Pity Party

What started as another theme turned into a real life pity party when Christine and Christina recorded in person for the first time EVER. And we had a rich conversation about one of music's most self-pitying artists—Harry Nilsson. We hope you join our pity party this week and learn more about Nilsson's legend status and stick around for some truly despicable imitations.

SONGS:

Harry Nilsson: I Said Goodbye to Me (1968) 

Harry Nilsson: Gotta Get Up (1971)

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

Christina’s “Music to Cry To” Spotify playlist

Movies

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD | Official Trailer

Practical Magic - 'Midnight Margaritas'

He Needs Me  (Popeye)

He Needs Me  (Scene from Punch Drunk Love)

How About You (The Fisher King)

Miss Butter’s Lament (Frances Ha)

Midnight Cowboy (Everybody’s Talkin’)

Goodfellas (Jump Into the Fire)

Nilsson Sings the Closing Credits of Skidoo

Misc.

Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)? (Full Documentary) | Amplified (YouTube)

Harry Nilsson’s 10 Best Songs (according to Farout Magazine)

"Russian Doll": The Story behing the song that's probably stuck in your head right now (IndieWire)

The Trouble with Harry Nilsson (Frieze) 

The "Russian Doll" Soundtrack Feels Like Trying to Take Control in a Chaotic New York (Pitchfork)

Pitchfork’s 9.4 Review of Nilsson Schmilsson

Harry Nilsson: The Point (1971 - Ringo Starr Narration)

Harry Nilsson: You’re Breaking My Heart (1972)

Harry Nilsson: Si No Estas Tu (Without You - Self Cover) 

Harry Nilsson: I’d Rather Be Dead (1972)

Fuck You, Harry Nilsson - Funeral Singalong Started by George Harrison

Russian Doll Season 1 Playlist

Russian Doll Season 2 Playlist 

The Tragic Story of How Mama Cass and Keith Moon Died in the Same Apartment

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at stereothematica@gmail.com! We will write back! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

I'm Christine. And I'm Christina. In 2024, I moved to Texas from LA. And to keep in touch, Christine and I started a weekly game where we each pick a song that fits a chosen theme.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

This game deepened our understanding of each other and the songs that shape us, inspiring the podcast you're listening to now. Each week we share our pics, swap stories, and dig into tracks you might love. And a lot of the time have never heard of.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Welcome to Stereothematica, your favorite atypical music podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Hey, hey, Christine.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Nice background. Are you copying me?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Well, something's going on with like it says I'm you on the Zoom. And like.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

What's that about though?

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Hold on. Do you mind if I just check something really quickly? Hold on.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

I mean, go ahead. Ladies and gentlemen.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

We're recording together in person.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

We are together. This is the last weekend. This oh my god. LA. Cheers to that. Cheers. We probably should be having Brandy Alexander's.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

That would be fun. Ooh, that would be a good one. We'll explain the reference later, probably.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Hopefully, maybe. I hope so.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

But as I'm sure our listeners could guess, we are prepping for yet another Hollywood Bowl show, which I'm so excited about. I know. Who are we going to see this year, Christine? Art Garfunkel, maybe. Art wasn't touring this summer. He's taking a break, a hiatus. So the next best thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Simon.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Paul Simon, the legend. Yes. Do you think he's gonna play any of the Simon and G Funk?

SPEAKER_00 1:34

I think so because I did do my research. I have to know certain things, and I was very glad to see that there will be at least a couple of those Simon and G Funks.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Listener, she cheated essentially. She did uh cliff notes, or what do you call it? A spoiler. A spoiler. A spoiler.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

But I don't think it's gonna be exactly the same.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Yeah, it's not gonna be the same. I hope. I guess they have such a big like catalog that they could be utilizing that it's like, why not?

SPEAKER_00 2:05

I'm guessing both the encores will be classics.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

That would be great.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

And we did we did preview some of those classics last night.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

We did, because we we did karaoke, yeah, and it was a blast, even though our karaoke machine didn't have a lot of. I said 90s country, you said thank you. Rude.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Yeah, it it didn't have psycho killer. I was not psyched. Yeah, I would have done psycho killer.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

There was Whippet, and I tried to put Whipit on.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

Yeah, it was too late. Yeah, but you know what? A bit of a milestone last night. Big time. Stereothematical milestone, that is.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

A fantasy karaoke came true. Wuthering heights, Christina delivered. It was hard. She did it. And how did I do? My I was like using my whole diaphragm to sing, and I got really tired.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

This is gonna sound bad. It didn't seem like you were trying too hard. Okay, no, that doesn't sound bad. No, it like it felt like it was just in you.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Okay, good.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Which I think it is.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Maybe it isn't me. Yeah, but I was like when you did that, I was actually upset because I was like, I don't want to do this. Uh I felt yeah. You felt pressured, yeah. I felt nervous.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

I was just so amazed that they actually had it that I'm like, we gotta take advantage of it.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Yeah, but it wasn't. Did you catch who it was?

