Episode 77: Welcome to My Life
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Transcript
Time Crisis back once again. On today's episode, we really explore classic rock.
We're talking Grateful Dead, John Mellencamp, Jim Morrison, and Steve Miller.
It's quite the episode. Buckle up and stay tuned. This is dot dot dot.
Dot dot dot.
Time Crisis with Ezra King. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. One.
They passed me by, all of those great romances.
The war I felt, robbing me of my rightful chances.
But picture clear, everything seemed so easy.
And so I dealt to the blow, when a bus had to go.
Now it's different, I want you to know.
One of us is crying, one of us is lying.
We were only there.
Alright, Time Crisis back again. What's up, Jake?
Not a whole lot, man. Time Crisis '77.
This is Time Crisis '77. So...
There's some symmetry there.
Yeah, definitely some symmetry. That's the year you were born.
The famous year for the Grateful Dead.
Cornell show.
That's right. Did you see that the Dead just dropped this gigantic box set?
No.
You might be into it. It's the complete Pacific Northwest recordings.
Oh my god.
'73 to '74, I believe.
So it's only two years.
Well, I think in the box set, you're getting hours and hours of the full shows.
Vinyl?
CDs?
That must be CDs and it comes with all little trinkets and this and that.
There appears to be a 45 minute playing in the band.
Oh wow, they go to the minor part.
Yeah, maybe for like a solid 15.
Yeah, because the song is D major, but then starting like mid-late 70s,
we go to this like extended D minor jam.
Like no movement, just like a jam.
Just go full minor.
A jam in D minor for like, yeah, 15.
45 is outlandish.
Jerry just starts working in that F, that minor third.
I guess, yeah.
And then everybody falls on-- yeah, I didn't-- I'll have to set aside some time.
That's rough stuff.
That's rough stuff, folks.
45 minutes playing.
That's pushing it for even the most devout Deadheads.
I just want to be clear about this for our non-Deadhead listeners.
Playing in the band is a song, so we're talking about a 45 minute,
which is way beyond the typical Dead jam.
Yeah, usually their songs are clocking in around like 8, sometimes like 10.
8 to 12 minutes, yeah.
Also, playing in the band is a cool song.
I love the version on the first-- like the first version that was released,
which was on Skull and Roses.
Good song.
One of Bob's best.
Yeah, it's just kind of a funny song.
There's these really beautiful guitar parts.
[singing]
In the beginning, but then the actual, like, verses of the song--
Throw it on.
Let's just take this all the way.
I think I've got to throw on this 45 minute--
Oh, my God.
--playing in the band.
First hour of the show today is going to be dedicated to--
That'd be kind of--
19 disc companion.
Who wants CDs?
Some Deadheads.
They're buying it for the box.
It's an art objet.
Yeah.
An objet d'art.
Yeah, I get it.
You know--
Shout out to the Grateful Dead.
I got a DM from somebody at Grateful Dead,
which, you know, definitely is not somebody in the band.
Probably somebody who works for Rhino, who's in charge of their archives.
But I got a DM on Instagram, although this is while I was in Japan,
so I was all turned around time-wise.
So I got a DM, you know, I was pretty psyched.
I saw the Grateful Dead slid in my DMs, and they were asking,
"Do you want to premiere a song from this, like, forthcoming box set?"
And then--
Looks like it's happening.
Yeah, I missed it.
I missed the window.
I'm sorry.
I put them in touch with my management.
So shout out to whoever hit me up.
They probably--I think they said they listen to Time Crisis,
so they knew there's a Dead connection.
So shout out to them.
Next time hit up Time Crisis.
That's better than hitting me up.
But they were like, "Do you want to--would you like to premiere
this, like, 1974 Eyes of the World on your Instagram?"
And I was kind of like--
What?
So at first I was just like in Japan.
I was like, "Hell yeah!"
And then I thought about it, and I was like, "Wait, what does it mean to premiere it?"
Surely there must be tapes out there.
Richard Pictures has covered playing in the band a few times.
How far do you take it?
We'll take it out.
I think we've done, like, a good 10 or 12-minute version.
And you always take it to the minor part?
Yeah, although I prefer not to.
It's actually a bit of a bone of contention within the band.
Really?
I like to do the strictly, like, 1970, '71 version,
kind of more like the country rock version.
Yep, playing in the band live at the Heck Edmondson Pavilion.
Where's that?
This is University of Washington, Seattle.
Okay.
This version's 46 minutes, 31 seconds.
Wow.
That'd be just so tight any time we don't feel like doing the whole show.
We're just like--
And now we're going to throw to some music from The Grateful Dead.
Here's a really hot rendition of playing in the band from--
And then we're just gone for 45 minutes.
And then come back in like, "Wow, that was--"
[laughs]
[playing in the band]
There's just like certain Dead songs that, from the jump,
are so vibey that you expect it.
But it's like, you just heard this, and you're like,
"This is going to go on for 45 minutes."
[singing]
And the chorus is just so simple.
Yeah, this is like a Buddy Holly song, kind of.
Yeah.
[playing in the band]
But then this part, this is the crunch.
Okay, so what happens, this is in D major.
Then they start doing this part in D minor.
Right.
[singing]
Like, whatever, like the--
You know what a song's in D major?
No.
Cape Cod, "Cuasa Cuasa."
Dude, go to a minor jam.
We never took it minor.
That's how you go 12 minute.
We started taking it like vaguely mixolydian.
I mean, also keep in mind, we barely played it.
We've only had a few opportunities.
Dude, this is the new version of the shirt/concept.
45 minute Cape Cod.
[playing in the band]
Daybreak on the land.
I'm just going to skip ahead.
Now we're at 11 minutes.
This is kind of tight.
I don't think we've ever just skipped around
in a Grateful Dead jam on this show.
It's about time.
[playing in the band]
Coizmoose is going off.
[playing in the band]
Definitely getting some different territory.
We've already descended into it.
Yeah, it's pre-jazz.
[playing in the band]
It's all good folks, we've got another 30 of this.
[playing in the band]
Go forward to minute 18.
University of Seattle.
How are you doing?
[playing in the band]
Is this 18?
This is only 15.
[playing in the band]
It's getting funky.
Oh wow.
Ooh, yeah.
I want to hear Jerry just tearing it up.
[playing in the band]
It's a little stop/start in the middle.
[playing in the band]
You said minute 27.
[playing in the band]
31.
[playing in the band]
This part is getting back to some late 60s psychedelic vibe.
Yeah.
[playing in the band]
Minute 37.
That was a harsh tone from Jerry.
Almost reminded me of John McLaughlin or something.
Yeah.
[playing in the band]
Or like some early, yeah, early, early death.
We're coming hot out of the gates on this show.
We're at minute 37.
[playing in the band]
Minute 41.
[playing in the band]
So when they're going to jump back into it,
[playing in the band]
I feel like they're kind of hinting at it.
[playing in the band]
I wonder if this song is just like,
it's just one of the discs.
[playing in the band]
You can hear the keys a little more here.
[playing in the band]
Okay, now here it's coming back.
[playing in the band]
This is at minute 44.
[playing in the band]
Ha ha, yeah!
[playing in the band]
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Seinfeld got scared by that.
That's Donna, right?
Seinfeld was terrified.
Rough stuff, folks.
Donna's rough.
Come on, she's good.
[playing in the band]
[playing in the band]
I like the thing about Donna just like,
fully leaving the stage during the jam,
and just like catching a full episode of like,
M*A*S*H or something.
Ha ha, coming back.
[playing in the band]
Just taking down a couple long-form articles in Esquire.
Yeah.
[playing in the band]
This part sounds great.
Yeah.
[playing in the band]
Phil.
[laughing]
In the Phil zone.
[playing in the band]
Phil's got some weird like, flange or something on his bass.
Okay, so the official title of this box set is
Pacific Northwest '73 to '74, Believe It If You Need It.
There's a box of rain, I know that's one of your favorite songs, Jake.
Oh yeah.
Anyway, so we saw each other last weekend.
Yeah, man.
Jake and I were at the same wedding.
My brother, friend of the show.
That's right, friend of the show Dave Longstreth tied the--
[laughing]
That's the morning news.
Friend of the show Dave Longstreth tied the knot this past weekend
up in Northern California.
Very exclusive private ceremony attended by only a few friends and family.
No, there were like, I don't know, like 40-something people there.
It was tight.
I was guesstimating 50.
Yeah, I think that's probably--
50 tops.
Solid guess.
First wedding you've been to since your own?
Are you--oh, you hit a lot of weddings with Hannah, your wife.
It's true.
I feel like you're always like, you go into like Wisconsin for the weekend for a wedding.
Yeah, that did happen last summer.
I feel like we hit one this summer.
It was a lovely wedding, lovely ceremony.
Yeah, powerful vows exchanged.
And Jake, you gave the best speech at the wedding.
That's one thing I want to talk about.
Oh, thanks.
Not that the other speeches were bad.
It's just that one thing I noticed about this wedding,
one wedding I went to maybe two or three years ago was a lot of like Hollywood types.
So there were like legit comedy writers getting up and just like one-upping each other.
Like world-class performers.
World-class performers.
Wow, that's just fun to witness.
And just roasting the bride and groom or whatever.
But at this wedding, you're the only person who went for kind of like--
and maybe that's what the brother is supposed to do,
like that right mix of like praise, little bit of humor.
Although you didn't really do actually any light ribbing.
No, no ribbing.
There was some humor, but no like--
No embarrassing stories.
No busting.
My dad was kind of busting.
In a dad way.
Yeah, you told a nice story about how--
Yeah.
What did you say?
You just always knew Dave had a lot of gumption because he carried a canoe on his back for a mile.
Yeah, like we went to this summer camp when we were kids,
and like you try to like compete and like do stuff to get these funny little awards when you're at summer camp.
But a lot of it is like sort of like swim a mile or like get this score in archery.
Like very like classic summer camp stuff.
And one of the things that Dave took upon himself to do was portage a canoe.
This is when he was like 12 or 13.
Right, I found your speech interesting because I wasn't familiar with the phrase "portage a canoe."
Right, I actually explained it to everyone because I sensed in the room on the cuff that I was like,
"Hmm, maybe portage a canoe is not in everyone's lexicon."
Now we've all portaged a canoe, but how many of us have portaged a canoe for one mile at the age of 11?
What's up? How's it going?
Do your real cheat form
She is so dreamy
Like she got features on Fellini
Deadpan, unimpressed
Archimedes, I'm obsessed
Just hanging out
Or Julian Casablanca
She is an epiphany
Of her electricity
Opens my days
Like she always knew
I'm feeling up in a tank
I'm emmited deadly
In all the ways she's a race through
Yeah, no, so what is portaging a canoe again?
It's carrying a canoe solo over land.
But portaging is also a very specific style.
It's like the canoe's flipped over so you're like, it's resting.
Yeah, so like the cross braces in the middle of the canoe
That you might like sit on, or that might form the like
Butcher thing to like form the seat that you would sit on if you're paddling a canoe
Those cross braces are then put on your shoulders.
And that's kind of part of the design?
Yeah, because like there's situations where you're having to go from one body of water to the other.
You gotta take it from this lake to some other lake.
Today's time crisis, we're talking canoe portaging.
Give us a call, let us know how you like to portage your canoes.
There's the Wisconsin method.
Have you ever done a canoe hiking trip?
I have.
So you had to portage it sometimes?
Yes, when I was a kid at camp.
God, it sounds intense.
And you would like, you'd have all your gear in like a waterproof backpack.
Right.
That's in the canoe.
And then you like are canoeing across this huge lake in like Maine.
Yeah.
Then you get to the shore and then there's another lake that starts
because there's areas like in Maine called the Rangeley Lakes that have like lots of lakes.
Or like Minnesota, land of a thousand lakes.
So the lakes are like separated.
I bet Minnesota, they're portaging canoes all day.
Left and right.
Yeah.
So then you're like, oh, it's three quarters of a mile or it's three miles to the next lake.
Yeah.
We got to go from Lake Elmhurst to this other lake.
Boom, on your shoulders.
It's like a roller blade to work.
Then you got to take your roller blades off because you can't wear them in the lobby.
Then you got to sling them around your shoulders when you get in the elevator.
You're sort of portaging your roller blades.
Or if you ride your bike to the subway.
Right.
And then you have to get off the bike and take it in the subway.
You're kind of portaging your bike.
You know what's so stressful is when people put the bike on the rack on the front of the bus.
Oh, yeah.
Do you see that?
Like the city bus vibe and there's like a huge bike rack.
But I never understand how it works with like if other people put their bike on top of yours
and then you're the next stop.
And then you have to like find the guy that put his bike on top of yours.
You know what I'm saying?
And it's all happening while the bus is idling at a bus stop.
Yeah.
And you can just picture all these other people who obviously this is not entirely true.
