Meet Jen And The New Show

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Welcome back to another Super Awesome Mix. My name is Matt Sidholm, alongside my co-host and co-founder of Super Awesome Mix Samur. I'll be Salbi. Samar, how are we doing this week?

SPEAKER_03 1:08

I am really good. Thankfully, as I always am. I took a pause there. I wanted to think about how I'm doing. You know, I didn't just want to give you a fake answer, Matt. So I'm I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Yeah, give it some thought. You know, tell the people how you really feel. So you're feeling good. I like it. I like it. Um we've got a guest this week, Samur.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

We sure do. Um, and it's it's you know, it's one of our very own. It's the host of it's the host of a new show called What Are You Listening To?

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Yes, that's right. We've got a second show, um, as some of you might know, but maybe not all of you yet, but um on the Super Awesome Mix, what what we're starting a little podcast network here and starting to branch out. So our second show, like Samura said, What are you listening to? And it's hosted, of course, by our friend Jen Tully. Jen, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Thank you guys. I'm so glad to be here.

SPEAKER_03 2:05

So I decided that um, you know, as part of the welcoming into the Super Awesome Mix Podcast Network, which is now kind of our unofficial name, um, you know, we needed a Desert Island mix from you. Uh that was that was our inaugural podcast episode, of course. Mine, I think, is still still leading the ranks in terms of the the most likes on a Spotify playlist. I I'm pretty proud of that. I obviously have first mover advantage, but I'm gonna go ahead and take it to mean that I just have like great taste in music. Um, Matt, you took a little while to to get yours, but we eventually got yours. Um put a lot of thought in yours. Yours is doing pretty well too. People people like your style. So so now we we pass the torch to Jen. So I mean, kind of the the pressure's a little on here, Jen. How are you feeling about your mix?

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Yeah, you know, I I didn't realize this was a competition, so that's probably good. Um, and I think that I said this maybe to you earlier, Sam, or like the other thing about my desert island mix is that my ship needs to crash or sink or like whatever it's gonna do pretty quickly because my mix could change tomorrow. I'm very um, you know, I think you were talking about how like you go back and make sure that your desert island mix is curated just perfectly and every time it's the way that you want it. And I'm like, oh no, I could put this list together tomorrow and it could be a completely different list. So yeah, it'll be interesting.

SPEAKER_03 3:28

Yeah, I feel like you would not farewell on a desert island. I'm I'm still jamming out to my mix, by the way. I do actually go back and still listen to it at least once a month, and I'm like, yeah, this checks out. I still like this.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Yeah, see, I think I've got a few anchors that probably would not change, but you know, through the course of the podcast, I've I've listened to a lot of uh, you know, we listen to so much music just through the show that um I I bet in a couple of years it may evolve a little bit, but there's probably some songs that that won't move off that list for me.

SPEAKER_03 3:59

Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

I think that's right. Yeah, I think that's right for me too. I think there are some that would never go away, definitely bands that would never go away. So it's hard for me. I mean, I could have put together a 12-song mix by any one of these bands on my desert island mix. So um, I think that's probably more what would change is the song. But a lot of the artists would be anchor artists, yeah.

80s Kickoff: John Waite And Vision Quest

SPEAKER_03 4:21

Nice. All right. Well, as we go through this, maybe you can note which ones you you might consider an anchor one. But let's start us off track one. You've got Change by John Waite.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Yeah, I mean, this song, I love John Waite. He's, you know, I think people people know him because they know Missing You, um, which is also a great song. Um, another favorite of his um that I love is a song called In Dreams that was from the movie True Romance, um, which was uh I think I think one of the first movies Quentin Tarantino wrote, even though he didn't direct it. I believe he wrote True Romance. Um, and so that's how I found In Dreams. Um, but I love John Waite in the 80s. I loved um When I See You Smile when he was in bad English. So um those songs come up a lot. But this one um I really love. This one's from a terrible movie that you know I never say that about 80s movies. I love them all, but this one is not good. Um it's from a movie called Vision Quest um from 1985, even though the song, I believe, was released in 1982 on his Ignition album. Um, but that's got a great soundtrack. So my thing about Vision Quest is listen to the soundtrack, don't watch the movie. Um the soundtracks got you know, Only the Young by Journey and Gambler and Crazy for You by Madonna, and then this song, Change, which happens during um one of your favorite things, you guys. I'm about to drop a training montage on you. So, yes, during a training montage. Uh the story is that um Matthew Modine, who we know these days as Dr. Brenner in Stranger Things, um, stars in Vision Quest as a wrestler who decides he wants to wrestle the state champion. So, real deep plot there, as was common in the 80s. And um, yeah, I just love the song. I I love the a training montage as much as you guys, and I think that this song is perfect for that.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Jen, I have to wholly disagree with you on Vision Quest. Okay, it's uh it's a great movie. It does have a great soundtrack. That's why I immediately love this song once it started. I was like, this is this is gonna be awesome. But yeah, okay, you kind of short sell the plot a little bit, right? Like Matthew Modine is trying to lose quite a bit of weight to wrestle like a guy two two weight classes down from him, I think, uh, for the state championship. And so Yeah, I I don't know. I think it's a great movie. It's a little weird. There are definitely some side plots in that movie that that you can dump out, but just the through line of him, you know, trying to trying to reach his uh his wrestling goals. It's pretty awesome, I think. But maybe I'm alone. I don't know. Listeners.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

