So, for a nominal fee, I - Thorbjorn - will teach you aboot music that will make people pissed off at you - out of jealousy! This nominal fee, of course, is collected through your taxes, so you might as well listen up, assholes.
Step One.
It’s shit. We all know it. She knows it. But you can’t be a musical dick without listening to Horses, by Patti Smith. So here’s all that stuff you just need to regurgitate to your little friends in case somebody starts talking about her. ABOVE ALL REMEMBER: Nobody really likes Patti Smith, but for some reason everybody agrees that her album is “revolutionary” and “raw” and “for real, [you guys - I haven't gotten laid since nineteen-eighty-three]“.
TRACKS:
1. Gloria - “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine.” This infamous opening line is the secret code among Patti Smith Pseudo-Fans. What it really means is: “Hey! I listen to Patti Smith!” Most fans, though, prematurely blow it by immediately following the code with the phrase: “That’s from Gloria, by Patti Smith!” Dicks. Anyway, this is a testament to Patti Smith’s inability to write a lasting song of her own, in that this famous tune was already popularized by Van Morrison’s Them in the Sixties. All Patti Smith did to the song is add accelerando, new lyrics, and sing it in an obnoxiously Jewy voice. The first line is all you need to know to be a pretentious dick. In fact, it’s probably better that you don’t know any more.
2. Redondo Beach - There is no legitimate reason to listen to Redondo Beach. Patti Smith just put on a reggae song to show that she’s “down with black people.”
3. Birdland - Believe it or not, I actually like this song. At nine minutes and sixteen seconds, it is the second longest song on the album, and it’s really just a long poem about death. The reason I like this song (and ergo, the reason YOU like this song) is because nobody really knows about it. Memorize it and sing it in your best Patti Smith impression in your English class, and reach out your hands and stare at your teacher when you get to the “WE’RE NOT HUMAAAAANNNNN” part. Guaranteed A.
4. Free Money - This is Patti Smith’s obligatory “Am - G - F - G” song. Everybody has one, and this is hers. Don’t really worry with it. Not many people will respect you for knowing this one, because it could be any other song.
5. Kimberly - “Little sister, the sky is falling! - I don’t mind, I don’t mind!” Really, Patti Smith? Really? Is that really the chorus you chose for this annoying song? Again - don’t bother. This song sucks, and nobody cares about it, so you don’t get credit for knowing it.
6. Break It Up - The lead guitar on this song is done by Television guitarist Tom Verlaine. Tell people this. If they’re pretentious, they will blow you for knowing Television. This is the Patti Smith song that people actually like, but don’t tell anybody. This is because everybody thinks that nobody likes it. Maintain the tradition, and listen to this alone at night.
7. Land - The big one - this is a nine-and-a-half minute exercise in 50s rock-and-roll. It’s about a boy named Johnny who has a knifefight in a school hallway with the Angel of Death. Patti Smith fans know it. You should know it.
8. Elegie - Really, Patti Smith? You’re going to finish up this “revolutionary” album with a piece of shit like Elegie? True Fact: 73% of people who hear the first 5 seconds of this song will think it’s Torn Curtain by Television. What a bitch.
So, to conclude: pretty much, all you need to know is Land and Gloria. That will put you in with anybody who has ever heard of Patti Smith. OH WAIT you also need to know Because The Night, cowritten with Bruce Springsteen, and you need to know that she wrote a song called “Rock And Roll Nigger”, but you don’t need to have actually listened to this song. God knows I haven’t.
So until next time, music assholes, this is Thorbjorn, signing off.