June 2, 2005
Bowling for Soup - and Tejas
So right now I live in the great northern wastelands. Yeah, I know, a lot of you people like it up north, you seem to enjoy having four seasons and some people even like snow. But I'm from Texas originally and that's where my heart is to be sure.
Where in Texas, you ask? Well, I was born in Amarillo, then we moved to Houston, another place in Houston, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Carmel (just outside Indianapolis) and then we moved to Austin. Then I started kindergarten. When I was in third grade we moved to Arlington (between Dallas and Fort Worth).
No, my dad was not in the military. He was a trouble-shooter for National Sherdata and later for Ross Perot's EDS.
Living up here are a lot of folks with Texas license plates. I don't know why. I don't know how they can live here and keep their Texas plates. I had to trade mine in for a crummy Indiana plate. Anyhow, people ask me when they find out that I'm from Texas: Why are all Texans obsessed with their state? It's just a state, for crying out loud.
Well, it's because Texas is its own frickin' country, dude. We have every geographical environment in one state. And everything is pretty much bigger in Texas. Even the crappy studio apartments are bigger and cheaper than they are up here in the frozen northlands. All good points. The most important point, of course, is we have the best Mexican food in the U.S. And we have South Padre. And Austin and San Antonio. Houston? That armpit can fall into the Gulf for all I care. Ewwww. (My apologies to any Houston-lovers, but that place gave me the creeps and made my allergies and asthma go through the roof. Too humid for me - but the pine trees are amazingly beautiful.)
So, why bring all this up right now? Well, I just got the Bowling for Soup CD called A Hangover You Don't Deserve . It beyond rocks and since the guys are from Tejas, I am, of course, even more enthralled with the CD. They sound just a little bit like the Refreshments and I've listened to the CD at work for the last three days, only switching it out for the Drop Kick Murphys CD once or twice. So one of the songs is called "Ohio (Come Back to Texas)" and it makes me wanna get back to Texas SO BAD. But my current favorite song is "My Hometown" . It is the most happy fuck-you song I've ever heard. Here's an example of the lyrics:
This song goes out to my good friends,
Especially the ones I had before the Grammy nominations in 2003
And all the girls from back in high school,
Who actually spoke to me,
Even though I was a fat kid and a marching band geek.I hope this song finds you well.
And I hope that you're doin' fuckin' swell.
I hope that you're back up if you've ever been down.
And I hope that you got the fuck out of our hometown.
Now, considering the home town is Witchita Falls, I find this hilarious. Witchita Falls is almost as whacked a place as Waco. And the come back to Texas song talks about Denton County - which is where my sister lives - which really cracks me up since Denton is pretty po-dunk (but has a decent enough music scene thanks to North Texas).
So, I want to send a shout out to all the kids I went to school with:
I hope this blog finds you well.
And I hope that you're doin' fuckin' swell.
I hope that you're back up if you've ever been down.
And I hope that you got the fuck out of our hometown.
Well, except that Arlington, no matter how crappy we thought it was at the time, is not nearly as bad as Indiana . . . so hopefully I'll get back there soon and see all the folks who stuck around the Metroplex.
Meanwhile, listen to Bowling for Soup - you'll love 'em.
Posted by Red Monkey at June 2, 2005 6:19 PM |
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Man, I can't wait to leave Texas... It is such a red state. And do you have a clue how they treat gays, religious minorities and black folk down here? Oh, wait, you're in Indiana, you do have an idea...
Even so, I'm thinking Oregon or Washington.
June 11, 2005 1:07 PM
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Andy T. said: