It’s “Monday’s Music Moves Me” and I’m back with the next installment in my “Rock ‘n Roll Head to Toe” series. Compiling lists of songs with body parts in their title is proving to be quite interesting in ways I wasn’t expecting: While putting together certain lists is easy because some body parts are quite popular in song titles (as evident with my last installment featuring EYE(S) songs, or earlier installments of song titles with FACE or HAIR), other body parts lists are challenging, like this week’s playlist of NOSE songs. Not many artists or bands are singing about noses, after all.

What I’m finding interesting with this series is my discovery of bands I’ve never heard of, even those bands with big chart-topping hits, and genres I’ve never even thought to check out. Because I’m a chick who’s primarily stuck in the 70s, digging primarily classic rock music. I am pleasantly surprised by the number of different genres I’m exploring for the first time and listening to artists I didn’t even know existed.

This is fun!

As you continue the “Rock ‘n Roll Head to Toe” journey along with me I hope you’ll find it fun as well. Without further ado, here is my playlist of the songs I like that have the word NOSE in the title. (Note: I only include songs that I like; you’ll probably never hear any death-metal or screamo songs in my playlists).There are only three songs in this playlist but their back-stories are pretty cool. Enjoy!

 

NO NOSE JOB by Digital Underground

“No Nose Job” is the second and final single from Digital Underground’s second album Sons of the P. It was written and produced by Shock G and Tupac Shakur. Digital Underground is an American alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California. The band’s leader and mainstay was Gregory “Shock G” Jacobs (also known as Humpty Hump). Shock G formed the group in 1987 (along with Tampa hip-hop radio deejay Kenneth “Kenny-K” Waters and Jimi “Chopmaster J” Dright of Berkeley, California).

Heavily influenced by the various funk bands of the 1970s, Digital Underground sampled such music frequently. As “Rackadelic”, Jacobs designed album covers and cartoon-laced liner notes in homage to Parliament-Funkadelic album designs. Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. With an eclectic style drawing on psychedelia, outlandish fashion, and surreal humor the collective achieved thirteen top ten hits in the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983, including six number one hits. Their work has had an influential effect on subsequent funk, post-punk, hip-hop, and techno artists of the 1980s and 1990s.

Digital Underground toured nearly every year until 2008; this consisted of live shows in Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, and the U.S. While the group’s origins lay mostly in Oakland and Berkeley, California, various characters and voices from around the U.S and UK appeared on the band’s albums. However Shock G and Money-B (American rapper whose real name is Robert Brooks) were the only individuals to appear on every album. Shock G died in 2021, but Digital Underground continues to tour.

As for the song: “No Nose Job” is a comedic rap song, but it takes on a serious subject: body image and the perception of dark skin. The defining characteristic of Humpty Hump, the character in the song created by Shock G, is his Groucho Marx-style nose; the song lyrics explain why he’s not going to get a nose job. The reason: he’s just fine the way he is, and he doesn’t feel the need to conform to a conventional image.

He points out that in the pursuit of society-mandated beauty, black women are willing to undergo plastic surgery to thin their lips, while white girls are looking to make them bigger. He calls out these augmented ladies as “Fake hair, contact wearing, liposuction carnival exhibits.” Humpty also points out that light skin is idealized, especially on TV. His skin tone is “high yellow,” but he’s proud to be black: “Make sure there’s no mistake, Humpty Hump is from the Motherland.”

Some background on Humpty Hump: he’s a character created by Digital Underground frontman Shock G, who used a variety of voices and often assigned different personas to them. Humpty Hump was the breakout star of the group when his signature song, “The Humpty Dance,” became a huge hit from their first album Sex Packets.

Shock G not only came up with the Humpty Hump character, he drew the cartoons for the album Sons of the P and other projects, including the first album when the Humpty Hump character was born – first introduced in the hit single from that album “The Humpty Hump Dance”.