I'm I'll give it a watch again. I haven't I I recently re-watched it when I chose this song because I knew that Vision Quest was gonna come up, and I was like, yeah, maybe not. Um I'm not sure. Samura, I definitely steer clear of Vision Quest. I'll say that. Samurai will hate it.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

There's no doubt about it. I'm just gonna call it right now. There's 25 minutes. If I could edit that movie, there's probably 25 minutes I'd edit out and then maybe show it to Samur, and he might say it's okay.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

Yeah, we don't we we try not to be negative on this show, but 80s movies are a hard sell for me. So they are a hard sell.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

And it's like the only language, it's like the the if Matt and I spoke a second language, it's like 80s movies.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Yeah, no, that's that's fair. That's fair. That's the one thing Samur really like can't can't necessarily chime in on sometimes because most of these movies he he is not seeing.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

But I love it because it really does offer a perspective shift, right? Like I love that these movies that you know, Matt, you and I grew up with and were sort of like canon for our youth, that Samur's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, like what is happening here? It really does like force me to take a look at, you know, time and place that these movies came out. But this one is uh, this is a good, it's a good soundtrack. You know, the other thing too about Vision Quest that I'll say for the for the ladies that are listening out there is it's one of I think three movies that features Michael Schaufling, who was Jake Ryan from 16 Candles. So originally I didn't care much about Matthew Modine or wrestling, but I was getting my hands on anything that had Jake Ryan in it. So that's how I first found Vision Quest in the spirit of full disclosure. That's a great point.

Anchor Artists: The Eagles And Origins

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Great point. All right. Well, okay, let's let's take a little bit of a shift here to a decidedly not 80s sounding song. Okay, your second track was All 55 by the Eagles.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Yes, so when we talk about anchor artists, um, this is one of them. I will never have there will never be a desert island that I'm on that does not have the Eagles on it with me. Um, you know, they're just there's no particular order really to this mix. I think some people put a lot of thought into like, well, when I first crash on the desert island, I might be really scared and want something soothing. Or I didn't really do that. I sort of figured in that, like, yeah, I'm gonna be having a lot of emotions on the desert island, but we like not necessarily in any order um did did I place the songs. But this one is just one that takes me right back to childhood. It's my dad and I, you know, blaring the stereo in the car, um, or me listening to a cassette on my Walkman while we're driving. My family were big road trippers, and so you know, we always had music on. We always had it really loud. You know, my husband jokes, and I got this from my dad, that if anybody ever tried to steal my car, they'd have a heart attack before they could get it out of the parking spot because the music's so loud when they turn the car off.

SPEAKER_03 10:05

That's a good uh anti-boot. Yeah, like anti-theft system. Anti-theft. Yeah, I like it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Yeah, so this song just it takes me back always. It's a little more country feeling than some of the Eagles songs, perhaps. Um, I love that I get Glenn Fry and Don Henley really clearly on this one because it's hard for me to pick a favorite eagle. Um so yeah, I just and this is one that, you know, I I could have put a lot of other eagle songs that are maybe more popular, but this one just feels like home to me. This one reminds me of home. Were you were you guys familiar with this one at all before you heard before my Desert Island mix?

SPEAKER_03 10:42

I was not, actually. Um so this one was kind of new, so I did some research on it. Found out also it's a cover, um, but by Tom Waits, originally written by someone, uh Tom Waits, who I was also not familiar with, admittedly, um, who apparently was not happy with this cover. He called it antiseptic. And I'm like, is that an insult? You know, like sepsis is a bad thing. I I would want an antiseptic.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Well, if you research more of Tom Waits' catalog, you'll see he might be okay with sepsis.

Zeppelin, Soundtracks, And Sweet Nostalgia

SPEAKER_03 11:08

Right, okay. Right. Um, but yes, he did not like this cover. I listened to both. I think they're both fine songs. I I really like this one. I love the Eagles. Um, yeah, it was really nice. It was it was like a little country sounding, but I liked it. And you know, that's been also an evolution of of me on this show as I've also come to embrace country music. So who knows? Maybe in like two or three years I'll be joking about 80s films. We'll see. But um this is uh this is definitely a really nice track. I like it a lot. All right, so let's move on to your third track. This one made my heart very happy, which is actually something I'll say a couple times because I really do like a lot of your picks. So, track number three, we've got Tangerine by Led Zeppelin.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Yeah, I mean, when we're talking about anchor artists, I again I'm not gonna be on any island without Led Zeppelin either. Um, they're a favorite, a constant go back to if there's ever a time when I'm like, oh, what is it that I want to listen to? Like, there's a good chance that probably seven out of ten times that's gonna end up being Zeppelin for me. Um, and again, so many great songs from Led Zeppelin. It's hard to pick. Um, and this is off of the Led Zeppelin 3 album, which also also features Immigrant Song, which I also love. Um made popular again by what was the second Thor movie, I think.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yeah, Thor uh Ragnarok, the third one actually. Ragnarok.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Ragnarok, yeah. Um yes, yes, the third one. So that was a great use of Immigrant Song. Um I love I love that song as well. But um, yeah, I just I love this song. I think it's such a sweet, like love song. Um so this is one that again from Zeppelin. I I'll go back to Fool in the Rain a lot, I go back to Ramble On a lot, but Tangerine, Tangerine's kind of my number one.

SPEAKER_03 12:55

This one was also on the um on the almost famous soundtrack, which is like one of my favorite movies. Like, I love that one. It's a great music movie, like a fiction movie music movie. Yes, so um I was really here for that too. And yeah, I mean it's like hard, I think, if not impossible, to pick a Zeppelin song that people aren't gonna be like, Yep, great pick. And this is definitely yeah, in that category. It's just a beautiful song. I love the guitar play in it. Um, and I'm here for all things led Zeppelin. So I was very, very pleased with this one.

Modern Edge: Glass Animals And Belonging

SPEAKER_01 13:25

All right, so track four, uh I think this is a little bit more of a recent track. You go with Life Itself by Glass Animals.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Yes, this is a recent pick. This came out um in 2016 on their How to Be a Human Being album. And I had listened to Glass Animals when the Zaba album came out. Um, the song GUI was on that, and that was kind of a popular hit. And I, again, being based here in Austin, we often have access to really great artists as they're on the on the rise. And so I got to see a glass animals show at one of my favorite venues that's no longer around. Um, you hear that a lot from Austinites that have been here for a while, but um, Threadgills used to do these great outdoor concerts um the weekend before ACL Austin City Limits Music Festival when it was just one weekend. Um, and I got to see them really early in their career and was just blown away. And so ever since then I've had my eye on um on Glass Animals, and my 14-year-old daughter actually loves this song, and um, so this one was one that was kind of on repeat, and just the more I listened to it, the more I loved it. I love the message in it. Um, you know, that they are they're a little cagey kind of about specific meanings of their songs, but with this one they talk about how it's kind of a person that feels like he's a little bit weird, and so he isolates, and the more he isolates, the weirder he feels. Um, and so it really is just like sort of him trying to get himself together and go out into the world so that he can sort of be himself and still fit into you know society the way they want him to be. And I just like that message. I like that it says, you know, come back down to my knees, gotta get back, gotta get free, come back down to my knees, be like them, lean back and breathe. And I'm just like, whoa, that sounds really cool. So musically, like sonically, it sounds great. The lyrics are great, it's kind of funky, it's kind of dancy. I love this song.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Yeah, this was a good one. I was not familiar with this song, but um really liked it. And you're right, the meaning, I was kind of listening to it, and I was like, what God, this guy's really going through something. And uh, you know, you could tell though that he was trying, and I thought that was really cool about the lyrics and sonically, is that you kind of see the the effort there. So yeah, it's interesting to hear kind of the full meaning of someone just trying to maybe fit in and then maybe trying again to fit in. And I think that's probably a message that resonates quite a bit uh with people both young and old, because I think we've all been through uh a lot of that.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Definitely, definitely. And he has another great line that I love that my daughter would kill me if I didn't call out because she loves it too. But he says he has a line where he says, I sit in the car and listen to static. She said, I look fat, but I look fantastic. And I'm like, Yeah, you know what? That's I'm gonna remember that always. Like, as long as you feel good, and I think that's what I leave with the song. Like, yeah, he's going through it, but his whole deal is like, you know what? This is how I am, and this is how I'm gonna be, and it's better to me to be authentic than to be like everybody else, I guess. Um, and so that's sort of that that's the message that I take away from the song.

