It's getting real. This was NOT easy. My votes: Alanis, Mazzy, Des'ree, Bush.
I'll second this. If you're not voting for that Mazzy Star essay, you're nuts.
This Collective Soul vs. Des'ree @marchxness.bsky.social matchup is impossible. "The World I Know" and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet are both PEAK '90s sadness. HELP.
“The floor is LIVER!” —my three-year-old
Emily Costa and I are the same age, and she has perfectly encapsulated the terrifying sadness of growing up in the era of stranger danger. I still can't watch the "Runaway Train" video, and I was afraid to keep reading her essay (but I did).
Similarly, if you ever see me vote against Nick Cave and/or the Bad Seeds (especially against "Nobody's Baby Now" in a sad song competition), I've been hacked. Also, Philip James Shaw's companion essay is wonderful. Give him and Nick and Nora your vote.
If you ever see me vote against Kurt, I've been hacked, but Jennifer Gravley's essay also might be my favorite: "Build a memorial to the voice of your generation through your midlife, medicated and screeching. Line the ground, the glass bottom, with grass from an untended graveyard which struggles."
Man, why is Paul Westerberg so good all the time? He pisses me off. "I only sleep when spoken to"? Come ON.
Thank you to Barry Montgomery for the Grandpaboy introduction (Westerberg forever) and the incredible bio: "He won several regional Captain Beefheart lookalike contests, but was never able to translate that into success at the tri-state level." (Also, you will never get me to vote for Eric Clapton.)
It sounds like they're in great hands. And thank YOU for writing. I'm a former Chicagoan of nearly a decade as well as the parent of a toddler, so I may be biased, but your essay did everything right.
The sublime interplay between musician and author in Mo Daviau's essay on Cat Power's "Metal Heart" got my vote: "I often wonder about people who got the memo before me. Who told them? How did they learn that lesson? Who loved them anyway?"
Give this whole thing to Christopher L. Keller's essay on Wilco's "Via Chicago":
"Conformity might as well be a defense mechanism handed down at birth. 'Keep your head and limbs inside the moving vehicle at all times!' If nothing sticks out—if you don't stick out—nothing can hurt you."
Alright, back on my @marchxness.bsky.social bullshit to get my votes in before these games close today. More soon.
This writing is taking me back to the mid-‘90s, when people said things like “beast mode” and talked about “content” nonstop.
Here's what swayed my vote in this matchup: "I'm living as a gay trans man in Trump’s America now. The kingdom of heaven is within me, or it’s nowhere."
Some of the best writing in the @marchxness.bsky.social tournament this year is in the bios. Today's highlights include "butts and sadness" (put it on my grave) from Jendi Reiter and this from Andrew Schumacher Bethke: "There doesn't seem to be much else to say autobiographically beyond fuck ICE[.]"
In other news, I'm wondering how this JFK Jr./Carolyn Bessette show would hold up without its relentless playlist (to be clear, I will be watching the whole thing to assess).
I have apparently cast all my votes for this round (per my browser), but this was yesterday and I have NO IDEA how I voted because these are all great. Really.
Another tough one. Two wonderful essays and two bands I love. I will throw hands for Hootie (don’t try me), but LA writing is my kryptonite. What to do!
Damn. That Liz Phair essay by Chris Daley was incredible (and “Divorce Song” is in my DNA).
The songs? The essays? IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE.
It was my bad! Should’ve tagged you earlier. 🙂
That’s it for the Boys. We had fun! Congrats to Tom Waits and to @paleoctopi.bsky.social on his winning essay. Onward!
It was a music essay competition, but the voting period is over now. I wrote about BSB and totally should’ve asked earlier!
@bsbfangirls.com @bsbfan24.bsky.social @bsbfangirls.bsky.social
The essay on Backstreet Boys is SO funny and smart, especially for all us TRL girlies. I think it will earn your vote for it & @doritoshangover.bsky.social to pull off the comeback victory! Half an hour left in voting!
Bless you.
How do I summon the #bsbhive on here? We need your votes! #teambsb #backstreetboys #sos
The Boys need your help! Vote by 11 AM ET tomorrow! #backstreetboys #bsb #marchxness
❤️❤️❤️
