Bitter Literature
@bitterature.bsky.social
What. Who. Where. When. Why. How. Not journalistically, just incredulously.
"Why is THIS person, saying THIS thing, in THIS venue, to THIS audience, at THIS time?"
#RandomHot100 rating scale is 0.0 to 4.0, if it matters.
"Why is THIS person, saying THIS thing, in THIS venue, to THIS audience, at THIS time?"
#RandomHot100 rating scale is 0.0 to 4.0, if it matters.
Chart also-ran.
8/
8/
October 6, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Chart also-ran.
8/
8/
Once again, this is the type of article presentation that led me to stop donating to NPR.
October 3, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Once again, this is the type of article presentation that led me to stop donating to NPR.
Not much of a mover.
4/
4/
September 28, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Not much of a mover.
4/
4/
Chart also-ran.
4/
4/
September 22, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Chart also-ran.
4/
4/
What on earth happened with the chart pattern? I know it was the pandemic year, but how does a two-week bomb take a seven-month hiatus and then peek back in?
8/
8/
September 1, 2025 at 1:22 AM
What on earth happened with the chart pattern? I know it was the pandemic year, but how does a two-week bomb take a seven-month hiatus and then peek back in?
8/
8/
From the Billboard Hot 100, October 16, 1993.
August 26, 2025 at 1:24 AM
From the Billboard Hot 100, October 16, 1993.
Chart trajectory is the hit’s burial mound: steep slopes on either side, nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop. #27 was a relatively high top 40 debut at the time.
7/
7/
August 25, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Chart trajectory is the hit’s burial mound: steep slopes on either side, nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop. #27 was a relatively high top 40 debut at the time.
7/
7/
A number one country hit, which explains its staying power despite the low peak.
5/
5/
August 17, 2025 at 2:30 AM
A number one country hit, which explains its staying power despite the low peak.
5/
5/
Jackson isn’t a bad singer, but he’s not a distinctive one either; his vocal could have been swapped for any Osmond’s without a loss.
The Hot 100 was equally unenthusiastic.
4/
The Hot 100 was equally unenthusiastic.
4/
July 7, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Jackson isn’t a bad singer, but he’s not a distinctive one either; his vocal could have been swapped for any Osmond’s without a loss.
The Hot 100 was equally unenthusiastic.
4/
The Hot 100 was equally unenthusiastic.
4/
Despite the quality, minimal chart impact.
3/
3/
June 30, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Despite the quality, minimal chart impact.
3/
3/
Ugh. Tally of Democratic Senators voting on the Iraq AUMF in 2003, and whether that seat is Democratic or Republican today. (Sanders was independent but in the house; Jeffords, a former Republican turned independent who caucused with the Democrats, is not counted.)
June 22, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Ugh. Tally of Democratic Senators voting on the Iraq AUMF in 2003, and whether that seat is Democratic or Republican today. (Sanders was independent but in the house; Jeffords, a former Republican turned independent who caucused with the Democrats, is not counted.)
Radio could not get rid of this fast enough – not surprising, for a bridgeless five-minute beast. It is Dylan’s second-to-last Hot 100 hit.
6/
6/
June 16, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Radio could not get rid of this fast enough – not surprising, for a bridgeless five-minute beast. It is Dylan’s second-to-last Hot 100 hit.
6/
6/
Even the heavy hitters couldn’t do much for it, chart-wise.
7/
7/
June 8, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Even the heavy hitters couldn’t do much for it, chart-wise.
7/
7/
BLECH. The detail about the Confederate money at the school store is what really gets me. And the bit about greater demand for the Confederate flag than the American flag reminds me of Trump's campaigning in front of the Thin Blue Line flag in 2020.
![Text from chapter 13 of McCoy and Ruetten's "Quest and Response: Minority Rights in the Truman Administration," 1973/2020. "The most widely used symbol of protest [of anti-civil rights forces] by 1951 was the Confederate flag. An owner of a flag company in Virginia reported that there were more Confederate flags in that state in 1951 than during the Civil War. In September the largest flag company in the world, located in New York City, revealed that it was unable to meet the demand for Confederate flags, which exceeded that for Old Glory. From the nation's capital came a similar report. In Fordyce, Arkansas, high school students donned Confederate hats, flew rebel flags, and marched to "Dixie," while using Confederate money as legal tender at the school store. The New Yorker magazine carried one advertisement that urged its readers to purchase the Stars and Bars to "show where you stand." The annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars became acrimonious when southern delegates insisted upon placing the Confederate emblem over the American flag."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:grz42zf7hdvtswxikodikq24/bafkreiel7qr5i6fq5agtqc6qm7hc62izbadnbyhnnxwmeuf5u2bsdgvaey@jpeg)
June 4, 2025 at 10:33 AM
BLECH. The detail about the Confederate money at the school store is what really gets me. And the bit about greater demand for the Confederate flag than the American flag reminds me of Trump's campaigning in front of the Thin Blue Line flag in 2020.
Chart-tested, and hit denied.
4/
4/
June 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Chart-tested, and hit denied.
4/
4/
Peak at debut.
3/
3/
May 25, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Peak at debut.
3/
3/
Even in the high Cold War era, there wasn’t much patience for this shit.
6/
6/
May 19, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Even in the high Cold War era, there wasn’t much patience for this shit.
6/
6/
What a chart pattern. I didn’t expect to see this until the streaming era: that early interruption, triumphant return, and erratic twilight. “Crying” peaked just as “Candy Man” re-entered; possibly Bastian pulled Atreyu back onto the charts.
5/
5/
May 11, 2025 at 8:28 PM
What a chart pattern. I didn’t expect to see this until the streaming era: that early interruption, triumphant return, and erratic twilight. “Crying” peaked just as “Candy Man” re-entered; possibly Bastian pulled Atreyu back onto the charts.
5/
5/
Despite its international hit status, never quite made liftoff here in the US.
5/
5/
April 28, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Despite its international hit status, never quite made liftoff here in the US.
5/
5/
Note that pattern here: top 40 debut at #28; second-week rise of six places; five weeks to get into the top 10; four weeks after falling out of it. Only that long plateau is unusual; the label must have dragged its feet deciding whether to buy the top spot, and ultimately bailed.
8/
8/
April 20, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Note that pattern here: top 40 debut at #28; second-week rise of six places; five weeks to get into the top 10; four weeks after falling out of it. Only that long plateau is unusual; the label must have dragged its feet deciding whether to buy the top spot, and ultimately bailed.
8/
8/
Barely touching the lower rungs of the chart, and never quite achieving liftoff.
4/
4/
April 6, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Barely touching the lower rungs of the chart, and never quite achieving liftoff.
4/
4/
Not *the* song of summer, but *a* song of summer for sure, and the group’s only encounter with the Hot 100.
4/
4/
March 16, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Not *the* song of summer, but *a* song of summer for sure, and the group’s only encounter with the Hot 100.
4/
4/
Odd chart pattern with that false start. Nothing to do with a streaming album drop’s colonizing the debuts, just no early staying power.
4/
4/
March 3, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Odd chart pattern with that false start. Nothing to do with a streaming album drop’s colonizing the debuts, just no early staying power.
4/
4/
An also-ran on the Hot 100, though it was a top 20 country hit.
5/
5/
February 24, 2025 at 11:08 AM
An also-ran on the Hot 100, though it was a top 20 country hit.
5/
5/