Music of the Day, 11 January 2024
same ol' same ol'
I know I’ve gone on (likely ad nauseam for some of you) here about how important song lyrics are to me. That’s true for the vast majority of the songs I like … but as I alluded to yesterday, it isn’t always the case. Sometimes I mishear some lyrics, and sometimes I simply don’t attend to them carefully—usually because I like the music so much that unless I suspect a really heinous message, trying to completely decipher them isn’t a high return-on-investment activity for me.1
Many of one monster metal band’s songs fell into the latter category. Even back in the 1980s, some of their lyrics—and antics—were too over the top for me. I couldn’t relate to the sex and drug themes I heard in many of their hits, but the music was so energetic I couldn’t turn away completely.
After catching up on some courtroom news earlier today, a bit of a chorus from a minor hit by this band came to mind. As I no longer have the CD nor a digital file of the song, I turned to YouTube, which of course didn’t disappoint. Attending to the lyrics for probably the first time ever (and with good earbuds in), I was quite surprised by what the whole song is really about.2 That clearly didn’t make me change my mind about featuring it today, though.
It may seem somewhat preposterous that I didn’t grok before today that the song is about lesbians falling in love and marrying. Back in the ‘80s, I did clearly hear the line mentioning wedding bells, but I’m still not cynical enough about the institution to connect the chorus’ “same ol’ ball and chain” to automatically connect that phrase to marriage. Mötley Crüe did frequently sing about humans of the female persuasion, but commitment was not a corollary theme, if you know what I mean.
As I said earlier, I did have the 1989 album Dr. Feelgood that “Same Ol’ Situation” was on; the only Crüe I own today is the excellent compilation Decade of Decadence ‘81–’91, which doesn’t have this song. Mötley Crüe dominated rock and metal radio for years, and Dr. Feelgood made it to the top of the Billboard 200 chart, likely in part because it was recorded after all band members successfully came out of rehab. Even so, it was a surprise to have it come to mind; I can’t remember the last time I listened to any of their music.
In all honesty, I doubt I’ll be playing any of it soon. Much as I still like their heavy rocking sound, I can get similar music without the heavy-handed themes that connect even less with me today. And there are also loads of other songs that capture the “same shit, different day” mindset that brought “Same Ol’ Situation” to mind this morning.
That’s right, youngsters: if an album didn’t include a lyric sheet (which weren’t always 100% accurate :cough: ”Free Will” :cough:), we had to figure them out for ourselves. Had some interesting discussions and weird arguments over lyrics, pre-internet
It’s totally irrelevant to the reasons why the chorus came to mind … just to be clear
I had never heard it before. Thanks!