Simping for Rock Chicks

1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,720
Slam.
Poetry.

2
00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:03,560
It doesn't care if it's perfect.
It's time to slam.

3
00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:11,760
Now here I go again on my.
Own surprise.

4
00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:16,320
I'm still so stoked with that
intro.

5
00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:19,640
Oh man.
Welcome to the second solo

6
00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:21,320
episode of I Think Therefore I
Slam.

7
00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:24,080
My name is Andrew Rogerson.
I'm thinking of calling these

8
00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:27,920
episodes something along the
lines of the stories behind the

9
00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:32,240
slam or stories of slam or
something like that.

10
00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:34,800
Let me know what you think.
I'm kind of playing around with

11
00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,920
the concept in these early days.
Today I'm sharing a piece which

12
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,880
is quite old now, but it's
called The Great Orange Hope,

13
00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,400
and it's a piece that I wrote a
while back kind of in a more

14
00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,280
traditional kind of poetry,
prose, I suppose.

15
00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,520
I'm going to get into it and
then I'm going to tell some

16
00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:56,440
stories and then you're going to
hear it again and it's going to

17
00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:57,200
be great.
Let's go.

18
00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:03,120
I was standing in a store that
don't sell music no more when

19
00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:08,120
the Great Orange Hope sang True.
She boasted she'd won in her

20
00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,520
venomous tongue.
And at that very moment, I knew

21
00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,680
that you could break with
convention, tell the mother of

22
00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:17,320
invention you were moving out of
her attic.

23
00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,320
And this band of secret lovers
danced through flames for each

24
00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:25,520
other's hope to see miracles in
the static.

25
00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,960
When that megaphone voice, a
pole vault hoist from a China

26
00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:34,200
doll throat, ran riot.
It was CPR regression.

27
00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:39,320
All this chest decompression
fell to by millions, A chorus of

28
00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:42,760
quiet.
Once she showed too much skin

29
00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,160
and the vultures swooped in,
tearing flesh for their own

30
00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,160
absolution.
Then came blog post.

31
00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:53,280
Apologies for petty youthful
blasphemies bellowed and carnal

32
00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,480
retribution.
When it rains, it pours.

33
00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,240
Only a fool ignores.
When rears the spirit of the

34
00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:07,480
Mack, a brotherly schism fuelled
by ramen egotism, their

35
00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,480
reflections under attack.
She's been through the wringer,

36
00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,760
this diminutive singer, she
dryly remarks.

37
00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,560
Ain't it fun?
At peace with her shadow, her

38
00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:22,000
stories, her ammo.
Still tearing the world a new

39
00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,280
one.
Old John was right to make

40
00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:28,560
noise, call her out from the
boys and pretenders running the

41
00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:33,680
scene, hair no longer a flame.
But you all know her name.

42
00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:40,120
All hail your pop punk queen.
So what the hell was all that

43
00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:41,440
about?
You're probably wondering.

44
00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,080
Well, let's get into it.
The story's behind the slam.

45
00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,520
Let's just run with it.
So let's start with the title,

46
00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:50,240
The Great Orange Hope.
This is a moniker given by John

47
00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:55,360
Mayer in an interview back in
the 2000s, talking about none

48
00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:00,720
other than Paramour's Hayley
Williams, now a successful solo

49
00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:04,000
artist, of course, herself, as
well as feature artists with,

50
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,040
with many people.
I think it's safe to say that a

51
00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,240
lot of people of my generation,
we've, we've grown up listening

52
00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,920
to Hayley's music.
And look, I, I do want to

53
00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:16,880
preface this by saying on one
hand, it's not that deep, guys.

54
00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:20,840
This is I think a preoccupation
with Hayley Williams kind of

55
00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,320
comes with the territory of
being a, a millennial red

56
00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:26,360
blooded male.
Let's say, you know, she, she's

57
00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,240
not alone in that bracket.
I mean, you know, I have similar

58
00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:34,600
feelings about the work and the
artistry of like a Maggie Rogers

59
00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:39,440
or Ali Roussel from Wolf Alice
or like an Andrea Core or a

60
00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:41,960
Sarah McLachlan.
In fact, I think Sarah McLachlan

61
00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,480
deserves a lot of a lot of
credit for what she did for

62
00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:49,080
women in music in the 90s, you
know, through, through Lilith

63
00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:51,400
Fair and things like that.
When I was getting into music

64
00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,920
when I was 14, a lot of the
artists that I was drawn to were

65
00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,320
were kind of male headed bands.
But Paramore was kind of the

66
00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,960
exception.
Like I said before, on one hand

67
00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,960
it's not that deep, but on the
other hand, I think one of the

68
00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:09,840
reasons we look to art and music
is to understand the self and to

69
00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,280
look for others who are like us
and who reflect our experiences.

70
00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,399
But another reason is that I
think we also look to art and

71
00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:20,360
music to find and understand the
other.

72
00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,560
If you're attracted to women and
you're trying to figure out how

73
00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,640
women think, of course you're
going to look for, you know,

74
00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,560
confident, headstrong,
passionate, articulate women in

75
00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,080
the arts to engage with what
they're creating.

76
00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,680
Now, of course, all of this
parasocial exploration, if you

77
00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,400
like, can backfire.
And I'm going to tell one of my

78
00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:46,640
cringiest stories, which is that
the only celebrity that I have

79
00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:53,440
ever written fan mail to was the
actress Diana Agron, who was

80
00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:58,120
playing Quinn Fabray in Glee.
That's a bit of a throwback.

81
00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:02,080
Super cringy.
Don't know why I was feeling so

82
00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,800
simpy and desperate that that
summer or winter.

