Music Blogs

It turns out more people write songs about fools than they do the state of Delaware. Amazing what you can learn "on the job." There are so many great songs about fools that I've managed to create several different lists that bring much deserved attention to these fine tunes. What a great feeling to know that I am helping the Y! Music community (and fulfilling all contractual obligations and court-ordered mandates) by espousing true wisdom for true readers. You people are the best!

Now let us take pity on the stupid.

"I Pity The Fool"--Bobby "Blue" Bland: No, this isn't a Mr. T cover. Long before the ‘A' Team came along and established its cultural preeminence, Bobby "Blue" Bland had a hit with a song that was quite successful on its own terms. Not quite the "Where's the Beef?" or the "Who Let the Dogs Out?" of its generation, it was still a swell tune and if you don't know this man's work, you should make it your After April Fool's Day Resolution to become better acquainted.

"Day In The Life Of A Fool"--Vic Damone: My dad didn't care for Frank Sinatra. He thought he was OK, but as far as he was concerned the real singer, the one who never sold out and stayed true to his indie rock roots was Vic Damone. Oddly, my father didn't own any Vic Damone records. Nor did he own any by Frank Sinatra. Mostly he collected stereophonic demonstration records with lots of Brazilian percussion and other records with names like Music To Break A Sub-Lease and Bawdy Barrack Songs by the Four Sergeants. It has been suggested to me that I inherited his crappy taste in everything. Maybe.

"Everybody Plays The Fool"--The Main Ingredient: This is one of those songs that ends up a trivia question when you're playing a board game. Anyone who actually names the Main Ingredient is someone who watches a lot of late night TV and analyzes Time-Life commercials way too closely. They probably own books and tapes about real estate with no money down, a couple of bamboo steamers, a pasta strainer and enough barely used exercise equipment to open a small gym.

"The Fool On The Hill"--The Beatles: Once the Beatles knew they would never have to tour again, it gave them the freedom to do anyone they wanted in the studio and that included subcontracting out the heavy lifting to their recording engineers or with one member doing all the work. Paul McCartney decided he could retire his Little Richard routine and work on providing music for senior residences. "When I'm 64" was the sound of McCartney just getting started and this tune from the only good movie these guys ever made--Magical Mystery Tour--is the sound of McCartney oiling the wheelchair for maximum smoothness.

"Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"--Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers: The Frankie Lymon story is a sad one where Frankie the teen star falls into drugs and despair and death. Somehow I had a college professor who managed to work this into his America In The 1960s class. Note Lymon had a hit with this in the ‘50s. So it represented something--a passing of the cultural torch?, the sad denouement of a bygone era? my professor's unusual love for Frankie Lymon?--from a guy who wore the same clothes every single class meeting. And yet never smelled?