Good Tunes: At The Drive In, 'One Armed Scissor'

As a fan of BBC Radio 1 (or at least the station’s electronic music shows), I have always thought it would be cool for NPR to have its own, separate music station. It’s probably just a pipe dream, but I think it would be awesome to have an American version of Radio 1, with two- or three-hour shows showcasing different music genres like hip-hop, metal, and EDM. There would certainly have be a folk show, and perhaps a block dedicated to the music of Tom Waits, because we all know many NPR listeners love folk music and Tom Waits (for reasons that may forever be beyond my understanding).

Alas, though NPR does feature a lot music reporting these days (way more than it used to, it seems), it has no separate music station. (The licensing rights alone likely make it cost prohibitive.) It does have a music site and a spattering of shows and segments focused on music. (Iowa Public Radio has Studio One. There is also the statewide classical station, but that doesn’t count.)

Though my interest isn’t piqued by much of the music NPR features (I often love the electronic music used for segues, though), I saw a tweet about this article on At The Drive In and had to share what is likely the band’s best-known song: “One Armed Scissor.”

“One Armed Scissor” is a great song that has been in my digital music collection forever. I remember seeing the “One Armed Scissor” video on MTV2 in late 2000 or early 2001 and downloading the song on Napster sometime afterward. More than likely, the MP3 file I have on my current computer is the same one I downloaded all those years ago. I have always meant to buy the album the song is included on, Relationship of Command, but have not done it yet.