Someone found a video of Nine Inch Nails doing a performance of “Down In It” on the super retro and hilariously campy Dance Party USA – the big-haired version of American Bandstand and Soul Train. The group look marvelously out of place lip-synching and fake-playing instruments to an obvious album track of the band’s dark industrial groove, while the studio crowd dances like they’re listening to Katrina and the Waves. Oh, and Trent rocks a scrunchie. You have to watch this.
Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
130. Flaming Lips – Do You Realize?
Just a couple of days ago, I talked about how awesome this song is, but as fate would have it, the list compels me to elaborate. In three-and-a-half glorious minutes, Wayne Coyne sums up our life….or at least it feels like he does. With a simple question, he gives the most personal compliment to everyone listening, then continues to examine the beauty we take for granted – the sun, our friendships, our life. It’s a sweet call for a simple enjoyment of who we are and what we’re doing, in this very moment of our fleeting lives. Because it’s hard to make the good things last….