“28 Butts” by Little Jackie (The Stoop, S-Curve Records, 2008). Written by Imani Coppola, Mike Mangini and Adam Pallin.
MY TAKE
I’m not sure why this song (and album, really) doesn’t get more airplay, especially in the summer months when sittin’ out on the stoop and talking about the good ol’ days just makes sense. This song is so fun, with it’s little doo-wop girls chorus at the beginning and end and its saucy assembly of vignettes. It’s more tame than most male hip hop, for sure, and it’s definitely holding firm space between pop and hip hop anyways. Is it not radio appropriate? Is that it? I just don’t see why this isn’t as big as Winehouse was when she was still alive.
Adam Pallin (one of the band members) said in the Times Online that the song “28 Butts” was pivotal to the album with respect to its vibe, which helped set the tone for the rest of the funky motown of the album. I love this album, it was even one of my first blogs when I started this shindig last year in September, and I can’t believe that almost a year later I still don’t get any buzz about Little Jackie! Really, it floors me. Looks like the band is supposed to have their second album out this year, so I’m really looking forward to that (Little Jackie is a band of three, not a girl)!
LYRICS
Bah, Bah, Bah….
It’s a typical day in the universe
Another MC spits a puny verse
I try to get through my day without sayin’ a curse
Because I curse too much and such and such
I try to improve my vocabulary
I try to cut out eatin’ meat and dairy
I wanna bring back the days of the tooth fairy
‘Cause I lost my innocence
I’m young and dumb and old and wise at the same time
‘Cause I know Jesus was a rock star
And it was Elvis who turned water into wine
I wanna save a kangaroo from a life in a zoo
I wanna own a llama, I want less drama in my life
I think I really wanna be a happy housewife
I got 28 butts in the ashtray
I gotta pace myself, I’m smokin’ like a chimney
Another bottle of whiskey has been emptied
I know you wouldn’t put it past me
I really know how to party, reminisce about the day
When I was swiggin’ my Bacardi
28 butts in the ashtray because it’s just me
Keepin’ myself company
I think back all the days I was smokin’ Kerouac
It was really kinda like an addiction, non fiction
Just readin’ my days and nights away
I used to pray to a funny little fat man
‘Til I found out he was Santa Clause
‘Cause Saint Nick never brought shit
And there I go cursin’ again
I’m my only friend and I’m definitely my very worst enemy
It kinda triggers a memory, let’s bring it back to ’83
When I ate a watermelon, swallowed the seeds
Suddenly there was a watermelon growin’ in my tummy
I skipped a jump rope, every time I jumped up
I heard a rattle that sounded like a tambourine
I got 28 butts in the ashtray
I gotta pace myself, I’m smokin’ like a chimney
Another bottle of whiskey has been emptied
I know you wouldn’t put it past me
I really know how to party, reminisce about the day
When I was swiggin’ my Bacardi
28 butts in the ashtray ’cause it’s just me
Keepin’ myself company
Hey mama, are you proud of me?
I applied for a job at MickeyD’s
I gotta do something with my life
Because my idle time is eatin’ me
Like I’m a super sized french fry
Drenched in ketchup, fryin’ over patch up
But I know I taste better than that
Like they used to taste before they outlawed trans fat
I got 28 butts in the ashtray
I gotta pace myself, I’m smokin’ like a chimney
Another bottle of whiskey has been emptied
I know you wouldn’t put it past me
I really know how to party, reminisce about the day
When I was swiggin’ my Bacardi
28 butts in the ashtray ’cause it’s just me
Keepin’ myself company
Shalalala lalalalala….
SONG OF THE DAY