1 classic, 1 cover and 1 paying respect to the classic

Read up on your history kids. Chuck Berry released this track 8 years before the Kingsmen; however it was The Kingsmen who caught hell from conservative America for this recording. They like many before them, were feared because they were pioneers. The Kinks and Todd Snider payed them respect, you should as well.

The Kingsmen - Louie Louie 1963 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vae_AkLb4Q&feature=related

The Kinks -Louie Louie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrKr3UUnqiM

Todd Snider - The Ballad of The Kingsmen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd6pgqe3fAg

Here are the lyrics, I really love this track

The Kingsmen came together in a garage,
They could hardly even play
But they practiced night
And day pretty soon they got to where they could really play that song Louie,
Louie
So, they saved up all the money from the shows,
Went in to one of them studios and gave their version of the song a try

Now, I don't know the words to that song Louie,
Louie and I'm pretty sure the singer for the
Kingsmen didn't know ‘em either,
If he did know ‘em he didn't get ‘em right on the record
Cause on the record they sound jumbled in his jaw? It says,
Me think of me girl oh so constantly
Ahmayaaah makaaaah aahh ooohoooh aaaaah
Well, that last part scared everybody from the PTA to the FBI
You see, the kids had been going kind of crazy lately
And it seemed like nobody could figure out why,
So they decided to form a coalition,
Launch an investigation, you know for the children, they at least had to try
To figure out the words to Louie, Louie


Chorus
It's the feel good hit of this endless summer
It gets these kids out of control
Singin along to that star spangled bummer,
Hail, hail rock and roll

Marilyn Manson’s real name isn't even Marilyn Manson,
He's a skinny public high school Kid from Florida,
Not some monster from out of this world and like of a lot other skinny long hair public
High school kids he was sick of getting
Beaten up by the pulling guard all week only to go out on the weekend,
And watch the Quarterback get all the girls so,
He formed a band man
Now' he gets all the girls,
A few years later a couple of latchkey kids go tragically
Mad and everybody's standing around the television store at the mall trying to figure out what went wrong,
This guy says,
You think the life of a kid going to high school could've gotten so bad this other guy says nah,
It's just the words to one of them goddamn Marilyn Manson songs,
You know the one

Chorus

You know, every ten years or so our country and some other little country,
We start firing all of our newest weapons
At each other for some reason or another, right or wrong,
Like it or not, it happens, and when it happens
People get shot and when people get shot,
They show it on tv a lot every night at six o clock
And you don't even have to be eighteen to see it you don't even have to be in first grade,
First grade where they teach the kid pride
They tell him he'll need to thrive,
In a world where only the strong will survive,
So he's taught the art of more
To compare to and to keep score Monday thru Friday while
He stares at the floor til' Sunday they make him go to
School once more only this time they make him wear a suit and a tie
And listen to some guy who claims to know Where people go
When they die tell him that only the meek are gonna inherit the earth Well shit,
By this time the kid doesn't know what anything
Is worth, now brothers and sisters I am only one guy
And I don't even know the words to that song Louie,
Louie but I can tell you right now without batting an eye
That the next time some latchkey kid goes wrong
It aint gonna be cause that Eminem gets to say the word Fag in his song
And I'm not trying to preach to ya either,
I'm just trying to sing to ya too, you know string a few words together

Hey kids...
Lets get it on,
Lets get it on

3 tracks that say something

Lil' Wayne - Don't Get It http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpKfMwUw270

The guy is seemingly either loved or hated. I like most of Tha Carter III and leave it there. Whoever produced this track has serious talent. The splice of the modern beats and the Nina Simone track for the chorus have me nodding my head in approval. Also Wayne's lyrics reveal that he has to get some stuff off of his chest. These issues include the over representation of Black men in jail, the socioeconomic troubles that put them there, racial eqality, and the idea that Al Sharpton spoke out against him solely to belittle his work. That being said Wayne's arguments are not put for eloquently or intelligently. He appears to have been smoking weed the entire time and it shows. My point is that though drug-addled, Lil Wanye's track brings up some issues that politicians should give a damn about.

Robert Creeley - Hero's and For Love http://mediamogul.seas.upenn.edu/pennsound/authors/Creeley/Creeley-Robert_Heroes_For-Love_Exact-Change_04_1963.mp3

A segment of Robert Creeley reading two of his poems from a 1995 interview. Hero's is a great poem but For Love is my favorite poem of the 20th century. Other than that I can give no better introduction.

Marilyn Monroe - Happy Birthday Mr. President http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4SLSlSmW74&feature=related

Many of us have heard about this rendition of the classic birthday tune. You may also have seen it parodied it in Wayne's World. Until now I had not seen the original, a neat piece of historical video. Marilyn sure makes it seem like was a relationship between her and JFK. I don't really care if they did fornicate with each other. Man she was gorgeous.