My Gen X Playlist: King of the Road – REM

Absent any new WordPress daily prompts, I pulled one from thecoffeemonsterzco.

What do you find cringey?

I think I may have mentioned that Swingers was a favorite movie in my twenties. It’s a story about twenty somethings, heartbreak, friendship and redemption.

This is a story about Mike, a guy who left his girl in New York when he came to LA to be a star. It’s been six months since his girlfriend left him and he’s not doing so good. So, his pal and some other friends try and get him back in the social scene and forget about his 6 year relationship.

IMDb

There is a scene where Mike finally musters the courage to ask a girl for her number. Afterwards, there is debate about the right amount of time before calling. One day? Two? Three?

Mike ignores all advice and calls the same night after the club. You have an inkling that it’s not going to go well, but it turns into a full blown shit show. What transpires is one of the most cringeworthy scenes that’s impossible to look away. I really hope this wasn’t inspired by actual events.

There is redemption in the end. One of the final scenes, his ex-girlfriend calls, their first conversation since moving to LA six months ago. You could feel the pain in his voice. Part way through, he receives a call from a someone he met the night before and is faced with a choice. I’ll be honest, it doesn’t totally erase the cringe from the earlier scene, but you can’t help root for the guy in the end.

The Swingers soundtrack is full of classic music. One is King of the Road by Roger Miller. I’ll divert from this classic slightly and add REM’s drunken cover of this 1965 song. Probably not their best work, but I enjoy obscure cover songs by bands I love.

1987, R.E.M. covered the song, in a shambolic, drunken, offhand rendering. Guitarist Peter Buck later commented, “If there was any justice in the world, Roger Miller should be able to sue for what we did to this song.”

Wikipedia

Drunken singing, cringeworthy phone calls and ultimately redemption in the end. Yep, sounds like a day in the life of a twenty something for sure.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Trailers for sale or rent
Rooms to let, fifty cents
No cars no pool no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes

It takes four hours of pushin' broom
To buy a four-by-twelve two-bit room
I'm a man of means, by no means
King of the road

Trailers for sale or rent
Rooms to let, fifty cents
No cars no pool no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes

It takes eight hours of pushin' broom
To buy a four-by-twelve two-bit room
I'm a man of man, by no means
King of the road, take it Slim

It takes eight hours of pushin' broom
To buy a four-by-twelve two-bit room
I'm a man of man, by no means
King of the road, one more time

Trailers for sale or rent
Rooms to let, fifty cents
No cars no pool no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes

It takes eight hours of pushin' broom
To buy a four-by-twelve two-bit room
I'm a man of man, by no means
King of the road, take it Slim