Pure Joy: The Police And Island Vibes

SPEAKER_03 16:34

I'm all about those affirmations, you know. It takes me like an hour and a half to wake up every day now because I gotta read my affirmations. That's a very long list. Um it's a critical step of getting up in the morning, though. Critical. Um all right, let's uh move on to track five here. This is one of those song titles where I actually this could be a mix, I think, that maybe you know we should work on, but it's like one of the ones where whenever you read it, you just want to sing it because that's like the kind of the you know, the that's the iconic part of the song. So I'm not gonna sing it because as we've mentioned many times on the show, I have a horrible singing voice. But this is every little thing she does is magic by the police. But it's really hard not to have sung that. In my head, I'm singing it.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

Well, I wish you would have gone there for us, Sammer. I mean, um yeah, this song, I mean, uh, it's like you said, you want to sing the title, you want to smile. Like when I hear this song, and this is a little bit tongue-in-cheek because, you know, the steel drums, I mean, I'm on a desert island, so seems appropriate. Um I love the police. They're also, again, like probably an anchor artist. Um, I have always liked the police. I like Sting solo too, but I really like the police. I just think those three guys together were pretty magic. Um, and so this this one tops my my desert island mix. And this is off the Ghost in the Machine album, which also has Spirits in the Material World, an Invisible Sun. Um, I did, I considered also putting King of Pain on here as well, but I'm like, you know what? If I'm on a desert island, I probably am gonna want something a little more upbeat. And like I said, the steel drums seem to fit. So every little thing she does is magic, got the got the pick for this mix.

SPEAKER_03 18:23

It's it's a good one. It's funny. I I had two thoughts whenever I listened to this. One was that it reminded me of the episode of Phyllis and Bob Vance Fans for Federation's wedding, from because that's like they uh someone sings at karaoke, I believe. Um so that immediately brought me to the office. So that's my attachment to the song. The second thing is that I recognized it from a girl talk mix. Of course, girl talk like famously samples like every single song on the planet. And it's been really interesting because as I've gotten more into music in this last you know, year and a half with the podcast, so many of these songs, especially older ones, I'm like, oh, that's from that girl talks track. And it's like, right, no, it goes the other way, Samur. Um so this is sampled in in one of the girl talk tracks. Um so it's cool that you know someone heard the sample and decided to make it into a whole song. That's my understanding of how this works.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

Yeah, ding heard it and was like, wait a second, guys. I think this guy's on to something.

SPEAKER_03 19:19

I mean, girl talk's a genius. He he does a lot of genres.

Folklore Comfort: Taylor Swift’s Time

SPEAKER_01 19:23

He does a lot of stuff. He's got range. He's got range. All right. Well, speaking of someone who has range, uh, let's go to track six, which is Invisible String by Taylor Swift.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Yeah, I mean, like so many people, that folklore album really got me through the pandemic. Um, you know, you talk about having to do an hour of affirmations. This one was one where when I felt like I just can't turn the news on, I just can't look at any more, you know, bad news. Because this came out, you know, right smack in the middle of of the pan of COVID when we were still, but still kind of early days, like before we could get vaccines and things like that. And so this album was just like a warm blanket for me. And this song um in particular is one of my all-time favorites. Uh, you know, Taylor Swift is one of those artists that, like lover or hater, fine, but you cannot deny her talent. You know, you can't I I just feel like you've got your head in the sand or your ears plugged if you feel like she's not an amazing songwriter. Um, and this song represents some of the best of that to me. Um and we talk about lyrics a lot, and this one has some that I love, and she goes back to them three times in the song when she's talking about time. Um and she says, Time, curious time, gave me no compasses, gave me no signs, and then there's a verse, and then she goes back and says, Time, mystical time, cutting me open, then healing me fine. And then the last one is time, wondrous time, gave me the blues and then purple pink skies. And it almost brings me to tears every time because I think of what I was feeling and what we were all going through collectively, you know, as people during that time frame. And I just love the way that, you know, first she thinks of time as being really curious, and then she thinks of it as being really mystical, and then she realizes that it's really wondrous. Like we can get through anything, we can handle a lot. And I just um I I love this song. I love everything about it.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Yeah, this is a great song. It's it's so well written, and that's what I always say about Taylor Swift. You're exactly right. You know, I'm not in the demographic, as I like to say, right? Like Taylor Swift's not writing songs for me, you know, middle-aged, you know, married dad. Um, but you know, I I still like when I listen to it, I'm like, man, this is really well done, you know, and and you know, just the words are so good and just musically and everything fits. And so um Yeah, I I have a lot of and again, I can listen to her music too. It just wouldn't when I say that, I'll say like I don't necessarily seek out Taylor Swift songs, right? Um, and she's not necessarily seeking me out as an audience, but I do think she's uh an excellent songwriter.

SPEAKER_03 22:10

Yeah, she I mean, she's a force, right? No matter, like as we as you both have said, no matter what you think of her, she's a force uh in the music world. Also, one of like the only artists to get like Apple Music to literally pay their artists more by just you know tweeting that she didn't want to be on the platform. Like, that's a lot of power. Like you standing up to a trillion dollar company and just being like, nope. Um that's great. All right. Track seven. Um we go a little bit back in time here, and you've got Would I Lie to You by the Rhythmics featuring. Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart.

