Posted on

My Gen X Playlist: Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want – Hootie and the Blowfish

Scroll down to see more content

What’s the best local dish you’ve ever eaten while traveling?

When we were visiting Japan, we were invited to a local’s home for dinner. We enjoyed the warm hospitality and were served the best sashimi I’ve ever tasted. I knew it was premium grade by the way it literally melted in my mouth. I heard my mom’s voice in my head to be a gracious guest and resisted the urge to chow down. Man, that took willpower.

Our host was concerned I wasn’t enjoying the meal because how little I ate. On the contrary, I explained, this was the freshest sashimi I’d ever tasted. He understood I was holding back. It turns out he was a tuna broker that sold freshly caught tuna directly to restaurants. He said not to worry, he had forty more pounds in cold storage and encouraged me to dig in. He didn’t have to ask me twice.

After our meal, I couldn’t eat sashimi or sushi for the rest of our trip because nothing would compare. It was that good. That was more of an experience than a meal.

I started searching for fish related songs and bands. I’m not sure why I was coming up empty. I’m sure there are hundreds out there to choose from. I ended up choosing a Smiths’ song covered by Hootie and the Blowfish. And even though nobody can really replicate Morrissey’s vocals, I do like how obscure this one is. I remember adding this CD to my collection eons ago thinking how cool it was that Darius Rucker covered songs from bands I loved like the Smiths and REM. Here’s their version of Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.

–

For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Good times for a change
See, the luck I've had can make a good man turn bad
So please, please, please
Let me, let me, let me
Let me get what I want this time

Haven't had a dream in a long time
See, the life I've had can make a good man bad
So, for once in my life, let me get what I want
Lord knows it would be the first time
Lord knows it would be the first time

24 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want – Hootie and the Blowfish”

  4. Well, it’s been a while since I was here, sorry about that. I only know the original version of this song by The Smiths with Morrissey on the vocals, but Hootie and co. nicely capture the gentle, lounge-ish flavour of the song.

    I’m not too big on sushi, as I have sometimes felt unwell after it. I suppose having it made by a fellow like your host might make a difference… As for other fish-themed songs, one that came to mind for me was “Fisherman’s Blues,” a fabulously spirited ballad by The Waterboys with Mike Scott’s unmistakable vocals (and his likewise familiar “whoops”): https://youtu.be/zuceIiM6vzk?si=srB2Rw_kbKr2ivVw

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Ah, my friend. Thanks for adding to the flavor! I do like this song. This is a great song for the song list. I only know a handful of songs by the Waterboys (I think). I don’t know their titles, but similar to this one, recognize it immediately at the intro. Great song, Steve. Thanks for suggesting it!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. There’s a lot I didn’t like as a kid that I love now, and my own kid says the same. When I’d be cooking a meal for him and I said I’d add just a little bit of diced onion (because how do you cook without onion?), he’d retort, “That’s like saying you’ll add only a little bit of diced toenail.” Now he likes diced toenail! LOL I mean onion.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Hahaha… that gave me a good laugh! How can you not cook without onions? My wife has a reaction to onions and can’t eat them. Sometimes I cook them on the side and add them to my dish. She’d also take a hard pass to diced toenails… lol

        Like

      3. Yes, the minute I typed that question about how can you imagine cooking without onions, I thought of a friend whose stomach also can’t take onions (or garlic) and how he manages. I think it’s a sad life, and I know he misses it too, but it’s not the end of the world. I should have edited my response. 

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment