Welcome to Monday Morning Mixtape, a PoYB Contributor-curated playlist of songs, made just for you at the start of each week.
"The PoYB Potluck"
Songs whose titles are food or drink
chosen by Joe
"Biscuits" by Method Man
from Tical, 1994
Writing this as we wait for our make-your-own Red Lobster brand Aldi biscuits during Martha's pre-birthday celebrations. It's not a tradition or anything, I just figured that she would like making biscuits on her birthday weekend. I hit the target on that one. Kids love helping, especially when you trust them to do a lot. They want that praise, man. Pam waking up to fresh biscuits and being able to say "good job, Martha!" without being patronizing is sincerely a better gift than any bullshit you can one-click buy on Amazon. —Joe
"Temptations & Figs" by Sandman Project
"Temptations & Figs" by Sandman Project
from Where Did You Go?, 2024
They say that it's impossible to know if there is a bug embedded inside the fig you are eating. If that's true, it means that we all have eaten multiple bugs in our lives, if we are fig eaters even in the slightest. Some people don't care, some people are grossed out. But Jewish law prohibits eating bugs, so I try to check each and every fig I eat for some creature with wings that won't go away. I'm sure I have not always been successful. I am waiting for that bolt of lightning to hit me when I exceed my lifetime bug limit because I ate too many figs. I'll take it. Figs are awesome, and they say it's better to be dead than alive, anyway. —Zach
"Tofu" by Emma-Jean Thackray
"Tofu" by Emma-Jean Thackray
from Weirdo, 2025
I usually make tofu about once or twice a week. One of my favorite ways to make it recently is from a cookbook called Sesame, which uses, you guessed it, sesame in some form in every recipe. The dish is bok choy, with soba noodles, pan-fried tofu, and a sauce made with tahini as the base. It's such a lovely and comforting dinner. I've made it almost every Wednesday for the past two months. —Gloria
"Lemonade" by Blind Melon
from Soup, 1995
People don't believe me when I say that the best soup that my old retirement home dining room job used to serve (two soups per day, probably a rotation of about 40 soups or so) was Cold Strawberry Soup. Was this actually a "soup" by definition? I think so? It was cold, so that's right away against some people's definition. And the ingredients were: heavy cream, sugar, strawberries. Feels more like a shake or some dessert than a soup. But there it was, once a month during the seasonal months, right there on the menu under the heading SOUP, so you tell me. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence that you'd have waiters come in on their day off for a cup, if the text message chain reached them in time. The perfect day at the Lafayette Redeemer: a cup of Cold Strawberry Soup during the 4:15 seating; six cans of Milwaukee's Best Premium in between seatings; a cup of Cold Strawberry Soup during the 6:00 seating. —Joe
"Potato Leek Soup" by Aesop Rock
"Potato Leek Soup" by Aesop Rock
from I Heard It's a Mess There Too, 2025
I found out about this artist from a comment under my post from last year about working too much from Yearlong Song Challenge. I think it was for the song "Time" by Hans Zimmer.
The blog is fun this year. I've enjoyed it. I always enjoy it. My brain ends up thinking of new ideas for things to write, all the time. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they get me into trouble.
