Fleshtunes: The Dana Vespoli Edition

September 18, 2019
HOLLY-KINGSTOWN

Dana's Fleshtunes!

AVN Hall of Fame performer/director/general genius Dana Vespoli was kind and generous enough to send these over. Enjoy!

Arrrggghh! It is so hard to pick only 5! Ok…I will give you 5, but there are so many more, because I love music so much.

In no particular order…

"Baby Hold On" by Eddie Money: I love this song. First of all, I love the way the song opens right away with simple guitar chords, which convey a sense of longing. The lyrics “Don’t be thinkin’ ‘bout what’s not enough now, Baby, just be thinkin’ bout what we got” really resonate with me because they are so earnest. This song conveys to me so beautifully how vulnerable we are in love. Also, it’s just a fucking great rock n roll song.

"More Than This" by Roxy Music: I love Roxy Music, and especially this song because it reminds me of Sal Genoa. It’s just a really great love song. I was listening to a lot of Roxy Music when I met Sal in 2003, and came back to them again when Sal and I reunited in 2013. The line “I could feel at the time, there was no way of knowing” always makes me think of how we met, really liked each other, and then came back together several years later.

"Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush: Kate Bush is a genius, and the fact that she wrote a song from the point of view of Kathy’s ghost from Wuthering Heights and was 18 years old when she did it is insane. It’s haunting, and beautiful and eerily romantic.

"All of the Lights" by Kanye West: Every time this track comes on in my car, I turn it up. For one, I love the epic production of it, and also because it’s so timely. It starts with “Turn up the lights in here baby, extra bright I want y’all to see this” and then my interpretation is that it continues into the rise and humiliating fall of a celebrity, who then has to double down to climb back to the top. It makes me think of how virtually everyone wants to be famous, often at any cost.

"Space Oddity" by David Bowie: I love the ominous and dreamy elements in this song. The song is about Major Tom going out to space and how celebrated he is—having “really made the grade". Once there, he’s aware of how disorienting and scary it is. There’s so much going on in the song—feelings of fear, isolation, and loneliness that I think we can all relate to on a very human level. Even here on earth we all feel isolated in our own “tin cans” (cars?) Man, David Bowie just really tapped into the human condition in a way no one else could.

Love, Dana