But I feel like in New York there's a slight thing that the people who bike and then get on the bus
probably have a little more time on their hands than everybody else.
Maybe that's not fair.
I just feel like in broad strokes.
Wait, why?
I guess I'm just picturing like who's like an older person still working, sitting on the bus waiting.
And then I'm just picturing just like me basically just being like, hold up, hold up.
Got to secure my bike.
And just like everybody, you know what I mean?
Sort of like a Ned Flanders kind of move.
Here's an article from paddling.com called the pain of portaging.
And here's a quote from Bill Mason.
Anyone who tells you portaging is fun is either a liar or crazy.
I agree fully with this.
Let's face it, portaging really hurts.
Whether you are carrying over from one lake to another or avoiding a set of nasty rapids,
each trail has some painful characteristics, slippery rocks, steep inclines, bug infested hollows,
boot sucking mud, and many wrong turns.
And there's always that particular canoe mate who never seems to take their share of the load.
Okay, so there's a lot to unpack in the world of portaging.
This is precisely why I told the portaging story.
Okay, so now I really get it that it's portaging.
I was like this kid is cut from a different cloth.
Portaging represents taking pain unto yourself to achieve something great.
Sheer determination and grit.
To make it from one body of water to the next.
I was saying Dave has a very powerful work ethic.
How old was he when he won the portaging award?
I don't know, 12 or 13?
Right.
But I also mentioned that when we were kids, like some 12 or 13 year old dudes are like young men.
Right.
But we were like shrimps. We were like true.
Oh, you're just talking about body type.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, yeah, that was a funny part of the thing.
You said that the long shirt boys were true 98 pound weaklings.
Yeah, bean poles.
You missed the night before the wedding.
There was a slide show that my dad put together.
And there were a lot of photographs of me and Dave.
And when I was a teenager, into my 20s, I looked malnourished.
Really?
I was deeply underweight.
And it was just like--
Into your 20s.
So even when you were at college, slamming brews, late night pizza slices, you--
Yeah, metabolism just tore through it.
You're just one of those lucky guys.
Well, but it really wasn't like-- I didn't look good.
Especially also in the '90s, like the clothes were sort of baggy.
So a combination of just being like a super thin, pale, kind of like gaunt dude with like baggy clothes, like 1998.
Rough stuff, folks.
Pictures of my college era, it's just brutal.
It's hard to like wax nostalgic about college when you look back at the photos of you and you're just like, "Jesus Christ."
I was at my max weight in college, actually.
I actually remember seeing a photo of you a while ago.
Maybe-- Oh, well, that's when I met you.
Yeah.
Like when we did that tour.
And I was like, "Damn, Ezra looks pudgy."
I think it was like a photo from like when we played at like some place in Baltimore or something.
It's gone up and down.
Yeah, because I recently got a scale.
Congratulations.
I just felt like the truth, I've not been eating well at all lately, which doesn't bode well for any forthcoming Vampire Weekend press or things of that nature.
You know what's cool?
You know how I talk about how nobody likes the doors anymore?
Yeah.
I was, you know, just researching the doors as one does.
And I always think about too how like in this era when--
Obviously, we talk so much in this era about who's saying the right thing, who's saying the right thing now, but they said the wrong thing before.
You know, like people digging up old tweets from somebody from five years ago.
"See, I knew you're a piece of s--t."
I'm not commenting on it, but, you know, we know that's been going on.
But, you know, I always think about the people who just said the right thing decades ago when it wasn't particularly fashionable, when you weren't getting props for it.
So I even think about how even in my lifetime, the word fat shaming only kind of came into prominence.
I'm sure it's existed for a long time.
But I don't remember being a kid and being in school and people talk about being nice to each other and they would say, "Don't be mean to an overweight person because
you're fat shaming."
That just word wasn't around.
Yeah.
Anybody with a heart knew that it was cruel to make fun of anybody for their appearance or whatever.
But my point is that I just feel like back in the day, as recently as 10 years ago because I was recently watching the Eddie Murphy film Norbit.
I don't know why, but I wanted to watch Norbit.
And I realized later it's because I thought it was Bowfinger.
Because I know that there are Eddie Murphy movies from the same era where he kind of plays a nerd.
And I was like, "I've heard that that movie is good."
And then somehow I thought it was Norbit.
And so Norbit, almost all the jokes are about him playing an overweight woman.
So it's like just really absurd stuff.
Like she goes on a water slide and then she goes bust through a wall.
Just kind of like you're just like, "What?"
Just feels so dated and it's only like 12, 13 years ago.
So I was really interested when I came across this Jim Morrison interview on YouTube.
And he died in the early '70s.
Yeah.
So Jim Morrison, he was known as somebody who publicly dealt with his weight.
I don't even want to say dealt with his weight because who knows what he thought about it.
But when he came out, he had a very specific look.
And then later, you know, some people would joke about, "Oh, then when he got on drugs, then he got fat."
So, you know, that was the thing people talked about Jim Morrison.
But here's this interview that I found.
Early '70s.
You put on a lot of weight. Are you eating a lot?
So did you hear that, what the interviewer said?
Yeah, yeah. You put on a lot of weight. Are you eating a lot?
Yeah.
Okay, so this is from 1969, by the way.
Well, you know, that's something that really bothers me.
What's wrong with being fat?
That's what I want to know.
Why is there such--
I didn't say there was anything wrong with it.
Why is it so onerous to be fat?
I don't see anything wrong with fat.
I felt like a tank, you know?
I felt like a large mammal, a big beast.
When I moved through the corridors or across the lawn, I just feel like I could knock anybody out of my way, you know?
I was solid, man.
Is this part real?
It's terrible to be thin and wispy because--
I think so.
You could get knocked over by a strong wind or something.
I guess he's kind of skinny-shaming.
Fat is beautiful.
How much do you weigh now?
I don't know, to tell you the truth.
I guess somewhere in the neighborhood of about 150.
More than that, buddy.
Well, maybe he was short.
Completely crapping on his point.
Yeah, I don't know.
Okay, when I hear the whole thing in context, he's kind of going off some deep ends.
I'm just saying--
I thought it was--
But on a very basic level, 1969, when I think about--
Oh, a beast, man.
Yeah, he got vibey, but I just feel like in the '90s, there was so--
You know, late-night talk show hosts, whoever they used to make fun of, like Ricky Lake or whatever.
In the '90s, people were allowed to just make fun of people being fat all the time and people--
I don't know, Kirstie, Kirstie Alley, Oprah, that was a thing.
Delta Burke.
Delta Burke, yep.
So there was so much men talking about women being fat and to a lesser extent talking about men being fat
and nobody ever really questioning the joke, whereas now you see there's a more serious conversation about it.
It's like, what's the problem?
But I'm just saying, 1969, he didn't just say, "Leave me alone, man."
He literally paused for a second and just said, "What's everybody's [bleep] problem with this?
What's so wrong with being fat?
Why is this notable?"
And then he kind of tried to turn it into this, you know, thing, "I feel powerful."
But just the fact that he started it that way, didn't that strike you as a little ahead of his time?
Oh, totally.
I just feel like somebody else might have been just on some, like, "You know what, man?
Leave me alone," but he just really paused and was like, "Let's examine what's happening here.
You find it so notable that I've gained some weight.
Who cares?
What is this obsession with why is it so bad to be fat?"
And I just don't know, 1969, a little bit ahead of his time.
You know, it's also not like he was on, like, social media or something.
This is clearly, like, a not very famous interview.
I don't think, like, immediately people went up to Jim Morrison and were just like, "Thank you."
You know, he wasn't part of a movement or anything.
He was just, like, a dude speaking his mind, a guy who gained a little weight in a year and said,
"Yeah, what is this societal obsession with fat being such a bad thing?
I think there's positives to it."
It struck me.
You know who I could see doing that now?
Who?
Eminem.
Couldn't you see that?
Well, I know he struggled with his weight.
He's talked about it.
Right.
There was that story that he was, like, at a McDonald's or something, and people were like,
he could overhear the table next to him being like, "Yo, is that Eminem?
Yo, is that him?"
He said, "No, he's too big.
He's too fat."
Yeah, he's too fat.
But that encouraged him to, like, start losing weight and working out.
Right.
But what if he was just, like, just got all Morrison on it?
But you know what?
Actually, when I think about it, when Kanye was kind of in the news a lot, I guess he still is,
of course this got overshadowed by the far more controversial Trump stuff.
Well, remember he went on TMZ, and the big takeaway was that he said this absurd slavery is a choice thing,
which he was widely denounced for, but also, I think, in the same interview.
So obviously that's a pretty nutty thing to say.
But within that same interview, he also said something where he was talking about the ways in which his life has been compromised
by the cruelty of the public or the world or the press or something.
Right.
And one of the things he said was, like, that it kind of went by quickly.
He said, "Yeah, because I had to go get liposuction because I didn't want to be made fun of the way you guys did Rob Kardashian,
who's his brother-in-law," which, again, people -- so much of the conversation around this was, "Oh, crazy Kanye."
But nobody paused for a second to say, you know, if you gave him the benefit of the doubt, you're like,
"This is a dude who's a man who is publicly admitting, even in these supposedly woke times,
I've watched a family member suffer so much because of how people talked about his appearance and his weight
that I myself was terrified of what people might say about me, and I'm supposedly this very confident guy, Kanye, famously confident,
and I went and got surgery not because it made me feel good."
You know, it'd be one thing if Kanye said, you know, you could say plastic surgery makes some people feel good,
if that's their choice, but he didn't say it that way.
He said, "I had to go do this because I was so scared of, like, the cruelty that might be enacted upon me."
Do you think he was referring to social media?
I'm sure that's part of life, being like, "Yo, dude, like, I'm worried about you. You should --"
I remember there were some pictures that came out.
That'd be pretty dark of just Kim.
Yeah.
I don't know. The way he was talking, he used the word "y'all," and he was gesturing to TMZ,
representative of the spectacle, the public, the press.
Like, crappy gossip media.
Seinfeld, what were you saying?
Oh, just how a few months before that, some pictures of him looking bigger than we'd ever seen him came out,
and it was like a day of Twitter bashing him, too. I remember that.
Bummer.
Nobody wants to be made fun of, and that's such a low blow that people do.
So, anyway, my larger point here is just that if in 2018 Kanye, a rock star of our generation --
I'm saying all this while I'm still chewing my pizza --
is getting surgery not because that's exactly what he wants to do,
but because he's so terrified of the societal pressure that being fat is associated with being a bad person, whatever,
then Jim Morrison was really ahead of his time in 1969 to say this.
I also just like his calm demeanor. I want to play the beginning again.
You put on a lot of weight eating a lot.
Well, um...
Well...
You know, that's something that really bothers me.
What's wrong with being fat? That's what I want to know. Why is there such...
I didn't say there was anything wrong with it.
Why is it so onerous to be fat? Um...
I love his speaking voice.
I don't see anything wrong with fat.
Maybe Jim Morrison...
I don't see anything wrong with fat.
I also just feel like it's just interesting to me.
It's like the '60s were also this time when people were at least partially waking up to certain injustices.
Yeah.
Racism, Vietnam War, sexism.
And you can just feel like at that time, I'm sure, already, you know, fat shaming for a lot of activist types
was probably so low down the priority list.
Sure.
I don't think it is anymore. People tend to look at this stuff more holistically.
But in 1969, I just think for him to pause...
I just think it's cool for him to pause and just be like, "Yeah, what's wrong with being fat?"
Jake, you're an artist.
Hundreds of years ago, wasn't being overweight kind of a status symbol?
You see all these Elizabethan...
Yeah, I've heard that. Yeah, you see those portraits from like the 18th century.
People looking thick.
The ideal of female beauty then was, by today's standards, plump, for sure.
People are always going to suffer as long as there is an ideal of beauty, man.
I wonder how closely related to like economic status this stuff is.
Because if you're thinking about 18th century paintings, it's sort of like the people that were really thin
were probably like starving peasants, serfs, plebeians.
And the people that were rich, that had idle time and extra food,
they showed it with their bodies and it was like, "Oh, that's beautiful."
It's like, that's stable and affluent.
I wonder if there's a reverse engineering that's happening now.
It's the same thing people say about suntans, that that has gone back and forth
because there would have been a historical moment when to be an aristocrat meant you didn't have to go outside.
Right, you were pale. Yeah.
You didn't have to be pale, whereas out here in the fields, we fight for our meals.
If you were working in the sun all day, you'd be tan.
Nice Baba reference. Thank you.
And then people say, well, eventually that standard shifted when sometimes people associate it with Coco Chanel
and saying that when certain kind of high status people might come back from the beach,
then suddenly it's like, "Oh, damn, you can get a tan."
Maybe it's actually better than lazing around in the house.
Lazing around at the beach and getting a tan is even more nice.