I wonder if anything will ever match the magic of last year's Yearlong Song Challenge. For me, it was a life highlight. And I don't know if there ever will be anything to compare it to. I simply feel wistful for a time period that I really enjoyed. —Zach
"Pancakes" by Velvet Bethany
from Rock and Roll Vacation, 2019
Gun to my head, I'd say the most important episode of TV I've ever seen, at least as it pertains to my life and my search for meaning in life and the ways in which I search and the ways I document that search on this blog, is "Pancakes; Divorce; Pancakes" on the great, underrated show Review. No spoilers, but I'll say that this show is important to me because it does a good job dissecting the impulse I have to understand life while showing that it's impossible to do so objectively, or from a remove. In other words, the search itself affects your life, in positive (pancakes) and negative (divorce; pancakes) ways. —Joe
"Roast Fish & Corn Bread" by Lee Perry
"Roast Fish & Corn Bread" by Lee Perry
from Roast Fish Collie Weed & Corn Bread, 1978
I'm almost 7/30ths of the way through my middle-age bucket list in terms of years, but not in terms of items checked off. I'm only remembering this list now because I recall that one of the items on the list is "catching and cooking my own fish," which still sounds cool, but which I have not even come close to attempting in the last seven years. Let's see what I've done or am working my way towards. #2 is getting there (79 out of 99 movies seen so far); #6 will be halfway done when I finish Ulysses in June with the gang (will just have to move right on to Finnegan's Wake); working on #19 (will eventually have to explain the JKR of it all); #29 is in the bag. A few of the drinking ones are going to be impossible now. A few of the exercise ones are tough in the present moment because of my foot. A few are gonna have to wait till my 50s I think, mostly the travel ones that I don't have the money for right now. Overall, I'd say that my 30s are going pretty well, though. Besides the fish. Not enough fish. —Joe
"Potato's in the Paddy Wagon" by the New Main Street Singers
"Potato's in the Paddy Wagon" by the New Main Street Singers
from A Mighty Wind: The Album, 2003
Let's hear it for the national recognition of Parker Posey! The White Lotus allowed this longtime stalwart to be meme-ified for her pill-popping passive aggressive overbearing Southern mother ways. Like Jennifer Coolidge from the first seasons, Posey is an alum of the Christopher Guest movies and has been brandishing her brand of silliness for years. Now she's just getting credit. Here, Posey's part of the ensemble (with Jane Lynch, among others), winking while her family allows a sheriff to claim Potato as his bride. —Sam
"Icecream" by Lou Bega
from A Little Bit of Mambo, 1999
This is the last time I mention this song because I don't want to overexaggerate and make it seem like it's one of the best songs of all time, because it's not, not even close. But it is a really good song, especially in the context of where it came from, A Little Bit of Mambo, the critically reviled Record Club album chosen by our esteemed blog colleague Gilson (who still owes me a review of that album). This kind of thing tickles me, and leaves an impression, being able to say some ridiculous statement like "Lou Bega has exactly ONE good song... and it's NOT the only song of his that anyone knows." Makes me feel like what we're doing here is worth it, ya know? The search for good music never ends, and know no bounds. We found a good song in the trenches of a shitty Lou Bega album. Music is crazy sometimes. —Joe
"Savoy Truffle" by the Beatles
"Savoy Truffle" by the Beatles
from The White Album, 1968
Apparently this song was inspired by Eric Clapton's sweet tooth, which led to a need for extensive dental work, haha. The lyrics list some of the truffles that were included in the Macintosh Good News Box of mixed chocolates. I think I've only had one chocolate that would have been deserving of a song. It was a dark chocolate with a tart cranberry filling from Fruition Chocolate near Woodstock, NY. It was so well-balanced in flavor and so pretty. It was around $3 for a quarter-sized chocolate, but let me tell you, it was worth it. —Gloria
"Dog Milk" by Palm
"Dog Milk" by Palm
from Rock Island, 2018
In the summer of 2014, I went out to party with a guy named Ian who was in my grad school program. "Being drunk is so much better than being sober," he said. To this day, I believe that he's right. I drank three whiskeys at lunch yesterday and I simply had a better time at the free-for-all social event that followed. Also, Ian was an alcoholic. I don't know what to think about all that. I wish I could feel drunk all the time, but that's not how life works. Anyway, when we went out on that summer night, we drank a lot. We ended up in a bar in New Brunswick and started talking to a group of women at a table. I guess I talked to one of them for a while, and I migrated with her to the other side of the bar, and we made out? I invited her back home, but she told me she wouldn't do that. Still, I had gotten her number. The next day, I texted her about how she was feeling. "Hair of the dog and all that," she said. I never understood what the phrase "hair of the dog" meant, and I still don't know what it means, to this day. I never saw her again, not because she didn't want to see me (I have no idea if she did), but because my fear of rejection kept me from asking her out on a proper date. Our conversation had started with alcohol, and ended with "hair of the dog." Or maybe I was just looking for some fun in that summer of 2014. It's hard to remember your intentions from so long ago. —Zach
