Bad, sad, mad ad's

"Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes is a truly great song. I've loved it ever since I first heard it, not way back when it was first released but when it was included in the soundtrack for that excellent movie Grosse Point Blank. So imagine my delight when I heard it just the other day on TV... sad to say, that delight was short-lived. First of all, the song is being used to advertise Foster's lager. Bad enough, right? But listen closer - it's not even the Violent Femmes but some (admittedly eerily accurate) soundalike band, or assembly of session musos. Pretty sad, I'd say. And then listen closer still - the lyrics have been changed! "I'm high as a kite" has become "I'm flying a kite" and "strung out" has become "hung out". Despite it's perky, upbeat, Summer sound this is supposed to be a song about heroin! Guess the Foster's account exec's didn't want that association for their anaemic Aussie brew. Use the song if you must, but change the words? That makes me mad... cursed advertisements!

To discover the original VF version of this song, download it here. Now!