An enormous pair of books about archives � 1600 pages in all � was sitting on my front porch waiting for me when I got home from dropping AJ off at school. Thank you, alibris for making research books affordable to the commoner. I came across it in the course of sourcing my archive talk and it seemed too good a deal to pass up. I opened up the page for Pittsburgh, where I�m headed next week, to see if I could track down anything interesting. I came across the collection of a woman named Mary Schenley who is described as having �sizable tracts of land.� Now I�ve seen one too many Monty Python movies to take that one at face value. So I�ve been sitting and giggling in my basement. Yes, my office has finally dried out and I am back at my filthy desk, trying to carve out a little space of my own once more.

On the way home from AJ�s school, I caught the new Fountains of Wayne single, �Someone to love.� I sat in the garage so I could listen to the end. It is rare for me to pay attention to rock lyrics, let alone love them, but Fountains of Wayne has some of the best lyrics out there. Their rhymes are the best (�If you ever get back/to Hackensack�; �I saw you talkin�/ to Christopher Walken�). But their storylines are elaborate without being convoluted. �Someone to love is a gem in that regard.� Maybe it�s just because these guys are my age and from the part of the world I�m from. Their songs ring very true to my experience.

And while we�re on the subject of music, awhile back, before the insane computer meltdown, the esteemed smed was kind enough to include me in his holiday CD giving list. In addition to two holiday CDs and the mystery CD I reviewed a few weeks back, he included a copy of his money mix.
I have to say that I�ve been having trouble listening to the holiday CDs. AJ loves the money mix. Loves it so much, that I�m starting to wonder if I have a future Alex P. Keaton on my hands.
Smed has already listed his tunes at his place, but I�ll add my commentary.

1. Money Song � Monty Python. I�m still sad that the Euro has made so many of the currencies mentioned in this song obsolete. But it�s still hilarious. AJ loves this song too. He likes to play it several times in a row before we move on to the next track.

2. Cash On The Barrelhead � The Louvin Brothers. A classic country/bluegrass tune. And AJ loves him some bluegrass. Is he the only five-year-old around who asks for bluegrass tunes? Of course, he thinks anything with a banjo is bluegrass.

3. Money (That�s What I Want) � The Beatles. I love this song. Although this track got me started thinking about how weird it is for all these rich people to be singing about being broke.

4. Gimme Some Money � Spinal Tap. Okay, I have to admit that I didn�t recognize this as a parody until someone yells, �Go, Nigel, Go!� before the guitar break.

5. You Never Give Me Your Money � The Beatles. This is one of my favorite tracks off Abbey Road. It�s interesting. AJ likes the �1,2,3,4,5,6,7, all good children go to heaven� part.

6. For The Love Of Money � The O�Jays. I�ve never heard this song in its entirety before, but it will be ever linked with the revealing of lottery numbers on Chicago�s Fox news outlet.

7. Mo Money Mo Problems � Notorious BIG. This is an artist I�ve heard about but had never heard � as I�ve mentioned before, I�m pretty Hip Hop ignorant. This is a song that I wouldn�t notice particularly if it came up on the radio. It�s got a good groove. I can�t figure half of what the male vocals are saying � I don�t do well with aural spelling and there�s a lot of it.

8. Money Won�t Change You � James Brown. AJ likes �I Feel Good,� so I pointed out to him that this was the same guy. He listened and assessed, �It sounds kind of the same. But not as good.� Well, I liked it. Great use of saxophone. Classic Brown.

9. Money, Money, Money � ABBA. I have a soft spot in my heart for this song and this group. When I was 9, my family moved to London. All our worldly possessions were hung up in a dock strike so we moved into a tiny furnished flat with no central heat. Every morning, my dad would get up in the freezing cold, turn on the space heaters and pop an Abba tape into the cassette player before he headed for the shower. The rest of us huddled under the covers until the room warmed up, singing along. I still remember most of the words.

10. Money Honey � The Bay City Rollers. Classic Bay City Rollers. How can you not like this song? They had me from the first downward gliss on the piano.

11. It�s All About The Benjamins � The Notorious BIG. I hadn�t heard this one before, but it�s one of my favorite tracks. It�s incredibly infectious. I find myself crooning, �It�s all about the Benjamin�s, baby� at odd moments during the day, guaranteed to make them odder. Compared to the other Notorious BIG song, I find the vocal lines more interesting. They�re easier to understand, which is part of it, but it�s more about the interaction of rhythm. The rhythms are more interesting, as are the rhymes. There�s this huge stretch in the middle that�s just rapping over a single guitar pitch and drums. It�s spare and it works.

12. Take The Money And Run � Steve Miller Band. How can you not sing along with this tune? You can�t, that�s what. Try not to listen too hard to the lyrics though. They make this ex-English major want to cry.

13. The Big Money � Rush. This song takes me straight back to high school (or is it junior high?), in both good and bad ways. It�s a weird tune. The intro seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the body of the song. Am I wrong in finding this song funnier than Spinal Tap?

14. Money For Nothing � Dire Straits. AJ asked, �What�s MTV?� Ah, AJ, you will never know what it was like to see MTV for the very first time. No money mix could be without this one. Video killed the radio star, baby.

15. Money � Pink Floyd. AJ likes this one for its cash register sounds. �That�s so cool!� He�s right. It is. Although I�ve heard this nine gazillion times so I�d kind of forgotten. I also like the way the opening riffs with the cash register make the metric accents unclear. This develops into odd-lengthed phrases and regular shifts between duple and triple meter. It�s unsettling � the perfect tone setter for the lyrics.

16. Pretty Green � The Jam. I�m a huge fan of the Jam for the way they work simple folksong into some hard rocking tunes. This is no exception. It has an odd alternation between major and minor modes, with the occasional crunch on both a major and minor third. I find it hard not to hear songs like this as the link between bands like The Fairport Convention and The Cure. Listen to the bass and see if you don�t agree.

17. Lawyers, Guns, And Money � Warren Zevon. AJ didn�t like this one from the get go. He didn�t like the intro. I agree, it�s pretty pedestrian, but I�m a big Zevon fan, so I didn�t let it get me down. His voice sounds naked on this track, almost like he�s not in the same room with the band.

18. If I Had $1000000 � Barenaked Ladies. Hands down, this is AJ�s favorite song on the CD. I like it too. We both sing along at the top of our lungs. Even after playing it 17 times in a row.

19. Money (That�s What I Want) � The Flying Lizards. I like this one too, although I hadn�t heard it before. It's an inspired remake of the above Beatles tune of the same name but with a vocalist who sounds psychotic. In a good way. AJ agrees. �What�s wrong with her, Mommy?� and later, �I like this song!�

So there you have it, AJ�s and my review. I�ll need to weigh in on Smed�s holiday mix disks (2!), probably not until I get back from Pittsburgh. AJ won�t be helping me with those, though. If you want to know why, read this entry. And if you need more music blogging today, click over to Smed�s place and read his essay on Bubblegum pop.

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