Song of the Day: September 8th, 2021

Song: Doctor My Eyes (1972)
Artist: Jackson Brown
Album: Jackson Brown

​I am legitimately devastated that I have to go back to school/work tomorrow. I'm not at all mentally or academically prepared for another year pretending to be something I'm not. To quote many-a-mad child, "I don't wanna go to school!"

I've spent the last week or so truly embracing summer vacation by not working, but we're already a quarter of the way through the month, and I still haven't blogged yet. That changes today; I'm using my last day of Summer break (which admittedly goes late into the month, but when your last day was June 25th, I think it's still too soon) to blog my flat ass off. It's September, as you likely already know, and this September is frankly a big September. It marks 20 years since 9/11 (and the return of the Too Many Legs Teaser). In my six calendar years of blogging, I've undoubtedly referenced that day a couple of thousand times, but it is the line of demarcation of me being able to remember my life. I have a handful of memories from pre-9/11, but that day in 4th grade changed things forever.

One change in the wake of 9/11 that I'd be curious to see if most people knew/remembered is the Clear Channel---which is now iHeartMedia---who owned Live Nation at the time (but no longer does if my Wikipedia research served me right) memo. 

We all know the devastation that 9/11 caused not only on the day but every day since; what people might not realize is on September 11th, Clear Channel released a memo of songs that DJs probably shouldn't play because of their lyrical content or title. Now I'm not a censorship guy, especially with art, but I understand the necessity of strong suggestions such as this in the wake of a national tragedy. Nobody wants to hear the local station play "BOOM" by P.O.D. as people jump to their death to avoid being burned alive.

What happened on 9/11 isn't funny, but the prospect of people sitting in an office as it happened/hours afterward going over what songs shouldn't be played kind of is. There are only 165 "suggestions" (although one is the ENTIRE Rage Against the Machine catalog), but I am fascinated by how these songs were picked. Some are obvious, like "Stairway to Heaven" or "Break Stuff" by Limp Bizkit, but songs like today's SOD, "Doctor My Eyes," take just a little outside the box thinking come up with, which to my fucked up brain is funny. That selection makes sense in a way, but it doesn't hit you over the head or seem as apparent as something like "Free Fallin'."

I'm sorry, but the idea of people spit-balling what is and isn't okay to play on the radio after an attack on U.S. soil is funny to me, especially when you consider someone having to sing or go over a specific verse when someone else was like "why would we include that?". "Really, Johnson?, do I need to sing it out for you why we shouldn't play "Disco Inferno?" If you can't find the humor in a situation like that, then we'd never be friends. Honestly, I'm surprised they stopped at 165 because I could give you 10 more songs* that would've been a good idea to include, but when you don't have an iPhone in your pocket to cheat and look at your music catalog, I guess it's a little harder. This is my long-winded way of saying that every SOD in September will be a song from the memo.

*10 More Songs That Could've Been Included in the Memo*

#1. "Jumper" Third Eye Blind (pretty obvious)
#2. "Mr. Blue Sky" ELO (the sky was NOT blue for months at ground zero)
#3. "What's Up?" 4 Non-Blondes (existentialism was the enemy at a time like this)
#4. "Walkin' On Sunshine" Katrina and the Waves (too happy)
#5.  "Jet" Paul McCartney and Wings (pretty much any aerial related songs were on the list; surprised by this omission)
#6. "Cheeseburgers in Paradise" Jimmy Buffett (too happy; nobody was in paradise)
#7. "Try Again" Aaliyah (this WAS the 2nd attack on the World Trade Center)
#8. "Livin' la Vida Loca" Ricky Martin (way too peppy and happy)
#9. "Dirty Work" Steely Dan (you're basically taunting those in the rescue and recovery efforts)
#10. "We Built This City" Starship (terrible fucking song and do I really need to spell it out?)