in his series, "Songs that got me through high school."Really, I should have done "Songs that got me through college," because that's when I found an identity with music. That was the early-to-mid nineties, when I finally untucked my shirt and grew out my hair. I heard They Might Be Giants, Depeche Mode, Pink Floyd, Violent Femmes, Weezer, Garbage, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, The Singles Soundtrack (thank you Paul Westerberg),
Nirvana et al, Four Non-Blondes (the one hit wonder), The Cranberries, The Waynes World Soundtrack (love that Queen), 
and Beck, who says that your pants should fit; you don't need a belt. That was when Lollapalooza was real, and Q101 was alternative. That's the music I listened to, and it got me through college.sociology of music blog titles
But this post is about the sociology of music blog titles. Data is collected from blogrolls of music blogs. Observations are my own, and stand to be corrected, added to, or amended.
Those Clever Titles I: Introduction. Though clever titles are so last summer might disagree, music blogs had and still have the cleverest titles on the web. Way better than those political blogs. And while I love feminist blogging, some of those titles become a little redundant. "Feminist" or "bitch" are accurate blog portrayals, but there are so many of them! That's why I love womenfolk. Just some great songs by women artists, clean and simple.
Those Clever Titles II: Clickability. Scrolling down the music blogroll, it's hard to resist clicking those "hey what do they blog about" titles, as Pink is the new Blog, so much silence, Bows + Arrows, S k a t t e r b r a i n, trees lounge, or What Would Jesus Blog? And this is a mere representative sample! [footnote: "sociology of" rarely gets into asking why things are the way they are, but my guess is that blog titles are so good because these are the same folks who come up with clever band titles in real life]
Even better subtitles. Also best available by music bloggers. Here you can check out Muzzle of Bees (half of it's you, half of it's me), Copy, Right? (I have you covered), Hummer (life's a bummer when you're a ...), and Ear Farm (music information helps grow ears). A great title only deserves a fantastic subtitle, no?
Blogs that with lyrics or titles that remind me of a band. I am for some reason drawn to blogs that remind me of either Sufjan Stevens or Belle and Sebastian, whether or not the authors blog about them. songs: illinois say they never blog about Sufjan (in fact they are just from Illinois), but dreams of horses admits their namesake outright. [footnote2: all things go did a fantastic Sufjan A-Z in May]
Blogs with titles that are full sentences. I am fuel, you are friends (also a lyric title) ~Can you see the sunset from the southside? ~ clever titles are so last summer ~ Let's kiss and make up ~ the rich girls are weeping (lyric title) are but a few.
Skilled Layout. musicisart sets an example; so does womenfolk, clever titles are so last summer, and fluxblog. Of course I like any blog that dumps the headerbox and uses a picture - something that I believe every single blog mentioned in this post does. Duke (backyard grass), Gorilla vs. Bear (looks like the bear lost), Two and 1/2 Pounds of Bacon (stained glass), and Ear Farm (ears and farming) are some examples.
So those are my music blog title observations so far. There are others, but I have work to do around here (no, really). You can do the rest, if so inclined.
UPDATE: Robbie and Heather, thanks for your comments! I loved reading your blog-title motovation (Heather) so much that I can't resist asking everyone else: How did you choose your music blog title? This is an advanced stage in the "sociology of" series ~ we've reached the interview!
FAQ: What does "sociology of" mean?
more sociologies of everyday life: church parking, Memorial Day camping, nephew's birthday party, World Cup, Dora Candyland, haircut, port-o-potty, Indigo Girls concert at Ravinia
11 things that people say:
Hey Marc... thanks for the kinds words! Was a surprise to read. I also liked your other observations. Very nice blog.
Hi Marc! So my blog title, I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS (as I ALWAYS have to explain to people, because it's quite a mouthful, isn't it?) is, as you might know, from a Pearl Jam lyric. When I was sitting facing the Blogger screen, thinking about what I wanted my blog to be called, I knew I wanted to do something Pearl Jam if I could. Not that I would just write about PJ, but they occupy the biggest portion of the musical love in my heart. I thought of that lyric and it conveyed what, at its best, a music blog could be: I am fuel for your new musical passions, and you are all friends.
Ta da! :)
Thanks, funny and interesting post.
Robbie and Heather, thanks for your comments!
Heather, I loved reading your blog-title motovation so much that I can't resist asking everyone else: How did you choose your music blog title? This is an advanced stage in the "sociology of" series ~ we've reached the interview!
Funny, funny article. Am I the only one who thinks Songs:Illinois might have been a play off Jason Molina's Songs:Ohia? Perhaps it was a mixture between Molina's band and Sufjan Steven's latest record. Anyway, if anyone was wondering how I got my blog name, Invisible Limb, it was from an old cartoon I watched when I was a child, where people were tripping over others' phantom limbs on the sidewalk. Interesting, isn't it.
I got mine from an old french anarchist/sadist novel. Only later did I realise that it was also an s&m club.
Really interesting post. As Heather also does, I always need to explain my blog name and repeat the acronym (CYSTSFTS) more than a few times. In hindsight, I could have picked a better name, but this one works. Inspired by a lyric from the Lifetime song "Ostrichsized" that also happens to be a quote from the movie "The Outsiders," that is how my blog got the name it did.
thankyou so much for yr kind compliments, it really means alot. welcome to the late greats :) look forward to reading more of yr words~
My blog title was very basic and to the point. 'Womenfolk' just encompasses women, plain and simple. It's short and too the point.
It's just a matter of coincidence that most of the music I feature is folk music (although not exclusively).
This was great fun to read!
Mine was just kinda random- the first few things that came to mind to do with Denamrk... I should really have called it Cinnamon (altohugh Kanel and Canal are similar..) Hm
Cleverly titled blog about cleverly titled blogs. Keep up the great work.
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