Day 53 (May 11): Beastie Boys - No Sleep Till Brooklyn

Licensed to Ill [VINYL]: Amazon.co.uk: MusicFreedom! Yes, I have been emancipated from the cruel whims of my very nice friends. This blog is once again subject to my horrible will.

Today, I am thinking about delayed gratification. You know, that unfamiliar and non-relevant thing of having to wait a very, very, very long time for the thing that you would like to happen, and therefore being suspended in a state of tension from which there is no immediate escape. That thing that has nothing to do with the world we live in today.

Songs live on delayed gratification. We wait for the chorus, or the bass drop, or 'dem riffs'. But my favourite kind of delayed gratification is when they wait a really, really long time to say the title, so you can point out what the song is called.

In that vein, today's song of the day is "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", from Beastie Boys' 1986 album Licensed to Ill. This is an incredible example of delayed gratification. They keep almost - but not quite saying "No sleep till Brooklyn", instead cutting off before "Brooklyn" every time. It's agonising, like Tantalus reaching for the fruit he cannot have.

But when that full, complete "No sleep till Brooklyn" hits at 1 minute 43 seconds - boy, that is glorious. It feels like being told that everything's going to be okay. Thank you, Boys.


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