Category: rock Page 18 of 20

Do you ever wonder when you’re singing along to songs what the words you’re saying actually mean? I do (as, I think, does Mandy) whenever I proclaim that I “ain’t no hollaback girl” (singing along with Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback Girl.) What if I am? How do I know?

What exactly is a hollaback girl?

I did some research to find out.

According to Urban Dictionary, an ever trustworthy source of weird information, a hollaback girl is:

1. hollaback girl: A girl who yells in response to being yelled at instead of responding with silence or violence.
   As in: “Don’t be afraid of her, she’s just a hallaback girl”
2. hollaback girl: when a guy tells a girl “Halla back” and she does just that, then she’s a hallaback girl.
   As in: “I ain’t no hallaback girl.”

So I am still confused. I think maybe I am a hollaback girl. Can anyone shed some light on this???

Always there are some songs that I accept as my guilty pleasures. I will always turn up the Black Eyed Peas Let’s get Retarded to full blast. I will always sing along to any song from George Michael’s Faith album (perhaps my favorite album of all time, by the way). And yes, I can cop to a few Christina Aguilera songs I like. I have accepted all of this, and I don’t care if you can’t.

But yesterday something happened that rocked my world (which, by the way, does not take much). I have had this very secret guilty pleasure of a song that I was convinced sung by Ashlee Simpson, though I don’t know why. I accepted that in all it’s horror, though I couldn’t bring myself to admit it out loud. Then after singing along to the song in question on the radio, the DJ comes on and says it’s actually sung by Kelly Clarkson, a former American Idol winner. (The song is Since U Been Gone.)

I am humiliated. I don’t know why exactly. I mean, I guess I have always written off American Idol the show and American Idol the packaged singer. And now I sing along to one of them…

Today I had an interesting drive to work. It all started when I noticed the bumper sticker on the car in front of me that read:

Later I was behind a bus that had an ad on the back for a Christian college with the slogan:

The thing is, I think it’s cool for people who have found religion and for religious institutions to be all down with the people. Heck, maybe slogans like these will help more people find God, right?

But, maybe not.

Call me perverse, but when I saw “Get a HIGHer Education,” I thought they were talking about smoking pot. I went to OU. A lot of my classmates there got HIGHer educations.

And about Jesus rockin’ your world… (I can’t even comment on the spelling of “rox” because it’s so ridiculous.) The thing is, I think the phrase “rock my world” is sex-related. Maybe I am wrong here – it has been known to happen – but I don’t think so. I tried to find the origin of the phrase “rock my world,” but to no avail. So, I turn to music.

Michael Jackson, perhaps not the greatest person to turn to when I am trying to make a sex-related point, sang the song “You Rock My World” with JayZ on his The Number Ones album. The lyrics:

You rocked my world, you know you did
And everything I’m gonna give (you rocked my world)
And there ain’t nothing we could find
Someone like you to call mine (you rocked my world)
You rocked my world, you know you did (girl)
And everything I’m gonna give (I want you, girl)
And there ain’t nothing we could find
Someone like you to call mine

[michael jackson]
In time I knew that love would bring
This happiness to me
I tried to keep my sanity
I waited patiently
Girl, you know it seems
My life is fully complete
Our love is true because of you
You’re doin’ what you do
Oh, oh, oh, oh, who’d think that I (oh)
Have finally found the perfect love I searched for allmy life
(searched for all my life)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, who’d think I’d find
(whoa…oh…oh…)
Such a perfect love that’s so right (whoa, girl)

[chorus]

[jay-z]
H to the izzo
Make ya leave ya jerkey boy like frank rizzo
My next get bank
Jigga voice his music, forget the track
Clap, clap, clap, clap
Before we lose it, trackmasters bring it back, let’s go

Okay – now did you read all of those “Oh”s??? It has to be about sex, right? So really? Jesus rocks this man’s world?

By now I am sure you have heard of the passing of Old Dirty Bastard yesterday of what looks to be a heart attack. Now I know you have heard me talk about my love of Old Dirty Bastard here on the pages of WOTD before, but now I feel it necessary to explain why.

Some music is mere notes and words strung together. Some is a feeling. For me, ODB is a moment in time. Well, two in fact.

The first was at OU at a bar my friends and I went to sometimes. I know we went there on several occasions to drink (Rick and Dave with their mixed drinks with whipped cream and me with my beer) and dance. While I have bits of memories of several nights, all that stands out is me and my friends dancing to Got Your Money by Old Dirty Bastard. It’s a raunchy song that reeks of sexual energy. But it’s how I remember my friends. All bumpin’ and grindin’ to some good tunes, you know?

The other moment encapsulated by ODB is at my parents’ house when my sister had some friends over. I don’t know what the occasion was or who all was there, but I remember very distinctly watching my sister Anna and her friend dance to Got Your Money. They hooked their knees and held on to each other’s waists and grooved their way around the room.

So ODB might be gone, but thanks to him I have these little moments of happiness burned into me forever and in that he’s still here.