I’ve been listening to literally only the Aquabats for weeks now, and of the albums I have, I’m developing some favorite songs for whatever particular mood I’m in. (And today every song gets an exclamation.) Here they are:
Career anthem: Nerd Alert! (also Doin’ Science!)
I work in a a hospital lab. I get to play with chemicals to elicit color changes. I get to use a microscope on human cells. Is it glamorous? Is it the. most. fun thing. EVER?…no. But it sure feels like it when I’m humming these songs.
Fantastic: Waterslides!
When I want to daydream about another world, I turn to Waterslides. I can see myself drifting through the water on an undersea adventure. I guess it’s a little like the feeling I got as a child imagining I was with the Beatles in an Octopus’ Garden.
Sad or lonely: Hello Goodnight!
This song makes me feel better about facing a rough day. No matter what stuff happened, this day will never come again and I can sleep. That’s incredibly comforting.
Taking over the Enterprise: Tiny Pants!
There’s this NexGen episode called The Game where everyone is playing this game and can’t stop and it just doesn’t seem like the game could possibly be as interesting as they all find it. Then later it turns out to be a mind control device that makes them want to take over the ship. I suspect Tiny Pants may be a mind control device like that, because I have no idea why I am enjoying it so much and I just can’t stop listening to it.
Literary: The Story of Nothing!
I realized earlier today that this song reminds me of a story called The Vanishing American by Charles Beaumont. Go read a book or something!
Depressed: The Thing in (in on? ion?) The Bass Amp
I like this song. It’s kind of hard to explain why. The imagery in the song is evocative of a monster, a hidden evil, a thing- greedy, selfish, horrible and fully invisible. It’s in your head and it might seem unbelievable, but it’s there. You’re all messed up but it’s not your fault. Who are they to accuse you, they think that thing’s a lie! Depression feels very like this to me. Listening to this song makes me feel like I’m not the problem. The problem is the thing that climbs into my head at night. That thing isn’t me.
Anachronistic: Theme Song!
Ok, so here’s the guys- and mind you, over half the band is completely different to today- and they’re singing a song inviting us to come and watch their TV show like a full decade plus before said TV show existed. These guys have just always been that kind of hilarious.
Dangerous/ dangeresque: Sequence Erase!
Have I already talked about how much I love this song? I think I have. So groovy, and it makes me feel like I’m off on an adventure handling danger expertly, and with flair.
When I want to Rock: The Legend Is True!
What a great song! I almost invariably pretend I’m playing the guitar solo even though my only guitar is acoustic and I’m not talented enough to whip up a fancy solo the way Eaglebones does. This song was my first love. Yes indeeds! And to explain how that happened calls for a longer story.
So,
I’ve been a fan of homestarrunner for years now. I had heard Matt Chapman was working on a show called Yo Gabba Gabba and also The Aquabats, whatever they were. So one fine Saturday midday I turned on the TV. It was probably left on the Hub channel because I used to watch My Little Ponies while getting ready for work. I caught sight of the boys in blue and realized this was in fact The Aquabats- a show the Hub kept plugging which I never watched. However this day I kept it on long enough to see that 1)The Aquabats had a ghost problem and 2) The ghost looked kinda familiar. I left the TV on saying quietly to myself “cameo cameo cameo” and waited to see if the ghost would reappear and confirm my suspicion that it was in fact Matt Chapman, the whole time not caring much about the Aquabats themselves. Then Eaglebones walked on screen and I was hooked. I mean the man is adorable hot um decent looking? Once the episode finished I discovered we seemed to even have a bit in common. He is a lefty who plays guitar and obviously (since he figured out how to remove the ghost) interested in the spiritual side of things. Once I realized I liked Eaglebones, I knew I’d have to watch more episodes in order to see him and maybe listen to some of his music to see if I could like it. The band lineup including Eaglebones only turns up one album. It was on this album I found Legend’, which I loved immediately. To make a long story shorter than a reeeeally long story, one thing led to another and now I love all the Aquabats, Aquabats music, and various incarnations. But Legend’ was the only song of theirs I had for a while, so it’s got a very special place in my heart.