Teacher, Mother, Secret Lover
March 22, 2008 8:52 AM   Subscribe

Give me some songs about lovin' your TV.

Not necessarily a certain show or celebrity, but about just being attached to the boob tube. I've tried googling this, but I can only find love songs from television. My friends are stumped, and my own CD collection reveals nothing. So please, metafilter, help me out here.
posted by dinty_moore to Media & Arts (48 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Dana Lyons - TV God
posted by streetdreams at 8:55 AM on March 22, 2008


Weird Al Yankovic's Cable TV comes to mind.
posted by mumkin at 8:56 AM on March 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


Weird Al's got an entire album of songs about TV, so a couple of those might fit the bill. Cable TV seems like the closest to what you're asking. Maybe also Frank's 2000" TV or UHF?
posted by Nedroid at 8:59 AM on March 22, 2008


Black Flag - TV Party
posted by IvyMike at 8:59 AM on March 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


And on post: even when I finally have an answer, I'm just too slow!
posted by Nedroid at 8:59 AM on March 22, 2008


David Bowie - TVC15
posted by cmyk at 9:02 AM on March 22, 2008


See also Blink 182's T.V.... actually Google music is aware of 548 songs with 'television' in the title, which is probably a good list to browse through.
posted by mumkin at 9:10 AM on March 22, 2008


It's not exactly "lovin", but you also said, "being attached to the television", so I think I can also mention The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprishy - Television, The Drug of the Nation

Lots of potential songs along the same lines at the bottom of this post.
posted by IvyMike at 9:13 AM on March 22, 2008


Madonna's "Take A Bow" has nothing to do with a TV, but she erotically rolls around in bed with a TV in the music video.
posted by HotPatatta at 9:13 AM on March 22, 2008


Genesis, "Turn It On Again."
posted by escabeche at 9:15 AM on March 22, 2008


Not a love song per se, but there's Bruce Springsteen's 57 Channels (And Nothin' On). And you probably already found the list of songs about the evils of tv.
posted by DenOfSizer at 9:23 AM on March 22, 2008




Vast - "My TV and You"
Bad Religion - "Television"
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:28 AM on March 22, 2008


Television by Robyn Hitchcock. Lyrics.
posted by chococat at 9:30 AM on March 22, 2008


Kursaal Flyers - "Television Generation"
posted by rhizome at 9:32 AM on March 22, 2008


The Tubes did a whole album on TV. "Remote Control"
TV is King, Primetime, Turn me on, Telecide.
Great stuff.
posted by Mr.Me at 9:32 AM on March 22, 2008


One song that gets at this in an oblique way is Talking Heads' "Found a Job." Other Talking Heads songs that might fill the bill: "Love for Sale" "Television Man"
posted by pasici at 9:38 AM on March 22, 2008


Roger Taylor (Queen's drummer) had a solo track called "Turn on the TV," but I could never really tell from the lyrics if it's pro-television or what.
posted by Oriole Adams at 9:48 AM on March 22, 2008


Violent Femmes - Her Television (girlfriend loves her television more than her boy)
posted by davey_darling at 10:03 AM on March 22, 2008


MTV (or is it VH1) has an annoying one that goes something like "I'm watching, I'm watching, I'm watching American television!" It comes on every now and then when talking about upcoming shows, I think.
posted by Corduroy at 10:34 AM on March 22, 2008


Not a whole song, but; "I watched it for a little while, I like to watch things on TV"
posted by robself at 10:36 AM on March 22, 2008


Moxy Früvous - Lazy Boy
posted by sueinnyc at 10:47 AM on March 22, 2008


I think Karel Fialka's Hey Matthew deserves a mention here, though whether it's about loving TV is perhaps open to discussion. I would also like to point out that that Youtube link features some amusing comments that appear to have been left by the actual Matthew, the subject of the song, now in his late 20s and working in London.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 10:48 AM on March 22, 2008


Money for Nothing - Dire Straits
posted by watercarrier at 10:48 AM on March 22, 2008


Aesop Rock - Basic Cable
posted by vito90 at 10:50 AM on March 22, 2008


OK Go - Television, Television. Like most pop songs about TV, it's more of a playful jab at junk culture than it is a sincere love of the medium.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 11:00 AM on March 22, 2008


"Turned Off TV Blues" By Ten Years After, from the album "Rock and Roll Music to the World". Here are the lyrics. ( OK, you didn't say good songs....)
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 11:21 AM on March 22, 2008


Damn...I was going to mention the Aesop Rock track vito90 brought up, "Basic Cable."