And increasingly, the working stiffs of the world were indoors.
Exactly. You're right.
They were going from the toiling in the fields to toiling in factories
with only the flicker of one of Mr. Edison's new bulbs.
Yeah, things come and go.
This has like a Ken Burns doc feel to it.
He could explore Adam Curtis and Ken Burns team up for the first time.
Or talk about fat shaming.
History of image, self-image and fashion.
This is so time crisis, so half-baked.
Who's doing the voiceover? Because doesn't Ken Burns do the voiceover?
Eminem does it.
Ken Burns does it. Oh, Eminem. That'd be cool.
I do think that because women are so, so shamed,
understandably there's a little less conversation about
the kind of crazy body image stuff that men have as well.
And I don't know, the fact that rock stars from Jim Morrison and Kanye
have been sweating it.
I mean, I got to scale partially because I wanted to have some sense of how much I weighed.
Because like I was saying, I was at my max weight in college.
I more or less stay in a range, but I do feel like I do look very different in pictures.
That's partially why I hate taking pictures.
You know, just sometimes you feel more ready to take a picture and sometimes you don't.
Do you mean like rando fans of the band are like, "Hey, can I get a picture?"
Or do you mean even if you're just hanging with friends and family,
and someone's like, "Hey, Thanksgiving, let's take a picture."
And you're just like, "What's wrong with being fat?"
No, I'm talking more like when I have to take, when I know that I have to go do press.
And I haven't done very much over the past five years.
But just like knowing, I've definitely had the experience of just kind of like
living my life and eating how I want and then being like,
"Oh, by the way, they want to do like a photo shoot in two days."
And just like have this slight flicker of anxiety in my head, just like a mind-fighting shape.
And you know, if I was like really woke, I wouldn't--
I'd be like, "Well, this is how I look right now in this moment," and take a picture.
And that's one way I look. And you know, if I--
Grow a beard, dude. Go full Morrison.
I know, I can't grow enough of a beard. That helps.
You know who I could see kind of being Morrison style?
Who? Besides Eminem?
Father John Misty.
Oh, yeah. Father John Misty.
He kind of has that vibe.
Like he-- I mean--
Well, he's a very slim man.
I know, but he has a-- like Jim Morrison's demeanor in that interview.
And they look kind of similar, too.
Kind of reminded me of FJM.
But if he put on a bunch of pounds and then someone's like, "So, what's that guy's name?"
Father John?
Yeah. Oh, Josh?
So Josh.
So, Mr. Tillman, it seems like you put on a few.
What's wrong with really slow, deliberate delivery?
I also love the fact that he starts off--
What's wrong with--
I think also the one thing that also gets me is that he pauses and says,
"You know, this is something that really bothers me."
He's really taking a stand here.
He's not just being like, "Ugh, you know, man, I don't like that question."
He really pauses. He deliberates and says--
He's not nervous. He's not panicked.
"This question that you just asked me, I've thought about it before.
It bothers me on a fundamental level."
And he doesn't-- Yeah, because he doesn't make it personal.
That's what's interesting. He doesn't say like, "What's your problem, man? Leave me alone."
That's what Eminem would do.
Yeah. "Now you call me fat?"
Jim Morrison is actually like pauses and thinks about the world for a second.
Wow.
"This really bothers me."
I got to say, I'm picturing myself this weekend going down a Jim Morrison interview--
Interview hole.
--YouTube. Did you watch others?
No. I think this one just popped up.
I had kind of a breakthrough just right now of like--
Yeah. That he's kind of cool.
Oh, Jim Morrison was cool.
It's easy to like bag on the doors.
Because people kind of talk about Jim Morrison like--
Basically like he was a goofball.
Or he's like a pretentious, kind of not very talented poet or something.
Right. I feel like for a while there was kind of--
If you think about some of the icons of the '60s, they'd be like,
"Now John Lennon was smart. He knew how the world worked.
Jim Morrison was probably off."
And I'm kind of like, "I never heard of John Lennon."
I'm sure John Lennon took a stand on other things, but I'm like, "I don't know."
He just wrote better songs. That's why we love him more.
The crystal ship is being filled.
I mean, the doors have--
They have some good ones.
They had quite a run.
Yeah. He really started an archetype too, Morrison.
Yeah. There is something when you hear his speaking voice,
it makes you like pause and be like, "There's more to this guy for sure."
So how do we get down this rabbit hole?
Are we talking about my brother's wedding presentation?
Yeah, no, because you were talking about how you guys were total bean poles.
Right.
So the idea of Dave portaging a canoe, just a 12-year-old bean pole--
Yeah.
--showed you that he had some grit.
Yep. Told that story, and then the determination that was on display
was shortly thereafter put into music.
You quoted the dead.
I did.
And I've been thinking about that because--
I saw Dave's face when I was like, "And you know what?
I'll just quote the great Jerry Garcia."
And I was just being like, "Oh my God."
But then I said, "They love each other.
Lord, you can see that it's true."
They love each other.
Lord, you can see that it's true.
I think that's such a nice sentiment.
I do think that there is--I can only think of a couple songs.
They love each other, which was a Jerry solo song originally, right?
Yeah.
That the dead played a lot.
And there's a couple kink songs.
Oh, and also there's like a zombie song.
What's a zombie song?
Basically what I'm--
Like the classic wedding one?
This will be our year.
No, not even that one.
I'm basically thinking about songs that are--
And I've been thinking about this a lot, even in my own life.
Songs that are about other people--
Observing people in love?
Yeah, basically observing people in love
and how so much of our society, our society, man,
tells us that all of life is about finding love
and that most songs are about the singer looking for love,
experiencing love, experiencing heartbreak.
Right.
And that occupies a very, very high percentage of all songs ever written.
It's all first-person narrative.
Yeah, or if there is a story, a song that's about people in love,
it's just kind of telling the story of their love.
It's not that triangulation of being like, "I'm a person here
"and watching other people in love gives me positive feelings too.
"It's nice to know that other people are in love."
And I was thinking about that, that it's just weird that there's not more about--
Very specific experience of observing people close to you
and they're giving off great vibes.
Which is definitely part of a wedding.
Okay, what's the--
♫ Lord, you know they made a fine connection ♫
♫ They love each other ♫
Oh, yeah, track 11 on Odyssey and Oracle.
Great album.
Famous Zombies album.
I think this is it, Friends of Mine.
Oh, yeah.
♫♫♫
♫ When you get all in a crowd ♫
♫ And you catch her eye ♫
♫ And then you both smile ♫
♫ I feel safe inside ♫
Very straightforward.
♫ She talks about you ♫
♫ The things that you say ♫
♫ The things that you do ♫
♫ It feels so good to know two people ♫
♫ So in love, so in love ♫
♫ Friends of mine ♫
Oh, yeah, and they're just listing the friends.
Just listing couples.
♫♫♫
All one-syllable names.
Those backup vocals are amazing.
♫ It's up to the sea ♫
♫ Jake and Han ♫
Yeah, they'd shorten it to Jake and Han.
Dave and T.
I think there's some double ones.
♫ It feels so good to know two people ♫
♫ So in love, so in love ♫
♫ Chris and Terry, Paul and Molly ♫
Paul and Molly.
♫ Kim and Kanye, Pete and Ariana ♫
♫ Jim and Chris, Don and Melania ♫
[laughs]
♫♫♫
Also, just, like, tearing into a guitar solo
about how much other people love each other,
it's just not a common sentiment.
♫ It feels so good to know two people ♫
♫ So in love, so in love ♫
♫ Chris and Terry, Paul and Molly ♫
♫ Chris and Kanye, Joy and Lady ♫
♫ Kim and Maggie, June and Ralph ♫
♫ Jason, Jim and Kim and Christy ♫
♫ Brad and Angelina ♫
♫ Connie being offset ♫
With other celebrity couples.
♫ Kim and Dolly, June and Jim ♫
♫ And Kim and Christy ♫
What an ending.
♫ Jim and Christy ♫
Ah.
I especially love-- I haven't heard that song in a long time.
That sounded amazing.
I also love that the song gets so pumped up.
It's kind of a barn burner.
It really is.
It'd be like one thing to sit down at a piano,
write a pretty ballad about witnessing the love of my friends.
Right, right.
Makes me think about--
Also, I love that there's almost nothing that ties it back to the speaker.
All it says is, "It feels good to know two people so in love."
And also, I just love that it's, like, energetic.
Yeah.
♫ It feels so good ♫
♫ So in love ♫
♫ They are friends of mine ♫
Just imagine a pop song anywhere near, like, the--
I mean, I don't think this was a big song, but--
The deep cut on the record.
It's a deep cut.
The Zombies were a big band at the time.
Just imagine somebody--like, a big hit song that's just about other people and love.
It just doesn't exist.
Everything's kind of about--we're the me generation.
Wow, man.
Maybe that's a problem with our society, man.
There's not enough emphasis on other people's love.
In fact, we live in very bitter times, man.
You see other people in love, these days you're more likely to be [bleep] them.
I want you to go full Jim Morrison on your press tour when your album comes out.
I don't even know what I mean by that.
Right.
Well, one thing I definitely learned from him--
Does it take really long?
No, I've always thought about that.
I have this issue generally where if I don't feel totally comfortable--
I mean, this is totally not unique to me.
I think a lot of people are like this.
If I don't feel totally comfortable, I'll just, like, fill in all the space, right?
A lot of people are like that.
Oh, sure.
You're having, like, a weird conversation with somebody and they seem kind of weird.
You'll just, like, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.
Yeah.
And it's very easy to do that with interviewers because partially that's what they want you to do.
Yeah, they're banking on it.
They'd rather let you run your mouth until you say something kind of--
I don't even want to say juicy because it's not like every interviewer is out to get you,
but they are incentivized to at least get, like, good nuggets.
Sure.
And a lot of their questions are kind of vague.
So if they're like, "What's your approach to songwriting?"
And if everything you say is kind of like, "Well, you know, when I think about song--"
They want that little nugget where you're just like, "Chainsmokers suck.
That's what I think about."
You know, they're waiting for you to get to that point.
And I also feel like because I often will add all these, like, little sentence fragments
to really try to make my point because in real time I'll be like,
"But having said that, I do understand where they're coming from and blah, blah, blah."
I just end up with these, like, crazy run-on sentences.
So maybe one thing I can learn from this is the pause.
Just every time somebody asks me anything--
Do, like, the big inhale.
Yeah.
"So you took five years to make this album.
What have you been up to?"
You know, that's something that really bothers me, this idea that five years is a long time
and that I would have been doing things.
What's wrong with doing nothing for five years?
I didn't say there's anything wrong.
Our society has preoccupation with productivity.
Why is it--this actually could be good.
Why is it so onerous to not produce content for the capitalist enterprise?
When I was doing little to nothing, I felt like a tank.
I felt powerful.
As I would walk to Coffee Bean, I felt like a tank.
I don't know. I forgot what I was saying.
Just say it.
Just always pause.
What were the influences on this album?
Just, like, the most part--
What were you listening to when you made this album?
That's something that really bothers me, the idea that you need to listen to music to make music.
What's wrong with not listening to music?
We'll see.
Riders on the storm
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out of love
Riders on the storm
There's a killer on the road
His brain is squirming like a toad
Take a long holiday
Let your children play
If you give this man a ride
Sweet family will die
Killer on the road
You're listening to Time Crisis on Beat One.
Should we talk about this Paul McCartney album?
So in love.
'Cause I've been interested in this.
Yeah, we should.
First of all, I gotta say, I'm a Paul McCartney fan.
Who the hell isn't?
I gotta say, though, is Jake--
Yeah.
Did you check out the whole album?
No.
'Cause you texted me that you had a very bad reaction to one of the singles.
I heard the single on-- I don't know what it was.
Oh, it might have been on Beatles radio.
And there was a new Paul McCartney song called "Fuh You."
Well, first of all, I love Paul McCartney's press tour that he's been doing.
He's been kind of just speaking his mind.
He--
Oh my God.
He kind of broke the internet for a second.
Yep.
This is classic three weeks too late Time Crisis.
Oh yeah.
He broke the internet for a second telling a story
about how when he and John Lennon were lads
they and a group of boys masturbated together.
Not unheard of.
I never did that.
And I was never even near it.
But that's the type of thing that when I was a lad--
Oh yeah.
--in Liverpool, you didn't tend to come across this type of activity,
but you would hear so much dumb discussion about these sex moves that don't exist.
Yep.
I feel like that probably happened also way more back in their day.
Less to do.
Yeah, there was less to do in the-- I guess even in the '50s.
Yeah, for-- late '50s.
Well, so anyway, Paul McCartney told this story and people were--
I could tell from what I read the way he told it was telling it was like,
"Oh, it's just funny, like a bunch of kids exploring their sexuality."
And he said one of the funny things about it is that people would call out
the names of famous actresses.
