Reputations, they either drag you down or puff you up. One way or the other, you can’t live up to it. With one, there is a predisposition to think ill of you. With the other, folks are inordinately fond of you. Of course there are expectations with each as well. Perhaps you surprise the people who assume you are bad, and let down those that assume you are perfect. If I had my choice, I would opt for the prior, but that’s just me.
In honor of that preference, I’ve compiled a few songs that pertain to that exact disheveled, devil-may -care attitude. The first track, the eponymous Bad Reputation by Freedy Johnston, says it all. Kansas born, Freedy has become a journeyman folk singer, scoring minor hits off and on through the years. Bad Reputation was, with no doubt, the biggest of those hits (it peaked at 54 on the Billboard Top 100). The song is one of both disillusionment and acceptance. This is obvious when you hear the chorus as he admits the truth in the talk going around while simultaneously noting the impossibility of the expectations placed on him. This sense of personal disillusionment and unfitness is furthered soon:
Don’t try to be an inspiration
Just wasting your time, time, time
You know about the best I’ll ever be
See it in your eyes
It is his inability to act on the knowledge of what is necessary to maintain a positive relationship that lends a tragic air to the song. At the end of this tragedy, realizing the broken nature of his being, that he rhetorically asks, “do you want me now, do you want me now?” The song, despite the catchy tune, has a melancholy air. Though it’s tough to remember this when your bopping along with the song.
To continue the theme, take a listen to Johnny Too Bad by The Slickers. This tune, like the previous, is quite catchy, though it also hides a darker side. The Slickers’ song highlights the dangers of life in Kingston, dangers that continue today. For many, life is only surmountable through music or violence. This is as much the case in today in Kingston as it is in Detroit, and it was no different 30 some odd years ago when the Slickers cut this song. What sets this song apart, beyond the nice groove, is the recognition by the performers that this sort of life, the one with “robbin` and stabbin` and lootin` and shooting,” is doomed to end as violently as it started. “Where you gonna run to? You’re gonna run to the rock for rescue, there’ll be no rock.”
Last, but by no means least is my man, Waylon Jennings. If you’ve read these pages before, you know my unabashed love of all things Waylon. He is the penultimate country singer, the shining light that pierces through foggy nights. I’ve long joked that his song, “I’ve Always Been Crazy,” was my theme song. Though tongue-in-cheek, there is some honesty in the statement. To me, this track is the one with the baddest of reputations. Two verses into the song, Waymore lays it all on the line:
“Beautiful lady are you sure that you understand
The chances your taking loving a free living man
Are you really sure you really want what you see
Be careful of something that’s just what you want it to be”
PS- Bjorn, if you watch this video you’ll find out where Weezer got their logo idea.
Funny. I just heard the same query from a good pal of mine from Arkansas. In this post, Joan Jett is left where she belongs: on the sidelines. Believe it.
swein
I agree/was just being silly. I thought it funny to think of her alongside the likes of Waylon and The Slickers...
swein
What about that Joan Jett song? She doesn't even give a damn about her bad reputation.
Wonderful Wednesday: Bad Reps
Reputations, they either drag you down or puff you up. One way or the other, you can’t live up to it. With one, there is a predisposition to think ill of you. With the other, folks are inordinately fond of you. Of course there are expectations with each as well. Perhaps you surprise the people who assume you are bad, and let down those that assume you are perfect. If I had my choice, I would opt for the prior, but that’s just me.
In honor of that preference, I’ve compiled a few songs that pertain to that exact disheveled, devil-may -care attitude. The first track, the eponymous Bad Reputation by Freedy Johnston, says it all. Kansas born, Freedy has become a journeyman folk singer, scoring minor hits off and on through the years. Bad Reputation was, with no doubt, the biggest of those hits (it peaked at 54 on the Billboard Top 100). The song is one of both disillusionment and acceptance. This is obvious when you hear the chorus as he admits the truth in the talk going around while simultaneously noting the impossibility of the expectations placed on him. This sense of personal disillusionment and unfitness is furthered soon:
07-Johnny-Too-Bad.mp3
Freedy Johnston – Bad Reputation
It is his inability to act on the knowledge of what is necessary to maintain a positive relationship that lends a tragic air to the song. At the end of this tragedy, realizing the broken nature of his being, that he rhetorically asks, “do you want me now, do you want me now?” The song, despite the catchy tune, has a melancholy air. Though it’s tough to remember this when your bopping along with the song.
To continue the theme, take a listen to Johnny Too Bad by The Slickers. This tune, like the previous, is quite catchy, though it also hides a darker side. The Slickers’ song highlights the dangers of life in Kingston, dangers that continue today. For many, life is only surmountable through music or violence. This is as much the case in today in Kingston as it is in Detroit, and it was no different 30 some odd years ago when the Slickers cut this song. What sets this song apart, beyond the nice groove, is the recognition by the performers that this sort of life, the one with “robbin` and stabbin` and lootin` and shooting,” is doomed to end as violently as it started. “Where you gonna run to? You’re gonna run to the rock for rescue, there’ll be no rock.”
07-Johnny-Too-Bad.mp3
The Slickers – Johnny Too Bad
Last, but by no means least is my man, Waylon Jennings. If you’ve read these pages before, you know my unabashed love of all things Waylon. He is the penultimate country singer, the shining light that pierces through foggy nights. I’ve long joked that his song, “I’ve Always Been Crazy,” was my theme song. Though tongue-in-cheek, there is some honesty in the statement. To me, this track is the one with the baddest of reputations. Two verses into the song, Waymore lays it all on the line:
PS- Bjorn, if you watch this video you’ll find out where Weezer got their logo idea.