The Ukulele Alphabet: Dyslexic Heart by Paul Westerberg

Letter W, Week 1
“Dyslexic Heart” by Paul Westerberg

And now we get to the companion entry in the Cameron Crowe Music Movie category within the Ukulele Alphabet: Singles.

Like Almost Famous, this film has been absorbed into my consciousness on a cellular level — and the soundtrack even more so.

You may or may not know that it was a tough sell to get the movie into theaters¹ until the whole idea of grunge slammed into the public consciousness, so it was a weird marketing rollout. The soundtrack was released on June 30, 1992, but the movie didn’t come out until September of that year.

So 14-year-old Grunge Casey had three whole months to hoover up those 13 tracks before even seeing the film they accompany.

Some of my fellow Gen X-ers have argued that the movie no longer holds up, but I watched it for the kabillionth time a few months ago and I remain a steadfast Singles stan.

Of course, I now acknowledge kindly that everyone in the cast looks older than 23, but I accepted this at the time and still do. (Campbell Scott and Sheila Kelley were 30 when the movie filmed; Bridget Fonda and Matt Dillon, 28; Kyra Sedgwick, 26.)

I also love that the movie hinges on what is now obsolete technology: answering machines (”your machine wasn’t on!”) and pay phones, car windows being rolled down with crank handles and car doors being physically unlocked by pulling up on the knob (a term I just had to look up), Casio watches that stored 20 numbers . . .

. . . and no way to text anyone when you accidentally show up at the wrong location for your blind date that you found on a video dating service.²

So it’s a peek into Analog 90s Life, but it’s also a reminder of my teen aspirations, ideals, confusions, and expectations wrapped up in the stories of a bunch of twentysomethings.

Debbie Hunt taught me to Expect the Best, Linda taught me not to give my garage door opener away to just ANYONE, Steve taught me that a job isn’t your whole life, Janet taught me to wear that damn hat if you love it and fuck everyone else’s opinions, and Cliff taught me that genuine romance can smack you in the face when you least expect it.

Listen to the original version of “Dyslexic Heart”:

What’s the Ukulele Alphabet?

Read all about my 2025 ukulele performance project (and its rules) here.

I want to A-B-SEEEE some more!

Watch all the performances in the Ukulele Alphabet project.

1. From an interview with Cameron Crowe on the occasion of film’s 25th anniversary:
   The Seattle explosion happened after we finished the movie. Warner Brothers hadn’t wanted to put the movie out. They didn’t get it; we had to pretty much beg them to release it. And then Nirvana hit, and they said, “Oh, OK, we can call the movie Come As You Are.” And we said, “No, it’s not called Come As You Are.” And then they said, “We tested a title that we really love: “One Hot Summer.” And I said “No, it’s not called One Hot Summer, it’s called Singles.” And then finally I think their kids were telling them, “You have Pearl Jam in a movie, and you’re not putting the movie out?!?” ↩︎
2. Debbie Hunt is low-key my favorite character. It’s a major biggie! ↩︎