Power Voices: Eurythmics And Ownership

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Yes. Oh man, I do love the arrhythmics. Um I love Annie Lennox solo, and Dave Stewart actually had um a kooky side project for a while called Dave Stewart and the Spiritual Cowboys um after the arrhythmics broke up. And they have one song that's worth a listen, um, called Party Town that was from Here I Go Again, another 80s movie. Might have been early 90s, but a movie called Flatliners, um, which is also a pretty ridiculous plot. They might have redone it too. I can't even remember.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

I feel like they might have redone it, but I definitely didn't see the remake. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

Me neither. I have not seen the remake, but the original had Julia Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin Bacon. I mean, it's a decent cast, um with an interesting kind of storyline. Um but anyway, I'm digressing here. Um, Would I Lie to You is um, you know, they had a bigger songs, they had Sweet Dreams, of course, or Here Comes the Rain Again. But I just feel like this song is really upbeat and it's fun. Um to me, it's almost a precursor also to like irreplaceable by Beyoncé, right? Like she's the that says Would I Lie to You and you think like, oh, maybe this is a sweet love song, but it's really her saying, like, guess what? I'm leaving. And if you think I'm kidding, you're wrong. Um, and so I always think about that. I'm like, you know, irreplaceable might not have happened if Would I Lie To You hadn't been there first. You know, this the like the through line is similar. And so um I like that about it too. And and then this album also features um sisters are doing it for themselves. So you you get the sense that maybe Annie Lennox is ready to go on and do her own thing um with this album um from the Arithmics, but um, but I do love this song.

SPEAKER_03 24:29

It is it's such a good one. Her vocals are just unbelievable. Like I just love listening to her sing. I also really enjoy, like, you know, I I'm not super familiar with the arrhythmics, but I do know a couple of them. And I I love that this is like not as like synth and electronic as some of their other like pieces. Like this is like an actual band playing behind them, but in like curiously, in almost like a synthie kind of way, like I think that that was like so interesting. Um, and it just works so well. I I thought it was so cool that they um you know produced the song in this way using like an actual band.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

Yeah, yeah, and they're both super talented, you know, musicians. Um, and I just anytime you can showcase Annie Lennox's voice, I think it's you know, I think of songs like No More I Love You's, you know, where it's just like her voice is so beautiful, and this one is just a pop version of how beautiful her voice is. So I like it a lot.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

This one could also go on a mix of uh different songs with the same title because this often gets confused with the song Would I Lie to You by Charles and Eddie from the early 90s. I don't know if you guys remember that one, but that one still gets a little bit of radio play for that that one-hit wonder. But um anyway, just wanted to throw that in there. Mix idea, okay? Same title, different songs.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

Oh, and there we go. We hope to keep track of our two so far.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

All right. So speaking of uh, you know, possibly another anchor artist here for you, uh, but you've got Call It Dreaming by Iron and Wine.

Poetry In Song: Iron & Wine’s Grace

SPEAKER_00 26:00

Yeah, Iron and Wine. I this is a band where I say, like, listen to them, and if you don't like it, if it's too moody, just take all of their lyrics and just read it as poetry. Like, if you don't want to listen to them, read the lyrics as a book. Um, I just think that the writing is so beautiful. We I I talk a lot about lyrics on my show, on this mix. Like they're they're so important to me. A lot of people just listen to music for the sonic satisfaction, and for me, that's really only a very small part of it. I love the lyrics, and I think that this song and many of Iron and Wine's song, if you've not taken, you know, nine and a half minutes and listened to the Trapeze Swinger, so that's for sure worth a listen. Beautiful song. Um, and then this one is just like I feel like this one is when I don't want to go as deep as a trapeze swinger or naked as we came. Um, this one is just I love it. And I love sort of they keep repeating it throughout the song. For all the love you've left behind, you can have mine. Um, I just think that's so beautiful. And um, yeah, this band, I just I love them. I've seen them live several times. They were a big anchor artist um for the ACL Music Fest for a few years, and so listening to them play outside in the evening time is maybe one of the best things ever. So if you've not ever dug into iron and wine, I encourage you to do so.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

Yeah, that that lyric for all the love you've left behind, you can have mine. That's the one that I called out when I was taking notes. That really stood out to me. But yeah, you're right, excellent song songwriting, right? Like the lyrics were just so good. Um, yeah, I really like this song. And I I think I have to do that because I kind of feel the same way about lyrics, I think that you do. And so I I will have to do a deep dive into Iron and Wine to kind of kind of get into that a little bit more.

SPEAKER_03 27:50

Uh yeah, I I love, love, love, love Iron Wine. This is uh um the other song in this mix that made my heart really happy whenever I saw it because I've been listening to Sam Beam's amazing vocals for many, many years now, and you're absolutely right, they they read like poetry, the lyrics do. So, yes, another plus one. Go listen to Iron Wine, they're awesome. But let's uh move on to track nine for now. So we've got a track by John Mayer, and it is Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967.

