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March is Women's History Month!

TMM Producer Relishes 'Fresh Attitude, Young Body'

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And finally, as you may have heard, our last broadcast is scheduled for August 1. So as we wind down production, we thought it be nice to hear what members of our staff are listening to as part of our regular series In Your Ear. As a producer and our current director, Andrew Limbong is responsible for a lot of the music you hear every day on this program. So we wondered what's on his playlist.

ANDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE: Hey, I'm Andrew. I'm a producer and director here at TELL ME MORE. The first song that's playing in my ear is "Fresh Attitude, Young Body" by Bomb the Music Industry.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FRESH ATTITUDE, YOUNG BODY")

BOMB THE MUSIC INDUSTRY: (Singing) Apartment at dusk - a gray Brooklyn sky - a train that I'm missing - a cheap travel mug that leaks from the side - damp coat and mittens. If you don't find a steady job now - if you don't find a steady job now - oh, no.

LIMBONG: They're like a DIY punk band out of Brooklyn, and it's a song about being sad and bummed out that nothing's working out, really. But it's really happy 'cause there's like hand claps and dancing. And, you know, mixing happy music and just being bluntly sad - I mean, one of the lines in the song is just, like, I'm so sad 'cause I'm going to die alone, and my parents will have to pay my medical bills. It's like - but, like, hey, hey - and it's a lot of that stuff going on. So - I don't know - it kind of reminds me that, oh, if things are down and you're feeling lonely or whatever, you can, at least, play power cords in your bedroom and say, hey, hey.

BOMB THE MUSIC INDUSTRY: (Singing) And you're probably going to die alone.

LIMBONG: Another song that's playing in my ear is "Up Around the Bend" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. When I was growing up, my dad and I didn't really agree on a lot of things except that the classic rock station ruled.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UP AROUND THE BEND")

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL: (Singing) There's a place up ahead, and I'm going just as fast as my feet can fly. Come away. Come away if you're going. Leave the sinking ship behind. Come on the rising wind. We're going up around the bend.

LIMBONG: Whenever Creedence played, he'd get really quiet and be like, you know, when I stowed away on the ship to get to America, they played a lot of Creedence Clearwater Revival. And I was like, oh man. That's so cool.

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL: (Singing) Come on the rising wind. We're going up around the bend.

LIMBONG: I don't even know if that's true, like, as an adult. But I really don't care. I imagine, like, my dad in a box of some sort and just, like, oh man, John Fogerty's voice is keeping me alive in getting there. So - yeah, thanks John Fogerty for keeping up the spirit.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN")

TITUS ANDRONICUS: (Singing) This is a war we can't win. After ten thousand years, it's still us against them, and my heroes have always died at the end. So who's going to account for these sins?

LIMBONG: Another song, that's play in my ear is called "Four Score and Seven." It's by a New Jersey band called Titus Andronicus.

TITUS ANDRONICUS: (Singing) Us against them - it's still us against them. It's still us against them. It's still us against them.

LIMBONG: The final lyrics, it's still us against them - and it repeats that over again. It's still us against them. It's still us against them. When you're in the pit with a bunch of sweaty dudes and you're shouting that together, and, like - there were strangers that I've hugged and kissed on the cheek because it's like, hey man. It is us against them. They are awful, whoever they may be. But you and me, we're in this together. And for, you know, that two seconds that we're holding each other, it's like we're best friends all of a sudden.

MARTIN: That was TELL ME MORE producer and director Andrew Limbong telling us what's playing in his ear. And that's our program for today. I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Let's talk more tomorrow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.