LYRICS FOR LUNCH

We are back with trivia this week with tough questions about mullets, La La Land, girl-power anthems, and fabricated live recordings. Can Lindsay run the trivia gauntlet?

This week, we take a look at the making of Billie Eilish’s Oscar-winning “What Was I Made For?” AKA “Barbie’s heart song” — commissioned by Greta Gerwig for the billion dollar blockbuster that takes aim at patriarchy, glass ceilings, and unattainable beauty standards…? Sublime!

In December of 1967, before the release of their biggest hit in the United States, The Zombies called it quits. Seeing a money-making opportunity, two shady promoters from Michigan created not one, but two (!!!) imposter bands calling themselves The Zombies and put them on the road. This week, Aviv and Lindsay dive into the insane true story, and ask how could this have happened in the sixties, an...

Pop artist Andy Warhol famously quipped, "In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes." This week, we meet the so-called Warhol Superstars — the gritty and glamorous entourage depicted in Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," the poetic and unlikely Top 40 breakthrough that gave voice to people outcasted from mainstream society and immortalized them forever in s...

This week we’re hot on the trail of the bizarre conspiracy theory claiming Canadian pop-punkster Avril Lavigne was replaced by a body double shortly after the success of her first album, Let Go. Is there any merit to this mystery? Let’s just say it’s complicated. Join us this week as we go way down the rabbit hole on the aledged replacement of the Real Avril.

What do the Avengers, The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-haired Men, and the Traveling Wilburys have in common? They're all part of our first ever Lyrics for Lunch trivia episode! Have fun, and may the odds be ever in your favor <3

This is the story of Luke Combs, a mediocre man with a guitar, riding the coattails of Tracy Chapman, a queer woman of color. Or is it? While the latter has 4 multi-platinum albums and 4 Grammys in her own right, she’s making headlines once again as the first Black woman to win a Country Music Association (CMA) award … prompting us to ask the questions: What is still very wrong with the country mu...

Between 1975 and 1982, a blood-thirsty gang of murderers terrorized a section of Northern Ireland. Nearly 30 years later, the Decemberists told the tale on their notable fourth album, The Crane Wife . But did they get the story right? And was it ever theirs to tell at all? We’ve got the whole story, this week on Lyrics for Lunch.

In honor of Taylor’s boyfriend heading to the Superbowl next week, we’re revisiting our All Too Well (10 Minute Version) episode where we examined all things Swiftie and some of TayTay’s less favorably remembered loves…. Enjoy! You'd be hard pressed to ignore that something is going on with Taylor Swift this week. The release of her re-recorded 2012 album Red (Taylor's Version) sent Swifti...

This year on New Year’s Eve, Green Day, one of the best selling rock bands in history, changed the lyrics to their 2004 Anti-Bush anthem, American Idiot, to take a shot at the MAGA crowd. This week, Lindsay and Aviv dive deep into the band’s history, ideology, and recording style to determine when, if ever, Green Day jumped the shark.

What do Stacy's Mom, A Colbert Christmas, Tom Hanks' directorial debut, a water feature store in New Jersey, and Emmy winner Crazy Ex Girlfriend all have in common? A master composer and musical comedy writer with a legacy as joyful as they come.

This week we look at how the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl took Fairytale of New York from an elusive bet to one of the most-loved Christmas songs of all time. Happy holidays, everyone!

What started as a requiem for a glacier became a triumphant call for hope and action in the fight to save our planet. This week: How environmentalist and LGBTQIA activist Pattie Gonia teamed up with world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and trans singer-songwriter (2019 Tiny Desk winner) Quinn Christopherson to create a musical rallying cry for the most critical movement this world has ever seen. And ye...

As the mystery of Hall & Oates's unraveling ... unravels, we bring you everything we know about the “ultimate partnership betrayal" tearing apart the beige dynamic duo — and everything we knew before that — from green pancakes to the Son of Sam killings and beyond.

This week, by listener request, we bring you the tale of the chilling “therapy” that inspired some strange art — that inspired some strange art — that inspired some strange art.

Sixties folk icon and Sesame Street trailblazer Buffy Sainte-Marie has come under fierce scrutiny since the CBC published a bombshell exposé in late October accusing her of fabricating her story of indigenous ancestry — a story she’s been telling variations of for more than 60 years. Today we dive into Buffy’s past, her accolades, her accusations, and her fabrications.

This week we’re bringing you the obscure true story of an OG MPDG — the muse behind James Taylor’s classic "Fire & Rain."

Here's a story about Jelly Man Kelly. He sure loves Jelly. And maybe some day, me and you, friend, we can have tea with him.

Hey hey it's our 100th episode! In celebration (or maybe not so much), we're diving deeeep into how the pop industrial complex used Britney Spears as a pawn in the ongoing scheme to oppress millennial women. 

In honor of Spooky Season, we're bringing you the frightening tale of one nepo baby with a ghastly fake accent and a fascination with voyeurism.

In 1973, California-based Rev. Jim Jones and his followers released a private-press, gospel-pop-funk LP — not-so-subtly titled He’s Able. As Rolling Stone noted, “The production values and arrangements are surprisingly top notch, the music is infectiously catchy, and the performances, especially by the lead singers, are vibrant.” That’s part of what makes the tragedy that followed so confusing and...

Forty years after its release, the opening guitar lick and congenial snare response of Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun” remain a calling card for end of the second Millennium. This week we look at the circumstances that led to its rise a cult classic — and ask our favorite question … what is this song even about? 

The Spice Girls hit the peak of their fame in 1997 with the release of their second album, Spiceworld . It would be the last album the iconic five some would ever put out together. Their final song was Spiceworld’s chart-topper “Viva Forever,” a sultry ballad about a secret love that was lost. So who was it about? And why did the Spice Girls break up when they appeared to be just heating up? We’ve...

In 1999, TV and film soundtracks were as popular as women-as-prizes plot lines. This week, we take a look at Sixpence None The Richer’s sleeper hit, “Kiss Me,” which had a starring role in multiple problematic plot lines and became 1999’s most played song in 11 countries. 

This week we pay tribute to the legendary life of Tina Turner, from her unlikely rise to stardom and her courage on stage and off.