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Category: Top 40 Philosophy
A New Job and a New Podcast
Posted in Life, Teaching, and Top 40 Philosophy
Things are pretty exciting in Tillmanland recently. A Great New Job First, I’ve started a new job as a content developer for Smartly. Smartly is a…
Have you ever noticed how important “realness” is to musicians these days? Listening to a rap song, you’d think you were listening to Boethius or…
This song is as far back as I’ve been able to trace the recent saxophone revival. Alexandra Stan’s “Mr. Saxobeat” came out in 2011 and…
We’ve got one more saxophone revival song left to do, but I’ve got a different issue on my mind today, so please forgive a quick…
Dev is famous primarily for being the one who “sings” the chorus of Far East Movement’s “Like a G6.” The chorus, however, is actually from…
Last time we talked about “Thrift Shop,” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. This time, we talk about “Wut,” which Le1f claims M&RL ripped off to…
“Thriftshop,” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, ft. Wanz, was the song that really marked the comeback of the saxophone. We’ve just covered the most recent…
Fifth Harmony gave Kid Ink two verses in “Worth It.” Instead of writing two verses, however, he wrote a few words and repeated them a…
I promised in T40Phil: v. 1, that I’d do more rock and hip-hop for the Volume 2, so let’s do one of the only rap…
And we’re back! The first time I heard Tove Lo’s “Talking Body,” I knew we were going to have to talk about it as part…
Top 40 Philosophy: Volume 1 is out! Download it here. Here are the contents: INTRODUCTION 1 Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off” Epistemology (Saying vs. Seeing)…
Top 40 Philosophy: TLC, “Creep”
Posted in Friendly Philosophy, Music, and Top 40 Philosophy
TLC had the #2 and #3 songs for 1995. We’ve already covered “Waterfalls,” (which argued — against the year’s #1 song, “Gangsta’s Paradise” — that…
Top 40 Philosophy: Notorious B.I.G., “Big Poppa/Warning”
Posted in Friendly Philosophy, Music, and Top 40 Philosophy
Background If people know anything about rap, it’s that there’s some kind of feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers. Or, at least, there…
Top 40 Philosophy: Live, “Lightning Crashes”
Posted in Friendly Philosophy, Music, and Top 40 Philosophy
At the end of February, 1995, Live’s “Lightning Crashes” kicked Green Day’s “When I Come Around” out of the #1 spot on Billboard’s Alternative Songs…
Top 40 Philosophy: Green Day, “When I Come Around”
Posted in Friendly Philosophy, Music, and Top 40 Philosophy
Green Day’s “When I Come Around” went #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, the first week of January, 1995. It stayed there for seven…