Earworm

Published on 15/09/2024.

I feel sorry for my parents – perhaps more relieved for them now they are empty nesters: when my Sister and I were growing up, we despised having to listen to the other’s music and often clashed over who could make the most noise from our respective bedrooms. Our aural warfare raged on for most of my adolescence till my Sister, being the elder by five and a bit years, eventually moved to university.

This, however, did not mean silence fell upon our musical battleground: I think I more than made up the difference on my own – much to my parents’ displeasure. The songs to which I ended up listening, however, seemed to pay tribute to my fallen foe. I guess, over the years, I had come to respect and admire her taste in music. My Sister and I may originally have been the sort of siblings more prone to physical violence with each other than any kind of affection, but our mutual love for music was a crucial factor over which we bonded. That brings me to the mysterious cabinet in her room.

In my Sister’s wardrobe in our childhood home – somewhere many miles away, if she is reading this, she will be muttering little shit! as she realises how often I used to sneak into her room – there was a mirrored bathroom cabinet. It was the sort of thing you would expect to be used to keep toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss, &c. I am not sure why she had it – perhaps it was a relic from when my parents had refurbished the bathroom. All I did know is that it contained a treasure trove of my Sister’s CDs. Over the years, I ended up plundering that cabinet hundreds of times so that I could rip the CDs to my iTunes library – how old school! It is one of the reasons to this day that I still have a large collection of music on my laptop.

I ended up remembering that cabinet the other day, and so it has inspired me to write this week’s suggested music playlist on songs that remind me of my Sister.

Suggested Music Listening

1. The Party Song – Blink-182
2. The Rock Show – Blink-182
3. Fat Lip – Sum 41
4. Can’t Stand Me Now – The Libertines
5. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor – Arctic Monkeys

The Party Song

I sort of knew who Blink-182 were when I saw this album in the mysterious cabinet, but not enough to recognise any song on the back, apart from All the Small Things. I think, truth be told, there is one very obvious reason – the cover art – as to why a much younger version of me thought to start listening to this album. Teenage boys, am I right?

The Party Song may not be the most recognisable song from Enema of the State, but I think it may be one of the few Blink-182 songs from all of their discography that manages to amuse, to give social commentary, and to provide some minor moral all in one. Plus, with that typical end-of-the-millennium pop punk feel, what is not to love about this song?

I must admit, however, that it was a toss-up for me between The Party Song and Mutt as I more easily remember my Sister listening to the latter. Nonetheless, I had to go with this one, given she proudly proclaimed to me as I was writing this article that she still remembers all of the lyrics.

The Rock Show

After I had binged the entirety of Enema of the State, it was time to make another trip to the cabinet. My Sister being a huge Blink-182 fan, she also had their 2001 follow-up album, Take off Your Pants and Jacket for me to ‘borrow’. Being an easy continuation of my temporary-stealing, I picked up the album and gave it a whirl.

It is a bold claim to make, but I think Take off Your Pants and Jacket changed my life. It is still one of my favourite albums to this day. Sure, songs like Happy Holidays, You Bastard are not going to end world hunger or forge peace in the Middle East, but it will give you a smile for its silliness even if you are in the foulest of moods.

The song that speaks to me from the album and most reminds me of my Sister is The Rock Show. She used to have her iPod connected to her car radio – the one you would have plugged into the cigarette lighter for power – and we used to blast this when we went for drives around. The video is also awesome – the epitome of 2000s youth culture.

Fat Lip

This song reminds me of times down my local skatepark, pretending I would eventually get to the level of Tony Hawk without any effort whilst sitting, eating Galaxy chocolate, and drinking cans of Monster Energy. Before I got cool enough to sit around on skateboards and play DJ, however, it was my Sister that showed me Fat Lip.

I do not remember if 2001’s All Killer No Filler was an album I appropriated from her cabinet or if it was a song I happened to hear through the wall between our bedrooms. I do remember, however, that it was always on Kerrang! TV – when that used to be a thing. O, the good old days!

Can’t Stand Me Now

This is another song that my Sister only shared with me inadvertently through our adjoining wall. I remember asking her a month or so later, when I finally had the courage, what it was she was playing. She could not remember. I thought that would be the end of that, but, thankfully, Peter, Carl, John, and Gary came back to me when I caught Can’t Stand Me Now on the radio some months later. Thus began my long obsession with The Libertines; it also started an obsession with fedoras, but the photos of that are (un)fortunately lost to the annals of time.

The Libertines eponymous album is also a joy of a listen. It is artistic, intellectual, simple, political, satirical, Romantic (in the poetical sense), and just full of life. For fans of indie rock, I think The Libertines may be perfect.

I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor

Strictly, strictly speaking, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor is another song which my Sister did not directly share with me, but it is one with which I have firm memories of her. It was, I believe, her 18^th birthday party, and she was having a shindig at the local sports and social club. Being only around 12 or 13 myself at the time, you can imagine I was not fussed by the hustle and bustle of tipsy 18-year-olds. I was instead tucked away in the backroom, playing Pokémon on my Gameboy Advance – I believe it was Ruby or Sapphire for the Poké-nerds out there.

At some point in the night, I remember my Sister got up to give a speech and, shortly afterwards, her horde of crazy classmates were all going nuts for Arctic Monkeys. I was a bit nonplussed by the speech – sorry, Frodo! – but she had struck gold with her music taste again, and I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor became a staple of my playlists for long after.

Written by Lewis Brown.