"Coffee and Tea" by Christopher Owens
from Chrissybaby Forever, 2015
My parents brought tea back from their trip to Ireland, which was really thoughtful of them. I really have been drinking a good amount of tea in the past 979 days. For better or worse, my tea consumption mirrors the consumption of the thing I gave up 979 days ago in exactly one way—I don't really give a shit about quality. It's just something to drink as I pass the time traveling through life. The quantity is a lot lower for tea, obviously, and it doesn't make me want to kill myself, so it's not exactly the same. But I was reflecting on the one similarity as I was drinking the tea directly from Ireland, when I thought: damn, this tastes exactly like the shit I get from $0.05 Aldi teabags. —Joe
"Coffee & TV" by Blur
from 13, 1999
Coffee is a magical drink. When I drink coffee in the morning, I feel like I can do anything. When it's a cappuccino, I feel like I'm having a treat. When it's an instant coffee, I get high. It's at once completely unlike drinking alcohol and also gives you a little bit of the high feeling that alcohol gives you. At the same time, I've smoked maybe two cigarettes in my life. I just have no desire for them. Why do I want food and coffee and sex and TV and sports and sweet desserts so badly, all of the time, but not nicotine? —Zach
"Two Cups Of Tea" by Star Fucking Hipsters
"Two Cups Of Tea" by Star Fucking Hipsters
from Until We're Dead, 2008
This song has a lot of lyrics that I could write a paragraph about. But what I really think about when I hear it is the person who posted this on my Facebook wall in 2009. And as a tea-drinking, punk music-listening girl, it was a great share. There used to be a feature on Facebook where you could draw for people; I think it was called Graffiti. You could draw it, post it, and then replay it to watch your friends' drawing process. We used to always draw each other things and put little creative secret messages in them. Old Facebook used to have a lot of interesting features, like Flair? I'm trying to remember what else... —Gloria
"Food Fight!" by Titus Andronicus
from Local Business, 2012
In the never-published Nate research project on Titus, I listed this song as my least favorite output from Patrick Stickles. That said, it's grown on me over time. The song possesses a cinematic scope to its nonsense. I can readily picture an Animal House-style film engaging in a vicious vittles throwing affair while this song scores the drama. That made me chuckle while knuckle grabbing my steering wheel on Kelly Drive this morning. —Sam
"I Love You, Pav Bhaji" by Scribe
from Mark of Teja, 2010
Pav Bhaji is one of my favorite Indian dishes; it's a mixture of mashed vegetables (bhaji) with spices, served on a buttered roll (pav). Sometimes you grate paneer on top of it. It originated in Mumbai, but is a common street food across India. I don't know why it isn't a common street food here. I think Americans would love it. Near the end of the song, they give the recipe as lyrics in case you want to make it at home. But it's probably better just to google it, or watch someone on YouTube if you are really interested. —Gloria
NEXT WEEK: "Holding Hands and Saying Grace" — Songs to give thanks for all we have (chosen by Joe)
15 comments:
Good morning, blogging friends. Hope you're having a good Monday and recovering well from the weekend. I ate way too much BBQ at Martha's birthday party yesterday, and am feeling dried out. A good mixtape will hopefully fix that.
SONG ORDER: I tried doing it subjectively this week instead of objectively, to mixed results. My thought was that I should put them in order that the food/drink would be served typically throughout a meal. The plan was to group up the songs without a specific food in the title at the end, but didn't realize until five minutes before publishing that Pav Bhaji was a meal, not a person, and I was lying in bed all nauseous and already late for work and just didn't have time to adjust two mixtape song orders on two different streaming sites. So it goes in the fast-paced world of blogging.
I'll check in after this two-hour meeting I got coming up, but some quick thoughts about the music.
This is the third or fourth time that C. Guest bluegrass movie has been featured on this blog, no? I guess I should add it to the imminent Never Seen It / Film Club expansion pack.
Damn, gave up on the Philly band Palm a while ago, but it was cool listening to one of their songs this morning, a little throwback. I actually liked this sound a lot better in the micro. Probably still couldn't get into a full album of it. Too much like Alice Coltrane-for-the-hip-indie-crowd for my liking. Still appreciate what they did.
Never heard of Star Fucking Hipsters, that shit was pretty good.
More thoughts about the mixtape / the blurbs this afternoon. Enjoy listening, friends.
it's so funny to me that gun to my head, I too would have said Pancakes, Divorce, Pancakes.
