MUSIC THAT MATTERS – “Lyric of the Day”

(Music Cut #1)

By March 6th of 1999…
this song was still all over the radio.

Nearly a year after its release.

There’s a reason.

The Goo Goo Dolls.

“Iris.”

(Music Cut #2)

By that point, it had become
one of the longest-running radio hits of the decade.

The song was written for the movie
City of Angels.

But oddly enough…

the word “Iris” never appears in the lyrics.

(Music Cut #3)

Singer Johnny Rzeznik was on a plane
flipping through a magazine while writing the song.

And he saw the name of singer
Iris DeMent.

He liked how it sounded for the song title.

So he used it – “Iris”

(Music Cut #4)

LYRIC OF THE DAY:
“When everything feels like the movies
Yeah, you bleed just to know you’re alive.” – The Goo Goo Dolls

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MUSIC THAT MATTERS – “Lyric of the Day”

(Music Cut #1)

On March 5th of 1993…
this song was climbing the Modern Rock chart.

And before long —
it would hit number one.

Belly.

“Feed the Tree.”

(Music Cut #2)

That guitar riff may sound a little unusual.

Almost like the chords are… backwards.

But – there’s a reason for that.

(Music Cut #3)

Singer and guitarist Tanya Donelly is left-handed.

But instead of restringing a guitar…

she just flips a right-handed one upside down.

So the thick bass strings sit on the bottom.

And the thin strings are now on top.

Which is why the riff sounds backwards.

(Music Cut #4)

LYRIC OF THE DAY:
“So take your hat off when you’re talkin’ to me
And be there when I feed the tree.” – Belly

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MUSIC THAT MATTERS – “Lyric of the Day”

(Music Cut #1)

On March 4th of 1998…
this track was all over the radio and MTV

It’s the Beastie Boys.

“Intergalactic.”

(Music Cut #2)

By this point, they’d been around for over a decade.

So… more mature?

Not at all

Because to get that voice—

they used an actual children’s toy.

(Music Cut #3)

Mike D ran his vocals through a toy walkie-talkie.
And then pushed it through a robot-voice effect.

They wanted it to sound like it was broadcasting from a distant spaceship.

That “futuristic” sound?

It all came from the toy aisle.

(Music Cut #4)

LYRIC OF THE DAY:
“From the Hudson River out to the Nile.
I run the marathons ’til the very last mile.” – by Beastie Boys

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MUSIC THAT MATTERS – “Lyric of the Day”

(Music Cut #1)

By March 3rd of 1994…
this song was making noise on the Modern Rock chart

And it made a lot of people uncomfortable.

Tori Amos.

“God.”

(Music Cut #2)

It can be found on Under the Pink –
the same album that gave us “Cornflake Girl.”

But while she was recording “God”…
she was chasing a sound.

Not a lyric.

but something crunchy.

(Music Cut #3)

So she and her producer grabbed a box of cereal.

Corn Flakes.

Shook it.
Crushed it.
Held it up directly into a microphone.

That scratchy rhythm heard under the verses?

It’s not just for the breakfast bowl

(Music Cut #4)

LYRIC OF THE DAY:
“God, sometimes you just don’t come through
Do you need a woman to look after you?” – Tori Amos

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MUSIC THAT MATTERS – “Lyric of the Day”

(Music Cut #1)

March 2nd, 1993

Shortly before Get a Grip would be released…

Aerosmith’s
“Livin’ on the Edge”
was all over the rock charts.

(Music Cut #2)

Steven Tyler wanted this to feel like
a 90s peace anthem.

But also…

like the world was about to explode.

And he found that sound
outside the studio in Vancouver.

(Music Cut #3)

That massive, echoing boom
during the drum breaks?

Not a studio trick.

Not a drum machine.

But an actual industrial dumpster
being slammed and recorded.

Yes — city trash equipment
became an instrument.

(Music Cut #4)

LYRIC OF THE DAY:
“Something’s wrong with our eyes
We’re seeing things in a different way” – Aerosmith

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MUSIC THAT MATTERS – “Lyric of the Day”

(Music Cut #1

On March 1st, 1998

one of the greatest rock songs of the 90s
was everywhere.

Foo Fighters.

“Everlong.”

(Music Cut #2)

Dave Grohl wrote this song
while his marriage was falling apart.

And somehow…

a song written during a divorce
became one of the most requested wedding songs
of the late ’90s and early 2000s.

(Music Cut #3)

It also meant something to one late-night host.

After undergoing emergency quadruple bypass surgery in 2000,
David Letterman asked the Foo Fighters
to play “Everlong”
on his very first show back.

He later called it
his favorite song of all time.

(Music Cut #4)

LYRIC OF THE DAY:
“If everything could ever feel this real forever…” — Foo Fighters

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MUSIC THAT MATTERS – “Lyric of the Day”

(Music Cut #1)

If you were watching music videos
on February 28th, 1999…

you probably saw
three guys running around naked.

Blink-182.

“What’s My Age Again?”

(Music Cut #2)

That was not the original title.

The label hated Blink’s first name for it.

Too psychological.
Too weird.

(Music Cut #3)

So they changed it —
into a question.

And that question
became an anthem
for an entire generation
that didn’t want to grow up.

The original title?

“Peter Pan Complex.”

(Music Cut #4)

LYRIC OF THE DAY:
“What the hell is wrong with me?
My friends say I should act my age –
(What’s my age again?)” — Blink-182

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MUSIC THAT MATTERS – “Lyric of the Day”

(Music Cut #1)

February 27th, 1994.

Just weeks before Superunknown would drop…

Soundgarden’s
“Spoonman”
was climbing the Modern Rock chart.

(Music Cut #2)

And by now – many of you know – that’s real.

Those aren’t sound effects.

That’s actual street performer Artis the Spoonman
playing spoons on the track.

But here’s the part most people miss:

The song title came first.

(Music Cut #3)

“Spoonman” was originally one of the fake song titles
Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament wrote for the fictional band Citizen Dick
in the 1992 movie Singles.

Chris Cornell saw the title…

and then wrote the song from it.

Before the band had even begun recording Superunknown.

(Music Cut #4)

LYRIC OF THE DAY:
“Feel the rhythm with your hands
Steal the rhythm while you can.” — Soundgarden

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MUSIC THAT MATTERS – “Lyric of the Day”

(Music Cut #1)

This song was going the distance
on alternative radio
February 26th, 1997.

Cake.

“The Distance.”

(Music Cut #2)

The driver in this song is obsessed with winning.

So obsessed…
he doesn’t even realize
the race ended a long time ago
and everyone else has gone home.

(Music Cut #3)

It’s not really about racing.

It’s about chasing something
long after it’s already passed you by.

In other words —
the race isn’t the race.

It’s a mid-life crisis.

(Music Cut #4)

LYRIC OF THE DAY:
“The arena is empty, except for one man
Still driving and striving as fast as he can.” — Cake

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MUSIC THAT MATTERS – “Lyric of the Day”

(Music Cut #1)

February 25th, 1999.

This song didn’t sound like anything else on the radio.

Lauryn Hill

“Doo Wop (That Thing).”

(Music Cut #2)

It was the lead single from
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

And it debuted at No. 1
on the Billboard Hot 100 —

the first female solo debut single
ever to do that.

(Music Cut #3)

Lauryn was physically exhausted.

So she recorded many of her vocals
lying on the studio floor
or just stretched out on a couch.

Why?

She was pregnant
with her first son, Zion.

(Music Cut #4)

LYRIC OF THE DAY:
“Don’t be a hard rock
when you really are a gem.” — Lauryn Hill

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