Intuition

I made decent progress on the novel yesterday, but unfortunately suffered from sever insomnia last night. I don't think I fell asleep until 4:30 a.m., and woke up feeling, for lack of a better word, oogie around 10:00 a.m. to the sound of vacuuming across the hall. The vacuuming continued for two hours. So, not feeling too creative today. However, I'll be writing another song entry later tonight to keep up my prose chops.

On a random note, I hate to admit it, but I have Jewel's new song stuck in my head. Someone has already written how I feel about the makeover of Jewel and Liz Phair, so I won't go into my cynical apathy at the mainstream recording industry. I will say that, just on music terms and based on the admittedly narrow sampling of their first singles from the new albums, Jewel is doing better than Liz Phair.

Although I may be a music snob, I'll be one to admit that good music doesn't necessarily have to come from clever lyrics or complex arrangements (and I certainly don't believe obscurity necessarily equates to quality). Music succeeds if it sticks in your mind and you don't feel like taking a hammer to your head because of it. In other words, catchy music can be good music. And Jewel's first single, "Intuition", is catchy indeed. With the first accordian notes and the children's song quality of "la la la la", you're hooked. You can't get that chord out of your head (which is good because it makes you forget the so in your face it's vapid lyrics about media fakers, though the 'look who's calling the kettle black' quality does create additional entertainment value, especially because Jewel is probably earnest about it). The Middle Eastern-tinged melody is different enough that it doesn't become cloying, like Mmmmbop. And I hate to admit that I find the new Jewel catchy because I hate the music of the old Jewel. It was bland, over-wrought crap that sounded like the poetry a junior high granola chick would write. At least Jewel's new single isn't bland.

Unforntunately, Liz Phair's new single is. "Why Can't I?" is utterly forgettable. The melody is similar to those of Pink's slower songs, and those lyrics sound familiar because she used The Matrix - Avril Lavigne's producing team. It's like watching Kim Catrall getting into low-ride capris, keds and a Walmart blouse going up to midwestern teens and saying "Hey, I'm hip! I'm with it!" Though at least Kim Catrall would have a better time getting noticed. When I first heard "Why Can't I?", I couldn't remember the melody five minutes later.

I guess the lesson learned is that if you're going to sell out, make sure you're going to get noticed.