Right.
Oh, Brigitte Bardot.
Brigitte Bardot.
And then John, being a cut-up, would call out Winston Churchill.
John with that ironic sense of humor.
And also, John, why couldn't-- what if somebody within the crew
found Winston Churchill attractive?
You're no Jim Morrison, John Lennon.
Yeah, you know what, John?
He steered us through our darkest hour.
If that's not sexually attractive, I don't know what is.
Anyway, the point is that Paul told this story and everybody got obsessed with it
to the point that the next day after the story broke,
the New York Post dropped one of their best covers of all time,
which was "Beat the Beatles."
And I'm sure everybody's familiar that the New York Post famously does
punny wordplay headlines on their front cover.
And the Beatles' first album in America, at least, was called "Meet the Beatles."
So that's an iconic phrase associated with the Beatles.
So anyway, it's cool. Paul's out there doing his thing.
But Jake, and from what I've seen--
Paul said that tucked away for 55 years.
Apparently he'd told the story before, just pre-internet era,
so it hadn't gotten picked up on in the same way.
So I've been happy to see that Paul recently got his first number one since 1982,
his first number one album.
That's amazing.
So, you know, well-deserved.
And it's cool he's out there speaking his mind,
showing people another side of Paul McCartney.
From what I've seen, the reviews have been great.
I haven't heard the record yet, but--
"Egypt Station."
The album's called "Egypt Station."
Intriguing title.
It's definitely.
But before I saw that this record was getting really positive attention,
I was a little nervous because Jake hit me up saying,
"I heard this new Paul song, 'Fuck You,' and I don't like it."
I think it was through the Time Crisis text thread.
You're like, "Guys, this is rough stuff."
Yep. Very rough.
So let's see if Jake is being a little too harsh.
It can be jarring at first to hear Paul with this kind of production.
But now I'm getting used to it.
Fuck.
What don't you like about it, Jake?
I don't like the production.
You don't like hearing a man that age express his sexuality? Why?
I don't mind that.
You know what, Jake? That really bothers me.
I don't mind him expressing his sexuality per se.
What I don't like, he's just kind of adopting, not only sonically,
but lyrically, the language of music that has nothing to do with him.
He's talking about going to a club?
He didn't say club, did he?
Towards the beginning of the song? Something. He was out.
He was out on the town meeting some--
Okay. I'm sure he does that.
Is he single right now?
Honestly, I want--
The guy's in his 70s. He's a giant of songwriting.
I want a little more wisdom, pathos, introspection, observation,
some hint of wisdom or something from him.
The opening lyrics are "Come on baby now, let me look at you,
talking about yourself, try to tell the truth.
I can stay up half the night trying to crack your code.
I can stay up half the night, but I'd rather hit the road.
On the night that I met you, I was on the town.
On the night that I met you, I just want to know how you feel.
I want to love the soul, proud and real.
You make me want to go out and steal.
I just want to fuck you. I just want to fuck you.
It's rough stuff, folks.
I mean, he's kind of like, "Let's cut to the chase."
Yeah.
I wonder how you feel about the song if you like the production more.
If this was like an unreleased Paul from the '80s,
just like him on the guitar.
I could stay up half the night trying to crack your code.
It's not a good song.
I mean, the melodies are memorable.
Do you remember that CeeLo song, "Fuck You,"
and they had to change it to "Forget You"?
Yeah, you know, that's led me to say "forget you" a lot in my life.
If I'm kind of like play acting that I'm like mad about something,
I'll just always be like, "Forget you,"
which is something that people say.
No, it's something that people say,
but that song kind of like reentered it into my vocabulary.
"Forget you."
It's wholesome.
The song just strikes me as sad and kind of pandering.
'Cause I get he's like, "Look, I'm an old man.
People expect me to write these old man songs.
I don't want to do that.
I want to like switch it up and surprise people."
But then it's sort of like, "That's your solution?"
Weak.
Maybe you like some other stuff.
Oh, he's 76. Damn.
Let's hit some other songs.
I don't want to just get all neg-head over here.
This one sounds interesting.
Okay.
"Back in Brazil."
[birds chirping]
♪
Ooh!
♪
♪ Back in Brazil ♪
♪ There lives a girl ♪
♪ Dreams of the future ♪
♪ And a far, far better world ♪
♪
♪ Back in Brazil ♪
♪ She meets a man ♪
♪ He's tall and handsome ♪
♪ And he fits in with her plan ♪
♪ Bright lights ahead ♪
♪ Music and fun ♪
♪ Nights of dancing ♪
Kind of reminds me of like, Middle East Trade, Beck.
You know what I mean?
♪ All kinds of weather ♪
♪ Will surely come and go ♪
♪ But they're together ♪
♪ And together ♪
♪ They will steal the show ♪
What's your favorite Paul McCartney song of all time?
If I don't think--you know, if I don't overthink it,
I just first thought, best thought, "Hey Jude."
Mm.
Kind of basic, but I mean--
You know what?
I was telling you I watched that Vietnam doc recently.
"You Never Give Me Your Money"?
Maybe that's--if I thought it through a little more.
♪ You never give me-- ♪
Okay, what about Post Beatles?
Hold that thought on the Vietnam doc.
Mm-hmm.
Um, I don't know, something like "Jet" or something?
Or, uh--
♪ Let me hold it to ya ♪
Or, um, some of those--
♪ Time's on the run ♪
Yeah, I love that one, too.
Maybe "I'm Amazed"?
I mean, it's a great song, but--
Oh, what about--have we ever talked on the show about--
Some of the stuff off "Ram," dude?
I haven't listened to that one.
Oh, yeah, "Ram," like Uncle Albert.
Yeah, exactly.
Or this classic.
[imitates trumpet]
This is, like, "McCartney II,"
you know, the album with all the synth stuff.
Oh, yeah, yeah, this is crazy.
♪ Don't go jumping in the waterfalls ♪
Oh, hell yeah.
♪ Please keep to the lake ♪
What a voice.
Amazing.
This is kind of--this is a deep cut.
It's a TLC lyric.
Yeah, that's true.
♪ Sometimes you make mistakes ♪
♪ And I need love ♪
I love that part.
♪ And I need love ♪
And this is, like, the real weird [bleep]
"Temporary Secretary."
Hey.
This is, like, 1980 or something?
Yeah, exactly.
♪
Yeah, this is wild.
Think about him in his home studio.
♪
♪ Mr. Mox, can you find for me ♪
♪ Someone strong and sweet ♪
♪ Fitting on my knee ♪
♪ She can keep her job if she gets it wrong ♪
♪ But Mr. Mox, I won't need her long ♪
♪ All I need is help for a little while ♪
You know, it's funny.
When you really get to the meat of the songwriting itself,
it is just sort of, like, classic Paul.
There's definitely, like, a through line in his songwriting.
Oh, the thing I was going to say about the Vietnam doc--
Yeah.
--is that it gets, like, so heavy at the end.
Like, especially the end, it's, like, the way they kind of
wrap it up after the fall of Saigon,
and you just see this kind of totally pointless war
that caused so much devastation, so much pain and suffering,
and then they talk about the Vietnam Memorial in D.C.,
and there's a lot of people being like,
"When I first saw the designs, I thought it was disrespectful.
I hated it, blah, blah, blah."
And then people tell these stories,
but when I actually went to go see it,
it was, like, so powerful just to see those names,
like the humanity and blah, blah.
And it's really moving, and then it kind of closes
with a few stories of American soldiers
who go back to Vietnam, you know, in their 60s.
Wow.
And sometimes they even sit down
with former North Vietnamese soldiers,
and they talk about on both sides,
there's this weird meaning,
even though they're on opposite sides,
people who suffered through the same hell of war,
even though I don't think there's
very many Vietnamese people who believe
that the U.S.'s presence was just,
there's still something about these people
coming together and feeling like some sense
of maybe even shared victimhood or something,
people are forced to fight.
So anyway, it's really heavy, and then while some of this stuff
is happening at the end and just kind of, like,
talking about all the people who've appeared
in the documentary, the Vietnamese people,
the Americans, whatever,
then they just kind of, like, rip into this.
And it's actually, like, really moving.
'Cause this is one of those songs that's, like,
you hear it as a kid, and you're like,
"This is a beautiful song."
And then you get older, and it becomes a little trite.
Sure.
'Cause you just hear it too much.
Yeah.
And then you see it in the context of, like--
You're like, "Yeah, okay, let it be.
"That's cool."
Right, like, what does that even mean?
Right.
And then you see it in the context of, like,
the final song of, like, the Vietnam doc,
that's just, like, so brutal.
Wow.
It's really moving.
Wow.
When this drops in.
God, I love that you watch the whole thing.
I want to do it.
Yeah, I had some time on my hands
for those long flights.
Over some, like, you know, like, the last week of the year,
like, Christmas and New Year's,
just, like, not much going on.
Oh, yeah.
Just block out 18 hours.
♪ Let it be ♪
♪ Whisper words of love ♪
So in the context of the doc, you're just sort of like,
"Yeah, man."
Yeah.
You're like, "Let it be, man.
"Yeah, seriously."
A lot of crazy, terrible things went down.
Yeah.
♪ Living in the world of greed ♪
Yeah, and then the lyrics become--
Yeah, it's--
The lyrics become much more moving in that context.
Anyway, Ken Burns, Vietnam doc, check it out.
Should we do the top five?
It's time for the top five.
F-F-F-F-F-Five on iTunes.
So this week on the top five,
we're gonna compare the greatest hits of this week in 2018
to the top five Billboard hits of 1982.
Why 1982?
Paul McCartney's "Egypt Station" is his first number one record.
Since?
1982's "Tug of War."
Yep.
Which was also a number one record.
And this is considered the longest--
or it is the longest gap between number ones
for a living artist ever--
36 years, 3 months, and 10 days.
Shout-out to Paul, still doing his thing.
Mm-hmm.
So I'm gonna take it back to '82.
All right.
I wasn't alive.
You were, Jake.
The days between.
The days-- [laughs]
1977 to 1984 are truly the days between.
In the TC-verse.
What was going on in '82 with you?
Let's see, I would've been 5,
holding it down pretty solid in Southbury.
Is that the year Dave was born?
He's born in December of '81.
So this was kind of your first full year
with the little brother.
Yeah, he would've been--
what are we in here, September?
Yeah, so he would've been almost a year at this point.
Do you have memories of Dave being born?
Yeah.
I remember the anticipation.
I remember not knowing
whether it would be a brother or a sister.
Oh, 'cause your parents didn't know?
I guess they didn't know.
Whoa.
I don't know if that was by choice
or if in '81 that wasn't as much a thing.
You know, recently I watched a bunch of YouTube videos
'cause I've been seeing so many gender reveal videos.
Are you familiar with this concept?
Not really, but I think I picked up on it.
People being like,
finding out what the gender of their baby's gonna be.
Yeah, and it kind of started--
maybe people have been doing this forever,
but now similar to promposals.
Do you know what promposals are?
No, but again, I'm making the logical jump.
Like, these are YouTube videos you're talking about.
Yeah.
And they're just like, "Hey, gang."
Or Instagram.
But it's just like,
people kind of started upping the ante with certain things
when they knew that it could go viral.
So if back in the day a gender reveal
might just be somebody making a cake,
and generally speaking with gender reveals,
they kind of adhere to a very strict gender color scheme,
which is blue for boys and pink for girls,
which, you know, I thought we were getting rid of in 2018,
but perhaps not.
But are you literally seeing the moment when they find out?
Like, the split second?
Yes, well, probably for one of the parents.
It seems like it's very centered around the dad finding out,
from what I've seen.
Dad's checked out, man.
Yeah, dad's checked out.
Mom knows.
Yeah, I guess the dad didn't even go with her
to the OB-GYN appointment.
But I've seen ones, like, let's say that the dad
is a professional baseball player.
Well, how about this?
We gather the friends and family around the backyard,
we'll pitch the dad a ball,
and when he smacks into it, dust will fly out
that's either blue or pink,
revealing the gender in a way that speaks
to the dad's profession, baseball.
Wow, that is elaborate.
So there's kind of everything you could think of.
Right.
So, like, you could go down to Rabbit Hole
and just watch, like, best gender reveals
and just watch, take down, like, 200 of them.
Are there any Grateful Dead-themed gender reveals?
What would that one even be?
You, like, close your eyes and they, like,
play a Grateful Dead song and either it's--
If it's from '72, it's a boy.
If it's from '77, it's a girl.
If it's Jack Straw, it's a boy.
If it's Ramblin' Rose--
Yeah, if it's Stella Blue--
Yeah.
Oh, that's confusing.
If it's Stella Blue--
Oh, right.
How about this?
If it's from the era where Donna performed with them,
it's a girl.
Nice.
If it's from before or after, it's a boy.
Yep.
