Yet ANOTHER Top 100 (or so) Songs I Absolutely Must Have With Me on 1/48/50

#288) "Mi Mi Mi" by Serebro - A few months back, I admitted publicly (er, so to speak) to really liking the song "Mama Luba", suggested, even, that there was more to Serebro - at least in certain musical instances - than mere off-the-hook sex appeal. At the time, I wondered if I'd discover another song by the Russian girl group that I could listen to and a) not be bored by (which is the worst offense of all), and b) totally not care whether they were attractive or not. A song that could truly stand on its own, without being dependent on the group's ridiculously over-the-top sexual image.

I found it, ironically enough, in "Mi Mi Mi", a song that on the surface seems little more than a pop throwaway extolling the grotesque trappings of the artistically barren, image-obsessed, materialistic age we live in.

But whoa, Nelly...easy girl...unless you're one of those individuals completely bogged down by taking your music (and yourself) too seriously, there's really nothing not to like about this song. Fatally infectious, confident, sassy, bratty...almost a little sinister (as in, this just may be the music playing in Hell's waiting room)...I like its funky, freak show vibe. It's considered Europop (ish), but there are subtle musical shades of the girls' Russian heritage found embedded in its rhythm, moments when it sounds less like a pop song of any kind, more like the bed music to Tetris. And really, what could be wrong with that? Definitely nothing here to get bored by. The song is, in a word, bewitching.

It's largely the construction of the song itself, but also partly the women of Serebro. I like the fact that the singers - Elena Temnikova and Olga Seryabkina (who also has a writing credit) - seem to have a tenuous grasp of English at best, or none at all. Maybe I'm wrong, but they sound like I might sound singing a song in Russian, merely saying the memorized words without being able to convince people that I fully understand them, and in some strange way, for some strange reason, it totally works. And no, we're not talking strong vocals here, but that's okay. For what the song is, and what the song isn't, neither woman needs to be bellowing in three dimensional color like Adele. Their combined nasal attack works just fine.

And yes, they are astonishingly attractive women in my opinion. Not just "hot", which makes appearances throughout the world every day, but truly fucking stunning, all three of them (with Anastasia Karpova) totally rocking their cossacks with carefully crafted moves that for better or worse have become what the group's known for.

But it wouldn't matter if they weren't attractive, and that's the point here, that's why this song will come along on 1/48/50. Serebro could consist of three old Russian woman, their wizened faces peering out from underneath kerchiefs as they huddle in the sun, waiting for their cream to curdle, and all else being equal, musically speaking, "Mi Mi Mi" would still be a fantastic jam. Very super pupper drupper. ;-)

"I am so cool with my awesome big tits on the ground..."

#289) "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" by The Walker Brothers - I was not surprised at all to discover the creators of the movie "Seeking a Friend For the End of the World" used this song to help illustrate their end times tableau. It has been getting me thinking heavy, long thoughts ever since I first heard it dribbling out of the AM radio in my parents' bookstore when I was a little kid. Similar to "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying", it's actually the perfect road song because it always sounds like it's broadcasting from somewhere very far away, someplace you might want to get to, or get back to...or perhaps stay away from.

"The tears are always clouding your eyes, when you're without love, baby..."