Music of the Day, 5 October 2024

and i feel fine

So yesterday’s MotD worked really well for me: I was able to relax more than I have in months. Unfortunately, that evaporated last night when I went to bed. All the worried hamsters in my head started running in their wheels, and it took me hours to calm down enough to fall asleep.

Apparently, at some point in there the radio station in my mind decided to try a bit of reverse psychology. Exhibit 1 is today’s MotD, the chorus of which started looping too early this morning:

Once upon a time I had several friends who were into Dungeons & Dragons (and similar games), scifi, and related geekery. They introduced me to a lot of things I cherish, including the inimitable Tom Lehrer, filk music, and the short-lived show Firefly.¹ I’m pretty sure that I discovered Eben Brooks’ excellent filk shortly after it was posted on YouTube. I know I instantly adored it.

This piece is based on the 1987 R.E.M. song “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” I’ve never considered myself an R.E.M. fan, but this tune and “Losing My Religion” were all over FM radio back in the day, so I was familiar with it.

Brooks and Allison Lonsdale do a terrific job on this audacious filk … so much so that it has supplanted R.E.M.’s original lyrics in my mind. My kids and I used to love singing along. Most often, I’d take Lonsdale’s line in the chorus that’s a quote from Wash so we’d get the additional thrill of hitting a good harmony.

It’s been too damn long since I’ve watched Firefly and Serenity, the 2005 movie that gave some closure to the show’s story.² Like many other fans, I’ve been disappointed by revelations about Joss Whedon’s conduct with several of the actors he’s worked with over the years; and since I’ve lost the DVDs I once owned, I’d need to repurchase them. I argue with myself over giving him any of my hard-earned dollars after that behavior, when not doing so deprives me of a lot of enjoyment of the worlds he and his team have created.³

Enjoying several repetitions of “It’s the End of the ‘Verse as We Know it” has gotten me closer to fine⁴ today, and I aim to stay there as best I can. Maybe I should pull out my “I aim to misbehave” t-shirt for good measure.

1. my memory isn’t 100% here, but I’m quite sure that I discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer after becoming a Browncoat. I don’t like horror and was very reluctant to give the show a chance, but I did come around

2. but still: What the hell, Joss?!

3. It is so much easier to not listen to Wagner, whose music I used to adore and who, being dead, won’t benefit in any way by my doing so. Why am I like this?

4. heh, I earwormed myself again (I may need to feature that song soon)