Cause I'm Paid In Full

I friggin got back $170 for four of my books. ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY DOLLARS!!! I was expecting like 50 bucks. So I bought "Beatles For Sale" (cause I love "I'll Follow the Sun") and...The Best Of The Spinners. Yep, I wanted to hear "Cupid" that bad. I mean, it was only ten bucks, and "I'll Be Around" and "It's A Shame" are also on there. But that shit wormed itself into my brain hard.

I realized today that my five favorite songwriters of all time, in order, are as follows:
1.John Lennon/Paul McCartney
2.Bob Dylan
3.Elvis Costello
4.Prince
5.Eddie Vedder

Vedder is the only one who doesn't have songs covered on a regular basis. And Lennon/McCartney count as one, seeing as how they were all co-credited. Prince was the most varied of the five, seeing as how he could write kickass songs about God, sex and from the womans perspective. Same with Vedder (from the woman's perspective). He definently is the most consistently personal of the writers. Dylan is the most covered, and the most obscure with his lyrics. Costello is the most cynical and if I were a songwriter, I would probably write like him. He is one emotionally f'd up guy. Just listen to "Indoor Fireworks", "I Want You", and "Allison".

I also have decided that my favorite album of all time is "Plastic Ono Band" by John Lennon. I actually put this album up there in impotance with anything written in the last 100 years. There is not a bad song on there (except for "Do The Oz" which is only on the later CD versions). The fact that the most popular artist of his time had the balls to question the basic belief structure of the world is stunning. Every word on the album rings true. Why can't this album be taught in schools? Oh yeah, because Lennon says "cock" and "fuck". And because he dismisses organized religion and tells the masses that they are "fucking peasants." This album would never get made today. Can you imagine any popular artist releasing something like this now? Or, comparably, Usher releasing something like "What's Going On"? "American Idiot" was the closest thing for a statement that we could get, and it really isn't half as incendiary as either of the above two.