SPEAKER_00 3:20

It was um it was not, it wasn't Kate.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

No, it wasn't Kate Bush, but it did sound appropriate. It was pretty good with the twinkly piano.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

No, I I mean it was a lot better than my Kiki D and and Elton Which is a really good song to do on karaoke. No, it's a great song, but I feel like the whole like the key was off, the instrumentation was off, it was like they were throwing in different lyrics.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

I was worried that that was gonna set the tone for the whole night because of the it was like the whole sound that they had was so odd. Yes, it was very much like, oh, I don't think you're supposed to make music like this.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

No, it was it was uncomfortable, but but yeah, after a few glasses of soju and just singing. I think the singing actually, the more you sing, the more you loosen up.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

It helps so much. And like I seriously, my face hurt from laughing just because it was so funny and silly, which is the opposite of what we're gonna be talking about on this week's theme. Oh, which can I should I just jump into it? One thing I thought was funny, which I wanted to get your perspective on this, was sometimes when I'm sad, I put on sad music just so I can amplify my sadness and like really wallow in it. I feel like we've talked about this before. Yeah, for sure. But like I am a Pisces, like I like sad stuff, I like you know, the sadness. Yeah, and I have a feeling, but like, are you a sad song lover?

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Okay, I do feel like we've touched on this a little bit. I enjoy crying to a song, and I will often put on a song because it'll get me to cry faster, for sure. But the types of songs that I'm actually listening to to do that aren't the typical sad songs. Say more. I don't like a maudlin song. You know me. I'm not excessively sentimental. Like what what kind of song? No Adele, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

Oh, well, no, that's not, we're not going down that.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

What is the song? The Eric Clapton song, Tears Tears from Heaven. Yeah, like okay, good. So you're not feeling these either.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

If oh, I'm trying to remember, it was literally earlier this weekend. I was like Googling Eric Clapton racist.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Uh huh.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Did you hear about this?

SPEAKER_00 5:37

I did hear something. That's why I don't feel bad calling out Tears and Heaven.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

And no, I would never listen to a Clapton song. Sorry. Yeah. But okay, but what are the sad songs that you put on?

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Well, a couple of them we've we've talked about. I think, I mean, obviously the big one, Black Star, but but that's even less about being sad and more about just that visceral reaction. Like, I don't know. And then obviously when Bowie died, it did become also a sad song for me. But not a typical sad song for sure. Opera does it often to me. La Taviada, we've talked about that. Yeah. I was wondering if that was gonna be, I was wondering if that was gonna be a good one. No, that's for sure. And that was not, I did check to see if that was a course since you had to get me. But yeah, no, not um, I don't know. What are what are some songs?

SPEAKER_01 6:26

Like well, let me tell you. I love having what I would call a musical pity party. And even like during COVID, things were so bad. Like I was I got laid off from my job. I was like just so afraid of death, like, you know, dying of COVID, I guess. I made a literal music to cry to playlist and I invited my friends to add their own pics to it as well. And it's got a lot of really amazing, sad songs on there. Like just the ones that like, and I don't mean because like I think we've talked a little bit about how, like, for example, Rosalia's Reliquia is one that makes me cry. It's not sad, it's just like an emotional response. But there are songs that I put on that I'm like, I'm gonna fucking cry to this, you know.

SPEAKER_04 7:13

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

And I will share the link. But I had my friends, they contributed other songs too, and it was like, oh yeah, that's a good one. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

I wonder what I would think.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

I wonder what you would think.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

And why haven't you shared?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

I don't know. Is it because you think that I am too cool-hearted to cold hard list? Yeah, maybe. But Leah, well, I'll share it with you. You should add some songs to it. I will I'll make it a collaborative playlist so our our listeners can add to it. That'd be nice. Yeah. I mean, sometimes you just need to have a good cry, and I think music does help facilitate that.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

No, I think part of my problem is it was very hard for me to cry, I think, for a lot of my life. I think being hyper-vigilant, you don't want to cry because you don't want to like elicit a negative reaction from somebody. I don't want to get too much into this, this isn't therapy.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

For sure. But different podcast spinoff.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Yeah, no, for sure. But I do think that, yeah, there's something about a song that I purposely won't listen to certain songs. And we've talked about this too, because I don't necessarily want to cry, because if you start to cry, you won't stop crying. Oh, yeah. And and when you're not used to crying, especially it's hard. And then it's like, it does feel good. So it's like, what are you gonna do? Just like, is it never gonna stop?

