When you simultaneously play the two Nickelback songs “How You Remind Me” and “Someday”, which were released two years apart, you will soon discover that they are 90% the same song.

Nickelback, you lazy, talentless bunch of wankers. What, did you think nobody would notice that you’re recycling your hideous dirge and selling it all over again to your deluded fan base? You bastards, you’re taking advantage of those tone deaf MTV brainwashed twats who are too thick to notice you’re releasing songs that are EXACTLY THE SAME as the ones you recorded earlier.

NPR has a great take on this as well.
Here is a link to an .mp3 of the combined songs by Nickelback.
As an added bonus, this is a link to two Linkin Park songs played over each other.

But all this song similarity stuff is really nothing new. If I have any advice for a budding guitar player, which I don’t, it would be to learn how to play “Louie Louie”. The chord progression known to musicians as I-IV-V (The Eternal Medley) has been used in so many hit songs it should be considered abuse. A popular use of this progression, I-IV-/V-IV-/ad nauseum, is known as the ‘Louie Louie’ and is used in songs such as “Hang On Sloopy”, “Twist and Shout”, “Wild Thing”, and a ton of other songs with very little variation in rhythm.

So I guess, in the end, it’s not all that strange that Nickelback has songs that sound similar. What makes it nerve wracking is that Nickelback has actually plagiarized themselves (if that is even possible). What makes it disgusting, is that Nickelback fans don’t really seem to care and they continue buy this piece of crap music.

Pageantry and ritual are what I enjoy most out of organized religion. Judaism is no slacker religion when it comes to pageantry and ritual. I celebrated my first ever Passover Seder last year. This year me and G decided to step it up a notch and host (really, circumstances as they were, our house worked best in which to host the Seder we were invited to) Passover Seder this year. So on Monday night we had 20 close friends and acquaintances over. The guests brought the food and religious paraphernalia I didn’t own or had never heard of. G simply supplied a couple some snacks. It was just as fun as the last one with lots of singing, laughing, questions & answers (because nearly a third of us were gentiles), discussions, food, and wine. We all had a (matzoh) ball.

It seemed every single part of the meal held some sort of meaning and there are so many little details I was unaware of or just learning about. For example before we all sat down, many of our guests were asking for pillows. I figured our seats were too hard. It turns out it was another ritual: “We lean on a pillow to be comfortable and to remind us that once we were slaves, but now we are free.” See, I dig this stuff. Little secrets messages, ceremony and procedure; not so much the liturgy, sacrament and days of reckoning so often emphasized in organized religion. Speaking of things religiousy, does anyone know where in Denver kosher Coca-cola can be purchased?