Story Song Deep Dive: John Mayer’s Walt Grace

SPEAKER_00 28:20

Yeah, so I kind of went um maybe a little deep track, John Mayer. This is another one. You know, it's interesting as a as a female popping on to a male-hosted show. There are things, you know, like I'm like, um, I don't know if they're down with Taylor Swift. I don't know how much they're gonna be down with John Mayer. Like, sometimes when I meet guys that are into John Mayer, it's because he's such a phenomenal guitarist, right? So he he like there is some, and now that he's touring with Dead and Company, um, there is a little more crossover appeal, I think, for John Mayer. But again, I I love John Mayer. Um, whenever I I think he's another one that is really a wordsmith and great with words. And this song is just really um it was another kind of tongue-in-cheek ad, um, similar to what I did with the police with the steel drums and being on a desert island. Like this one, there's so much debate. Like, there are subreddits about this song. I mean, there are all kinds of things, but if you've not listened to it, um, it really tells a story. I love songs that tell a story. Um, that's probably from growing up on you know old traditional country music where they all tell a story. So I still really love that in a song. And this one has a beautiful saxophone opening, and you think you're gonna get one thing, and then you get a totally different song once it really gets into the actual song. Um, and then there's just like I said, a ton of debate around this Walt Grace character. And is this a song about suicide? Does he live? Does he really build this submarine? Um, and so I we'll we'll have to all weigh in here, but this has been debated to death on the internet. But in my mind, he lives, he makes it. Walt Grace does make it to Tokyo and um and he starts a new life. Um and that's sort of one of the one of the lines in the song. When you're done with this world, you know the next is up to you. Um and I was like, uh, you know what? I think that that can mean that doesn't necessarily have to mean dying, you know. Um so I choose to believe that Walt Grace is alive, but I'm very curious to hear what you guys thought about this one.

SPEAKER_03 30:27

Yeah, I I you know it's funny, I I had a couple thoughts as you were asking that question. One, I was like, I I these days just kind of read the lyrics, I'm like, oh yeah, those are really nice lyrics, and I never think to like go on a super deep dive and wonder what are the 300 other things that it might mean. And and we've talked about that on this show. Sometimes people might like spend a little too much time, you know, no judgment. It's fine. I shouldn't be judgy, but I don't spend that much time with lyrics. So for me, I was like, this is just like a really beautiful song about like, yeah, wanting to kind of like change your life a little bit or find a new journey or open a new chapter, and and so I don't take it as like a literal life and death thing for me. I just take it as like you go on this adventure, and I think maybe, you know, now reading into the lyrics, maybe it's a submarine because you don't have as much visibility about where you're going, you know, like and you kind of disappear, you truly disappear from the world, and then you pop up somewhere new. And I do think sometimes our journeys in life are like that. I mean, I I'm I certainly have had a lot of periods in my life where, and this is the note I have on the song, it's like I could have used this song because I'm I wasn't familiar with it, but like you need, yeah, you just kind of like feel that way. You're like, okay, this is not working. I need to reset, and wherever I land, like I'm gonna figure it out. So that was my read on it. But I I really enjoyed the song. This is one that I'm gonna keep for myself. Um, I mean, you can have it too, but I'm also gonna keep it because thank you. We'll share. Yeah, we can share the song. Uh, because I really love the message and the story being told here.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

Yeah, I I love this one too. And and just to answer your question, I I kind of took it as I thought he died. I thought he didn't quite make it, but I just loved kind of the the sort of the guys remembering him after the fact and just sort of the legend, even though it's like I could just see these guys being like, man, he really went for it. He did it. You know, and even though it ended in failure, it's like, man, that's awesome. But yeah, for whatever reason, I I might heard that as uh he didn't make it.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

You're you're in the the majority. The most of the internet believes that he didn't make it, but I am the eternal optimist, and uh, and it sounds like Samur is too, and um, and we believe that Walt Grace is living his best life in Tokyo. Yep, it's happening.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

Well, speaking of things that are eternal, uh, your next track is titled Forever. That's by Haim.