He created the hyper-detailed, suggestive cartoon style that influenced his band’s visual aesthetic, similar to artists like Overton Lloyd and Pedro Bell who designed album covers for both Parliament and Funkadelic. There is a great article on Shock G and his art that was part of a series by San Francisco’s public media group KQED (Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station KQED-TV and a National Public Radio (NPR) member radio station KQED-FM). The article, by Alan Chazaro, is titled “Shock G Revolutionized Hip-Hop — and Created a Secret Trove of Funky Art”. The story is part of That’s My Word, KQED’s year-long exploration of Bay Area hip-hop history.

An excerpt from the article:

“Shock’s avant-garde approach was also evident on stage. For each show, he would custom-paint a plastic nose for his Humpty Hump getup and give it away to a fan at the end of the night. His quirky, exuberant fashion and alter egos were also a precursor to the far-fetched costumery that would later define beloved Bay Area rappers…”

This photo was one of several in the article. It shows Shock G wearing one of his hand-painted fake noses.

Click here to check out a video clip of rapper and Digital Underground member Money B in an interview explaining the origin of the Humpty Hump character.

The group’s label, Tommy Boy Records, wanted more Humpty on the next album Sons of the P, but Shock wanted to hold back on the character so it wouldn’t become the focus. He did however give them the Humpty-centered “No Nose Job,” which was released as a single but failed to chart.

Fun Fact: The Sons of the P album was produced by George Clinton, whose collective Parliament-Funkadelic was a huge influence on the group. The squiggly, bass-heavy sound Clinton put together on this album influences much of the West Coast rap that would emerge in later years, best exemplified by Dr. Dre.

Fun Fact: Digital Underground is also notable for launching the career of Tupac Shakur. Wow! The song’s music video takes place in a hospital and shows the staff trying to force a nose job on Humpty. See if you can spot Tupac Shakur in the clip – he was a member of the Digital Underground crew at the time.

 

20 DOLLAR NOSE BLEED by Fall Out Boy

“20 Dollar Nose Bleed” is the 12th track on the fourth studio album by American rock band Fall Out Boy. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz (he also did unclean vocals on “20 Dollar Nose Bleed”), lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. The band formed in 2001 in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette, Illinois.

The album Folie à Deux (French for “A Madness Shared by Two”) was first released in Japan on December 10, 2008, by Island Records. As with their previous albums, the music was composed by lead vocalist and guitarist Patrick Stump, with lyrics penned by bassist Pete Wentz. Regarding the writing process, the band considered Folie à Deux to be their most collaborative record.

Unlike their prior releases, the album was recorded in relative secrecy with producer Neal Avron from July to September 2008. The songs on the album explore decaying relationships, moral dilemmas, politics, and societal shortcomings, many with a political edge, as well as concepts such as trust, infidelity, responsibility, and commitment. Stump tagged Folie à Deux as a “message record” that aims for “the materialistic dance between any two parties obsessed with each other, whether it’s teenage girls and handbag makers, politicians and lobbyists or tabloids and stars.”  The album also dissects how self-motivated American culture is, and many of the lyrics are intended to be satirical. While the album does contain political overtones, the band wanted to avoid being overt about these themes, leaving many lyrics open to interpretation for listeners.

The album’s style moved away from early emo power chords and toward a wider variation in genres. Emo is a genre of rock characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. Bands pioneered the genre and in the early-to-mid 1990s, emo was adopted and reinvented by alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock, and pop-punk bands. (btw, I wasn’t familiar with the term emo as a descriptor, let alone an entire genre of music! Ya think that’s because I’m so stuck in the 70s classic rock genre? Yeah, for sure). 😊

Fall Out Boy recruited several guest artists for Folie à Deux, as well as employing instruments and recording techniques previously unfamiliar to the group.  It was a jolting departure from their previous albums – and not all of it was positively received. While some critics gave positive and impressive reviews, a good number of fans were not so thrilled with the radical change in sound and style. It is a “love it or hate it” album. I came across a good Op-Ed piece in Alternative Press magazine that talks about just that.

