with a cute British accent...

Posted by Noah | July 10, 2008 5:43 PM

M.I.A.... rocks! Leighton Meester... rocks! The Gossip Girl season finale... rocked!

Just because Dan sucks does not mean the whole season finale sucks! Cliffy doesn't know what he's talking about! Cliffy must be pissed that there was no Taylor Momsen subplot in the finale.

My feeling old moment -- when I realized I was teaching kids who weren't alive when the Berlin Wall fell -- rocked!

Jake doesn't know what he's talking about!

Gerrard in the middle doesn't know what he's talking about! He's obviously never heard Turkish rap: Karakan; or even the beat of Marseille: IAM.

I'm just about fed up with wanker, trust-fund bloggers who listen to Arcade Fire and Ladytron and the Raveonnettes and the Decembrists, because they like people who sound sad, pretentious and boring. Does MIA have to write a personal apology to Wonk City, because she's not boring? The only thing that sucks about MIA is that you have to make stupid sound effects when singing along with the chorus of paperplanes.

By the way, Stacy, sorry to hear about your cock. LCD Soundsystem must have had a hot mike on Fox News or something...

Posted by LIJ | July 10, 2008 5:50 PM

I'm a huuuge MIA fan, but if your listening to her music for the lyrics you probably should get ready to put away the Mao and Che t-shirts when you reach drinking age in a few years.

Yeah. It hardly seems worth taking the bait given the existance of, you know, actual problems in the world. I think she even earned her own tut-tutting New Republic article a few years ago; no doubt the Lieberman floor speech is on its way.

But her lyrics, and image in general, really are radical chic at its stupidest. And when she goes beyond the Revolution by Benetton(tm) stuff into Tamil rebel poses--Look at me, I'm posing with tigers!--it does start to grate.

But still, I don't think Leighton Meester's going to start supporting suicide bombers, any more than guys blasting Rage Against the Machine out of their SUVs were backing the Shining Path.

Posted by bh | July 10, 2008 5:52 PM

Stacy,
I admit to being heavily biased against and unfairly mean towards Elliott Smith, who is, after all, not around to defend himself, and who many people I respect (my wife being an obvious example) are big fans of. But I've had him constantly coming up on our (conjugally shared) iPod for a couple of years now, and it's driven me to hard-hearted bitterness against his self-involved, overly repetitive, stupid-looking-bangs-having, Nick Drake wanna-be persona. Oops! There I go again.

Posted by OhioBoy | July 10, 2008 5:55 PM

If for no other reason, you should respect Elliot Smith just because he was able to stab himself in the heart. Twice. Damn.

Posted by Stacy | July 10, 2008 6:17 PM

LIJ,
Thanks for the concern. I don't know if it was LCD's intent to knock my cock off, though. And while I like all that sad, pretentious music you named, if you just want to hear an awesome, unpretentious band, you should definitely listen to LCD Soundsystem. Wear a cup.

Posted by Stacy | July 10, 2008 6:20 PM

AHHHHHH! Obligatory Corrs post!

Montreux Jazz Festival 2005!

The Corrs - So Young
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pviGUsQN7s&feature=related

The Corrs - Radio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WsvXe7HFCk&feature=related

The Corrs - Breathless - Andrea conducts the crowd in a sing-along
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG-c0rF0DBM&feature=related

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | July 10, 2008 6:56 PM

Stacy, thank you for your thoughtful takedown of my husband, the philistine, whose wretched Dizzy Rascal album comes up on our conjugal iPod with exactly as much frequency as my five Elliott Smith albums. Respect must be paid to a man who can jab a knife into his own hear twice without even a trace of hesitation wounds.

And OhioBoy, I'm going to preemptively respond to whatever defense you muster with "He jus' a rascal, he Dizzy Rascal."

Posted by OhioBoy's Wife | July 10, 2008 7:39 PM

Garbage apologist? Garbage isn't all that great, but certainly better than any other group mentioned on this blog.

But then, I never got the hip-hop thing. Gotta go to Europe or Japan for interesting music these days.

Posted by Mark | July 10, 2008 7:49 PM

That's a joke, right Mark? You have to go to Japan or Europe for interesting music? What, you mean like music as interesting as Garbage? You're a nerd. Get new friends.

Posted by Ted | July 10, 2008 9:20 PM

That's a joke, right Mark? You have to go to Japan or Europe for interesting music? What, you mean like music as interesting as Garbage? You're a nerd. Get new friends.

Posted by Ted | July 10, 2008 9:20 PM

That's a joke, right Mark?

I'd guess he's not kidding. It's a pretty recognizable type -- the dweeb who picks music based on the nickel summary being 'interesting'. So anything vaguely exotic, genre-hopping counts as 'better'. And if, God forbid, you just do brilliant work within a genre, forget it. That'll never be a good hook for an NPR profile.

Then again, he doesn't get 'the hip-hop thing', so maybe he's just in his 70s.

Posted by bh | July 10, 2008 9:35 PM

But I got all the friends I need right here on this computer!!