SPEAKER_01 8:36

And that that's like that's a good point. But and I will clarify. So, like the theme that I shared with you was not what I would like to call this episode, which is pity party, because I just think we're not calling it that.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

What? I like it. We have to call it, yeah, pity party. Okay, good, good, pity.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Okay, good. But the original theme I said was self-pitying. Yes, I like pity party better. Okay, good. Because I think the the what the thing that I wanted to convey was you can tell when a song is sad, like if it's just like a sad song, but then also when the singer or songwriter is trying to elicit pity. Yes, and that's where I was going with this episode. Like, even like even if you're trying to get pity from yourself, like that whole thing of like, oh, I can't wait to talk about my song because it's so like it's so perfect. But let's talk about some self-pitying songs today. Yeah, this is also a first for our episode. Not only are we recording in person for the first time, but we've also both picked songs by the same artist for the first time.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Woo! I mean, one could say I just copied you. Oh, okay. I mean, and it's a good It's not that random. Well, okay, you can copy and like I didn't, but I mean, it's it's not that crazy that we picked this person because I think pretty much every song he's ever written is self-pitying.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Let's get into it. Okay, but like let's talk about our sad guy, self-pity guy. Okay, is Harry Nelson. Oh, yeah. He is the boss of the final self-pitying boss. And like, even the song that you pick, which I can't wait to talk about, was not the song I would have even thought you would pick.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

Oh, but it's you know, I love a contradiction.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

I do, and like I can't wait for you to talk about it a little bit because it took me listening to it again to even see it as a self-pitying song. So let me, I don't want to jump the shark. What I want to talk about a little bit is just who is Harry Nelson and what's his whole deal. Why is everybody talking about him? Oh, spoiler alert. Yeah, yeah. But like, what did you know about Nelson before he shared these songs?

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Are you ready? Yeah, I'm ready. Okay, so it all started with the monkeys. So I I think we've talked about this before, was obsessed with the monkeys. Monkeys was my gateway to music, to music, yeah. Not to music, to like 60s music. Okay. So I love the monkeys so much. It was pre-high school, it was junior high. I think Nickelodeon started doing the monkeys in syndication in like 86 or so. Oh, interesting. So I was just like loving every minute of every like just like hungry for the the TV shows, their music, their albums, and and I would like go to the library and get books about the monkeys. There's like those things out there.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

So funny.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

And so I think I learned that Harry Nielsen wrote a couple of their songs.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Can you remember?

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Tuddly Toy. Okay, Tudley Toy and Daddy's song. Daddy's song, okay. Um, so I don't know. I think I was curious about him. He was already a part of my consciousness. And then I went to Goodwill one day that I was like shopping at Goodwill and in junior high, high school, and I think I saw Son of Schmielson. Yeah. The Dracula cover. Yeah. And I got that, and honestly, I wasn't feeling it. Like I think at that point, now I'm like, it's probably high school, like first year of high school. I'm like, why don't I just listen to the Beatles like or the monkeys? Like, that's what he sounds like. Yeah. So I wasn't that excited. Now, in doing research for this, I realized I knew about Harry Nielsen in 1980. I wasn't aware of it. Okay. Popeye, the movie. I had no idea until researching for this very podcast that Harry Nielsen is responsible for that soundtrack.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

And I had no idea either. And that was a movie I watched as a kid. Oh, really? But I also did not know that was filmed in 1980. Yeah. Like I thought it was a 1990s movie. No, 80.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

This is like pre-Gogo's. So this is actually my real first, like, wow, something special is going on here with music. And what okay, because uh because I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

What at that point had Robin? Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

Mork and Mindy. Robin Williams, I think.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Oh, okay. So did he go from like Mork and Mindy to this is his first movie. Really?

SPEAKER_00 12:59

I don't know if it was like Mork and Mindy to this, but that's what I think. That was his first movie. Is I I believe that Popeye is his first movie, and it was much anticipated. I remember getting excited about this movie as a kid, and I think part there was part of it because my aunt lived in Catalina and her boyfriend was a sailor. And so there was that you felt like you could relate, but I also loved the cartoon Popeye as a kid, and what a weird cartoon. It's a weird oil ones, especially are really weird, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

The really old ones. The spinach, though. I definitely was like still to this day, I'm like spinach is good for you.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

But no, the soundtrack, I loved it. I had the album.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

And oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Because actually, I haven't listened to the album. Oh the all uh the Popeye album.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Okay, uh we're gonna have a major digression here. Are you okay? Yeah, I'm fine. So he needs me. Yeah, he needs the all he needs me. Okay, you know it? Yeah, such a beautiful song, like that will make me cry. She's getting it's it's very and it is a self-pitying song, but I loved that song so much as a kid, and I in researching this episode and finding all this, I then see that there is a re-release of this album around 2017, second disc. Harry Nielsen is these are outtakes. Harry Nielsen singing the song. Cool, and there is one version he sings with olive oil, and together with they're doing they're doing he needs me, uh, and she's struggling with it because you know she's gotta hit a lot of high notes. And and part of the charm of that song, I think, is her struggle, like even within it, like like it's not perfect, it's on brand for her. Yeah, it's beautiful, but yeah, no, Shelly DeVall is amazing, but yes, agreed. Oh god, so he's like encouraging her and like, hey, let's do that again, all right. This is good, and she's like, Can I take a drink of water? You hear all of this.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Wow, that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Dude, I was bawling.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Oh, it's so beautiful. I love that. That is beautiful. It's like the earnesty, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

Like the no, and you can see like how talented he is. And this is 1980 that he's doing this, and this is after like he's blown out his voice because of the Pussycat's album, which maybe we'll talk about that, maybe not. It's it's in the documentary, guys. Yeah, but oh man, that particular song is so perfect. Can you link? Do they have like oh well I'll link to it? Yes, okay, excellent. Just because I'd love to see that. Okay, punch sorry, one more thing. Punch drug love. Have you seen that? Yeah, okay. So there is a scene. Do you remember when Adam Sandler's character, he's like realizing he needs to go to Hawaii for the Emily Watson character and proclaim his love to her. That whole scene, a six minutes, is the whole He Needs Me song, especially. Although it's obviously a lot, it's a six minute scene, and the song's like two and a half minutes or so. Okay. So they're extending all breakdown or something. But it's a perfect six minutes of scene.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Okay, that's so interesting. And that's like a deep cut because it's not like a like a Nelson one that you would have necessarily known about.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

No, it's so crazy. The more I learn about this guy, the more fascinated I am. And like I feel like, again, a separate podcast.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

Totally. Yeah. I mean, I and like that's what's funny, is I listened to a podcast episode about Harry Nielsen, all linked to it. Because I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head. But like, they were basically just like talking about all of his lore because you know, he was like best friends with the Beatles, and like, you know, hanging out with John and Ringo, and like there was this funny story they told about how, and this is probably in the documentary, but I haven't watched it in like 15 years. So he basically was gonna get kicked off his label, and he literally brought John Lennon with him and was like, and maybe Paul. I don't remember if it was Paul or Ringo, but he was like, Oh, like I was thinking, like they were thinking of leaving the record label too, but like we wouldn't we want to be on the same label as our buddy Harry. Yeah, because they were all like so tight, yeah, and like that's what people say about anyway. It worked, they kept him on the label, but like they call Nelson like a musician's musician, yes, and that like is so on brand, but I also like that he was kind of seen as like this bridge between like the 60s psychedelic era and the 70s singer-songwriter era.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

So, like Nelson is somebody who I've like known about my whole life just because like my parents are Nelson fans, and like have you seen the cartoon, The Point?

SPEAKER_00 17:44

You know, again, in preparing for this episode, I watched it because it's so adorable, but also so cool. But the music is so good, it is but it was familiar. Like, I don't have the memory from childhood, but I do like have that feeling of knowing that music just me and my arrow.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Yeah, me and my arrow. Oh my god, it's so good. It's like that was like me and Tully. I know yeah, my dog and Tilly.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

But okay, so I was kind of curious about Coconut Records, our friend Jason Schwartzman. I don't know if you remember, but I did mention how I felt the music sounded a little bit like Harry Nielsen.

SPEAKER_04 18:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:20

Well, sure enough, one of his major influences, and he plays, he does a guest DJ set on KCRW, and he played Schwartzman does Schwartzman in 2008, like just when he started Coconut Records, and he plays Me and My Arrow, and he has a dog named Arrow. That's so cute. And you have to wonder, Coconut, yeah, of course. I know.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

I try to find that, but but that's what's so cool is he's had such a big influence, I think, on music. And like it's such an interesting thing, like for us to talk about him for our pity party episode, too, because like I do think Nielsen is like such a a force, and like people know him, and they might not even know him, but they will probably know like you know, like everybody's talking, which you mentioned in our last episode, which I was like, that was a fun Easter egg for us to segue into this one. But like, of course, that was in Midnight Cowboy, yeah, and got him so famous and so popular. And I I'm so from Houston, Texas, because I started like when I was writing my notes, I was like Urban Cowboy wrong, Midnight Cowboy. But that I think is really interesting that his song in that movie like launched him truly into like fame and even won him a Grammy, yeah, like for that song. Yeah, but I was curious, like, I know that you love cinema and songs utilized in cinema, so I was wondering, did you think of any other Nelson songs that were in movies?

