Corn Husk, Bonfire

Shucking corn by hand
Silky husks piled on the floor
Fuel for the bonfire

The Chronic by Dr Dre

Yo Dre, got something to say
Surprised to see, same age as me
Your lyrics are trite, your rhymes are shite
Crass misogyny, just ain't for me
Guns and gold, soon got old
Sure Compton was rough, now I've had enough
Gangsta rap, load of old crap

Come Down by The Dandy Warhols

The Dandy Warhols are probably best known for their infuriatingly ubiquitous ear worm of a hit Bohemian Like You, but fortunately this album from 1997 is a different kettle of fish. Much more towards the psychedelic stoner rock end of the spectrum than I was expecting, I enjoyed it rather a lot.

Top marks also for the song Cool as Kim Deal which I can relate too. I’m something of a Johnny come lately Pixies fan since starting listening to this list and it’s nice to hear that the Dandies are too.

Quail, Coat

Quail before the might
Of dread Nyarlathotep!
Er, I’ll get me coat

Catfish, Eggs

Deep in the old creek
Patiently guarding her eggs
Whiskers are twitching

Elvis Presley by Elvis Presley

Elvis has to be the ultimate rock and roll cautionary tale. At heart, he was a simple country boy who just wanted to play music and make a few records, but he quickly fell into the grasp of a greedy manager and an entourage of moochers living off his money. This album opens with a blast of Blue Suede Shoes which certainly got white American teens jiving, but for every rock and roll banger there’s a bunch of maudlin torch songs or plodding country numbers.

A bigger problem is that the version of Tutti Frutti on this album doesn’t have any of the in-your-face energy and attitude of Little Richard’s original. Adding it all up, you are getting less than half an hour of cover songs that are not quite as good as the originals, but they just happened to catch the zeitgeist and open the door for rock and roll to reach the predominantly white mainstream audience.

Blue-suede-shoes-tastic!

Mist, High

I’m pretty sure that
Frank Darabont was high when
He changed King’s ending