For the record: interesting, interesting, interesting. Actually, that last one is from the U.S., so I stand corrected.

Posted by Mark | July 10, 2008 9:52 PM

You are referring to the Stones' version, right? Is there another one?

Well, let's not forger the 1976 (?) Neil Young song of the same title (on "Zuma," and not one of Neil's more memorable songs.)

For this 40-year-old, though, "Stupid Girl" is remembered most prominently as "that Garbage song where they used the loop from 'Train In Vain.'"

Posted by James Gary | July 10, 2008 9:54 PM

Then again, he doesn't get 'the hip-hop thing', so maybe he's just in his 70s.

Almost half right.

I'm just a guy who didn't think he liked any modern, 21 century music until he discovered there was a whole genre of music out there I didn't know existed, but is actually quite popular outside of the United States.

The dweeb part is correct, though.

Posted by Mark | July 10, 2008 10:07 PM

Mark,
The fact that you just linked to a Wiki page on Symphonic Metal is so perfect that I am simply speechless. Good work. I'm sorry for calling you a nerd. You just happen to be a dweeb with very specific tastes. I can get down with that.

Posted by Stacy | July 10, 2008 11:51 PM

Wow, Matt mentioned Garbage without Richard Steven Hack dropping by to mention that Shirley Manson joined the cast of the Terminator show.

Posted by Hank Scorpio | July 11, 2008 12:54 AM

I make myself by realizing that Shirley Manson is in her 40's somewhere and yet I would still crawl 50 miles over salted, broken glass just to drink her bathwater.

BTW, the only apologizing that could be done for Beautiful Garbage was done on Bleed Like Me, just an amazing record.

Posted by Kyle | July 11, 2008 1:38 AM

See, now, this is how out of it I actually am compared to "Big Media Matt" (is THAT a fucking joke title! How about "Lame Apache Server Matt" - that would be more accurate!)

While I knew that Shirley Manson is now on the cast of "Terminator", and I knew that she has some sort of connection with music apparently, I've never heard a fucking thing she's ever done, so I didn't even think to mention it in a music thread.

By the way, the season two Terminator trailers are up on the Net - check 'em out!

Cameron goes bad!

Summer Glau said the first episode is a "game changer" major changes for the characters. Wild episode with Cameron flipping a car!

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | July 11, 2008 3:50 AM

Richard, this is Shirley Manson:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1N29vkIT3eo

Enjoy.

Posted by Dilan Esper | July 11, 2008 12:37 PM

Is it better than Eddie Cochran? No.

"Stupid Girl" is from the era in music when posing as a sociopath was considered cool. Sheesh. All that jumping around and scowling. What a waste of time.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | July 11, 2008 3:58 PM

Oh, yeah, "Stupid Girl" - I've heard that. It was all right, but nothing to get excited over.

Apparently she's like Avril Lavigne. Lavigne used to be "punk", apparently, for a while. I'd see pictures of her in jeans with scowling expressions and giving the finger to the camera.

Then she grew up and started wearing dresses and turned into a beautiful girl.

I think they call that a "sell-out".

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | July 11, 2008 6:11 PM

"Brian, as I recall Matt said he graduated HS in 1999--same as me--and anyone that age who has never heard of Kurt Cobain is foreign or lives in a cave.

Posted by mark f | July 10, 2008 4:32 PM"

Good point. I have a friend who graduated from high school in 2004 and got his citizenship in 2007 who is a huge Nirvana fan.

"But her lyrics, and image in general, really are radical chic at its stupidest. And when she goes beyond the Revolution by Benetton(tm) stuff into Tamil rebel poses--Look at me, I'm posing with tigers!--it does start to grate.

Posted by bh | July 10, 2008 5:52 PM"

Well, those tigers were her childhood pictures she drew back when he dad was running from the Sri Lankan police while being part of the Tamil insurgency, so at least there is some authenticity there. With that said, the LTTE terrorists fucking suck.

Posted by Reality Man | July 11, 2008 10:55 PM

With such finely nuanced lyrics as, "All I wanna do is *bang**bang**bang**bang**click**cha-ching* and take your monay", how could we not appreciate M.I.A.'S unique vision. :)

Posted by Nardini | July 12, 2008 1:03 PM

With such finely nuanced lyrics as, "All I wanna do is *bang**bang**bang**bang**click**cha-ching* and take your monay", how could we not appreciate M.I.A.'S unique vision. :)

Posted by Nardini | July 12, 2008 1:03 PM

With such finely nuanced lyrics as, "All I wanna do is *bang**bang**bang**bang**click**cha-ching* and take your monay", how could we not appreciate M.I.A.'S unique vision. :)

Posted by Nardini | July 12, 2008 1:03 PM

With such finely nuanced lyrics as, "All I wanna do is *bang**bang**bang**bang**click**cha-ching* and take your monay", how could we not appreciate M.I.A.'S unique vision. :)

Posted by Nardini | July 12, 2008 1:03 PM