Bindlecore

League 9 (Apr 2026) · Take up thy bindle

Song	Artist	Submitted by	Votes
The City of New Orleans	Arlo Guthrie	Regina Scime	9 Edward James +3 — (•_•) <) )╯Kankakee / \ (•_•) ╯( (> Mentioned / \ (•_•) <) )╯Y’all / \ To me this song epitomizes what I think of when I think of the bindle lifestyle. Tried to submit it myself. Hail to the victor. Peter Seeley +2 — This is the background music for a film in which Eddie, Judd and the ghost of Bobby Kennedy take a road trip to find the soul of America. ared56 +1 fionmul +1 — This smacks of Eddie? Maybe. I like this take, matches the bindle/steinbeck aesthetic well in its music and lyrics. Brad Stalcup +1 — Superb take on this playlist. Train bros unite. shea nowicki +1 judd.baker +1 — This is a good fusion of the two senses of bindlecore. SamRobertsND 0 — Hobocore =/= Bindlecore. Amazing song though, the peak crossover of Sammy/Eddie themes Claire 0 — Kankakee mentioned?!? But I’m not sure I see how this fits the theme Joseph Harvey -1 — Not really bad or anything just didn’t seem strong for the category
A Complicated Song (Parody of "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne)	"Weird Al" Yankovic	fionmul	8 Spicey Riche +4 ared56 +1 Claire +1 — Okay this one is actually quite fitting imo Joseph Harvey +1 — Any parody song is working uphill for me, so I have to upvote this because I did laugh out loud and it is indeed very bindle, especially the bit about dating his cousin judd.baker +1 — Inspired song, and inspired submission. This is the interpretation of bindle I was hoping to get Edward James 0 — If I’ve heard this before, I can’t really remember it. So it was an absolute delight to hear it again. Can’t say I think it fits the theme, but so so good. fionmul 0 — As soon as I thought of this I felt I had to submit. This was probably the first Weird Al song I ever heard. Brad Stalcup 0 — A series of comical mishaps. Bindle-adjacent, I suppose.
Old Hickory	Old Crow Medicine Show	judd.baker	6 ared56 +1 Edward James +1 — Classic bindle archetype I also forgot that all the early old crow medicine show albums are bangers Peter Seeley +1 — Very enjoyable Joseph Harvey +1 — This feels spiritually bindle shea nowicki +1 Regina Scime +1 fionmul 0 — the aesthetic is definitely there but lyrically, others were stronger to me
My Own Worst Enemy	Lit	Claire	6 ared56 +1 SamRobertsND +1 — Music like this used to play on pop radio all the time back in the day. Now we just have this trap beat crap. Rodrigo is righting the ship though. fionmul +1 — Great one -- this was on my maybe playlist Joseph Harvey +1 — Banger Brad Stalcup +1 — This was the very first song I thought of. judd.baker +1 — Perfect shot, right down the middle Edward James 0 — Doesn't fit my interpretation, unless it's just making it about Judd somehow. And still doesn't fit as much, but then it's at least funny. Regina Scime 0 — Yes for the text, and I didn’t mind the style, it just wasn’t fully bundle-core to me
And So It Goes	Billy Joel	Brad Stalcup	5 SamRobertsND +1 — Understood the assignment, as the kids say. Peter Seeley +1 — Don't know if this fits the theme, but it's the best song on the list Claire +1 — I like this pull a lot. Never would’ve thought of it for this round but I think it’s an earnest portrayal of the sort of emotion that the bindle captures in a more comical way shea nowicki +1 Regina Scime +1 — I don’t know what it is about this song, but it makes me so emotional Edward James 0 — I think we’re gonna have a lot of people who interpreted this category very differently. But whatever this is, it doesn’t fit in my interpretation at all. fionmul 0 — This was really close for me but I tried to see past the sentimental familiarity with the sound and found others to be stronger Brad Stalcup 0 — This is Billy Joel's favorite song that he wrote judd.baker 0 — Great song, but this is too noble to be bindle.
