Do You Feel Lucky?

(and feel free to comment! My older posts are certainly no less relevant to the burning concerns of the day.)

Saturday, January 23, 2010

YES! My Memory RULES!! Right Again.

I was totally right! After all that - that song was Toad The Wet Sprocket!

Man, WAIT 'til I tell her! Gin Blossoms my ass!

Who the hell was even disputing with me on this? Who would have the bad sense...? The song came on...we were both there...I remember that. I forget where it was we were, but we were both there. Then the song came on, we were both like..."this song is good! Who was this?"

At first, we were both sort of looking to me to answer that one. But I had a hell of a time getting it! Then we both started trying, and then after an agonized minute or two dragging brains for corpses of dead bands, tossing out wild candidates, suddenly she lit up with triumph: "Gin Blossoms!"

"No. It's not Gin Blossoms."

"YES IT IS! It's totally Gin Blossoms."

"No, I know the song you're thinking of, but this isn't them."

"This is Gin Blossoms. My brother had the album."

"Did he have at least one other album besides the Gin Blossoms? Because this song was on that other one."

"This is the Gin Blossoms! The same album as their other song! I remember the video!"

"Isn't. Trust me."

"IS!"

Suddenly it hit me - "TOAD THE WET SPROCKET! SECOND ALBUM! Dulcinea." Wide grin. I knew I'd come up trumps!

"It's GIN BLOSSOMS!! I don't even like Toad The Wet Sprocket!"

"This doesn't even sound like Gin Blossoms!"

Deadly eyes: "It's Gin Blossoms."

"Fine, fine. It's Gin Blossoms. You beat me fair and square - got your answer in first."

She was happy with that! Beaming, very insolently. As if in an unspoken gloat for half the whole rest of the evening. Took my clear sarcasm as a concession!

Sarcasm always bites me on the ass - people have an impossible time believing I'm not sincere. Totally bit me on the ass. Meanwhile, today, as of right now, brace yourself in your seats because I've been able to conclusively prove I was right. I looked at the damn album I cited, and sure enough: I was right. Because it was right there. It was indeed Toad The Wet Sprocket. NOT Gin Blossoms! Man, wait 'til I tell her. NOW who's the gloating, insolent one? Can't wait to see her face.

I can't even picture her face. Shoot! Who was this? Or even, where did it happen - what were the circumstances? I'm sure if I could recall the one I could get the other.

Man.

Dulcinea was in fact their fourth album, but still, I'd nailed the artist. My memory is damn hard to prove wrong.

18 comments:

limom said...

Fall Down?

dogimo said...

CORRECT!! Damn, man! I didn't even describe the song, directly.

Nice job.

Say, while you're sitting there with the hot hand on the guess streak - any idea who the hell it was I was talking to?

limom said...

Lucky guess and I'll quit while I'm ahead thank you.

blue said...

Wait a minute, didn't this just happen? And I was saying it was someone from the time period of Live, and we talked about whether or not that was a good band name, and Gin Blossoms came up as a possibility (I don't think *I* suggested it, but maybe) and then you said Toad the Wet Sprocket, and I said yes, I thought you were right? I believe I even praised you for the good call. (I don't think I would have had you been all self-satisfied like you seem here, ahem!) And I said how they weren't really a one-hit-wonder band, even though people always seemed to think they were, and we agreed on that as well. No deadly eyes were involved. You were driving, after all!

Although I think there may have been some deadly eyes when you asked what was in the middle of the Q. That was still a perfect analogy, by the way. As long as the Q's tail goes left, not right like this one.

Furthermore, I have no knowledge or recollection of any Gin Blossoms videos, have no brother, and would not take sarcasm as a win---I'd be beaning my opponent with the 2x4 of an insolent beam. You are, however, allowed poetic license, since much of your posting here is fiction or creative nonfiction anyway. You just sounded like you really wanted more info on this one.

blue said...

Lol. . . "My Memory RULES!!" Heh heh. Not always, sir! :P

dogimo said...

Hm. I think your memory's off on a few key points there, toots!

I swore it wasn't in a car. Maybe it was at that place we ate? The Boatyard Shipwright And Grill, or whatever? Something nautical.

They were playing some tunes. Wasn't it there? I swore it wasn't in a car!

See, the fact I couldn't place the scene was what made me blank on other particulars. The idle wondering about the song wasn't exactly a main memorable point of the evening! I was just so psyched when I came across the proof, and then - I couldn't remember the circumstances!

Still. I like the version I put out here.

dogimo said...

@limom - I think the mystery's solved! Sweet.

blue said...

Was it there? It should have been in the car, but if course you're right. I was in charge of the radio, and I didn't want it on.

Yes, it was there, and that was even a different night than I was thinking.

