Al songs that took years to appreciate

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anthontherun
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Which Al song has grown on you the most?

Post by anthontherun »

Inspired by how some of us are updating our initial Alpocalypse track rankings, I'm curious: are there any Al songs that you used to dislike but have eventually grown into favorites (or at least became more tolerable)?

Probably the #1 example for me would be "Truck Drivin' Song." I mean, it's still my least favorite song on RWS, but that's more a reflection on how strong that whole album is. It took me years to appreciate this song. I didn't think it was funny; I didn't like the music; I didn't like the vocals...it was a black mark on the RWS experience that soon enough found itself permanently on the 'skip' list. But about 3 years ago, I decided to give it another chance and was surprisingly amused by it. When I was 10 or 11, I didn't get the full extent of the joke. And the music? A little hokey but certainly not an affront to my ears. The deep vocals? Oh wait, that was part of the joke!
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Re: Which Al song has grown on you the most?

Post by Wizzerkat »

I would say Genius in France. It's still not my fave song, but it definitely has grown on me in the last several months. The lyrics are still too repetitive in that they say pretty much the same thing over and over just with different words. I also was never a Zappa superfan or anything. However, after enduring a co-worker who actually matched the person in the song more than I figured anyone would, I started listening to the song a little more and got more of an appreciation for it.
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Re: Which Al song has grown on you the most?

Post by Big Spoon »

Airline Amy. Used to not really like it much at all, now it's probably in my top 10.
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Re: Which Al song has grown on you the most?

Post by TMBJon »

For me it's definitely The Check's In The Mail. I used to hate this one and thought of it as a throwaway filler song. Now I really enjoy it.
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anthontherun
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Re: Which Al song has grown on you the most?

Post by anthontherun »

Oh yeah, there's a lot of stuff on the debut album that I didn't care for but I've grown to appreciate. That one, "Buckingham Blues," "Such a Groovy Guy," "Mr. Frump," "I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead"...when my dad gave me his cassette of that album, I probably fast-forwarded through half of it and played the other stuff over and over and over. You kids with your newfangled CDs and downloads never had to experience the tribulations of actually sitting through the trial-and-error process of popping in a cassette, hitting fast-forward, and taking a lucky guess as to when to hit play.
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Re: Which Al song has grown on you the most?

Post by minnick27 »

I had a tape deck that would somehow sense when each song ended, so I didn't even worry about that in the 80s. As far as growing on me, the entire first album has been in rotation on my phone. I never really liked it because it was so different, and knowing there were better songs that should've been on there I just didn't care, but I'm really enjoying it now
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Re: Which Al song has grown on you the most?

Post by Wizzerkat »

You know on old fashioned vinyl records, you can just put the needle on the songs you want! Of course this is manual labor...
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Re: Which Al song has grown on you the most?

Post by spunkyandy »

The most recent song to grow on me would be Skipper Dan. I listened to it occasionally, and when I saw it live in 2011--I was totally hooked. Also, the animation in the video is pretty good.
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Re: Which Al song has grown on you the most?

Post by mrmeadows »

Mine is probably "Velvet Elvis". When I first bought EW I thought the song was pointless and boring, brought the album to a screeching halt, and almost always skipped it. Of course, I was only 14 and didn't really "get" it at the time; didn't connect that it was a Police style-parody, and didn't really understand the satire on lowbrow pop kitsch appreciation. It took awhile, but I eventually gave it another shot and now it's probably in my Top 5 from the EW album.
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Re: Which Al song has grown on you the most?

Post by Genius in Maine »

For me, "I'm So Sick Of You" went from skip fodder to one of the first songs from BHD to be included in my iTunes rotation and on my phone. I didn't really get into Elvis Costello until a few years ago, and that probably had a good deal to do with it.
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