Something about it is able to articulate something profound about life that I find I'm unable or ill-equipped to most of the time. That impulse to "experience a full life" or "experience something new" that I feel all the time, and that episode (and that whole show) does such a good job at pushing back against that notion, that maybe you don't need to do everything, that maybe some experiences are completely worthless, there are better ways to spend your time... I don't know if I'll ever learn that lesson, but maybe I should.
I appreciated the thoughts on alcohol this week, especially Zach's Palm blurb. One of my rules for sobriety since I started was to be kind to myself and not turn every good drinking story into a bad/embarrassing drinking story. Some have always been bad, and I'm able to see that more clearly now. But some were just innocent fun. Getting drunk and meeting a girl at a bar and connecting and making out and having the connection immediately fall apart the next morning? Sounds like a great fucking day to me, overall! It doesn't have to mean anything beyond that.
Also finally looked up the history of "hair of the dog" this morning, and learned that it was from an ancient practice of placing a hair of a dog on the dog bite wound to prevent rabies. That's a pretty funny explanation.
I definitely had a perpetual impulse to do hair of the dog. The way my body felt was: if I'm hungover, there are a certain number of beers that will get me back to zero, back to normal, neither drunk nor hungover. And that worked, until it didn't.
Hi Zach, you picked two songs that were on my short list but didn’t make the cut, haha ( “Coffee & TV,” and “Temptation & Figs”) Where Did You Go? is one of my favorite albums that I discovered this year— it’s so good.
We watched a documentary on figs in either my zoological or botany class in undergrad. The focus was on symbiotic relationships. One fig is actually hundreds of individual fruits. Hundreds of individual flowers grow inside the fig structure, called a syconium, and they all need to get pollinated. I remember the film said it was like a secret garden for the wasps. But they get pollinated by wasps that crawl inside them to lay eggs. Then the wasps die inside the fig and the fig digest the wasp. It’s really cool!
Joe, I don’t have a problem with soup being cold but I do have questions about soup being sweet versus savory. I grew up eating another pink, cold soup called šaltibarščiai (said shalt-ah-barsh-chay) which is beets, buttermilk/yogurt, cucumber and dill. It’s the best!
I was never the world's biggest smoker. In the two-year window I smoked regularly I never finished a pack. I'd buy a pack and smoke half of them then throw the rest away in shame. I'd eventually come crawling back. Coffee and a cig never did anything for me. A beer and cig feels like heaven on earth. A coffee and a beer ain't bad.
The dogwhistle worked! Here I am, dropping two links.
That's a fair distinction, and I won't argue with you. I'm not really one to argue about the naming of things. If the senior center's menu says "soup," then I'm probably gonna call it "soup," even if there is some definition of soup that the creators of the menu didn't consider.
The Laf definitely featured a borscht in the same rotation, which was a similar color and similar temperature, but was in fact the WORST soup that they had. Mainly because I hate beets. I wonder, though, if your šaltibarščiai might be doable, because I sure do like all those other ingredients you named. Depends on how prevalent the beets are in the taste I guess!
That's so cool about figs! I'm excited to get more into Sandman Project too.
I should come clean and say that I found out about the Palm song from a Joe Best Of list, the Sandman Project song from Gloria, the Aesop Rock song from Nate, and the Blur song from my first love when she made me a mixtape before we went to college in 2004.
You are right. I'm sure I think about it differently than you - in my head I'm like "why didn't I reach out more? why am I so afraid of rejection?" - but sometimes we just have to say that was a good time, and these are the things, honestly, that we live for. Alcohol is a topic I think about a lot, and addiction, and where they fall in my life, and I don't know...having this space to talk about it has been good for me, let's just say.
I spent years eating my mom's cold cherry soup. Is it soup? Who knows. Is it part of a refreshing summertime meal, before the main course is served? Yes. And if so, I am happy to call it soup. But I acknowledge that I may be very wrong on that.
It's definitely helpful to have a space—any space at all, and if it's the blog, then considered me humbled—to talk about that topic. I did my best to write openly and honestly about the drinking even when I was in the thick of it. Maybe you could even say that the point when my words about it here and the actual truth about it in my head diverged was the point that it officially became A Problem©.
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