A detail I misremembered, indeed, though often I'd say the substance of the conversation is more important than where it occurred. Of course there are also times when location is key.

But I wasn't the one who was boasting about my memory! ;P

Oh, and I meant to say to limom earlier: I'm crazily impressed at that identification!

dogimo said...

Yes, I do have a certain bad habit of ill-advised BOASTS. Often when I look back at or think back on a boast, the very content of the boast itself makes it totally unsuited to the purpose! It's like I'm deliberately making fun of myself, which luckily, is how most people interpret it. So I get unearned points for being witty!

I have gratitude and humility for it. I luck out too much in life. My feet are charmed in the path they pick out, and in the impossibly most right moment, my leaden tongue will turn to gold.

It's hard to say for me what will trigger a memory - seems it can be a different trigger each time!

And wow, yeah, I was definitely blown away by limom! A bit less so if he looked it up (I did give up Dulcinea) - but only a bit! Because there's a number of songs on there, and it takes some mental savvy to cross ref with possible Gin Blossom similarities and come up with the bang-on one I was talking about. I say again, damn.

Mel said...

:-D

This reminds me of that song, you know, that had the chorus “And I said what about Breakfast At Tiffany’s, She said I think I remember the film, As I recall I think we both kinda liked it, and I said, well that’s the one thing we’ve got”

Arggh, who sang that!?

I wanna say Third Eye Blind, but I know that’s wrong, they sang Semi Charmed Life

Maybe it was that group that sang ”It’s hard to say what it is I see in you, wonder if I'll always be with you, words get something, something, I can do, not to prove it’s all for you”

Who was that?

Oh man, this isn’t helping …

limom said...

Dulcinea is the only Toad CD own.
It wasn't Somethings Always Wrong so it had to be Fall Down.
Kinda reminds me of the GB's Found Out About You. Or Hands are Tied.
Or something.

dogimo said...

Deep Blue Something, Mel! It was Deep Blue Something.

The name stuck with me, 'cause I always liked it at the time. But I don't think they did anything else?

Ah, the tight harmonies and bitter jangle of chords. A burst of something relatable, then lost to the ages.

But as I recall, I think, we both kind of liked it?

No idea about that other song you quote. Try google maybe. If you don't mind being branded as a CHEATER and ejected from the memory olympics!

dogimo said...

Wait, is it Savage Garden?

I'm not googling it. No way. I just caught a catch, fit a snippet of your lyrics to the snatch of some tune and the singer's voice sounded like...could be?

THAT song, I remember distinctly not particularly caring for. Too whiny.

dogimo said...

@limom - or "Follow You Down"? That was the one that crossed my mind.

Mel said...

Of course!, Deep Blue Something!

What a rubbish name. "Ok boys, whatta 'bout Deep Blue, er .... something"

Pathetic!

Hmm, that other song I mentioned was not Savage Garden ... I'm still drawing a blank. I haven't gone the google yet. Am restraining myself. But I thought, it wouldn't be cheating if I asked my past self so I went looking at my old tapes to see if I'd done the old "press play and record" when it came on the radio. No luck, but I did find this!

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/6025/tapek.jpg

I've taped Deep Blue Something and the Gin Blossoms on to the one tape!, is that all we listened to back then!?

(PS, the reason the Split Enz songs have "crap" written beside them is not a judgement on the actual songs, but a note about the recording quality!)

dogimo said...

I like the name! We don't have to agree, of course.

To me, the name itself is poking subtle fun at the whole band-naming process, but without being a joke. It works as a band name too, capturing - or rather, trying and failing to capture - something ineffable and beyond our grasp, but it's honest about it. "What was it?" "I don't know man, all I know is it was deep and blue - it all happened so fast!"

I just feel, not every band's name has to be epic. The band name's off-kilter casual tone certainly was a good fit with their somewhat half-assed attempt at building last-ditch common ground with regret-tinged humor, as put across in that song.

I confess I didn't really go for these type bands much. But they were putting them in the air and the water back then! I was able to appreciate it, my tastes are pretty catholic.

"Hey Jealousy" - damn good tune. This one "Fall Down" I would have to say is the best thing by Toad, in my eyes.

Mel said...

Hmmm re: band name. Maybe they are poking fun. Dunno... not convinced.

Nah, I'm still calling it lame!, but it's cool, we're cool (natch :-)).

I had to succumb to the all-knowingness power of google when it came to the other one, and it was Sister Hazel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f46ulX6uwGc

Catchy-as, this song, not saying it's good, but undeniably catchy. But the lyrics, they have a tad of the "Said I loved you, but I lied" about them.

dogimo said...

The guy's voice sounds like Blues Traveler.

Mel, I won't dispute with you, but I would not say that song is "undeniably" catchy. :-D