And now, two songs inspired by the (ostensible) kids: high school classmates Oneida Jones and Eugene “Wendy” Wendell, who dance around each other in an awkward teenage mating ritual throughout This Must Be the Place.
When it came to Oneida—who’s super smart and crazy weird—I didn’t turn to music for inspirado. Eugene/Wendy, on the other hand, is a character composed almost entirely of songs (in addition to surrealist art references, ambition, delusion, and hormones); and his own personal soundtrack mutates as his interest in Oneida grows from hormonal intrigue to shmoopy mooniness and beyond.
Wendy, at first, is totally ruled by his naturally hyperactive, nerdy teenage boy lust. And the best method I found for getting into this particular frame of mind was listening to a LOT of Violent Femmes.
Once it looks like he might actually get somewhere with the object of his affection, Eugene’s tastes take a hairpin swerve into the land of molten cheese I already expounded upon at length. And yes, this *is* just an excuse to post another Foreigner video.
Ed. note: I love this song more than is healthy.
And then. OH, then. Without giving too much away, suffice to say that Oneida and Eugene’s budding relationship leads to complications that numb the latter with absolute terror—a state of mind captured quite nicely by Blur‘s “Beetlebum,” a song I’ve long thought to be deliciously creepy. Oh, Britpop in the 90s…how I enjoyed your disaffected British dudes with beautiful eyes and hollowed out hearts, writhing on the carpet, plus a few Winamp visualizer effects for good measure. And still enjoy, I should say.
AND! I will post more tomorrow (it really deserves a post of its own), but the reading last night at Porter Square Books was a smashing success! I can’t thank everyone involved enough – but like I said, I’ll get into the nitty gritty tomorrow. It’s going to be like an Oscar speech, only no one can play me off the stage. HA!
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