SKApril!

The Rebel Black Dot Song of Divine Mercy Sunday
Dance Hall Crashers, "He Wants Me Back" from The Old Record: 1989-1992 (T.L.A.M.)

Skammentary: The Dance Hall Crashers weren't always a ska band, but even in their later years they flirted between ska-core, pop-punk, & the swing & burlesque revivals. Back in the day, though, they were less ambiguously ska & songs such as "He Wants Me Back" feature not just syncopation but also horns, & of course D.H.C.'s trademark sound, dual distaff harmonized lead vocals.

"Yesterday the leaves were brown
And I was wearing a big frown,
Because my lover left me for the girl
That he had loved before.
The sky was cloudy, then turned blue
Because I saw it was no use
To love someone whose heart was elsewhere
So I decided not to care, oh yeah!

"He wants me back, but he can't have me.
He wants me back, there's no denyin'.
He wants me back, he's on his knees,
Now we'll see who's cryin'.

"The grass looks greener without you, it's true!
So many things for me to do,
Living my life for me and on my own,
It is so great to be alone…"

"He Wants me Back" is a great song to which to teach skanking—slow, steady, & catchy.

Bonus! Song of the Day
Dan Potthast, "Pope" from Sweets and Meats (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: Dan Potthast—nicknamed "Dan Posthaste" & "Steve Roelle (pronounced "Raleigh"), the missing Roelle brother" within B.T.W.—is the lead singer & guitarist for Mu330, the "psycho ska" band from Saint Louis, the mighty city by the mighty Mississippi. He has also released solo, non-ska albums. Though "Pope" is not a ska song, it is about a visit by Pope Saint John Paul II to Saint Louis & had to be highlighted today, because how often is it that I will find myself in possession of a contemporary, non-religious song about a modern man on the day of that late man's canonization?

"It was like a parade at forty miles an hour,
And the pope zipped past in his see-through car,
And we laughed and we waved and I think he smiled.
It all happened so fast! All the people were chanting,
'John Paul Two, we love you!'…"