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Jeez, I mean, aside from Popeye, of course. Yeah, okay, there's a good fella scene. Yeah, that's right. Jump into the fire, jump in the fire. That's that's classic. Did you see if I had legs I'd kick you?

SPEAKER_01 20:04

I did. Okay. It's a movie. I feel like that's a whole other conversation. Moms don't like it. Um, but they have a moment where the mom and daughter sing, Think About Your Troubles, which I think is so sweet. That's like one of my favorite songs, and that's also from The Point. And then I haven't seen this, but I know you have the worst person in the world.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

And I saw that they used I Said Goodbye to me in the trailer. Yeah. Was it in the movie itself?

SPEAKER_00 20:31

I don't remember. Honestly, I don't remember it. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

It like part of the reason why I wanted to watch the movie is because I saw the trailer and they used that, and I'm like, Oh, I love that song.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

No, you should watch it.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

I don't remember a scene with it specifically, but it's possible. Okay. The Fisher King. Did you ever see that? No. That's one of like Thomas's, like, I don't know, favorite, but definitely like a top 10 movie. Who's in it? Robin Williams. Wow. Yeah. And the dude. Deep cuts. Yeah. Oh, and and you know what? Tom Waits is also in it. He's got a small part. Yeah, small part. Not watching. But um, he's he does a How About You, a cover of How About You. It's lovely. I'll have this in the show notes for sure. Francis Ha.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

Now, I actually tried to find the scene. Supposedly, it's like playing while they're at a dinner party, a very iconic, hilarious dinner party scene.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

I've like rejected this movie from my brain.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

Weirdly, okay. Watch this scene, and I don't know if this is good or bad, but I feel like in this scene, Frances Ha is a combination of us.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

No. Oh my god. Say more.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Just in the things she says about like the slightly offensive things, the slightly uncomfortable feeling.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

I've said offensive things. I mean listener, I have, of course, I have word.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

So watch the scene again. It's in the show notes. You can't hear the song though. And the song was actually Miss Butter's Lament.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Okay. So anyway. Yeah. Lots of songs. Lots, lots of songs. Lots of Nelson songs and movies, which I think is really cool. But of course, the most iconic is from Midnight Cowboy. And I know that now we've established, of course, that we've both seen the 2006 documentary called Who is Harry Nelson and Why Is Everybody Talking About Him? But if you are a Nelson fan or Nelson curious, like you should absolutely go check it out. It's on YouTube for free. We'll link to it in the show notes. But one of the things that's so cool about it is just the star power that's in the YouTube and like everybody who is talking about him and who is friends with him. And like, I don't know. Like, I do love the thought of a musician's musician because you know it's fun to see musicians talk about each other and like who they admire and why they like them and how they influence them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Like Ringo Starr was the best man at Harry Nielsen's third wedding.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Damn, three marriages. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

That is three marriages, several kids.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

That well, and this is interesting. We'll get into it. Hey, do you feel like we should talk about our song pictures?

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Because we are, I mean, obviously, okay, we're Nielsen fans. This is amazing. I feel like everyone is, whether they know it or not, but now they know. My self-pitying aka pity party song is the one that I mentioned from Worst Person in the World. I said goodbye to me from the 1968 album Ariel Ballet.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

I said goodbye to me. I looked in the mirror, then I began to cry. I leave my things behind for all to see and hope that she understands why.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Right off the bat, it's one of my favorite self-pitying moves. But when in the opening line he says, I looked in the mirror and I began to cry. How fucking self-pitying is that? Have you done that? Of course.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

I think I might have done that too.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Oh my God. It's like, it's, and sometimes you ever like you're crying and you catch yourself crying and you just kind of like, I'm sad. Like, God, it's so fucking funny. But like quivering, you see that and you're like the tears streaking down. And sometimes it's like, man, I am pretty. I wish someone could see this right now. Most of the time I don't want people to see me crying, but it is like deliciously self-indulgent. And like I absolutely love that's how he opens this song.

SPEAKER_04 24:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

But like the rest of the song doesn't really even have that much substance. Like, there's not a ton of lyrics. Like some of it just feels like it's just filling time. But one of my favorite Nelson moves that he does in the song is the wam-wam wands.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

Like like a child imitating like they're crying.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Yeah, it's that, but it's also like filling space with just like remember our made up words. Like it's just noise. And it's, but it's like hearing yourself sing. And I don't know, like to me, it was it's a halfway between pantomiming crying and also just like doing some, I don't know, scatting.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Yeah, no, I I and I think I don't know if it's conscious or not of him. I'm I would have to feel like I feel like it sounds like crying. Yeah. He does it in everybody's pocket. He also did it in Daddy's song, which is appropriate. Yes, very appropriate. I'd rather be dead. Oh. Which yeah. Great video, guys. But he's got the like boo-hoo. Yeah. An actual boo hoo in there. I love that. So he's definitely like going deep on the pity party.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

