My Top 1000 Songs #824: She Cracked

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

The Modern Lovers' 1976 debut (recorded in 1971 and 1972) stands as one of the rock era's two or three greatest one-and-done records. (See also, e.g., this or this.) Sure, Jonathan Richman went on to make another half-century of music, for a period still under the Modern Lovers band name, but you know what I mean, right?

And while "Roadrunner" may be the definitive Modern Lovers track, "She Cracked" probably does a better job of nailing the wonderful dichotomy of early JoJo. Musically, it's a raging Velvet Underground-flavored garage band rocker, mostly banging away relentlessly at a single chord. But lyrically, it's Richman establishing his fearlessly straight-edge nerd self, bemoaning the alluring woman whose vices bring her down.

"She cracked, I won't. She did things that I don't. She'd eat garbage, eat shit, get stoned. I stay alone, eat health food at home."

Alas, Richman himself wouldn't revisit this one in his post-Modern Lovers incarnations. But we have plenty of cover versions!

Yo La Tengo:

Echo & The Bunnymen:

Siouxsie & The Banshees:

Actor Michael Shannon and musician Jason Narducci have been touring behind their live R.E.M. tributes over the past couple years--I saw them cover Murmur and it was wonderful!--but found time for a faithful "She Cracked" cover:

Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo: