Um, Neil? Neeeeeeil? Helloooooo...
finulanu | Here, there, and everywhere | 12/09/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"You know what I don't get? I'll tell you what. '50s rock lyrics. It's not that I don't grasp them, they seem rather pointless to me. Seriously, on "Betty Lou's Got a New Pair of Shoes", they make this big deal about how Betty Lou has more footwear. W00t. Exactly what I wanted to hear about. Betty Lou now has new shoes.. Never liked that song, be it by whoever originally made it or Neil Young. I did like Elvis' "Mystery Train". Come on, it's Elvis! He's the King of Rock `n' Roll! Then Neil got his hands on it. And it croaked on its toilet, so to speak. I've never heard Jimmy Reed's original "Bright Lights, Big City", but Neil's cover is nothing to be proud of. Neither are some of the originals, which include "Cry, Cry, Cry" and "Jelly Roll Man". I can see why he stashed this peculiar rockabilly/doo-wap combo pretty far in his back pages. There are a few upsides, though: it's not an insult like Landing on Water or Life, and some of it is pretty catchy, most notably the hilarious satire "Payola Blues", and the sly rocker "Kinda Fonda Wanda". And it's short, too. So if you don't like it, at least it'll be over quickly."