83
00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,240
Have not done that since.
I still remember where I was

84
00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:11,680
when I first heard the first
Paramore song I ever heard,

85
00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:26,460
which was Misery Business.
And that's what I talk about in

86
00:05:26,460 --> 00:05:28,540
the poem.
I talk about standing in a store

87
00:05:28,540 --> 00:05:32,220
that doesn't sell music no more.
So I was in a mire in Frankston,

88
00:05:32,220 --> 00:05:35,780
which used to have a pretty
thriving music section, but no

89
00:05:35,780 --> 00:05:37,820
longer does.
In fact, not a lot of places

90
00:05:37,820 --> 00:05:41,660
have music sections anymore.
And that song is all about

91
00:05:41,700 --> 00:05:45,540
winning the guy from from some
other girl or some other woman.

92
00:05:45,820 --> 00:05:48,480
So that's why I talk about
boasting she'd won in her

93
00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,320
venomous tongue.
I've always been a fan of songs

94
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,880
that kind of, I guess, belie
their true meaning within the

95
00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:59,080
the tone of the music itself.
Something like Hey Ya by Outcast

96
00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,680
is another really good example
where it's actually a really,

97
00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,040
really sad song about someone
who you know, feels like they

98
00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,360
can't be in a committed
relationship, but it's kind of

99
00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,200
wrapped in this kind of candy
coloured wrapping.

100
00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,600
Now if you know Paramore, if you
know some deep cuts about just

101
00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,920
stories about the band's history
I suppose, or even some of the

102
00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,200
song names, you might have heard
a couple of things come out of

103
00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,200
there.
I call them a band of secret

104
00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,240
lovers.
And and that's what a Paramore

105
00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:25,880
is.
If you didn't know, it is a

106
00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:28,080
different spelling though.
It's MOURI.

107
00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:31,200
Thought I read somewhere that
they originally got the name of

108
00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,880
the band from Haley's Mothers
Maiden name, but I don't know, I

109
00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:36,360
need a Fact Check on that.
You know?

110
00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,360
We've got references to songs
like Let the Flames Begin in

111
00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:40,960
there.
We've got references to When It

112
00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,560
Rains, we've got references to
the the album Riot.

113
00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,280
We've got references to the the
label they're on which is was

114
00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:50,320
fuelled by Ramen.
Like a lot of my pieces.

115
00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:52,880
I've had a lot of fun just
trying to see what I could sneak

116
00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:54,400
in there.
Especially their original

117
00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:56,520
lineup, they fought a lot.
It was definitely a Fleetwood

118
00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:58,720
Mac situation.
I think that there were a lot of

119
00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:00,760
feelings kind of being thrown
around there.

120
00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,400
I talk about blog post apologies
for petty youthful blasphemies

121
00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,600
as well, because I do know that
there's some kind of ancient

122
00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:12,520
Internet thread of Hayley
Williams actually apologizing

123
00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:18,600
for some of the lyrics of of
Misery Business and of a certain

124
00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:22,720
line in that which said like
God, it just feels so good and

125
00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:24,960
saying that she actually felt
guilty because she felt that

126
00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,360
that was blasphemy basically.
I don't know if you can still

127
00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,200
find that thread.
But again, these are the kind of

128
00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,640
interesting little bits of law
that have popped up in amongst

129
00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:35,960
them.
I do know that they completely

130
00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,400
stopped playing misery business
for a while, not because of of

131
00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,160
that, but because of they felt
that they had outgrown the

132
00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,080
sentiments and that they didn't
want to come across as

133
00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:47,360
misogynistic in in some of the
lyrics.

134
00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,600
But as far as I know, they do
play it live now.

135
00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:52,360
So one more time, let's play it
again.

136
00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,760
The great Orange hope.
I was standing in a store that

137
00:07:55,760 --> 00:08:00,040
don't sell music no more when
the great orange hope sang true.

138
00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:03,480
She boasted she'd won in her
venomous tongue.

139
00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,880
And at that very moment I knew
that you could break with

140
00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,440
convention, tell the mother of
invention you were moving out of

141
00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:14,480
her attic and this band of
secret lovers dance through

142
00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:18,440
flames for each other's hope to
see miracles in the static.

143
00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:23,520
When that megaphone voice, a
pole vault hoist from a China

144
00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:28,400
doll throat ran riot.
It was CPR regression, all these

145
00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,440
chest decompressions felt by
millions.

146
00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:36,360
A chorus of quiet Once she
showed too much skin and the

147
00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,880
Vulture swooped in, tearing
flesh for their own absolution.

148
00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,919
Then came blog post.
Apologies for petty, youthful

149
00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:47,240
blasphemies bellowed in carnal
retribution.

150
00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:52,320
When it rains, it pours.
Only a fool ignores When rears

151
00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:56,560
the spirit of the Mack, a
brotherly schism fuelled by

152
00:08:56,560 --> 00:09:00,160
ramen egotism, their reflections
under attack.

153
00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,600
She's been through the ringer,
this diminutive singer, she

154
00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:05,440
dryly remarks.
Ain't it fun?

155
00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:10,480
At peace with her shadow, her
stories, her ammo.

156
00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:12,640
Still tearing the world a new
one.

157
00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:16,520
Old John was right to make
noise, call her out from the

158
00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:18,760
boys and pretenders running the
scene.

159
00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,080
He no longer aflame.
But you all know her name.

160
00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,800
All hail your pop punk queen.
There it is.

161
00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,520
I'd love to know what you're
thinking about these new solo

162
00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:30,960
episodes.
I'd love to know what's your

163
00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,880
favorite Paramore song.
I'd love to know if there's any

164
00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:38,560
other bands from that era that
have inspired maybe your work or

165
00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:42,200
your poetry or your writing.
Thank you so much for listening

166
00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:43,360
and I'll see you in the next
one.

167
00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:54,840
Wait, your big sands?
What's that all about?