Welcome to the Friday song off my iPod. And again, I found a song that I didn’t even know I had on my iPod!

The Dresden Dolls is a “Brechtian punk cabaret” duo from Massachusetts. They are part of an underground dark cabaret movement that started gaining momentum in the early 1990s. The group formed in 2001 and consists of Amanda Palmer (vocals, piano, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums, percussion, guitar, vocals). The Dresden Dolls are noted for their shows which will remind you of the movie Cabaret. They base their shows on German cabaret from the period between the two World Wars and usually including members of the audience participating in fire breathing and other entertainments. Their most recent album reached #42 on the Billboard 200 chart (US).

The name of the band, according to Palmer, was “inspired by a combination of things”, including the firebombing of Dresden, Germany and the porcelain dolls which were a hallmark of pre-war Dresden industry; an early song of the same name by The Fall; and a reference to the V. C. Andrews novel Flowers in the Attic where the classically blond and blue-eyed protagonists are called “the Dresden dolls.” The name also evokes Wiemar Germany and its cabaret culture. Additionally, she “liked the parallel between Dresden (destruction) and Dolls (innocence, delicacy), because it is very much in keeping with the dynamics of the music, which sometimes goes from a childlike whisper to a banshee scream within a few seconds.”

The song, Good Day, is from their first album which was released in 2002.

Good Day
so you dont want to hear about my good song?
and you dont want to hear about how i am getting on
with all the things that i can get done
the sun is in the sky & i am by my lonesome
so you don’t want to hear about my good day?
you have better things to do than to hear me say

god its been a lovely day! everything is going my way
i took out the trash today and i’m on fire…

so you don’t want to hear about my good friends?
you dont have the guts to take the truth or consequence
success is in the eye of the beholder
and its looking even better over your cold shoulder

i’m not suggesting you up and line me up for questioning
but Jesus think about the bridges you are burning
and i’m betting
that even though you knew it from the start
you’d rather be a bitch than be an ordinary broken heart

so go ahead and talk about your bad day…
i want all the details of the pain and misery
that you are inflicting on the others
i consider them my sisters and i’d like their numbers

god its been a lovely day! everything is going my way
i took up croquet today and i’m on fire

i picked up the pieces of my broken ego
i have finally made my peace as far as you and me go
but i’d love to have you up to see the place
& i’d like to do more than survive i’d like to rub it in your face…..

hey! its been a lovely day! everything is going my way
i had so much fun today and i’m on fire
god it’s been a lovely day everything’s been going my way
ever since you went away hey i’m on fire…..
i’m on fire…
i’m on fire…
so you dont want to hear about my good day?

Written by Amanda Palmer

The video of the song is from a performance in Massachusetts.