Music of the Day, 27 October 2023

i hope it isn't inevitable

Apologies in advance: once again, politics has spilled over into my music today… but it’s a fantastic song with a brilliant guitar take on a well-loved piece of classical music.

With more information coming out on the new Speaker of the House’s political positions, I’ve started wondering if any of his party’s male members actually like women. I understand how hyperbolic that sounds; but I also think it’s realistic to wonder about it, given the constraints many are willing to place on women.¹ As I was mulling that over and feeling my blood pressure rise, I thought I remembered a relevant song title.

Fortunately, I remembered the band’s name, so my search was brief and fruitful. Extreme was one of my favorite bands back in the day, starting with “Mutha (Don’t Wanna Go to School Today)” off their 1989 eponymous debut album. I bought their second release, Extreme II: Pornograffitti, as soon as it came out the following year and blasted it in my car on repeat. It’s a hard-rocking album that shows off the band’s talents in a variety of styles, including a jazzy ballad and some meaty funk. For me, it was a great distraction from the slog of graduate school and other difficulties.

“He-Man Woman Hater” actually kicks off with “Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee,” a blistering variation of the Rimsky-Korsakov melody by guitar legend Nuno Bettencourt. It segues neatly into Extreme’s signature hard rock sound.

Back then, I didn’t take the lyrics very seriously. Perhaps it was my naïveté despite my own occasional challenges with the opposite sex, but I just didn’t see how it could be inevitable that most men would come to hate to love women. “He-Man Woman Hater” now sounds like a cautionary tale to potential incels: this is what you could become.

I’m not a person who skips tracks when listening to an album… but obviously, not every track on every album commands my full attention. Pornograffitti is an album full of music I enjoy. There’s something about Gary Cherone’s voice that really works for me, and after hearing Bettencourt on this track, I don’t think I need to say more about his talents. After listening to just this song, I remember why I kept this album on repeat for months.

Despite the negative thoughts that led me to this song, I’m going to be transferring the album from my external storage to my laptop so I have easy access to it: I haven’t yet overdosed my kids on Extreme.

1. He is an ardent advocate of covenant marriage (and is in one himself) and was active in getting a law for it passed in Louisiana. It isn’t hard to imagine what his positions are on reproductive health and other important topics (he’s a Southern Baptist who has stated his faith informs everything he does).