So today
is a happy day and a sad day mixed into one! I have the amazing Shane
McAllister (one of my top book boyfriends of all time! Don’t tell Ciara lol) here
form Jeri Smith-Ready’s WVMP series to talk about 90’s music! The sad part? One
of my favorite series has come to an end *sobs* and yes peeps this is an adult
series I know I don’t post much about them but if you like adult paranormal
books I suggest you read this one!
So now
to pass the mic to Shane!
Hey everyone, it's great to be
here at Two Chicks on Books to talk about 90s music. Thanks so much to Jaime
for having me—we go way back, so it means a lot to write a post for her blog. I
hope you like it.
---
We all have that one song or
album (or entire CD shelf) that we used to play over and over during the worst
time in our lives, right? The song that fed all our unhealthy impulses and let
us wallow in our rage or heartbreak? The song we just couldn't stop listening
to, even though we knew it was bad for us?
For me it was Filter's "Hey
Man Nice Shot," which came out in July 1995, just a few months after I
became a vampire. If you've read WICKED GAME or my
short story, "Last
Request," you know that I never wanted to be undead. I just wanted to
be dead.
Even after I became a vampire, I
did my best not to survive. I tried to starve or stay out until sunrise. Once I
even tried staking myself (it was kind of comical—I used a shard of
"wood" paneling that was so cheap it had very little actual tree
product in it). Eventually the Control captured me and put me on suicide watch
in the fledgling-vampire ward of one of their "nursing homes."
That was when I heard this song
on the radio. Let's just say it was a good thing I was under close supervision.
Like most people, I thought at
first that "Hey Man Nice Shot" was about Kurt Cobain's April 1994
suicide-by-shotgun. My own suicide attempts
were inspired by that event, so I figured it was at the top of
everyone's mind. But apparently Richard Patrick of Filter wrote it about
Pennsylvania state treasurer Budd Dwyer, who shot himself in the head during a
live televised press conference in 1987. The poor dude had been convicted of
bribery and was probably going to jail (later evidence showed that he might
have been as innocent as he claimed).
One reason he committed suicide
was so that his family would get the hefty pension that came from him dying in
office. As someone who has always worried about money, I can totally understand
this. But he could have offed himself in private and still accomplished that.
He did it in public to make a statement about feeling persecuted, or so he
said.
Filter made a public statement
about "Hey Man Nice Shot" after it was released:
"It is not a celebration or
glorification of taking one's own life. The phrase 'hey man, nice shot' is a
reference to the final act itself, an expression of guts and determination of a
person standing up for what they believe is right." (Source: Songfacts.com)
I don't know about you, but
"guts and determination" sound pretty "thumbs-up" to me.
And in my 1995 state of despair, I thought to myself, "if only I'd had the
guts to do what Dwyer did, I wouldn't be suffering right now."
Yeah. Now you see why I was
locked up for my own protection.
So I used to play this song over
and over, getting angrier and angrier, wishing this song had come out a few
months sooner so I could've used it to find the "strength" to shoot
myself like I'd always planned.
Once I got help, not just from
Control counselors but from my eventual employer David, I realized that suicide
wasn't a sign of strength. It's not a sign of weakness, either. It's a sign of
sickness. Problem is, sickness makes for boring songs (nothing rhymes with
Zoloft).
I still love this song, for its
lumbering bass line (especially the intro—who could resist that?), its driving
guitar riffs, and its cathartic vocals. It's a perfect example of the
quiet-loud-quiet formula that gives grunge its emotional power. I love playing
it at home when Ciara is away. But I won't play it live with my band, Vital Fluid,
and I won't play it on the air except by request.
The moral of the story? You can
search songs for beauty and energy and entertainment, but be careful searching
them for wisdom. They just might steer you off a cliff.
---
1. Your favorite “bad for you”
song. This gets you two entries.
2. Your favorite song from the
90s. This just gets you one entry, because it’s an easier question.
You can follow me and Ciara on Twitter, where we’re having
a chat Saturday, December 2, 8-9pm at the #WVMPchat hashtag. Our author,
Jeri, is on Twitter, the World Wide Web (do they still call it
that? I forget.) and Facebook.
Author
Bio: Award-winning author Jeri Smith-Ready lives in Maryland with her husband
and two cats. Her plans to save the earth were ruined when she realized she was
more of a “problem maker” than a problem solver. To stay out of trouble, she
keeps her Drama Drive strictly fictional. Her friends and family appreciate
that.
When not
writing, Jeri she can usually be found—well, thinking about writing, or on Twitter. Like her characters, she
loves music, movies, and staying up very, very late.
Make sure to add Jeri's books to your TBR piles you will love this series ans Shane will capture your hearts!
