Weekend Listomania (Special Well, On the One Hand... Audio/Video Edition)

Well, it's Friday and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental fertile crescent manipulator Fah Lo Suee and I will be heading off to beautiful Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where we'll be attending a combined Sunday Mass and Gun Show at Saint Aloysius Parish in the company of Governor Bobby Jindal [R-Kenneth the Intern From 30 ROCK look-alike].

That being the case, and since things will be otherwise quiet around here till for a few days, here's a totally irrelevant but hopefully amusing little project for us all:

Best or Worst Post-Elvis Pop/Rock/Soul Song With the Word "Same" or "Different" Featured Prominently in the Title or Lyrics!!!

Totally self-explanatory, I think, and no arbitrary rules of any kind, you're welcome very much. And yes, I'm making an exception and allowing songs that use the word "difference" as well. Because you guys are going to nominate some of those no matter what I say anyway.

And my totally top of my head Top Six is:

6. Sly and the Family Stone -- Thank U Falletinme Be Myself Again



From whence the phrase "Different strokes for different folks" entered the language, obviously.

5. David Bowie -- Always Crashing in the Same Car



Still not much of a Bowie fan, and I don't even particularly like this song. Fabulous title, though, I'll give the whey-faced poseur that for free.

4. The Four Tops -- It's the Same Old Song



"It's the same old song/with a different meaning since you've been gone." The obvious choice, obviously. But it's a twofer, and thus unavoidable.

3. Panic at the Disco -- The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage



Because, as you know, we like to have something recorded in this century, and for once, this one's actually kind of haunting.

2. Michael Nesmith -- Different Drum




The composer's more or less unplugged version, rather than the more familiar Linda Ronstadt take. From Nesmith's And the Hits Just Keep on Coming collection and still the best back porch folkie record ever made, IMHO.

And the Numero Uno am I being well balanced or merely wishy-washy? song of them all almost certainly has to be, I think, possibly....

1. French, Frith, Kaiser and Thompson -- The Same Thing




A fabulous, if somewhat obscure, Willie Dixon blues tune given an appropriately simmering reading by the sort of avant-garde supergroup.

Alrighty, then -- and what would your choices be?