So you might have to take down a solid 30-minute--
Without knowing.
Yeah.
We're gonna start you at minute 15
of the 45-minute playing in the band.
Or if you're, like, a true Deadhead, you'd be like,
"Easy, that's '73. Donna was a member.
It's a girl. Nice."
But whatever, this is--
Nice.
This is a thing people do.
Gotcha.
You know what?
Like, maybe if I was planning a gender-reveal party for you,
Jake, 'cause you're a painter,
I might gather your friends and family in your art studio.
I would get a blank canvas.
We'd blindfold you, dip your paintbrush in the paint,
put on some good tunes for you, and say,
"Jake, I want to take you two minutes,
and just follow your instinct as you paint blindfolded."
And then we would say, "All right, man, take it off."
And you would open your eyes to see
an impressionistic pink painting.
If it's a girl, blue if it's a boy.
That sounds really cool.
We should do that.
I love that.
Very moving.
Whether or not you have a kid, we should do that.
Very moving.
Why was I talking about this?
Because we're talking about the top--
Oh, no, we're talking about when you found out that--
Oh, yeah.
You didn't know if you were going to have a brother.
Right.
So then there's an adjacent category,
or an interrelated category to gender reveals,
which is, like, just people videoing their kids
to give the kid a gender reveal.
So this is not, like--
Oh, wow. Let them know.
This is not daddy gender reveal.
So I watched one, which the parents deemed
to share with the world,
where they go up to their little daughter
who looks like four or five, and they say,
"Hey, here's a little gift.
Remember, you know how Mommy said
you were going to have a brother or sister, right?
Coming up soon? Yes?
Well, here's a little gift."
And then they give her blue balloons
and a little pouch with some blue sweets.
And the girl bursts into tears.
And she's like, "No."
And they're like, "Why?"
And she's like, "I wanted a sister."
"But you're getting a little brother."
"But I don't want a brother.
I wanted a sister."
I remember having that exact same--
That you wanted a sister?
No, a brother.
Oh, so you were psyched.
I was relieved when the phone rang
at my grandmother's house.
You were just like--
And I was just like--
Talk.
[laughs]
What did we get?
Give it to me straight.
"Did I get a brother? Yes. Yes."
I went down on one knee and just fist-pumped.
I have no memories of when I found out
that I was getting a little sister.
See, that's the thing.
I think you have slightly more memories at five
than you do at four.
And when you're closer to my sister.
Right.
So you don't remember any of the anticipation
around the house or anything?
No, I vaguely remember--
Like, "Mom's pregnant."
I don't remember Mom being pregnant.
I remember--
I have some vague memory of being like,
"I'm at Grandma's house for two days
because my mom's in the hospital."
I remember that there was--
This is some old-school shit.
Maybe it's still true.
My sister was born at a hospital in New Jersey,
and I remember that hospital had a McDonald's.
So I remember being, like,
some vague sense of just being like, "Yes!"
All right, where are we?
We were going to count down the top five
gender reveals of 2018.
That was my situation circa '82.
That's the year I was born.
Oh!
Oh, you were born '82?
Yeah.
Just FYI.
Just throwing it out there.
The year that Seinfeld came into this world.
Okay, so the number five song in '82
was "Melissa Manchester."
"You should hear how she talks about you."
That kind of sounds like the song we're talking about,
where you're talking about other people's love.
Totally.
[upbeat music]
According to lyricist Dean Pitchford,
the song's lyrical concept was borrowed
from "She Loves You" by the Beatles.
I guess that's kind of an unusual one.
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
♪ She's so very nice ♪
♪ You should break the ice ♪
♪ Let her know that she's on your mind ♪
♪ What you're trying to hide ♪
♪ When you know inside ♪
♪ She's the best thing you'll ever find ♪
♪ Oh, can't you see it ♪
♪ Don't you think she's feeling the same ♪
♪ Oh, I guarantee it ♪
♪ She's the one who's calling your name ♪
♪ You should hear how she talks about you ♪
♪ You should hear what she's saying ♪
That key change is so Miss Carol.
Wait, there's another song from this era
that sounds just like...
♪ Da, da, da, da, da ♪
Oh, it's Madonna.
Material Girl.
♪ 'Cause we all live ♪
Yeah, well, this song's from April of '82.
When did Material Girl come out?
Seinfeld, quick number crunch on that.
Seinfeld, let me get a number crunch on that.
January of '85.
♪ She's the best thing you'll ever find ♪
Uh-oh.
She might have been biting this a little bit.
Woof.
Nice new wave.
New wave feels really played out right now.
That is quintessential early '80s production.
Yep, not as cool as, like, some, like, punky new wave,
but, you know, this is what it is.
Yeah.
Remember we were talking, I think on the last episode,
these guys were in the top five.
They're a group out of Australia.
They're called 5 Seconds of Summer.
Oh, that's right.
This song's called "Youngblood."
♪ Remember the words you told me ♪
♪ Love me 'til the day I die ♪
♪ You're random in everything 'cause you made me believe ♪
♪ You're mine ♪
♪ Yeah, you used to call me baby ♪
♪ And now you're calling me ♪
Those guitar voicings kind of remind me of that
Justin Bieber ballad.
Remember that one?
Which one?
The one with just, like, really spare acoustic--
I mean, electric.
Oh, yeah.
"You Should Go and Love Yourself"?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
♪ You're pushing, you're pushing, I'm pulling away ♪
♪ Pulling away from you ♪
♪ I give and I give and I give and you take ♪
♪ Give and you take ♪
♪ Youngblood, see you want me, see you want me ♪
♪ Out of your life ♪
♪ And I'm just a dead man walking tonight ♪
♪ But you need it, yeah, you need it ♪
♪ All of the time, yeah ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Youngblood, see you want me, see you want me ♪
♪ Back in your life, so I'm just a dead man ♪
This part's pretty hard.
♪ Running tonight ♪
♪ 'Cause I need it, yeah, I need it ♪
♪ All of the time, yeah ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
Six writers on this song.
All right.
Here's a fun one.
Back to '82.
Jesus.
The number four song, 1982.
I won't even say it.
You'll know this from the jump.
You already know what it is?
♪ Just like a one-winged-- ♪
No, no, no, there's two songs that people get confused sometimes.
They both start out with a little "ding-a-ding-a-ding-a."
That's earlier, I think.
Slightly earlier, yeah.
Or maybe not.
This song probably was inspired by "Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks.
What's the other song with a "ding-a-ding-a-ding"?
What's the other very famous song with a "ding-a-ding-a-ding-a-ding"?
Okay, yeah.
You know what it is now?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's "Eye of the Tiger."
Right.
Who is this by?
"Survivor."
That's a heavy band name.
[laughs]
So this is a single from "Survivor's" third album,
but it's also the theme song for the film "Rocky III,"
which is what I associate it with.
Sure.
It gained tremendous MTV and radio airplay
and top charts worldwide during 1982.
They won a Grammy for this song.
Deep intro.
And then they made a movie called "Eye of the Tiger" in '86.
This guy's got a real Steve Perry vibe.
In 2012, "Survivor" sued Republican presidential candidate
Newt Gingrich in Illinois federal court
for using "Eye of the Tiger" without authorization
as entrance music at his political rallies
going back as far as 2009.
That is so classic.
Do you think there's ever been, like, a Democratic candidate
that's using rock song?
Oh, that got sued by, like, a Republican?
Or just, like, some, like--
You know what? I'm really apolitical.
I don't like my music being used in any political context.
It's always Republicans getting sued.
Yeah.
Just Neil Young suing Obama.
Whoa, whoa, man.
[laughs]
I'm trying to stay out of politics.
Mm, those harmonized guitars.
Yeah.
Very stiff stuff here.
♪ Rival ♪
♪ Rival ♪
♪ No survivors ♪
♪ Folks are spreading the light ♪
♪ And he's watching us ♪
♪ Oh, is he ♪
♪ Eye of the tiger ♪
What is this--
They use this effect a lot in the early '80s,
that backwards--
Is it like a piano chord plus a cymbal?
Backwards.
[imitates piano chord]
That's a pretty tight diagnosis.
Do they use that on, like, Thriller or something?
This is not the only song that does that.
No.
It's almost like a proto-drop, dude,
where it serves as, like, a crescendo.
♪ Rival ♪
♪ No survivors ♪
♪ Folks are spreading the light ♪
♪ And he's watching us ♪
♪ Oh, is he ♪
♪ Eye of the tiger ♪
♪ No survivors ♪
♪ Folks are spreading the light ♪
♪ And he's watching us ♪
♪ Oh, is he ♪
♪ Eye of the tiger ♪
The Sam and Dave song "Hold On, I'm Coming"
was used by Barack Obama.
Democrats have been asked to stop playing music as well.
In 2008, Sam Moore of Sam and Dave asked Obama
to refrain from playing his "Hold on, I'm coming"
for fear it would look like the singer
had endorsed the candidate.
Or he was just really into Hillary.
Or maybe he-- yeah, primary days.
Actually, soul man Sam Moore
performed at the Trump inauguration,
so I guess he's a Republican.
Yikes.
Rough stuff, folks.
♪ Hold on ♪
And Sam and Dave had some other good songs, right?
♪ Da-da-da-da-da-da ♪
Yeah, they had this great song called "Soothe Me."
Yeah?
♪ Soothe me ♪
Just a great soul act from the 1960s.
Yeah.
Just a great Republican soul act from the 1960s.
We had a Sam and Dave greatest hits tape
in one of my parents' cars growing up.
Oh yeah?
Oh yeah.
He said, "As an American, I'm honored to perform
for President-elect Donald Trump.
I was a participant in the Civil Rights Movement, oof,
and have seen many positive changes and advancement
in my 81 years of living in this wonderful country,
but I know we must all join hands and work together
with our new president."
Okay, maybe he's not a Republican,
he was just on some, like--
That is the most innocuous statement.
Deeply optimistic [bleep]
Okay, the number four song now is called "Fallin' Down,"
and it's by Lil Peep and XXXTentacion,
both of whom have passed away.
Recently.
Yes.
I've heard about this song a little bit
because one of the writers on it is a friend of the show
I Love Maconin, Maconin Sheridan.
Oh, okay.
And friend of Vampire Weekend,
because he was working on all sorts of stuff
with Lil Peep before he died,
so yeah, the three writers on this are Maconin,
Lil Peep, and XXX.
Let's see how it sounds.
♪ Come, let's watch the rain as it's falling down ♪
Let's do that song for Peep.
♪ The light on the scale and I'm not around ♪
Wow, so this was an unreleased Lil Peep song,
Lil Peep died, and then XXX heard it
and recorded a verse for it, and then he died.
♪ Come, let's watch the rain as it's falling down ♪
♪ Come, let's watch the rain as it's falling down ♪
Got some of that emo vibe, yeah.
♪ The sunlight on your skin when I'm not around ♪
♪ It's confusing, we don't know ♪
Kind of almost reminds me of a song of the
Smashing Pumpkins Adore album.
Similar palette.
♪ Rain keeps falling, tears keep falling ♪
So who's this singing?
That sounds like X.
♪ Rain keeps falling, tears keep falling ♪
The verse is pretty cool.
♪ Darling, your love is like walking in a witness ♪
♪ And I just can't, can't go on ♪
♪ Come, let's watch the rain as it's falling down ♪
♪ The sunlight on your skin when I'm not around ♪
♪ It's confusing, we don't know ♪
♪ Come, let's watch the rain as it's falling down ♪
His name was Lil, bro.
I knew I loved him because it's like, yo,
if I would've known he was so cool,
and it's like, if I would've watched interviews sooner,
bro, we were so alike.
It's unfortunate because it's like, yo, when people die,
that's when we were like--
Whoa, heavy.
'Cause your remorse kind of makes you check 'em out.
Him talking about Lil Peep after his death.
♪ Can't pronounce ♪
♪ And I just can't, can't go on ♪
All right, you get the idea.
Damn, that's heavy.
Back to 1982.
Ooh, Chicago, hard to say, sorry.
So people who don't know,
Chicago started in the late '60s as kind of like a hard rock band.
Kind of a hard rock soul.
They changed a lot,
and they kind of reinvented themselves in the '80s
with some soft rock mega hits, like this one.
♪ Everybody needs a little time away ♪
We might have talked about the Chicago Dock
a little bit on the show.
Talk about rough stuff.
Yeah.
Listeners who are interested,
I urge you to watch the Chicago Dock on Netflix.
This stretch of the dock is priceless.
It's like late, late and good fellas style.
♪ Far away from each other ♪
♪ Oh now ♪
♪ It's hard for me to say I'm sorry ♪
This is a good song.
♪ I just want you to stay ♪
♪ After all the hooey you've been through ♪
♪ I will be there ♪
This is Peter Cetera singing.
