Here is the transcription of my most recent video blog:
(And here’s the audio on AnchorFM)
Well, hey, everybody. This is Queen Mab, and I am in a different location today, which is why I am using Zoom, and I have this lovely space background. The actual thing that’s behind me is a bathroom, but we all know you don’t want to look at that, okay?
So what I’d like to talk about today is programming, or what pieces or songs I’m going to pick to play when I am performing in a concert or show or an open mic type of situation. When I was getting ready for the party/open mic that I performed at last weekend, I was gonna do a bunch of originals. And then I was like, “Aw, dude, you gotta put a cover in there, because, you know, people don’t wanna hear your original stuff! They wanna hear stuff that they already know!” So my one cover that I play consistently is “Kiss Off” by the Violent Femmes. And of course, I just think that, you know, everybody grew up listening to that song, so everybody knows the backing vocals, right? Everybody knows how to say, “Yeah, Yeah!” You know? And so on and so forth. But – oh, by the way, you can see the bathroom if I hold my head, like a certain way. No – never mind. Okay.
So anyways, I played – first I played “Can We Have Sex Now?” – my big hit. And then “I Hate to Meditate,” my other big hit. And then I busted out “Kiss Off,” and…nobody knew it. Maybe like, one person – I saw one person – but everybody else was like, “I have never heard this song before,” and then I started to wonder if my musical tastes are so obscure…too obscure. I mean…I grew up hearing that on just like, the lame San Diego radio – lame is ableist – the ASANINE San Diego radio, so…I don’t know. I guess not.
The point is – my originals were better received than my cover, and that was really weird for me, because I wasn’t expecting that at all. So again, it’s just such a mystery to know what people are going to want to hear, when they’re going to want to hear it…to try to figure all these things out. So if you’re a performer out there and you’re listening to this, I’d love to know how you gauge what kinds of things you’re gonna play – if you’re going to play covers, if you’re gonna play originals, if you’re going to play fast, if you’re going to play slow – let me know, okay? That’s all I have to say, and I’m gonna include my recording of “Kiss Off” right here. Thanks so much! Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
(transition to performance)
QM: So now, I can do a song – cover song – that people might know. This has some backing vocals in it, so if you know what they are, you can sing along.
Person: What’s the song?
QM: Well, it wouldn’t be any fun if I told you, now would it?
(starts playing song)
I need someone, a person to talk to, someone who’d care to love — could it be you? Could it be you?
The situation gets rough, and I start to panic; it’s not enough, it’s just a habit and, kid, you’re sick…
Well, darling, this is it…
Well, you can all just kiss off into to the air,
Behind my back, I can see them stare.
They’ll hurt me bad, but I won’t mind…
They’ll hurt me bad, they do it all the time… (Yeah, yeah!)
Yeah, they do it all the time… (Yeah, yeah!)
They do it all the time… (Do it all the time!)
They do it all the time… (Do it all the time!)
They do it all the time, do it all the time…
I hope you know that this will go down on your permanent record!
Oh, yeah? Well, don’t get so distressed.
Did I happen to mention that I’m impressed?
I take one, one, one cause you left me,
And two, two, two for my family,
And three, three, three for my heartache,
And four, four, four for my headaches,
And five, five, five for my lonely,
And six, six, six for my sorrow,
And seven, seven for no tomorrow,
And eight, eight, I forget was eight was for,
But nine, nine, nine for the lost gods,
Ten, ten, ten, ten for everything, everything, everything…
Well, you can all just kiss off into to the air,
Behind my back, I can see them stare.
They’ll hurt me bad, but I won’t mind…
They’ll hurt me bad, they do it all the time… (Yeah, yeah!)
Yeah, they do it all the time… (Yeah, yeah!)
They do it all the time… (Do it all the time!)
They do it all the time… (Do it all the time!)
They do it all the time, do it all the time, do it all the time…
QM: Violent Femmes…thank you!