The band members commented on the lyrics of several of the songs on the album. Wentz referred to “I Don’t Care” as a “narcissist’s anthem” that addresses the current generation’s short attention span. Wentz further explored the subjects of narcissism and apathy in “(Coffee’s for Closers)” and as Stump explained, “The past decade has been totally about ‘me.’ It’s totally about ‘Oh, I’m sad. I want this. I know somebody who knows this person. Me me me me me,’ so that’s what that song is about.” Additionally, “America’s Suitehearts” discusses society’s fixation with celebrities and the desire to let them do no wrong. “27” explores the hedonistic lifestyles common in rock and roll music. The title is a reference to the 27 Club, a group of influential musicians, including Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain, who all died at the age of 27. Wentz felt that he was living a similarly dangerous lifestyle, and was “stoked” to make it to his 28th birthday. Stump added, “There was a countdown clock and everything. I remember, our manager called me up on Pete’s 28th birthday and screamed, ‘We made it!'”

As for their song “20 Dollar Nose Bleed” much has been debated regarding the meaning of the lyrics, especially among Fall Out Boy fans. Just do a search on the meaning of the song lyrics and you’ll find a variety of sites with articles, debates, opinions and suppositions on the point of the lyrics (like music-focused communities on Reddit with subreddits dedicated to specific bands and Fandom with fan-run wikis or lyrics interpretation sites like Genius or Musixmatch)

Per AI: “20 Dollar Nose Bleed” is a song about a yearning for escape, identity crisis, and disillusionment with societal pressures, using metaphors of being a “racehorse on the track” and experiencing “permanent jet lag” to express feelings of being lost and disconnected. The song also contains commentary on the cyclical nature of war, referencing the “same war his dad rehearsed” and the flawed “Mission Accomplished” declaration. For those who may not remember: In 2003, President George W. Bush gave a nationally televised speech from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, with a “Mission Accomplished” banner prominently displayed behind him. The moment became a powerful symbol of the Bush administration’s premature declaration of victory in the Iraq War, which was far from over. And so the song’s political criticism is interpreted as referencing political figures, particularly George W. Bush, and criticizing the shallowness of war and the leaders who wage them.

Lyrics and Meaning

• Escape and Disconnection:

The recurring lines “Have you ever wanted to disappear?” and the “permanent jet lag” portray a desire to escape reality, while the image of a “racehorse on the track” symbolizes being trapped in a repetitive, predetermined path.

• Identity and Authenticity: 

The lyric “It feels like fourteen carats but no clarity” suggests a struggle with identity and a lack of genuine substance, despite the appearance of value.

• Societal Pressure and Disillusionment: 

References like “the charts are boring” and the overall theme of wanting to “blow off steam” point to a weariness with societal expectations and the superficiality of fame.

• War and Legacy: 

The verse “Goes to the desert, the same war his dad rehearsed / Came back with flags on coffins and said, ‘We won, oh, we won'” is interpreted as a commentary on the futility of war, potentially referencing the Iraq War and the “Mission Accomplished” speech that followed it, according to Reddit users and another Reddit thread.

• “Mr. Benzedrine”:

The chorus line, “Give me a pen, call me Mr. Benzedrine,” relates to the drug Benzedrine and the desire to be given a new persona or name, perhaps to cope with the pressures and emotional toll.

Overall Theme

The song’s title, “20 Dollar Nose Bleed,” is a juxtaposition of the mundane (a low-cost occurrence) with intense suffering, symbolizing the feeling of being worn down or losing oneself in the demands of life and celebrity. It captures a deep sense of angst, isolation, and the struggle for authenticity in a world that can feel overwhelming and artificial. The song also explores themes of inner turmoil, of insecurity masked by arrogance, where a strong exterior hides a deep lack of self-worth.

And then there is the literal translation of the title – frankly it was obvious to me but maybe I’m just too simple. “20 Dollar Nose Bleed” refers to the drug mentioned throughout the song, Benzedrine, an amphetamine known to cause nose bleeds. And back in 2008 when this song was released, the street-cost of the drug was about $20, hence the title.