♪ I just want you to stay ♪
♪ After all the hooey you've been through ♪
He's got so much of that kind of '80s reverb on,
but if you really listen to it, he goes,
♪ After all that hooey you've been through ♪
That's crazy.
Very theatrical.
Well, I f*cked with Peter Cetera.
Oh, hell yeah.
If you really listen to it the way he says weave.
♪ After all the hooey you've been through ♪
This is a very strong song.
I want to be clear, I'm not making fun of it with this song.
♪ I promise to ♪
♪ And after all that's been said and done ♪
♪ You're just the thought of me again ♪
He was amazing running these power ballads.
He was amazing with David Foster.
Okay.
David Foster was kind of the new producer
who worked on these records.
Okay.
Yeah, I mean, he's definitely one of those kind of
musical minds that would have been writing
in the Tin Pan Alley days.
Right.
Just like a true, kind of like McCartney or something.
Billy Joel.
♪ I wouldn't want to be swept away ♪
♪ From the one that I love ♪
It's so interesting, like between this and Eye of the Tiger
and the first one, just this very powerful emotion,
like mundane but powerful emotional writing.
Yeah.
Has this song ever been in like a wannabe Scorsese movie
of somebody like on coke?
Yeah.
It's almost like overpowering.
Yeah.
If Paul Thomas Anderson put this towards the end of his career,
if he put this towards the end of Boogie Nights.
Oh yeah.
You know, when Diggler is just like off the rails.
Yep.
It just would have been like too much, right?
Or too slow maybe too.
It's a real slow song.
It is kind of slow, but one of my pet peeves is like
there've been so many like influential movies that
semi-ironically use pop music,
whether you're talking about Scorsese or Paul Thomas Anderson.
I noticed this in the Tonya Harding movie.
Oh yeah, dude, I had the same.
There's many, many good things about that movie.
But the music stuff, I just always seemed a little played
because I know, I know, I know that movie took place in the 90s.
When you make a movie that takes place in the 90s,
you should be able to pick music from the 90s or any time previous, right?
Right.
In the 90s, people were still jamming to Grateful Dead,
listening to music from the 80s.
But I just feel like there's a part in that movie where they're driving
or something and it's like, Gloria, Gloria, I need to get your number.
And I was like, I feel like I've seen this a million times before.
Just picking kind of like a goofy 80s song.
There was like a beautiful 70s Bee Gees ballad or something
during some particularly violent scene.
See, that's also classic.
And I was just like, come on, man.
It's just like--
After the Lela sequence, it's like,
"What the f--- did you say to me?"
Just like that obvious juxtaposition.
I mean, I get it. It works. That's why people do it.
After all that we've been through.
I wonder what Phil Collins thought of Peter Cetera's work.
He must have been like, "All right, hats off.
We're in the same arena here."
Unless he was on some--
Narcissism of small differences.
I can imagine Phil Collins being like--
Totally.
Especially because we know that Phil Collins had a real chip on his shoulder
because people gave him so much s---, which wasn't fair
because he's an incredible songwriter.
But you could imagine people making fun of some of his power ballads
and just be like, "Really? You're giving me so much s---?
Have you heard that Peter Cetera era Chicago?
You hear that David Foster era Chicago?
Now that is soft rock schmaltz.
Phil Collins doesn't do that."
I can picture him thinking that.
I keep a dark edge to my work.
That's right.
The number three song back in 2018--
♪ One more night ♪
--is Machine Gun Kelly with Rap Devil.
So, Jake, you know that Machine Gun Kelly and Eminem are beefing.
I'm aware of this. I don't know who Machine Gun Kelly is.
I have to say that's a terrible rap name.
Why?
Because it's like-- Is this like a 1920s gangster movie?
I met Machine Gun Kelly once.
Is he a badass?
Well, it was a pretty surreal scenario.
We didn't really chop it up or anything,
but I got a last-minute ride on a private plane.
Oh, I love this.
And I walked on, and Machine Gun Kelly and his entourage
were also on the plane.
Now, did you recognize him, or did someone tell you?
Well, here's the thing.
I had heard the name--
Like, MGK is going to be on the plane.
I had heard it's because it was the person he was dating.
Somehow I knew that he would be on the plane.
And if I didn't know then which one he was,
I certainly knew when I got on the plane,
because the dude was in his seat
playing a custom Machine Gun guitar.
Literally just, like, walk onto the PJ
and just see this dude.
Couldn't have been nicer.
What was he playing?
I don't know.
He was just kind of, like, noodling on a Machine Gun guitar.
I was like, "Ah, man, that's tight."
Yeah. Do you think he knew your band?
I'm not going to diss myself to the point of saying
that it's impossible.
If I patiently explained to him who Vampire Weekend was,
there might not have been a flicker of recognition.
Just a flicker.
But...
That name is "Crossed His Transom."
[laughs]
Never heard a note, but...
Who knows?
He's a big fan of giving up the gun.
Who knows?
We just didn't really--
We exchanged pleasantries.
That was about it.
Where was the PJ heading?
It was going from Aspen to L.A.
[laughs]
You were at some George Soros event in Aspen.
It was some Illuminati sh--.
Nice.
So anyway, that was my only familiarity
with Machine Gun Kelly.
Was the guitar--?
I wonder if this is a famous guitar.
Or was it acoustic?
It was an electric guitar.
Like a solid-body electric guitar
with Machine Gun artwork on it.
Or was the body shaped like--?
Wait, maybe he's a good guitarist.
Hold on.
I'm Googling Machine Gun Kelly guitar,
and I see him playing a Flying V.
Wow, I'm not seeing a single picture of him
with a machine--
Oh, man, I don't know.
Maybe I'm blowing up his spot.
Maybe he had a Machine Gun guitar prototype,
and he chose not to use it publicly,
which is even tighter.
So anyway, Jake, he's beefing with Eminem.
Right.
Who cares how it started?
This is his Eminem diss song,
but it's like a hit, kind of.
[playing Eminem's "God"]
And as I'm sure you know, Jake,
this is a play on Eminem's song's rap, "God."
I don't.
[playing Eminem's "God"]
That's a pretty sick opening.
'Cause you know,
Eminem's got just, like, dark-colored beards lately.
No, I haven't seen that.
Eminem has a beard? That's tight.
Yeah. "Grab me some clippers.
"Your beard is weird."
"Your beard is weird."
I got--
Beardo, dude.
I'll [bleep] Machine Gun Kelly.
Well, keep it going.
He's got a private Machine Gun guitar,
and he opened his big diss song by just saying,
"Your beard is weird."
[playing Eminem's "God"]
[laughs]
[playing Eminem's "God"]
[laughs]
[playing Eminem's "God"]
[laughs]
[playing Eminem's "God"]
[laughs]
This is fun.
You're enjoying it.
This is a fun--
[laughs]
Jake's got a big smile on his face.
[playing Eminem's "God"]
[laughs]
Jake's loving this.
This is so funny.
It can't be serious.
I mean, it's, like, gotta be so fun to do this.
Oh, yeah.
Do you think Eminem, when he heard this,
was just like, "Oh, my"--
like, had a smile on his face,
or he's legitimately pissed?
No, no, I know exactly what Eminem said,
'cause remember, I told you--
Oh, my God.
Eminem--
It's so funny.
Also, he's, like--
This is one of the more fun beefs in the world.
--aping Eminem.
It's, like, so funny to be dissing Eminem,
'cause he's clearly, like, a huge fan.
Well, yeah.
And he admits, you know--
It'd just be like--
You can't come out and say that Eminem has always sucked.
People wouldn't have your back on that,
but it's very easy to say,
"You used to be good, now you suck, and you're old,"
which are his recurring themes.
And also, he's claiming all sorts of very specific [bleep]
that you called your manager
and tried to get the label not to put.
I love--
Facts!
I love, like, when it gets into really, like,
personal and specific and, like, petty situations
that no one is privy to.
Just super inside baseball.
Just like, "Ezra, that time you came over to my house."
Right.
"Fact.
"You asked to borrow my car.
"You brought it back with only a quarter tank.
"Fact."
[laughter]
Or whatever, like--
And it's just sort of like--
"Then you had Brian call me.
"Why'd you have Brian call me?"
Yeah.
"Because my face-- talk to me."
Just super inside baseball.
Like, "Who's Brian?"
[laughter]
I love it.
Oh, my God.
"You told Brian to text me.
"Couldn't call me yourself."
Eminem basically did an interview where he--
after "Rap Devil" came out, this song,
he said, "Well, now I'm in this funny position
"'cause if I respond to him,
"I'm giving him more press than he deserves."
And then Sway in the interview asked him,
"Well, what do you think of it?"
And Eminem said, "It's not bad for him."
So he hit some lines in there.
So, you know, he's got to--
there's a sportsmanship element to it, I guess.
Are you gonna play Eminem's response?
Well, let's see if it's in the top five.
We're gonna take a break from the Eminem machine gun beef
and get back to 1982.
This is John Mellencamp with Jack and Diane.
♪
Oh, yeah!
♪
This is a pretty massive top five from '82.
Oh, yeah, it's strong.
♪
Bet it.
♪
Remember that John Mellencamp/Bruce Springsteen beef?
Those mid-'80s?
♪
♪ Little ditty about Jack and Diane ♪
♪ Two American kids growing up ♪
How minimalist this is, just bass drum on the verses.
♪ Jacket gonna be ♪
It was like a--
Oh, and whatever that lights.
Tambourine.
Yeah, tambourine.
No snare.
And then single-track acoustic.
♪
♪ Sucking on chili dogs ♪
♪ Outside of Taste the Freeze ♪
You know what? That's something that bothers me.
I've always been bothered by that line.
"Sucking on chili dogs."
You don't suck on chili dogs.
You eat a chili dog.
I think he means that he's, like, scarfing them down.
Why couldn't he say, "Scarfing down chili dogs"?
♪ Scarfing down ♪
♪ Scarfing down chili dogs ♪
♪ Wailing on chili dogs ♪
"Crushing."
"Crushing chili dogs."
[laughs]
You suck 'em down.
You don't suck on them.
Yeah.
You can do whatever you want, but you don't--
Oh, yeah, he says "sucking on."
He should be sucking down.
♪ Sucking down chili dogs ♪
♪ Outside of Taste the Freeze ♪
You could suck on a chili dog if you want to.
I don't want to get on some weird thing
where I'm saying you can't suck on a chili dog.
I'm just saying you don't.
Most people don't.
Because the whole point of a chili dog
is that you're eating it.
Yeah.
I've always thought that was a weird one.
Scarfing is really the word.
Scarfing down.
Scarfing is one of the grossest words.
But it's the same syllables as sucking.
♪ Scarfing down chili dogs ♪
It's like--it's hard to sing.
Why can't it be "sucking down"?
"Sucking down chili dogs."
♪ Wailing on chili dogs ♪
♪ Outside of Taste the Freeze ♪
There's a YouTube video 15 minutes long
called "Sucking on Chili Dogs."
[laughs]
♪
♪ Sucking on chili dogs ♪
Oh, my God.
This is 15 minutes long?
Some classic YouTube sh--
Wow.
I like whoever put this up is a real troll.
You know, they didn't say, like,
"Here's John Mellencamp's 'Sucking on Chili Dogs' part
over and over again."
They wrote in the description,
"An early version of 'Jack and Diane'
by the great John Mellencamp."
What are the comments like on that video?
I'm just curious.
It has 21 comments.
Somebody said, "Speed it up a little bit.
Put some reverb on it, and you have the war on drugs."
[laughter]
That's not right.
Somebody said, "This is my new favorite podcast."
[laughter]
Here's a hater.
"This man has always been budget Bruce Springsteen."
See, they got beef.
Eh, there's some truth to that.
One hater wrote, "This has no payoff."
[laughter]
Payoff.
Also, he really says, like, "Dog."
"Sucking on chili dog."
That word is famously one that's pronounced
differently in different regions.
I've already told a story on Time Crisis
where I was taking a class in college
with a professor who was talking about
linguistics and pronunciation and whatever,
and he said, "In your pronunciation,
where you're from,
do you consider the words 'D-O-G' and 'L-O-G' to rhyme?"
So everybody thought about it for a second,
and somebody was like, "Yeah, of course.
The word 'D-O-G,' the animal, and 'L-O-G,'
the thing that you make out of a tree,
a fallen tree, they rhyme."
And I was thinking, I said, "No, they don't."
What do you think, Jake? Do they rhyme?
Yeah, "dog" and "log."
But do they rhyme-rhyme?
Yeah.
Where I come from, we say "log."
It would also rhyme with "bog."
Yeah, "bog."
But "dog."
See, now I'm playing it up.
No, but we say it almost more like "D-A-W-G."
I honestly barely hear the difference.
I guess for me the difference, some people say "dog,"
and some people say "dog."
But do you think people that say "dog" also say,
"I'm going down to the bog?"
