Bowling for Soup

I’m not an album person; my musical tastes are extremely superficial. But last spring when “1985” was getting a lot of airplay, D bought the album, A Hangover You Don’t Deserve, and I listened to it enough times through to really get it. It’s got an interesting pattern of songs, with “1985” actually being the oddball track.

First is “Almost,” a song that’s also gotten some top-40 airplay here, although with somewhat cleaned up lyrics (someone stole “a video game” instead of “a bunch of the drugs,” “a slut with much bigger breast-es” becomes “a girl who sewed her own dresses—as a parent, I don’t object to the original wording, but who knows what will generate FCC complaints). Anyway, the singer loses the girl.

Next, a sweet little ditty called “Trucker Hat” (only song where he gets the girl), followed by the over-exposed “1985.” (I really do know the woman with her minivan who’s featured here, for whom life has turned out to be a huge disappointment.)

Get Happy, another throw away tune. Profanity four words into the song; had to remember to turn it down quick when the kids were in the car! Anyway, loses the girl.

Ohio (loses the girl) is my favorite song on here, so I’m happy to hear it getting a little radio time now. The rhymes are great: went to Cleveland/with some guy name Leland; make a deposit/cleaned out her closet. The Girl heard “There’s nothing wrong with Ohio, except the snow and the rain,” and asked, “Are they being sarcastic?” And way, way at the end of the CD, after some blank tracks, there’s a bizzare reprise of the middle of “Ohio.” For some reason, I love the way they render “waiting” as “way-den.” Sort of a Texas accent, sort of a singing thing, sort of just a lazy way to talk.

Ridiculous, loses the girl.
Shut up and smile—“thank God the TV is on/cuz there’s no way we could know anything that’s going down/or how we’re supposed to be feeling about it.” Wow, isn’t that the truth?
Last Call Casualty—lost the girl, and is stalking her with phone hang-ups. Contains an odd overlap of melody with Shut Up & Smile.
Next Ex-Girlfriend—doesn’t even GET the girl.
A-Hole—loses the girl.
My Hometown—my, what a lot of profanity for an upbeat tune!
Smoothie King—I think he loses the girl. (“You’re crazy and I’m crazy about you.”)
Sad Sad Situation—he WANTS to lose the girl, because she’s crazy—again. (“Maybe you should stay . . . away!”)
Really Might Be Gone—loses the girl.
Down for the Count—loses the girl, but it’s ok because she was crazy yet again.
Two-Seater—lost the girl, he’s stalking her again, this time by vandalizing her car.
Friends o’ Mine—just a close-the-album tune. Obviously they had room for one more track and threw on some junk they’d been messing around with.

Anyway, I recommend the album—every song is listen-able.