The pity party is real, and the song is so good. And like that's where I'm coming from. It's like we had so many pity party songs to choose from. And like this album, Ariel Ballet, like I said, from 68. It's his third studio album, and it has some other excellent pity party songs on it, which you could have easily picked one, but like I'm sure a lot of folks are familiar with one. I love this song.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

It is a good song. I don't like it.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

It's good because it's so pathetic. It's so pathetic.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

I don't like the obviously pathetic songs.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Oh my god, but I like to me, it's like it's so on the nose. And it's like one of those ones that you're like, if I have to think of sad song, like if somebody could just say, think of the sad song.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

One. No, and truly, when you proposed this, I that was the first song that came to my mind. Because I'm like, yours is really good, but one is the obvious choice.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

Oh, it's the total obvious choice.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

But I didn't go out.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

I can't wait. I literally can't wait to talk about it. One is the loneliest number for any of our listeners who are curious, and then like we'll link to it. This album also features everybody's talking in '68, but then it became very popular in 70 when Midnight Cowboy came out. But the one that you've mentioned a couple times is Daddy's Song, which I guess, like, because the monkeys got the rights to that song, like he you're not gonna see Daddy's song as often out and about. And it sounds really twee and poppy, but in reality, it's talking about how his father left their family when Harry Nelson was pretty young, and how he said he wouldn't do the same if he had a son, which you know, this isn't a self-pitying song, but it's definitely a bummer, unless you think it is self-pitying. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

It feels the energy is not self-pitying, but it's a sad song with a hopeful ending.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

I think there is some hope that I think it's also anger disguised with I don't know, it's like it's a secretly angry song, yeah, too. But I do love that because of his success or because of the interest in Everybody's Talking, he did win a Grammy for Best Male Contemporary Vocal Performance in 1970 for Everybody's Talking, and it was after it was featured in Midnight Cowboy. But surprisingly, he actually didn't write that song. So Fred Neil did, and I don't know who that is, but good for him. Cool song. It did surprise me because Nelson wrote or co-wrote so many songs for other artists, and he was like a very clever and creative musical talent, like spanning genres, I think, too.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

Truly, which is really genres and octaves, yes, like three and a half octaves is is what I heard his range was.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

Wow, yeah, and like amazing. You can hear it if you listen to his like I know it's so interesting.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

I mean, you really gotta just take a moment to like listen to his oeuvre, truly, like a day, which is kind of what I did. Yeah, I know, I know I did that on even when you picked me up. I heard the milk.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

I know, I know I haven't stopped. It's so good, but like let's not stop, let's keep this pity party going. Please tell me about yours because like I want, like, I want to be surprised.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

Okay, so I've already talked about this with you. The more I learn about the guy, the more I appreciate his self-pitying ways. And I do think like he knows he's being ridiculous, sure, right? But he like can't help but feel abandoned, like he's lonely, he's misunderstood, and he doesn't want to be late, clearly. So obviously, we've talked many times about my love for for contrasts, contradictions, juxtapositions. So I went with one from his 1971 album, Nielsen Schmielsen, and the song is gotta get up.

SPEAKER_03 29:41

Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes. What if I'm late? Gotta be day, gotta get home before the sun comes.

SPEAKER_00 30:03

So there's nothing inherently self-pitying at this point.

SPEAKER_01 30:06

I think when I listened to it on first listen, it didn't strike me as self-pitying.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

Because I probably wasn't listening to it closely.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

No, because it's like super upbeat. But if you even listen to those, that part of the song, I mean, there's anxiety to the anticipation and probably I just relate just the anxiety I have day to day about getting up in the morning and what's all what all the multitude of stuff that we have to do. But when you really listen to the lyrics, especially the ones coming after what we just heard, it's basically a funeral for youth. Ooh. Yeah. That's that's a oh yeah. This is a classic Harry. Yeah. So he's mourning the transition from like this freewheeling, like late nights into being bogged down with like the responsibility of having to wake up and get to this whatever. Uh but the music, it's just it's so bouncy and brassy. You got the horns, you got the accordions, maybe even harmonian. It's harmonium. It's very circus-like.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Vaudeville.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Yeah, very vaudeville. But I I think so. Do you remember his parents, his grandparents? His grandparents, that's what the aerial ballet was named after. I think he has this fixation for like the circus, which, like, rightfully so. This is a part of him. And it's a crazy subculture. No, it is. And so so much Can you imagine? But I think that's like people think, oh, circus fun, but circus is like lugubrious. That's where we get this. Like, you get like some of this what seems joyful, but it's also very heavy. Oh, for sure. And just like what we're hearing. So, like, even though we're getting like what might traditionally be fun sounds, it's kind of zany. Yeah. And like super zany.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