Sister Power: Haim And Hard Goodbyes

SPEAKER_00 32:39

Yes, I mean Haim appears a lot for me. There, um, they may be another anchor band, even though you know they're not as they haven't been around as long as some of the other anchor bands that I have. This is, I love Haim. I say it all the time. I think that they're the three coolest sisters on the planet. Um, and this is the song that kind of introduced me to the band. Um, you know, I heard this and The Wire kind of really like one after the other, and it just blew my mind. It was one of those bands that I was so excited about and just couldn't wait to get my hands on any other songs or albums or bootlegs or anything that I could find from them. Um I I think that they are super relatable in the way they write songs. I like the strong female perspective that they take in songs. Um, you know, they they they don't follow sort of a, you know, the I'm the girl that got heartbroken and I'm crying in the corner sort of model. Like they go through it, you know. They talk about how sometimes they fight, sometimes they're a bad girlfriend, sometimes they're a great girlfriend and they're not getting treated right, sometimes they make mistakes, you know. So I really like the relatability of their songs. Um, and I I love the line in this song when she says, Forever we tried to make it right, but together we saw the end in sight. I'm tired of fighting the good fight. If you say the word, then I'll say goodbye. And it's just like, ooh, who hasn't been in that situation, you know, where you you know you need to get out of a relationship and you're just like waiting and but you're kind of in the routine or you're attracted to the fighting or whatever it may be, and then you're just like, just say the word so we can end this. Like we see what's happening, like let's just peace out.

SPEAKER_01 34:23

So Haim, I am I decided after hearing the song, I'm moving them to the same category that I moved Macklemore into earlier in the this year, earlier this year. Because every time I hear one of their songs, I'm like, man, this is a great song. I love these guys. So I am just like I moved Macklemore into a little bit more of the regular rotation, I think I'm moving Haim into there as well. Because I'm just like every time I I think both of you have brought songs uh to the mixes at different times or have introduced me to songs by them, and I'm just like, oh, it's a great song. Oh, it's a great song. So now I'm just like, all right, they're in. They're in the rotation. It's yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:59

It's so crazy that you say that because my my number one note that I have here, I'll just read it verbatim, is listening to a heim song always has the effect of me wanting to go listen to more of their music. They're just bands. They're just bands where that happens to me all the time, and this is one of them. That's spot on. Yeah, yeah, they are amazing. They're an amazing trio. I love I love everything about them. I also love that all their music videos of them are just essentially walking around LA. Like, it's great. I just love that vibe.

SPEAKER_00 35:28

You haven't seen them live, they are amazing. They, you know, they all play multiple instruments and they run around or through the stage. There's a section where they bring out, you know, giant drums. They have a lot of friends that they collaborate with, um, Thundercat and Twin Shadows. Um, so they they're just, yeah, I I could go on about Haim all day long.

SPEAKER_01 35:49

I've got a brother and two sisters, and we don't do anything together. So like these guys, like these ladies like touring, they're playing multiple instruments, they're just it's like, man, look at that, you know? And then I look at my family and I'm like, what are we doing, right? How come we never did anything? Well, we get our act together with the.

Physics Of Love: Young The Giant

SPEAKER_00 36:09

And they used to they um they started when they were before they were Haim, they were in a band, I believe it was called Rockingheim or Rockingham, and it was the whole family. And they said it sort of started because their parents just didn't want them like bumming around on the weekends. So, you know, the dad was like a casual musician, and so was the mom. And so the girls kind of picked up instruments and sang, and it started, and they did like bar mitzvahs and bar mitzvahs and weddings, and you know, like they just kind of played around Los Angeles as a family, and then as the girls got over older, they they sort of split off and and formed time. But yeah, well super cool.

SPEAKER_01 36:47

We're canceling our plans this weekend, and I'm I'm getting the kids going and and we're gonna start a family band. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

You're lagging.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

I know, we're already behind, but I feel like we got a chance to catch up. Okay, we'll see.

SPEAKER_03 36:59

All your songs are just gonna be the sit home family band. It's like I just keep introduced now.

SPEAKER_01 37:06

Here's a hot new band everybody should listen to.

SPEAKER_03 37:10

We have 17 followers on Spotify. We are blowing up. Um, I'll listen to your band, Matt. I bet you guys are gonna be great. Thank you. Thank you. All right, let's take it to the home stretch here. Your second to last pick, you've got super positioned by Young the Giant.

Closing With 80s Perfection: Madonna

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Yes, this is this is an interesting pick because I'm not a super duper Young the Giant fan. Like I was saying, any other band on this mix, I could pick 12 songs easy. Like without looking at Spotify, like just from my head, I could pick 12 songs that I want. Young the Giant is not a band like that for me, but I love the song. I love the song. I've loved it since the first moment I heard it. And I do love other Young the Giant songs, but this one I like they're not a band that I go to often or go deep on, except for this song. And part of why I love it is when it first came out, I was like, that's interesting. And superposition was one of those words that I'm like, I think I can figure out what it means. But when I when I looked at the definition, the actual definition is superposition is the action of placing one thing on or above another, especially so that they coincide. And when I read that, I was like, huh, this is like this falls into your category, Samur, of like people that take way too deep a dive on lyrics. So we're at opposite ends of the spectrum here, I'm guessing. But um But that's what I love. Like he goes in and talking about he doesn't believe in fate, no psychic vision, but when things fall into place, superposition. And it just seems like if he can take, he seems like a guy that's like, if I can take a little bit more of a scientific approach to how things go, then I can get my head around it a little better, even though it's sort of like ends him at the same place. But you know, he says things like why don't we collide, the spaces that divide us, and I'm imagining like molecules colliding or things like that. So it just like that's how it struck me is like this was a person that things were kind of happening to, and and as long as he thought about it in a more scientific way, he could he could grasp it. But fate and psychic vision and you know, mantras and manifesting and things like that didn't really work for him, but science does.