There's another Aesop track that's somewhat relevant -- "Bracket Basher":

My ex-girl bounced without paying the cable bill,
I checked myself in television rehab.
Withdrawal symptoms may include shivering, fever, drooling, and chronic masturbation.
Now I pray to the gods of pornography and PlayStation.

posted by jbrjake at 11:52 AM on March 22, 2008


Lou Reed's Satellite of Love has the lyric I watched it for a little while, I love to watch things on tv.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 11:53 AM on March 22, 2008


Joel Plaskett: Television Set (which you can select and listen to here.)

Big Joe Turner, vocals, Elmore James, guitar: T.V. Mama (featuring the memorable line "the one with the big wide screen," which is good enough for me--listen here)
posted by roombythelake at 12:17 PM on March 22, 2008


Melanie Doane - I Can't Take My Eyes Off You
posted by wilde at 12:18 PM on March 22, 2008


That song Corduroy referenced is by Ben Lee. "American Television. It is pretty annoying.

I recommend Bree Sharp's "America." It's a little bigger picture than just TV per say, but it's good.
posted by acorn1515 at 12:24 PM on March 22, 2008


The Arcade Fire has a song called Antichrist Television Blues, with the lyrics:
Oh God, would you send me a child?
Because I want to put it up on the TV screen
So the world can see what your true word means


Green Day has "I want to be on TV", which is apparently a Fang cover? It shows up on their Shenanigans album.

The best of mine is Everclear's "TV Show", off of Slow Motion Daydream, which is a pretty awesome album in its own right. About wanting to live in a tv-reality instead of the unpleasant real one.
posted by Lemurrhea at 12:54 PM on March 22, 2008


The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star

Weird Al Yankovic - I Lost on Jeopardy --- It's about being on a TV show; I don't know if this counts.

Green Day - Longview --- This talks about watching TV in the first verse, and it's basically about a guy who sits at home watching TV all the time.
posted by Jaltcoh at 1:18 PM on March 22, 2008


The Judy's - TV

Sorry for the poor video quality; it was 1981! Also, he uses a static-y tv as an instrument.
posted by unknowncommand at 1:28 PM on March 22, 2008


Weird Al's Couch Potato. More about the song here.
posted by edverb at 1:37 PM on March 22, 2008


"Roy Rogers" by Elton John: "The carpet's all paid for, God bless the TV"
posted by canoehead at 2:17 PM on March 22, 2008


"Plastic Fantastic Lover", Jefferson Airplane. I think it's on Surrealistic Pillow album.
posted by jara1953 at 2:20 PM on March 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


"TV Crazy" Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials
"TV is the Thing This Year" Dinah Washington

(for a dissenting opinion: "Television" - Snuffy Jenkins)
posted by jonmc at 6:44 PM on March 22, 2008


watching_the_detectives
posted by dash_slot- at 6:59 PM on March 22, 2008


the scud mountain boys - 'television'
"...how can they say you got no feelings when i know you love me so..."
posted by beige at 8:08 PM on March 22, 2008


Not totally about loving TV, but Green Day's Jesus of Suburbia has the line:

Get my television fix
Sitting on my crucifix
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 9:16 PM on March 22, 2008


this is really cute, I used to love this show when I was little --> Muppet Babies - TV Maniacs
posted by citron at 9:31 PM on March 22, 2008


Television Man- Talking heads (little creatures)
posted by pointilist at 10:21 PM on March 22, 2008


how bout The Cramps "TV Set"

"I use your eyeballs for knobs on my TV set"
posted by KenManiac at 10:46 PM on March 22, 2008


Asian Dub Foundation's "New Way New Life" is partly about the first ever television programme made for British Asians "Naya Zindagi Naya Jeevan" and generally the telly keeping you cheerful and in touch with your roots

Or the BBC song from the Austin Powers soundtrack:
Mrs
will ya
make me tea
make love to me
put on the telly
to the BBC
to the BBC yeah yeah yeah
BBC 1
BBC 2
BBC 3
BBC 4
BBC 5
BBC 6
BBC 7
BBC heaven
posted by runincircles at 12:09 PM on March 23, 2008


Bertie Blackman- Television.
World's worst Youtube link I'm afraid, but it is actually a pretty good song.

"I watch TV just like everyone..."
posted by indienial at 5:00 PM on March 23, 2008


The Bolshoi - TV Man
posted by ktrey at 8:36 AM on March 24, 2008


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