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Song Stories

“Toe Jam”

The BPA featuring David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal | 2008

“Toe Jam” was the debut single for Brighton Port Authority, which was a collaboration between David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal. Producer Norman Cooke, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim, said that while the ex-Talking Heads frontman and the London-based rapper were listed as co-writers on the tune, they never worked on it together. “[Byrne and I] finished it and Dizzee heard it,” he told Rolling Stone. “I bumped into him at a photo session and he went, ‘I wanna be on that record. It's gonna be a hit and I wanna be on it. Find me 16 bars and put me on it.’ So we kind of glued him onto it."

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Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

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