There’s some sort of Murphy’s Law of filksinging that the lamest, oldest, most retarded effort one ever crippled into a bardic circle will be the one filk that gets requested over and over… Never mind the clever, witty, well written, beautifully performed songs one comes up with later, that effin’ crap song will always be demanded by some chowder head. So, even though it might make me cringe inside I sing the hell outta the damned thing because for some reason SOMEBODY loves my stillborn child and I have to respect that, even if I really don’t like it…
My son is a bass player who will sit in with any band, any time, just to be playing, but he REALLY hates “Mustang Sally,” because every pickup band, cover band, oldies band, blues band, and standards band has to pull that one out in practice, if not in performance. I’ve watched him play it–he hates it, but he’s always spot on with it… He’ll throw some weird slap rhythms into it every chance he gets just so he doesn’t go insane, but he’d rather be doing anything else! If he pisses me off I’ll pull out the special CD with about fifty different versions of “Mustang Sally” on it and play it until he promises to be good… I’m a horrible mom…
That’s what I do. If there’s a piece I hate, I hammer it into the ground technically. I’m not going to let it beat me, and I’m going to learn something from it and become a better musician, so screw you, Debussy!
You still show up to graduation and play anyway, because you came there on a bus . And you think about how you won’t have to play “Pomp and Circumstance” any more in three more years (two more years) (one more year) because you’ll be out of school YAY!
In the meantime, you and the other kids in your trombone section figure out how you can each play one quarter note every sixth beat and not get noticed by the director.
Have you ever seen the first violin part on most of his orchestral works? It’s all tremolo, tremolo, tremolo, REALLY REALLY SOFT soppy echo of the melody waaaay up in seventh position, tremolo! tremolo! tremolo!
You just had to bring up this song didn’t you? When I was in the graduation band, which was every year in high school it sucked. Then in college, when they paid us, it was ok even though it went on forever. That was the only piece that the bones played in college though so after that the cards came out.
i don’t have the heart to play well! tis why i only play pieces i like for auditions, cause when it’s a piece i hate, i don’t even want it to sound good.