SPEAKER_03 39:21

Yeah, it's a really cool track. Um, it actually kind of reminded me of the Glass Animals track on this mix. Um, I'm also absolutely always here for a song, uh like a love song written using physics. Um and I nerd it out over I nerd it out over the title because actually superposition in quantum physics is like uh it has a lot of different principles, but the one that came to mind was the fact that like whenever they tried to measure light, they measured it both as a wave and as a as a photon, as a particle, and so light kind of is both simultaneously at the same time, and it kind of blows up everything that we thought we knew about physics, um, and like our understanding of light, especially. So I love that also, and I think you can apply that principle to the song as well because it's like you know, he's it's kind of like you are everything and nothing at the same time, you can be in two places, like two things can be occupy the same space at once, like all those things can be true from it. So I really love it. Yeah, I think like I said, a love song with physics is is a rarity and it's a special one as a result. It's a really nice song, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:18

Well, and probably like the real story is like they were all hanging around like drinking beers one night, and we've applied like all of this like science and technology to it's possible, it's very possible.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

Although maybe we save uh you know love songs involving physics for Valentine's Day for next year. Maybe we just keep that in the back of our mind back of our mind.

SPEAKER_03 40:39

There's our third, there's our third mix today. Wow. All right.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

So let's finish strong. You started strong with the 80s, you're gonna finish strong with the 80s. You've got Borderline by Madonna.

Where To Find Jen’s Show And Wrap

SPEAKER_00 40:52

Oh, Borderline. This one, this one probably will always close out every single Desert Island mix for me. So this is one track that definitely would not ever change, and it would probably always be the last track, um, just because I feel like that's like the signature I want to go out with. Um, you know, Borderline, it was on Madonna's debut studio album in 1984. So like Lucky Star and Holiday were on that album as well. Um, but you know, I have a running playlist that I call um This Will Always Be a Good Song, no matter how much time passes or how many times I listen to it. And um this one, this one is the first song on it. Um I just this will always be a good song for me. It's um, and I could pick 12 Madonna songs right now, you know, that I also love, but I always go back um to Borderline and and the other thing about Madonna too is I I honestly haven't listened to a lot of her new stuff. Um but any artist who's sort of relevant for 40 years, I think that's an amazing achievement. And so I I think that I have a lot of respect, kind of what we were talking about with Taylor Swift and how she stood up to Apple. You know, Madonna was kind of the first pioneers, female pioneers in the music industry as well that kind of like said, no, this is how things are gonna be. Um and so I love I love her for that, and I love this song. Another one, like a super silly video. But if you want a taste of like 80s videos at their finest, you know, going back and visiting Borderline is is a good um a good way to get everything you need about 80s music videos in the heyday of MTV in one one fail swoop.

SPEAKER_01 42:36

Yeah, this is I was so glad to see this in the mix because this is the one the more I thought about it, I think this is the one Madonna song that when it does come on the radio, I would just I would just listen through. You know, and not that I don't like her music or anything, but I feel like I've heard all the other songs so many times. And then this one will start in, it's starts kind of softly, and then it kicks in. And it I don't know, maybe it just takes me back. Maybe there's this nostalgic quality to it, but anyway, I just love the song, so I was really glad to see it on the mix.

SPEAKER_00 43:08

Yeah, this one will always be a favorite, and like I said, oftentimes um that this will be my or not oftentimes, probably every time. Nine times out of ten, this will be uh this will be a track that will stay on my desert island mix.

SPEAKER_01 43:21

Well, there you have it, another super awesome mix for your collection. This time, Jen Tully's Desert Island Mix. And if you like her picks and the sound of her voice, okay, you can check her out every week on What Are You Listening to? Her very own podcast. Okay. Um so yeah, definitely check that out. And and Jen, we you you keep it pretty short, right? We've been on a couple times.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

Yeah, yeah, it's a quick listen. Um, and it's a good way to find your new favorite song each week. Um, we we talk about old songs, we talk about new songs, um, but I think that it's um it's a quick listen to get your week started, and yeah, new episodes come out on Mondays.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

Yeah, so definitely subscribe to that, rate it, review it, share it with your friends, all the things, and of course you can uh keep track of everything happening with Super Awesome Mix at Super Awesome Mix on Instagram. And so we'll get to work on our next mixtape. Um so for Samur and Jen, this is Matt, and we will see you next time.