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Song Stories

“That's Entertainment”

The Jam | 1980

Paul Weller spins the mod take on the working man's blues in this list of the everyday realities that comprised life for both the blue-collar workers and restless adolescents in the U.K. circa 1980. Though never released as a British single during the Jam's lifetime, the song's realistic imagery resonated so deeply with listeners the song still reached the U.K. charts three separate times as an import or reissue. The secret to the songs powerful lyrics, according to Weller? "Coming home pissed from the pub and writing 'That's Entertainment' in 10 minutes," he said.

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Song Stories

“V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.”

Fishbone | 1985

Quite a few musicians have utilized initials for song titles -- Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T.," Abba's "S.O.S.," Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y.," etc. But the more curiously initialed tune has to be "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.," short for "Voyage to the Land of the Freeze-Dried Godzilla Farts." Fishbone's original guitarist, Kendall Jones, explained to Rolling Stone, "When Norwood [Fisher] wrote it, he introduced it to the band saying, 'Man, I've been hearing about all these Nazi right-wing groups on the news saying the Holocaust was staged. So what if America said it never dropped two atom bombs on Japan, that it was actually Godzilla popping a couple off?' Only Norwood would come up with something that out." The same year "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F." was released, the film Godzilla 1985 appeared in North America.

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