For My Sunday Song #351, we are starting a 10 song set of songs by Aldo Nova. You know him from the early 80’s with his massive hit “Fantasy”. But he is way more than that song and we will walk through a bunch for you over the next 10 weeks (including “Fantasy” because why not). First up is the song “Modern World” off his 1991 album ‘Blood on the Bricks’. The song was written by Aldo and his pal Jon Bon Jovi. You might not know that Aldo worked with Jon on a bunch of demos back way before there was a Bon Jovi and was John Bongiovi. But that is another story for another day.

The song is a dark commentary on the world that was the late 80’s and early 90’s. The sleaze, the drugs, the crime were all up and the world seemed to be a dark place and they lyrics captured it beautifully. He even takes a big dig at Donald Trump for his womanizing and awful business tactics long before he was President. Marion Barry, mayor of Washington D.C. also wasn’t safe from his wrath as he bashed him for his drug addictions. No one was safe in this song. It is a really dark take on the world and we are happier for it as we got this song.

Musically, the song is as dark as the lyrics. The song opens with a nasty, dirty guitar riff and an angry sadistic sounding drum beat. Aldo sings it with a lot of attitude and anger to match the despair in the music. But like any song Jon is involved in, it has the hooks to draw you in as that chorus filled with harmonies and great background singers adding more effect to the song. It is a solid rocker and shows that Aldo was more than keyboards and that sometimes the guitar riff was king.

Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. It was nice to have Aldo back and to have Jon Bon helping out was icing on the cake. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful and Happy Sunday!!

“Modern World”

On the boulevard where broken dreams
Breathe on the covers of my magazines
And the rats pay homage to the local sleaze
Before they bleed them dry

There goes crazy Jean
She’s got electric eyes
From the trackbox running up and down her thighs
An ole’ skinny boy he just looks outside and screams
Hey you Puerto-Rican

Fast cars
(Fast cars)
Fast living
(Fast cars)
What happened to my world?

This ain’t gonna love
This ain’t love
This is being a knight in the modern world
Living in hate in the modern world
Ain’t no black or white in the modern world
Just you and me babe, in the modern world

Well the mayor’s hobby is doing crack
While the homeless go hungry right out back
And those union boys down on Bentno street
Wouldn’t know how to stack those cards
And there’s a trump card dealing in stocks and wives
When the maple tree keeps ’em warm tonight
See the apple rot watch the bugs they crawl
On the steps of the Taj Mahal

Cheap crime
(Big crime)
And lives
(No time)
What happened to my world?

This ain’t gonna love
This ain’t love
Yeah this is life and death in the modern world
This is what you get in the modern world
And you better bet that in a modern world
It’s you and me babe,
Just you and me babe,
in the modern world

Where there’s nowhere to run to
The modern world
Better get your gun
Hey!
Hey!

Yeah, it’s a jungle out there
Hey!

Well there’s no tomorrow, but we got tonight
I have to trade my blade for a thunder fight
I was much too young for your Vietnam
But there’s a war going on in my homeland

(This ain’t love)
(Well this ain’t love)
Well it’s dog eat dog in the modern world
Live and die in the modern world
There’s no way to sense it in the modern world
It’s you and me in the modern world
Only heroes die in the modern world
No one cries in the modern world
And you gotta fight in the modern world
Cause it’s you and me babe
You and me baby
You and me babe
in the modern world

Written by Aldo Nova and Jon Bon Jovi