LET IT BLEED

“Should five per cent appear too small / Be thankful I don’t take it all Cause I’m the taxman, yeah I’m the taxman”—The Beatles, “Taxman.”

But you knew that. Apparently, a White House official gave a handful of reporters a copy of the budget office’s unofficial theme song, the Rolling Stones’ classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” What would Mick and Keith think? I wonder. Actually, given the abolishment of the estate tax, maybe “You Got The Silver” might be appropriate.

JASON, WE HARDLY KNEW YE

Friday the 13? It seems triskaidekaphobia is sort of passe by now. But hell, I’ll take any excuse to make a list. So here goes, a superstitious mix-tape: Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” (one of the greatest funk basslines of all time), Janet Jackson’s “Black Cat,” Thelonious Monk’s “Friday the 13th,” Cream’s version of “Born Under a Bad Sign,” and all the great variations on “Knock on Wood”: Eddie Floyd’s original languid version, Otis Redding’s energetic soulful version, David Bowie’s glam version, and Amii Stewart’s canonical disco rendition.

THAT CINNAMON, THAT’S HOLLYWOOD

Added to my list of online diversions is Scott Slonak’s 1990s Lyrics Quiz (www.artofthemix.org/writings/lyrics.asp). It’s a really simple concept: there’s a list of lines from 200 different songs that were popular in the 90s, and all you have to do is name the song each line came from. It’s infinitely frustrating to stare at a lyric and have the song on the tip of your tongue. Took me forever to remember that “life is demanding without understanding” is a line from Ace of Base’s “The Sign.” (For those more enamoured of other decades, a quick search for “1980s Lyrics Quiz” or “1970s Lyrics Quiz” on Google should bring up other similar quizzes.) For those who need something else to do on the weekend, here’s my personal addition to that list, using lyrics from the ’90s and the ’00s (the noughties?). Time to play name that tune, a fairly easy version:1) “Come tomorrow / Tomorrow I’ll be gone” 2) “I’m dreaming away / Wishing that heroes, they truly exist” 3) “Our funk zooms like you hit the Mary Jane” 4) “I’ve got a premonition / This girl’s gonna make me fall” 5) “I’ve been on the outside looking in / Let me into your heart” 6) “I’m gonna tell my son to join a circus so that death is cheap and games are just another way of life” 7) “I think it’s time I found a new religion” 8) “Girl, I wanna waller in the back of my Impala” 9) “Saw the ghost of Elvis on Union Avenue” 10) “She only comes when she’s on top” 11) “In the end we shall achieve in time / The thing they call divine” 12) “I’m not ready to leave, it’s too scary to die” 13) “Sway lo, do-si-do like you loco” 14) “Tell me, tell me, the words to define / The way I feel about someone so fine” 15) “Earned his Masters Degree from Harvard College / Built his house from his architect knowledge”

Wanna know the rest? Hey, buy the rights. Or visit www.dsng.net for more.