Like it fucks with your brain a little bit. It is funny because like there's those moments in the song where it's like the it's almost like you know, when they do the wah wah trambone, like and that that part, which does feel like there's the danciness and then the there's also the pitfalls where you're just like kind of going into the sad yeah elements. This is what I love. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

And this is why I had to choose this. But I mean, what's kind of interesting is, and especially when I talk about where I re-heard this song for the first time after a while of not hearing it, it's kind of a loop. And and that's kind of I imagine how he sees life, like this like struggle with the clock, and that's like right. Yeah. Yeah. And who can't relate with that? Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 32:44

There was time when we could have windowed.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

So we love a pitchfork review. Pitchfork reach out.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

Nine point four for Nielsen Schmielson. That tracks, because this is like such a music bro artist. No.

SPEAKER_00 33:20

Nine point four, impressive.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

That is good.

SPEAKER_00 33:22

The review calls out that weary but rousing quality and says the song is a morning after stumble into adult routine and lost salad days. I love the use of that like Shakespeare quote. It's good, it's perfect. But okay, so this all brings me to Russian doll and its brilliant use in the show. Please tell me you have seen. Oh, thank god.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

Yeah, for once I've seen season. I mean, did you like it? I did. I definitely did. Well, I I only saw season one.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

Okay, yeah. Season two is is interesting. Also great music, but and I think it uses it maybe a couple times, but not as much. Definitely not as much.

SPEAKER_01 34:07

I love Natasha Leone. Yeah, I love Greta Lee.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

She makes everything.

SPEAKER_01 34:13

She's she just makes like she's like one of my favorite actors.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

Did you see the morning show?

SPEAKER_01 34:17

No. Sorry, okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:19

Wait, that's another whole like side conversation.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

What's the one that she did with Seg about her like past lives? Past lives. So good. Talk about a crying movie.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

No, she's oh yeah, for sure. Yeah, she's so great. But for those who haven't seen Russian doll, it's kind of like Groundhog Day, but in the multiverse, and gotta get up is doing what I got you, babe, did to reset the loop. Nice. And for Natasha's character, Nadia, she dies again and again and in all sorts of crazy situations. And every time she wakes up, it's at her 36th birthday party with this song playing in the bathroom. Or maybe it's in her mind. I think it's more in her mind because it's not actually at the party. We're not hearing this at the party.

SPEAKER_01 35:06

36th is making me laugh because I was probably watching this when I was like 29. Oh, really? Oh my god. And now I'm 38, and I just feel like when I was 29 watching it, I'm like, they're so adult, they're so cool.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

And now I'm like, I'm never gonna be that cool.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

God, now you know how I feel about everything. No, that's fine. So there's an Indie Wire article, and Leon talks about how like all the music choices were so important to her, but like more than anything, gotta get up was the linchpin that sets it all off. And she also talks about like generally being a massive Nielsen fan. Nice, which makes sense knowing how she is. And she said she likes artists who I wish I could do her accent. Could you do it? Try it, try it. Um, who knocked on death? I can't do it. No, I know. I've got a little bit of a side. I'm sorry, I don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 35:58

Let me try a New York accent. Who knocked on death's door? That's so bad.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

Yeah, you gotta it's it's hard to do her. She's Thomas Keep it in. She's such a character. She's such a character, but it's hard to do that.

SPEAKER_01 36:09

No, it's impossible. I love when you can't imitate someone.

SPEAKER_00 36:13

No, she's she's amazing. And then the showrunner Leslie Headland said they needed something viewers could tolerate hearing over and over again that wouldn't be annoying. Because you hear it like several times in one episode throughout the season.

SPEAKER_01 36:26

The opening notes and the opening like of that song is so good.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

Yeah, that that piano is just like every time.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

Oh, I love that. And it's like that's a good point because it isn't annoying. I got you, babe, is annoying. Hearing it over and over. You can hear it once and it's okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:43

No, over and over again, I'm sure. But so yeah, this this song be kind of becomes this cosmic anthem of I think self-pity. I mean, not even death gets you out of waking up in the morning, or in the case of Russian doll, attending your own birthday party.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

Yeah, okay, that's funny because how many birthday parties of your own would you even want to go to? Yeah, yeah, like horrible. Horrible. But can we talk really quickly about like deepening into the self-pity?

SPEAKER_00 37:10

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:11

What the fuck is up with the cover art for Nelson Schmilsen?

SPEAKER_00 37:16

You mean the robe? Yeah, yeah. Bathrobe. He doesn't give a fuck. He looks fucked up. But okay, this also, I think this whole schmilson bit is very self-pitying. Like peak pity party in a way. So, do you know like the schmh when you schmo something? It's like a schmah. Yeah, it's a shhm reduplication. And he didn't just do this once, he did son of schmilsen.