"Going down to the bog."
Okay, forget about "bog." Nobody says "bog."
We're starting to create this clear water cover band.
I'm just saying, that's kind of a big difference
between "dog" and "dog."
Sanfo, how do you say "dog?"
I say "dog," "log."
It sounds like a perfect rhyme to me.
"Log" and "dog."
"Log," "dog."
I'm doing the exact same vowel.
It's raining cats and dogs.
"Daw," "dawgs."
"Dawgs."
I'm not trying to overstate it.
I mean, there's definitely people who say "dog."
Yeah, like Brooklyn or something.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, the melon camp, that's like a weird--
East from Indiana.
"Dawg."
Is that-- that's how they say it?
"Suckin' on chili dough."
"Dawg."
Actually, that's another question.
Maybe we're being closed-minded.
Maybe some of our Midwestern fans can let us know
if in Indiana that actually is what you say.
'Cause like in New Jersey, maybe Connecticut,
if somebody had said, "What were you guys doing
outside the Tasty Freeze?"
You might say, "Oh, we were just scarfing down, eating."
I might say that.
Where I come from, we might say,
"We were eating chili dogs."
We were dining.
We were doing some alfresco dining.
But maybe in the Midwest, you do say,
"We were sucking on chili dogs."
Oh, man, I just crushed that dog.
And also, do you only suck on chili dogs
'cause of the topping, or do you just suck on hot dogs?
Guys, this show rules.
This show rules.
I've heard John Mellencamp is kind of a prickly fellow.
About the Springsteen stuff?
He's just a prickly fellow.
He has a reputation as being a prickly fellow.
So he's definitely not the type of dude
that you could probably roll up on and be like,
"Hey, Mellencamp, I always wondered."
I think he's probably the guy,
if you saw him out at a bar, you're like,
"Yo, Mellencamp, I always wondered,
"why'd you gotta say 'sucking on chili dog'?
"Why can't you say 'scarfing down'?"
He'd be like, "You say another word to me,
"I'll punch you in the [bleep] face.
"You go [bleep] yourself."
Especially about one of his most famous songs.
If he asked him about, like, a deep cut,
maybe he'd be more on board.
So I guess in an article on Variety,
he calls himself a curmudgeon.
Oh, he said, "Let's face it, I am a curmudgeon.
"I hate doing [bleep] interviews
"'cause I hate talking about myself.
"It's like, interview? Oh, God.
"I'm just not that interesting."
All right, I like that.
"I took myself off the beer and circus tour a long time ago.
"It was not fun, people being drunk
"and acting like circus clowns.
"So we play for people who want to hear music."
Okay, I relate to Mellencamp.
"And I don't like to see guys getting fights.
"I'm not a jukebox. I don't play all my hits.
"I got off that a long time ago."
All right, that's cool.
You think he's playing Jack and Diane every night?
Well, no, maybe he doesn't.
That'd be pretty awesome.
He's so annoyed with the expectation
that he's got to play the hits that he'll come on and be like,
"You know the song Jack and Diane? People go, 'Woo!'
"Well, here's an earlier version.
"It was recently rediscovered on YouTube.
"It goes a little something like this.
"'Suckin' on chili dough!
"'Suckin' on chili dough!'"
[laughter]
That would be sick.
45 minutes, the audience slowly filters out.
Just late period Mellencamp.
Goes into, like, weird avant-garde,
like, John Cage-level minimalism.
Just gets into, like, some weird time...
[imitates beat]
♪ Suckin' on chili dough, suckin' on chili dough ♪
♪ Suckin' on chili dough, suckin' on chili... ♪
[laughter]
Just, like, some Blue Man Group.
Yeah.
He's just out there with, like, just, like, a set of bongos.
♪ Bum-bum-bum-bum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪
♪ Suckin' on chili dough, suckin' on chili dough ♪
♪ Suckin' on chili dough, suckin' on... ♪
All right, we could talk about this song all day.
Oh, man.
Let's keep moving.
The number two song back in 2018,
"Imagine Dragons, Natural."
♪ ♪
♪ Will you hold the line ♪
♪ When every one of them is givin' up and givin' in ♪
♪ Tell me, in this house of mine ♪
Oh, the singer Dan Reynolds said in a press release
announcing the song, "Living in a dog-eat-dog world
can bring out the worst in you and sometimes the best.
It would be a lie to tell you I haven't become somewhat skeptical
about some things in the last decade of my life."
Like, what? I don't know. He says, "I believe
when you truly learn to love yourself,
the judging eyes and hateful words become meaningless."
That's true.
♪ Just another product of today ♪
♪ Rather be the hunter than the prey ♪
♪ And you're standing on the edge face-up ♪
♪ 'Cause you're a natural ♪
♪ I've been here hard enough ♪
♪ You gotta be so cold ♪
♪ To make it this world ♪
♪ Yeah, you're a natural ♪
♪ Livin' your life cold ♪
♪ You gotta be so cold ♪
♪ Yeah, you're a natural ♪
The more I read about Imagine Dragons,
the more I f--- with them. I f--- with Dan Reynolds.
Did we talk about that he made an HBO documentary
called "Believer" that examined the relationship
between the LGBTQ community
and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
He's from a Mormon family?
Yeah, I think the whole band's from a Mormon background.
He wanted to examine, like, the Mormon church's treatment
of members of the LGBTQ community.
Okay, the number one song in 1982--
this is funny--
over "Jack and Diane," over "Hard to Say."
I'm sorry. I mean, I guess--
I'm sure those songs might have had their time at number one.
This is Steve Miller Band.
Personally, one of my-- I love Steve Miller Band.
One of my least favorite Steve Miller singles.
But kind of a funny one.
"Abra"?
"Abra."
♪
This almost could be, like, a '80s Paul McCartney song.
Mm-hmm.
♪
♪ I heat up, I can't cool down ♪
♪ You got me spinning round and round ♪
♪ Round and round and round it goes ♪
I can't stay mad at this song, though.
♪ Nobody knows ♪
♪ Every time you call my name ♪
♪ I heat up like a burning flame ♪
Can you picture Steve Miller in your mind?
I can't--
If you hopped onto that PJ and Steve Miller
was sitting there playing a machine gun guitar,
would you recognize him?
No, but the equivalent would be if I hopped on the PJ
and Steve Miller was playing a Steve Miller guitar.
You know what I mean?
That would help the context.
When I try to picture Steve Miller,
I keep picturing Stevie Ray Vaughan.
I keep picturing John Fogerty.
Looking at a modern picture of Steve Miller,
I would not have known that's him.
What's, like, an old picture of Steve Miller?
Huh.
All right, that's cool.
You know, he didn't, like--
For a band having so many huge hits in the '70s, like--
Yeah.
Is he the most, like, kind of anonymous?
Yeah, of all, like, the big hit-makers of that era?
Yeah, maybe.
Good for him.
Yeah, maybe he just wanted his privacy.
I don't know.
It's all right.
It's just no--
Pretty weak.
I mean, "Fly Like an Eagle," "The Joker."
Right.
Two absolute pillars of classic rock radio.
I love those songs.
♪ Go on, take the money and run ♪
We've got to play "The Joker" for a second.
I mean, "The Joker," it's, like, so simple that you almost--
Yeah.
Starts with that big crash cymbal.
Forget it.
Maurice.
♪ Some people call me the space cowboy, yeah ♪
♪ Some call me the gangster of love ♪
♪ Some people call me Maurice ♪
I forgot the first verse so early in the song.
♪ 'Cause I speak ♪
Oh, "The pompitous of love"?
[laughs]
His voice sounds great on this song.
Yeah.
♪ Say I'm doing you wrong, doing you wrong ♪
♪ Well, don't you worry, baby, don't worry ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm right here, right here, right here, right here at home ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm a picker, I'm a grinner ♪
♪ I'm a lover and I'm a sinner ♪
♪ I play my music in the sun ♪
♪ I'm a joker, I'm a smoker ♪
♪ I'm a midnight toker ♪
♪ I sure don't want to hurt no one ♪
♪ I'm a picker, I'm a grinner ♪
♪ I'm a lover and I'm a sinner ♪
♪ I play my music in the sun ♪
♪ I'm a joker, I'm a smoker ♪
♪ I'm a midnight toker ♪
♪ I get my loving on the run ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh ♪
♪
♪ You're the cutest thing that I ever did see ♪
♪ I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree ♪
This song is also funny 'cause it fades out on a verse.
Yeah.
It fades, and you repeat this part, and it fades.
Kind of a funny move.
Like, how are we gonna end it?
Right.
♪ 'Cause I'm a picker, I'm a grinner ♪
♪ I'm a lover and I'm a sinner ♪
♪ I play my music in the sun ♪
♪ I'm a joker, I'm a smoker ♪
♪ I'm a midnight toker ♪
♪ I get it on the wall and I don't know why ♪
♪ I'm a picker, I'm a grinner ♪
♪ I'm a lover and I'm a sinner ♪
♪ I play my music in the sun ♪
You think the dead respected Steve Miller?
That's really a question for the ages.
[laughter]
I mean, yeah.
Maybe, like, it's a little silly, it's a little poppy,
but I bet they dug it.
I mean, the lyrics are, like, no Robert Hunter.
Oh, they jammed together.
Nick pulled up a video of a '92 Morning Dew.'
That's tight.
"Grateful Dead" with Steve Miller.
Wait, but go back once.
I mean, this isn't that far from American beauty.
No, no, no, the article.
Lyrics aside.
Wait, what the hell?
Hold on, stop the presses.
We just found an article from 2008 that says,
"Rocker Steve Miller hated the Grateful Dead."
Well, why is he playing with them in '92?
Yeah, yeah, hold on, we gotta get to the bottom of this.
"I couldn't stand that band," Miller said on Thursday
during a panel at a music industry symposium
recalling the dead's interminable jams
and lengthy tuning breaks between songs.
In fact, Miller said it was much more interesting
to listen to frontman Jerry Garcia's stage banter
than to listen to the band play its psychedelic improvisations.
Well, that's cool of you to say that after he's dead.
[laughter]
You'll go on stage with them,
share the glory, and then stab the dude in the back
after he's dead.
I'm out with Miller.
All right, you know what? We're done with Steve Miller.
You know what? We got a time crisis Steve Miller beef.
Yeah.
How are you gonna go on stage and trade tasty licks
with Bob and Jerry and then talk [bleep] 20 years later?
Steve Miller's look is so dope.
[laughter]
He looks like a contractor.
Wait, I think he's--
Like, true contractor Rock.
I think he's wearing bicycle shorts.
He's like one-upping Weir.
Weir's wearing tight-jean shorts.
Okay, but we gotta get to the bottom of this.
It's not cool to go jam with one of the biggest touring acts
in America, get your shine that way,
and then when the lead singer's dead, start talking [bleep]
That's not cool.
I couldn't stand that band.
Get out of here.
I mean--
We're so [bleep] done with Steve Miller, man.
When we listened to The Joker, it sounded great,
but, like, honestly, it sounded like Working Man's Dead
or American Beauty, except with the much worse lyrics.
[laughter]
Steve Miller can [bleep] off.
You [bleep] up, Miller.
You're [bleep] done.
You're beef with TC, dude.
We found an article that puts it all together.
Steve Miller played with them in '92,
and then he later admitted, "I couldn't stand that band."
What the [bleep]
You're done, Miller.
That's one of those things where it's sort of like,
yeah, they're in, like, similar circles,
and they're just, like, polite, but it's just like--
No, but come on.
Come on, man.
By '92, everybody was in their, like, 40s.
Yeah, it's like--
You gotta calm down by then.
You can't keep holding on to that kind of petty rivalry.
That's one thing when you're in your 20s.
Yeah, by '92, you're like, "You know what?
That's off."
We're both still here, man.
We're both legends.
We're both still doing it.
I'm gonna have to release my Steve Miller diss track soon.
So, anyway, one more song.
That would be--
What if, like--
Hey, Steve Miller, your beard is weird.
One of the weirdest and, like,
one of those diss tracks that nobody asked for.
Yeah.
Like the Pitchfork headline.
"Ezra Koenig disses Steve Miller."
"Because he sat in with the Grateful Dead."
"Kept your mouth shut until Jerry died.
Couldn't talk that s--t when he was still alive."
Some play on, like, dead and grateful.
Right.
Okay, so the number one song.
Jerry's dead, now you're grateful?
Yeah, so this is Eminem's response to Rap Devil.
Okay.
His kill shot.
See, these guys are just--
They're just doing it right.
Oh, you gotta bring back that intro, though.
Let's bring it back.
The beard's weird.
He's just repeating his lyrics.
And when your fans become your haters.
Yeah.
