Tree of Knowledge

There seems to be something of a mini-meme currently spreading in the blogosphere calling out bloggers to reveal the five most embarrassing guilty pleasures on their iPod (see for example Daniel Drezner and Megan McArdle).

As my friends (or at least any of them who have gone on a road trip with me) know, my iPod is overflowing with embarrassing guilty pleasures so I am jumping at the excuse to share.

Guilty Pleasure One: Hall and Oates, ‘Private Eyes’:

A list like this positively demands a Hall and Oates song. The irritatingly catchy hooks and progressions make you want to sing along but the radioactive oeuvre makes it social death to do so in public. It could easily have been those other Hall and Oates classics, ‘Maneater’ or ‘Rich Girl’, but recent popular covers have given these songs a thin veneer of respectability, so Private Eyes it is. John Oates does disgusting things with his guitar in this clip.

Guilty Pleasure Two: The Bushwackers, ‘Ballad of 1891′:

The price of wool was falling in 1891
The men who owned the acres saw something must be done
“We will break the Shearers’ Union, and show we’re masters still
And they’ll take the terms we give them, or we’ll find the ones who will”

Plenty of reasons to be embarrassed about this one. An earnest political song about the foundation of the ALP sung by a kitsch Australiana Band. Not exactly a party starter. Definitely a song you can only listen to while on your own.

Guilty Pleasure Three: 2Pac, “How do U want it?”

Yes I was a teenage boy in the late 1990s and despite growing up in a mid-sized rural Australian town it was impossible not to avoid the title wave that was All Eyez on Me, 2pac’s biggest album and a certified hip-hop classic. That being said the times and my social context have changed and it’s now a bit embarrassing for 2Pac to roll around on the shuffle during a dinner party. I ain’t mad at cha ‘Pac, but I can’t get away with listening to you in public too much anymore (the clip above is a heavily edited version of the original).

Guilty Pleasure Four: John Farnham, “You’re The Voice”

A flat out ten on the embarrassing quotient. The Abba/Queen style black and white profile shots of Farnsie, the appalling acting, the bagpipe solo, the flowing mullet of glory; this music video is a travesty. And a perfect fit for a shockingly earnest and self-important song.

That being said who hasn’t sung along “We’re not going to sit in silence, We’re not going to live in fear, Whoooaooooaooooa!” at least once when they’ve had the house to themselves.

Five: John Williamson, “True Blue”

“True Blue; Is it me or you?” Ok, so it’s me and not you. But as a kid I grew up listening to Macca’s Australia All Over every Sunday and John Williamson’s treacly Australian jingoism is like a warm safety blanket for me. With lyrics like “Is it standing by your mate, when she’s in a fight? Or just vegemite?” how can you not love it?? Hey – it’s Steve Waugh’s favourite song too – give me a break!

As Daniel Drezner noted, you really have to have a Phil Collins song on a list like this so as an honourable mention I’ll throw in Easy Lover which is apparently about flying helicopters around London according to the music video.

Now how’s THAT for embarrassing?

I hearby tag Mark Bahnisch, Nick Gruen and SkepticLawyer to share the embarrassment….

UPDATE: Hall and Oates Link Fixed

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