Let's Twist!

It’s time for another installment of something no one asked for. 

So here goes the music review. 

“Twist and Shout” - Various Artists - I hate this song. Okay, so hate is probably way too strong in this case, but I really don’t like this song. And what’s maybe most perplexing is that it connects with lots of things I love. I love “The Beatles,” and while their version is a cover that more or less stole all the attention away from the song’s original artists, it’s still not for me. Even though I do like the fact that in one of most well-known live performances John has almost completely lost his voice and is just squawking the lyrics. I also love “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” It’s one of my favorite movies. It is set in my favorite American city of Chicago. And yet, I hate the scene where Ferris sings this song. It’s so ludicrous and over the top (the entire rest of the movie is completely plausible up to this point). To be fair, I also hate Ferris singing “Danke Shoen” (and perhaps at some point I will post my feelings about this song - but you can probably guess). I probably hate this song because it tends to necessitate a huge dancing crowd at wedding receptions, and this is more or less my hell. I hate dancing. I can’t dance. I don’t want to dance, really ever. I will do it because I love my wife, and we have worked out an agreement. But I legitimately learned how to play instruments so I could be in bands and never have to dance. So please, let me do that thing. 

“Twistin’ the Night Away” - Sam Cooke, et. al. - I love this song. This song, released just a year after “Twist and Shout” was written, eclipses its cousin in seemingly every category. It is not call and response (which simply dumbs down a song). Also, instead of telling (or screaming at me) to dance and instructing me how to dance, this song starts with “Let me tell you ‘bout a place.” It invites the listener into this reality instead of forcing it on her or him. I’m also going to show my cards and admit that I think Sam Cooke is a musical genius and one who is quite underrated. Of course The Beatles were also genius, and I have at least one friend who thinks they were underrated, but still. Perhaps the best accolade I can give this song is that it actually makes me want to think about possibly dancing…at some point.