SPEAKER_01 37:44

Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

So, and then he's got another schmilsen in there too. And it's kind of like you're just like, like when you say fancy schmancy or whatever, like Joe Schmo. Like you're you're downgrading it.

SPEAKER_01 37:54

You're it's totally so that's self-deprecating. Yeah, exactly. Not even just self-pitying, but self-deprecating.

SPEAKER_00 38:00

It's so I feel like his self-pitying, he's in on it. Like he knows he's being a joker, he knows he's like milking all his horrible life. I mean, he had he has a right to be self-pitting. He had a tough life growing up, yeah. His father abandoned him, I think, at four-ish.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

Yeah, they were pretty broke.

SPEAKER_00 38:22

Yeah, no, I feel like there's like a whole series of things you can say. Like, he was so poor that he robbed a liquor store when he was a kid and only got like $17. He was so poor that he had to eat dog food. He was so poor that he had to, I don't know, his family kicked him out at like he had a job as a caddy. He was living with aunts and uncles, and I think around 16 or so, they're like, sorry, we just can't like afford you anymore.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

Oh, it's heartbreaking. And then like to see his triumph as uh artist, but also, I mean, I don't want to get too interesting because people really should. If you are curious at all, like definitely watch the documentary, but like kind of being taken advantage, I mean, really being taken advantage of and being left broke. Like I don't want to say penniless, but like just that rise and fall, like big swing up and then back down. So anyway, yeah, but love this artist, love the self-pity, yeah, love the opportunity for more sad, like fucking songs. Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 39:26

I know. And as we come to a close, I think we alluded to Pussycats earlier, the album that John Lennon produced. Yeah. That was the one where he like, like he was he had been partying a lot with John Lennon. Yeah. John Lennon was in his Lost Weekend, yeah, which was like almost two, three years, I think 18 months. 18 months, yeah. And they were drinking Brandy Alexander and just living a hard life. I think this is the period that also John and Joker were separated. Yeah. So they they did this album, Pussycats, and they cover um many rivers to cross.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

Oh no.

SPEAKER_00 40:03

And that's worth a listen. He's okay just pushing it. And I think this the story is that they were like trying to outdo how like hard they can go with their voices, and he had blood on the mic. Oh, and he had to go to the hospital. Oh my god, and then he went to the hospital. My guy, Mickey Mickey Dolans from The Monkeys, gets a call from him to pick him up. He's like, Bring brandy and cigarettes, and he's like, I'll bring the brandy, but no cigarettes, dude. Holy crap! He had polyps.

SPEAKER_01 40:33

Oh my god. Poor guy.

SPEAKER_00 40:34

So he like really suffered.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

This is a hard life. Like, and it didn't get easier when he got famous because it's just like a different type of hard. Yeah, you know, the fame.

SPEAKER_00 40:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:45

Wow, Nelson, thank you for giving us your art and your craft. Christine, thanks for joining me in this pity party.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

I don't want to say fun, but it kind of was.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

Yeah, it really was.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

It's always fun to like learn more about a person.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

Oh, 100%. Um, I was wondering if I could just give you some unsolicited advice. Uh-oh. Did I do something wrong? No, no, not at all. But you and others might benefit from this. Send a handwritten letter or postcard this summer. They might be trying to dismantle the US Postal Service to fund some billionaire shipping services, but for the low, low price of 78 cents, you can still make somebody's day with a piece of non-junk mail delivered right to their mailbox. In a time when folks are increasingly asking AI to do the thinking for them, take a moment out of your day to think of something sweet, strange, or completely made up to tell a friend, family member, or mortal enemy.

SPEAKER_00 41:35

It sounds threatening, but I'm in.

SPEAKER_01 41:37

Letter writing is one of the oldest forms of communication that we still maintain. And in a time when the demand for immediate responses are giving us anxiety, free yourself with a one-way communication that can't even be tracked or alerted upon its receipt. And who knows, you might even get a piece of handwritten correspondence in return.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

That reminds me, how did you even get my address?

SPEAKER_01 41:56

If you need a pen pal, my mailbox is open. We don't even have to talk about music. But wouldn't it be fun? Advice over. Oh no. Thanks for listening to Stereo Thematica. If you like what you're hearing, please consider a review, a rating, or share this podcast with a friend.

SPEAKER_00 42:19

And follow us on Instagram where you can share your favorite self-pitying songs. And we got our infinite Spotify playlist linked in our show notes.

SPEAKER_01 42:28

And visit stereothematica.com for more fun.

SPEAKER_00 42:32

Bye. Hi! We're off to Hollywood Bowl. Woo!