I work at a place that has Muzak satellite radio piped in, which means that I listen to a handful of songs by a couple of dozen artists. There really isn’t too much variety involved.
I believe that the channel we listen to is “Adult Alternative,” and it seems like whomever is in charge of the programming for the channel goes though phases. Back in the day, Pete Yorn would get some songs in the mix, as would Ben Folds Five. I always enjoyed when they’d get some play, but I haven’t heard either for quite some time.
There was also a time when you’d hear quite a few songs from Ryan Adams’ Gold. Not that long ago, the soundtrack for I Am Sam was all the fashion. But lately, things have taken a sinister turn.
As of late, my coworkers and I have been getting bombarded with John Mayer and the Indigo Girls… and I do mean bombarded. Literally, the only days I don’t hear John Mayer and the Indigo Girls are the days that I don’t go work.
And I want to state emphatically that I’ve got no beef with the Indigo Girls; they’re cool, in moderation. But seriously, I can only take but so much of their folkie earnestness. I feel pretty much the same way about Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals, whose Lifeline has one too many songs in rotation as well.
John Mayer, on the other hand, is awful. The only song that I dig from dude is “Clarity”, which is actually a pretty great song. Unfortunately, the two songs that are in heavy, heavy rotation are “Say” and his cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin'”.
“Say” might be the hokiest song ever. Sure, it’s a soundtrack song for a corny flick, but it’s frightening that someone might actually take the advice that he’s dispensing. It’s never better to say too much—that’s why it’s called “saying too much.”
And his cover of “Free Fallin'” actually manages to make a tame song even more toothless. Mayer’s acoustic plucking rips out whatever soul Petty’s gravelly mumbling had infused in it. It’s like John Mayer’s super power is to the ability figure out the exact way to make a song the most lame. And I’ve got to hear these songs, every day, at work.
I can’t complain too much. They play some pretty good Death Cab for Cutie. And around the time In Rainbows dropped, Radiohead was added to the rotation, too. Plus, quite a few tracks from Ryan Adams’ Cold Roses have been getting played recently.
But my love for the good stuff doesn’t come close to balancing out how much the irksome stuff bothers me. I’m painfully aware that I’m at work when I hear the Indigo Girls or John Mayer, and no one should have to work under those conditions.
I guess in this economy everyone’s making sacrifices; mine will just be my sanity.