Fun Fact:  As with many of the songs on this album, “20 Dollar Nose Bleed” also features a guest artist. The song is a duet between Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie. Urie not only contributes vocals he plays keyboards on the song.

Folie à Deux was Fall Out Boy’s last studio album before their hiatus from 2009 to 2013. The band released a greatest hits album, Believers Never Die – Greatest Hits in November 2009, before announcing the hiatus just days later. I believe they needed a physical break but also Folie à Deux proved to be a commercial failure (selling 500,000 copies compared to their previous album’s 1.4 million) and a dud in the eyes of most of their fanbase. The band sure returned strong in 2013 with the #1 album Save Rock And Roll.

There seems to have been a renewed appreciation for the Folie à Deux album after all these years, among both critics and the fan base. For a deep-dive into each of the tracks on the album check out this video from Common Revolt, an entertainment outlet focused primarily on music (rock, alternative, emo, pop, hip hop) created by Detroit native Tyler Common.

 

 

IT’S MY NOSE’S BIRTHDAY (NOT MINE) by Jimmy Durante

James Francis Durante (February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and prominent nose helped make him one of the United States’ most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s. He often referred to his nose as “the schnozzola” (Italianization of the American Yiddish slang word schnoz, meaning “big nose”), and the word became his nickname.

Jimmy Durante had a long and fascinating career and was especially famous for his comedy routines about his nose. A recurring feature was his song “It’s My Nose’s Birthday (Not Mine)” which dates back decades but is available in various audio and video recordings.

The concept: Durante anthropomorphizes his famously prominent nose and incorporates it into a bit based on the premise that his large nose was born first, and he was born two weeks later. Therefore, he and his “schnozzola” have separate birthdays. The golden anniversary of his nose is a major event.

Key elements of the routine: In the comedy routine, Durante treats his nose as its own entity, separate from himself, and personifies it with feelings and a history of its own.

• A brave tear: He describes a tear rolling down his nose as a “brave tear” for undertaking the long trip.
• The swordfish: In another anecdote, his nose saves his life when he encounters a swordfish while swimming. The swordfish, seeing Durante’s “superior weapon,” gives up the fight.
• No “French roll” handkerchiefs: He expresses pride that his nose never asked for expensive handkerchiefs.

I found a fabulous article on Durante at LaughterLog.com. It’s a reader-friendly bio-piece that details his life, his diverse talents and his extraordinary career. If you have any interest in discovering more about one of America’s most endearing entertainers, take a step back in time and read this article.

Fun Fact: Jimmy Durante was the narrator and singer of the title song for the 1969 animated television special Frosty the Snowman. Durante’s unmistakable voice introduces the story of Frosty the Snowman.

During the film, Durante appeared as an animated character, a version of his real self, based on his recognizable features and persona. He relates the story to a young child who calls him “Uncle Jimmy”. He tells the tale of how a magical hat brings a snowman to life.

The special was based on the popular 1950 song “Frosty the Snowman,” written by Walter E. Rollins and Steve Nelson. In the special, Durante sings a version of the iconic song in his unique voice. His distinctive voice and animated caricature were central to the special’s classic status. Jimmy Durante retired from acting after being incapacitated by a stroke in 1972. The 1969 Frosty the Snowman special was his last film role before his retirement and subsequent death, making his performance particularly poignant.

The Special’s Legacy: This holiday classic lives on to this day as that 1969 animated special became a yearly holiday tradition, airing annually on CBS and becoming a beloved part of many people’s Christmas celebrations.

Frosty Fun Fact #2: While Jimmy Durante’s voice was a signature of the original special, Andy Griffith narrated the 1976 sequel, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, after Durante’s retirement.

For your enjoyment and a little nostalgia, here’s the 1969 special in its entirety:

 

That’s it for my NOSE playlist. What did you think of the songs I chose? What other Nose songs are you aware of and which ones do you like? Thanks for reading my post and please feel free to leave a comment below. I always love hearing from you!

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