Request Line: Down

INT. DFO PRODUCTION OFFICE – DAY

A pair of sleazy Hollywood producers are fulfilling their investor-mandated office hours.  One – DARKEST TIMELINE ZACK MORRIS – appears to be hard at work, depositing royalty checks, opening and closing manilla folders, and making notes on a post-it pad.  The other – RIKKI-TIKKI-DEADLY – is lounging on the couch, staring up at the ceiling and frowning.  Eventually, DARKEST TIMELINE ZACK MORRIS notices.

DTZM: Hey, buddy.  You look down.

RTD: [looks up at him] Oh.  Yeah.

DTZM: Need a little pick-me-up? Maybe a screening of Dr. Zhivago?

RTD: No thanks, I already tried that.  Didn’t help.

DTZM: How could you be down on such a lovely day? What’s the matter?

RTD: [glances out the window at the perfect Los Angeles weather] I don’t know.  I was just thinking about that documentary we were watching…you remember, the about all the stupid people taking over the world?

DTZM: Idiocracy?

RTD: Yeah.

DTZM: That wasn’t a…

RTD: [interrupting obliviously] Anyway, I’ve just been kind of ruminating about how stupidity runs rampant in our society…

DTZM: That’s been true throughout human history, though.

RTD: …and how much further our society would have progressed if as a species we valued technical intelligence more highly than social intelligence.

DTZM: But that’s changing! Look at some of the richest and most powerful people in our society at the moment – Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook…you can’t claim those guys don’t recognize the value of technical intelligence.  And Bill Gates has shown that you can emerge from a position of that kind of power without losing your humanity.

RTD: Yeah, I guess.

DTZM: You know what you need? You need to do something creative.

RTD: [groans] Come on, you know I hate that stuff.

DTZM: I’m not talking about doing actual work.  I’m talking about coming up with ideas!  And then getting credit for whatever actual work gets done!

RTD: [brightens] I mean…I do like being given credit for things.

DTZM: Tell you what.  Anthology series’ are becoming all the rage these days.  Why don’t you come up with a topic for one?

RTD: A topic?

DTZM: Yeah!

RTD: And that’s all?

DTZM: Sure! We’ll let the PA’s handle the rest.

RTD: Hmm.  Okay.  Um…

Some time passes.

RTD: I got it!  How about…”down”?

DTZM: Down?

RTD: Down.

DTZM: Like, a descent into depression…

RTD: No, no, nothing that specific.  Just…things with a title that contain the word “down”.

DTZM: I love it!  Although…that sounds more like the topic for a deejay to work with.

RTD: You mean, like, on the radio?

DTZM: Yeah.

RTD: No, no.  Radio deejays have to do actual work.  Like, playing records and stuff.

DTZM: Oh yeah, you’re right.

RTD: So “down” it is.  All right, all right.

DTZM: I’ll make some calls.

RTD: Me too.  I’ve got a good feeling about this, I really do.  When’s award season again?

—

Today’s topic is “down”.  We’re looking for songs that contain the word “down” in the title, or heavily feature the theme of a descent.  I’ll get us started with a DOUBLE SHOT from Morrissey and the Decemberists.  The topic is pretty rich, so please don’t go too wild with lousy music just to fit the theme. Have at it!