Strange Days and Simple Dreams

Greetings and salutations Hivers. Today let's go into another Three Tune Tuesday post.

As always, thanks to @ablaze for making this series. Lots of people participate in it! Follow the tags to find a ton of good music recommendation.

Today I’ve got three songs that all deal, in their own ways, with how we escape—or fail to escape—our own minds.

John Mellencamp – Just Another Day

This one’s pure Midwest melancholy. Mellencamp always had a knack for writing about quiet despair—the kind that creeps in between work shifts, in the early gray of a Tuesday morning. “Just Another Day” captures that feeling of being stuck in your own life, watching the seasons pass while nothing really changes.

There’s no big drama here. Just the small sadness of routine, and maybe a bit of hope tucked somewhere in the guitar line.

To get that chorus out of your head, let's jump to...

Talking Heads – Psycho Killer

From small-town boredom to big-city anxiety. “Psycho Killer” is what happens when the inner voice won’t shut up. It’s both creepy and absurd—David Byrne channeling all that bottled-up neurosis into a funky bassline and nervous French muttering.

It’s also one of the best examples of how Talking Heads could make madness catchy. The bass riff alone could loop in your head for days, which feels entirely appropriate given the title.

This video is an odd one. The song came out in 1977, but they just shot a video for it.

Cyndi Lauper – Strawberry Fields Forever

Let's end on an even odder one: Cyndi Lauper covering The Beatles. That says it all. That's already an interesting setup — but her take on “Strawberry Fields Forever” turns dreaminess into something both lush and eerie. Her voice, always balancing fragility and power, fits Lennon’s surreal lyrics perfectly.

I dig how in the video she is playing the guitar like a koto. At least it looks kind of like a guitar. Maybe it's something else that I don't know the name for. Anyway, great video and song!

So what’s your favorite?