Even in the Converge and Dillinger Escape Plan era, the first few seconds on Bad Brains' first album feel like a knockout blow to the head. The lyrics are almost comically nonchalant for such a breakneck song--there's no sailing going on here, this is a hurricane. There are melodies buried in "Sailin' On", most apparent in the background vocals that chime in at the :28 mark, and several cover versions (astonishingly, No Doubt, Living Colour, Soulfly and Moby have all recorded it) have unearthed more of the tune. But on Bad Brains it's a war between H.R. and Dr. Know, the former's You Can't Fire Me Because I Quit narrative trading punches with the latter's monstrous, distorted riffage (plus a solo? On a hardcore album? By devout Rastas? In 1982?). In the end, kicking the storyteller out gives them what they both want, but we know who the real winners are.
One of my roommates is moving out this month. I Like to Move It Move It
Metallica, "Wherever I May Roam"
Bad Brains, "Sailin' On"
Sleater-Kiney, "One More Hour"
David Bowie, "Move On"
Mississippi Fred McDowell, "You Got to Move"
The Allman Brothers Band, "Midnight Rider"
The Kinks, "I Gotta Move"
Johnny Cash & Merle Haggard, "I'm Leavin' Now"
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, "When I First Came to Town"
The Pogues, "The Wild Rover"
Guns N' Roses, "Move to the City"
Bob Dylan, "Walkin' Down the Line"
R. L. Burnside, "Walkin' Blues"
Bill Monroe, "Gotta Travel On"
Iggy Pop, "Home"
Willie Nelson, "On the Road Again"
Tom Petty, "Time to Move On"
Tom Waits, "On the Road"
Pearl Jam, "Drifting"
Joni Mitchell, "Urge for Going"
Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Free Bird"
I Like to Move It Move It was culled from a group of songs that I like to give friends when they're in the process of finding a new home, something that 90% of all New Yorkers are doing at any given time. Rovers, wanderers, nomads, vagabonds, call them what you will--each of them get my favorite Bad Brains song, Cash & Haggard's final team-up and a few particularly solitary blues cuts.
As with most of the characters in these songs, the tunes themselves are mostly loners and outcasts. David Bowie and Nick Cave, both of whom know a thing or two about moving on, supply underrated songs from their most underrated albums. The Pogues' version of "The Wild Rover," Pearl Jam's (Vedder's, really) "Drifting" and Joni's "Urge for Going" are all lovely b-sides. The Bob Dylan and Tom Waits songs were both unearthed from rarities box sets. The Metallica song is their least-loved hit from The Black Album, yet it's my favorite.
Then again, there's "Free Bird" to account for. Hearing it again, I can remember how it earned its reputation as the closer to end all closers. Still, this is the first and last time that I'm ever putting it on a mix CD.
