Sweet Subversion

Anyone with kids or furthermore, anyone who works with kids, has their fair share or horror stories regarding kid movie sountracks. Currently we're all suffering through the brain aching and redundant "I Like to Move it" song from the film "Madagascar." The song is just the words, "I like to move it, move it" over and over and over and over again. Those clever lyrics are finally punctuated by "I like to move it...MOVE IT!" Ugh, die song...DIE!!

Yet last week the kids movie "Open Season" opened and there was something especially sweet about it's soundtrack. Paul Westerberg did it! The Paul Westerberg from The Replacements. When my buddy told me about it, I explained that I already knew about it and would be skipping it. I told him I worked with kids and went on to explain the "Move it" phenomenon to him and that I didn't need to hear Westy shilling cuddly bears and like...their wacky pie stealing antics. However he insisted the album was not only good, it sounded like the Replacements. Hmmm. Intriguing. But not intriguing enough. Then he said not only did it sound like the Replacements but that the Replacements bass player Tommy Stinson did some songs on it with Paul! O.K..that was it...SOLD!

See, for us die-hard Replacements fans, the thought of any or all of the remaining Mats teaming up for anything makes us all gooey inside. Even if it's for a kids album. So, I got the soundtrack and it's AWESOME! If you like the Replacements or Paul Westerberg solo, you gotta get it. But here's the rub.

I've only seen Paul Westerberg twice in my life. The first time was at a Virgin Megastore in San Francisco where he was performing solo and acoustic. It was an incredible show because he was sounding amazing, even as this drunk douche bag behind me kept heckling him. About 5 songs in, Paul got sick of the heckler, ran into the crowd, slapped him upside the face and took off. Seriously. That was my first live Westerberg show. It's great that I saw it now, in hindsight. But at the time, I was beyond pissed.

The second time was last year when he went on tour. His first tour in a long time. I won't bore you with the details, but it was everything I hoped it would be. Beautiful, fun, disastrous and legendary. Paul got pissed at one point and cracked his guitar on his amp. Yet when he did so, he accidentally whacked himself in the head and played the rest of the show while bleeding profusely. Fucking. Awesome.

This brings me back to the topic at hand. Paul Westerberg, the man who can't remember the Replacements days due to major drug and alcohol consumption, the guy who, at 50 years old hits himself in the noggin with his guitar in the midst of a tizzy fit, just made a great album. For a kids movie. What the hell? I highly doubt he's going to tour on the "Open Season" soundtrack. But since the movie is #1 and probably will be next week too, he's raking in some phat cash. While I couldn't be more happy for my favorite songwriter finally getting paid, this all means it'll be that much longer before he "has" to go on tour.

Buuut...
I find it simply wonderful that millions of kids are demanding this soundtrack because it's available and that both them and their parents are listening to Paul Westerberg and digging it. If only those parents knew...