Paul Westerberg knows what he wants. He also knows how to take it. He has been using this strategy for his entire career. While on his way home from his janitorial job he heard a punk band practicing in a basement. Westerberg wanted in. He played guitar, wrote songs, and was a good singer. He regularly visited the jam sessions and was eventually invited to jam with Bob and Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars. After auditioning singers for the newly formed band, a vocalist was found and put in the lead position that Westerberg wanted. So, how could he get rid of the lead singer? Well, Westerberg simply manipulated him and convinced him that the band did not like him. The singer quit and Westerberg took over as the lead singer. 
The band, which eventually changed its name to The Replacements, considered music secondary to drinking and doing drugs. Westerberg came to meetings well-dressed and concentrated on repeated practicing of songs so the band could get it perfect. What came of the hard work? Several hit albums. Tremendous song writing. The Replacements went down as one of the best alternative rock bands of the 1980’s and they have had a huge influence on bands like Green Day and The Goo Goo Dolls, to name a few.
Westerberg, after the fall of The Replacements, hit success with his solo projects. His first official solo work appeared in the 1992 movie “Singles.” One of the songs I will feature below was in this Cameron Crowe film. Westerberg continues to release songs today and his ambitious, independent approach to music has even strengthened his status as a respected man in music.
Two sings that push Westerberg above the 28 other lyricists that have somehow been featured on The Music Court are a Replacements song and a solo song. “Dyslexic Heart” from the movie “Singles” and “Bastards of Young,” one of The Replacements best songs from the album Tim
“Dyslexic Heart,” as listened to above, is a catchy and fun song. Yet, sang above the active, effervescent beat is a lyric that focuses on the confusion one can get when attempting to read signals from a member of the opposite sex. He is confused. He has a wacked out dyslexic heart. My favorite part is the first verse.
“You shoot me glances and they’re so hard to read
I misconstrue what you mean
Slip me a napkin and now that you start
Is this your name or a doctor’s eye chart?”
“Is this your name or a doctor’s eye chart.” Just classic.
“Bastards of Young” is a punk attack with an angry lyric.
“Clean your baby womb, trash that baby boom
Elvis in the ground, there ain’t no beer tonight
Income tax deduction, what a hell of a function
It beats pickin’ cotton and waitin’ to be forgotten”
Great lyric. “Trash the baby boom.” Just youthful unrest at its best. It is great that Westerberg has managed to stay young in his music throughout the years.
The Music Court 
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