Leave All The Things That Haunt You

The Concretes “Diana Ross” – I can barely resist young Swedish pop groups under normal circumstances, so obviously I cannot help but to adore this swoon-inducing girl group bolero about listening to Diana Ross records. This song is a selection from the band’s self-titled album; a lovely, wintery pop record which works best on the upbeat numbers, but loses my interest somewhat when they veer off into Velvet Underground-style balladry. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Improved Sound Ltd. “Leave This Lesbian World” – This peculiar little song was written and recorded for the soundtrack of the German film Engelchen macht weiter – Hoppe, hoppe Reiter back in 1969. Though I do understand that the film was about beatniks and hippies living in Munich, I cannot imagine what the context of these lyrics could be, unless that film presaged the plot of Chasing Amy. It seems to be a song written from the perspective of a man who is interested in being with a woman who he believes has become a lesbian because she has been raped and traumatized in the past. He is apparently urging her to leave her “lesbian world” so that she can, um, be with him. I’m not sure whether the lyrical content of this song is misogynistic and homophobic, or just very dumb and misguided, but it’s still a pretty good song nevertheless. (“(Click here to buy it from Juno.)