Bitter Literature
@bitterature
What. Who. Where. When. Why. How. Not journalistically, just incredulously. "Why is THIS person, saying THIS thing, in THIS venue, to THIS audience, at THIS time?" #RandomHot100 rating scale is 0.0 to 4.0, if it matters.
I'm not Kaitlin, but - here is a paean to bipartisanship from leading Democrats. (I'm not joking. I understand that this is not a platform or a policy statement. I am still saying it's a problem.)
Oddly, this is the fourth song I’ve covered with a “69, dudes!” peak. The other three were the Christmas entries (John Legend and, blech, the Wookiee thing) and Garth Brooks. 5/
The peaks and valleys on the chart pattern look like rock ‘n’ roll trying to shake a crooner off its tail. 5/
Even if she does, she probably doesn't deserve to get past this. (I had high hopes for her, but then...)
This was the also-ran single from the album (after the ickily titled “This Little Girl”), and Bonds’s penultimate Hot 100 hit. 5/
Once again, this is the type of article presentation that led me to stop donating to NPR.
What on earth happened with the chart pattern? I know it was the pandemic year, but how does a two-week bomb take a seven-month hiatus and then peek back in? 8/
Chart trajectory is the hit’s burial mound: steep slopes on either side, nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop. #27 was a relatively high top 40 debut at the time. 7/
A number one country hit, which explains its staying power despite the low peak. 5/
Jackson isn’t a bad singer, but he’s not a distinctive one either; his vocal could have been swapped for any Osmond’s without a loss. The Hot 100 was equally unenthusiastic. 4/
Ugh. Tally of Democratic Senators voting on the Iraq AUMF in 2003, and whether that seat is Democratic or Republican today. (Sanders was independent but in the house; Jeffords, a former Republican turned independent who caucused with the Democrats, is not counted.)
Radio could not get rid of this fast enough – not surprising, for a bridgeless five-minute beast. It is Dylan’s second-to-last Hot 100 hit. 6/
BLECH. The detail about the Confederate money at the school store is what really gets me. And the bit about greater demand for the Confederate flag than the American flag reminds me of Trump's campaigning in front of the Thin Blue Line flag in 2020.
Even in the high Cold War era, there wasn’t much patience for this shit. 6/
What a chart pattern. I didn’t expect to see this until the streaming era: that early interruption, triumphant return, and erratic twilight. “Crying” peaked just as “Candy Man” re-entered; possibly Bastian pulled Atreyu back onto the charts. 5/
Despite its international hit status, never quite made liftoff here in the US. 5/
Note that pattern here: top 40 debut at #28; second-week rise of six places; five weeks to get into the top 10; four weeks after falling out of it. Only that long plateau is unusual; the label must have dragged its feet deciding whether to buy the top spot, and ultimately bailed. 8/
Barely touching the lower rungs of the chart, and never quite achieving liftoff. 4/
Not *the* song of summer, but *a* song of summer for sure, and the group’s only encounter with the Hot 100. 4/