♪ Last night I left hickeys on her neck ♪
♪ Wait, you just dissed me, I'm perplexed ♪
♪ Insult me in a line, compliment me on the next ♪
♪ Damn, I'm really sorry you want me to have a heart attack ♪
♪ Was watching 8 Mile on my Nauta track ♪
♪ Realized I forgot to call you back ♪
♪ Here's that autograph for your daughter ♪
♪ I wrote it on a starter cap ♪
♪ Stan, Stan, son, listen, man, dad isn't mad ♪
♪ But how you gonna name yourself after a damn gun ♪
♪ And have a man bun ♪
♪ Giant smoke, eyes open undeniable ♪
♪ Supplying smoke, got the fire stoked ♪
♪ Say you got me in a scope, but you grazed me ♪
♪ I say, "Well, call the Interscope," and you sway-z ♪
♪ Your reply got the crowd yelling, "Whoa!" ♪
♪ So before you die, let's see who can out-petty who ♪
♪ With your corny lines, slim-year-old Al Kelly, ooh ♪
♪ But I'm 45, and I'm still out-selling you ♪
♪ By 29, I had three albums that had blew ♪
♪ Now let's talk about something I don't really do ♪
♪ Going someone's daughter's mouth, stealing food ♪
♪ But you're a f--king mohill ♪
♪ Now I'ma make a mountain out of you, whoo ♪
♪ Chill, acting like you put the chrome barrel to my bone marrow ♪
♪ Gunna f--k Wayne at Bow and Arrow ♪
♪ Say you'll run up on me like a phone bill ♪
♪ Spraying lead, f--king playing dead ♪
♪ That's the only time you hold still ♪
♪ Are you eating cereal or oatmeal? ♪
♪ What the f--k in the bowl, milk, Wheaties or Cheerios? ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm taking the d--t in 'em, Kelly ♪
♪ I need reading material, f--king dictionary ♪
- I remember the first time I heard that part, it was pretty weird.
- What are you talking about there?
- So in the music video, Machine Gun Kelly,
he's got this weird little bowl that he's rapping while eating.
- That's more relevant than weird industry people
that no one's heard of. - Right.
- It was a little bit like, what are you talking about?
- Machine Gun Kelly, you think you're a killer?
Nah, you a b--t like Steve Miller.
F--king Joker. [laughs]
Couldn't talk that s--t when he was still alive.
- ♪ Yo, Slim, your last four albums sucked ♪
♪ Go back to recovery, oh, shoot, that was three albums ago ♪
♪ What do you know, oops, know your facts ♪
- Facts. - That one was pretty bad.
I also remember thinking at the time,
just to respond to somebody saying,
"Your last four albums since recovery sucked."
Ha-ha, I got you, I only released three that sucked.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Do some f--king research.
- That is pretty thin. - ♪ Luxury, oh, you broke me ♪
♪ Yeah, I had enough money in '02 ♪
♪ To burn it in front of you ♪
♪ Younger me, no, you the wack me ♪
♪ It's funny but so true ♪
♪ I'd rather be 80-year-old me than 20-year-old you ♪
- All right, that's pretty good. - ♪ Till I'm hitting old age ♪
♪ Still can fill a whole page with a 10-year-old's rage ♪
♪ Got more fans than you in your own city ♪
♪ Lil' Kitty, go play, f--k, feel like I'm babysitting Lotte ♪
♪ Got the ditty okay, so you spent your whole day ♪
♪ Shooting a video just to f--k, get your own grave ♪
♪ Got you at your own wake, I'm the Billy Goat ♪
♪ You ain't never made a list ♪
♪ Next to no Biggie, no Jay, next to Taylor Swift ♪
♪ And to Iggy, you about to really blow, Kelly ♪
- Wait. - ♪ They'll be putting your name next to-- ♪
- Let's unpack that one. He's saying to him,
"You're not a good rapper. You've never been on a list of the all-time greats.
"You've never been next to, say, a Biggie or a Jay, whereas I have."
And that's true. Not everybody agrees,
but people have put Eminem on lists of the greatest of all time.
But is he telling Machine Gun Kelly the only list you'd be on
is next to Taylor Swift and Iggy Azalea?
- Yes. - So just a list of, like,
random white people? - Yeah, I guess, like, soft...
- Pop stars? - Pop stars who don't have lyrical skills.
It's, you know... - Taylor Swift, you say what you want.
She has some good lyrics.
- ♪ Kelly, they'll be putting your name next to Cha, next to Benzino ♪
♪ Die, mother[bleep] like the last mother[bleep] ♪
♪ Say in alien vein, alien brain ♪
♪ Fake mist, my biggest flops are your greatest hits ♪
♪ The gang's modigan and ain't nothing changed but the lock ♪
♪ So before I slate it, I'm gonna give Jay the kiss ♪
♪ Gotta wake up, play "Bedata" this ♪
[laughter]
- I gotta wake up, play "Bedata" this?
- Oh, my God.
- I should be sucking on chili dogs.
You know, one thing you gotta say--
I'm sure this is what people have been saying--
is that if Eminem's problem lately--
and clearly he's still huge to his fans--
but it's been that he's not as fired up
'cause he doesn't have as much to talk about.
- Hmm. - Well...
- This guy. - This beef gave them both
something to talk about. - Lesson learned.
Eminem has to be angry at someone
to produce his best work.
- Said my beard is weird.
♪ Being rich-shamed by some prick ♪
♪ Using my name for clickbait in a state of bliss ♪
♪ 'Cause I said his goddamn name ♪
♪ Now I got a cock back aim, yeah ♪
♪ Pop champagne to this ♪
♪ It's your moment, this is it ♪
♪ As big as you're gonna get, so enjoy it ♪
♪ Had to give you a career to destroy it ♪
♪ Lethal injection, gonna stick six feet deep ♪
♪ I'll give you a beat for the effort ♪
- It also is so-- - It just gets exhausting.
- It's also with both of them, it's, like, funny how--
I guess on a lot of rap beef, and especially this one,
they alternate between the incredibly petty,
specific stuff that this shit's really about.
- Right. - Like, "You told Paul Rosenberg
to do this." "No, I didn't.
"Why would you think I would even talk about you?"
And they alternate between that shit, and then just, like,
"And I will murder you." For, like, a second.
- Right, right, right. - Just for, like, old-time's sake.
"You're gonna be six feet deep." - Rhetorically.
- "Anyway, you ruined my labor day."
- Here's my question. Do you think that there's
actually any sort of back channel between them?
- Oh, that's very possible. - Or their management?
I mean, like, okay. - Well, I was reading yesterday--
- This was hilarious. Listen, I'm gonna--okay, go ahead.
- It's the same producer for both songs.
- Oh, really? - And it was revealed--yeah.
- Oh, but, I mean, people send out beats to everybody.
So it doesn't mean that they were, like, talking,
but who knows? - But Ezra, how would you feel
if, like, your Steve Miller diss was also produced by Ariel?
- Wow. And then Steve Miller came back at me?
- Yeah, and Ariel also produced that.
- I'd be like, "Weird move, Ariel."
- Ariel produced the Steve Miller diss track?
- [laughs]
- I hope it keeps going. I want to hear Machine Gun's response.
- We'll see. Now you're in. - Where he's like--
I'm absolutely in. Where he's like, "You know what?
"You claim all these huge record sales.
"You were the product of good timing, sir."
- Right. - "You released your records
"at the height of the industry." - Yeah.
- "I'm releasing my records now at the real ebb."
- Eminem really--literally launched his career
at the absolute peak of the music industry.
- So you can't really claim that. - Right.
It's not fair. I don't know.
- ♪ You would suck a [bleep] to be made for a-- ♪
- Come on, bro. When Eminem is funny,
talking about, like, waking up on Labor Day, I'm in.
- Yeah, when he tries to do the tough guy, like, weird--
- Like, stock rapper. - Weird, homophobic,
like, badass, is--whack.
- ♪ Like a [bleep] to get on my channel ♪
♪ Give your life to be a solidified ♪
♪ This mother[bleep] is like Rambo when he's out of bullets ♪
♪ So what good is a [bleep] Gene Gunn when it's out of ammo? ♪
♪ Had enough of this tatted-up mumbo rap ♪
♪ I had a [bleep] him in night battle ♪
♪ He'll have to [bleep] him in my flannel ♪
♪ I'm giving my sandals 'cause he knows long as I'm shady ♪
♪ He's gonna have to live in my shadow ♪
- That was good. - Yeah.
- That's that type of just smart wordplay
that you gotta have in a diss to remind people.
Machine Gun Kelly didn't really have anything quite that witty.
I was also talking to somebody about this,
somebody who's worked with Eminem,
and I was like, "What do you think about all this?"
And he's like, "You gotta give it to Eminem,"
because Machine Gun Kelly-- Eminem was so big,
he's got literally 20 years' worth of [bleep]
to make fun of, riff on.
Eminem had to pull something together very quickly
about somebody he wasn't particularly familiar with.
- He's, like, Googling Machine Gun Kelly.
- Yeah, seriously.
Can you just picture Eminem with one of those
really serious looks on his face,
just, like, sitting at his iMac in his study
with just, like, this huge screen,
just Machine Gun Kelly's Wikipedia open.
- Just, like, 9 in the morning, cup of coffee next to him.
- Yeah, hands to his lips, just, like, looking at him.
Mm. Mm.
[laughter]
- I think I gotta hire a research assistant for this.
- Yeah, there goes my labor day.
- Yeah, literally.
Well, we'll see if it keeps going.
I don't know. This might be it.
- I hope it does. It's fun stuff.
- Are you taking sides?
This is the opposite of rough stuff.
It's fun stuff. - It's fun stuff.
- You're not taking sides?
- I'm gonna go with the elder statesman on this one.
Eminem-- - Eminem's more your generation.
- He's more my generation.
And I noticed on the two songs, he has more voices.
He has more, like, gears he can go to.
- Mm. - Which I appreciate.
- Would you say Eminem has more lyricism?
- Oh, absolutely.
They both have pretty tough tone.
[laughter]
- That'd be sick if Eminem--
- Eminem has more control over his tone, I think.
- What if Eminem dropped--
just out of nowhere dropped some line about how, like,
"I'm Jerry Garcia, you're John Mayer"?
- That'd be sick. - That'd be somewhat apropos.
- Yeah, absolutely. I'm the real deal.
Machine Gun Kelly's the John Mayer to Eminem's Jerry.
Which is not necessarily saying a bad thing.
- No. - Better to be the John Mayer
to someone's Jerry Garcia than--
than have nothing to do with Jerry Garcia.
I guess.
Anyway, Steve Miller, you're dead to us.
We had your back, man. - Go to hell.
[laughter]
- You waiting till Jerry died?
Couldn't talk that [bleep] when he was still alive.
[laughter]
- Steve Miller really needs to speak on this.
- I would say we should have him call in,
but there's no way he will. - 'Cause he's a coward.
- Yeah. I hope this gets back to Steve Miller.
- Let's see if we can reach out.
Wait, does Steve Miller have a Twitter account, Seinfeld?
- He's on Twitter, yeah. He's got 68,000 Twitter followers.
It's @stevemillerband. - You think it's him?
- No, it's someone managing it. - It's verified.
Yeah, I don't think he's there. - Okay, but still, if you--
I don't want him to come across as aggressive,
but if you could just start tweeting at--
@stevemillers account just, like, a few times a week.
- Sure. All caps?
- Yeah, all caps, but keep the language tone down.
So all caps. - This ain't Punisher Burgers.
- Yeah, this is not Punisher Burgers,
but just, "Why did you perform on stage
"with The Grateful Dead in 1992?"
- Mm-hmm. - And then after Jerry died,
say you didn't like them.
- No problem. - Why?
And just a few times a week, and then eventually--
'cause they can't be getting too many @s.
- Are you seeing, like, a thread of me just saying "why"
"why, why," so it's like a wall of just--
'cause that seems a little acrobatic.
- I don't know, yeah, just, um, maybe not all caps.
Just, like, "Hey, following up, I'm just curious about
"why Steve would have jammed with the dead in '92
"and then chose to talk s--t about them
"whenever he did after Jerry died."
- 2008. - Yeah, and then maybe just, like,
"Yeah, just out of curiosity, did he wait until Jerry died
"to talk that s--t?" 'Cause that's kind of how it seems.
Look, maybe there is an explanation.
Maybe Steve will come out and say, "You know what?
"I did jam with them in '92. I was under a lot of pressure
"to do so. I needed the money.
"They offered us good money to open for them.
"When they invited me, what am I gonna do?
"Say no? I do respect them as musicians.
"However, I did have some personal issues with them.
"And yes, I waited until-- you know, maybe I'll have an answer."
- I would love to hear it. - Yeah.
But he does need to speak on it.
- Yeah, needs to. - All right.
Another Time Crisis.
We'll see you guys in two weeks.
Peace.
- "Time Crisis with Ezra King."
( music playing )
♪ One ♪
(whooshing)
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