Me and Bobby McGee	Janis Joplin	ared56	3 fionmul +1 — Ah this was very good. Claire +1 — I feel like the wistful sadness of this song isn’t quite the same as the pathos that the bindle has come to signify. It gets a vote, however because 1) for some reason I’m being really picky in my judgment of this round and 2) it actually mentions a bindle Regina Scime +1 SamRobertsND 0 — One of the best to do it, and the instrumentation is so good! Beat out by others. Edward James 0 — I had never once considered the idea that a woman could take up the bindle. Does that make me a bad person? Peter Seeley 0 — I love Janis Joplin, but her version of the song does not cohere. The original is better. Brad Stalcup 0 — Needs to be more than just a regret song IMO. Where's the self-sabotage? judd.baker 0 — This song rocks and I love hearing some Janis Joplin— but this is an obscure category and I’m voting based on my narrow interpretation of it. There’s clearly two schools of thought in interpreting what “bindle” means, and I like the songs that lean into the metaphorical sense more than the literal. This song is pretty upbeat and fun, which the essence of bindle is not.
Gollum's Song	Emilíana Torrini	SamRobertsND	1 Regina Scime +1 — Gotta upvote for the interesting choice judd.baker +1 — Clever Edward James 0 — Can’t say I get it fionmul 0 — I like this read. I have never read these lyrics before; wow. Well done, Sammy. I'm p sure I have never not voted for an LotR submission; it is just such an all-time soundtrack. However, it was displaced from my podium by a couple of songs that matched the aesthetic better which I suppose I decided was a priority for me, clever as this may have been. Peter Seeley 0 — Anything sung in persona Gollum must be sung by a whiny teenage boy. Having it sung by a skilled woman just doesn't work. Claire 0 — Maybe this is a heretical take but I don’t actually like this song very much. And it’s almost too genuinely despairing to fit the theme imo Joseph Harvey 0 — Ha. Amusing read but not quite Brad Stalcup 0 — 2q2www shea nowicki -1
Creep	Radiohead	Joseph Harvey	0 SamRobertsND +1 — I do not care for Radiohead. It insists upon itself, Lois. It insists upon itself. But this really fits the theme. Brad Stalcup +1 — Yep. fionmul 0 — Good one -- I wish someone had submitted Teenage Dirtbag haha, but maybe this is better than that would have been (too redemptive of an ending) Claire 0 — A generational track and definitely partakes of bindlecore but not as much as other submissions judd.baker 0 — Loser and bindle have overlap, but I don’t think they are interchangeable Edward James -1 — Nah Regina Scime -1 — I think this one had the weakest correlation in my mind.
Inner City Pressure	Flight of the Conchords, Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie	Spicey Riche	0 Claire +1 — The image of just standing bc you sold your chair is very bindlecore Brad Stalcup +1 — Bindledom has a bit of a comic edge to it and this captures that. SamRobertsND 0 — Didn't do it for me. Edward James 0 — I like this read and I would have voted for it if the inner city pressure then led to the leaving with bindle. fionmul 0 — Ehhhhh Joseph Harvey 0 — Tiresome Peter Seeley -1 — They sounded like they were about to break into "One night in Bangkok", but never did. judd.baker -1 — Not getting the vision here at all.
Islands of Men	Geese	shea nowicki	0 SamRobertsND +1 — How I'll admit it, I was won over by this guy's goofy voice haha. Edward James 0 — Say what you will, but those androgynous Gen Z white boys can lay down a rhythm line Peter Seeley 0 — The band name makes me think of the supplicia canum (unfortunately, the listeners are the dogs in this scenario). Claire 0 — This definitely feels angsty but not necessarily in a bindle specific way (I guess it does talk about running away, and bindles are used when you’re running away from home ig, but that’s taking bindle in the literal sense) judd.baker 0 — I feel there are bindlier songs on this album fionmul -1 — Needed this to just end sooner.
The Ghost of Tom Joad - Live in Anaheim, CA with Tom Morello - April 2008	Bruce Springsteen	Edward James	-1 shea nowicki +1 Edward James 0 — Tom Joad as the moment of apotheosis of the bindle-carrier into Christ figure fionmul 0 — This was lacking for me, hard as it is to say. It was almost too on the nose but also not on the nose enough? Not as authentic as some? Peter Seeley 0 — 2-3 minutes of this would have been great. 8 is brutal. No justification for the length. Claire -1 — 1. I need to read the grapes of wrath. 2. This song is cool. Epic guitar at the end 3. I feel, however, like this doesn’t quite fit with bindlecore as I understand it bc the misfortune it talks about seems caused by a system that is beyond our control rather than being in some way caused by oneself Brad Stalcup -1 — This was the furthest from bindledom of the songs on the list.
Luther - The Sting/Soundtrack Version	Marvin Hamlisch	Peter Seeley	-1 fionmul +1 — I can picture the sort of scene that would go with this; I do see the vision. Joseph Harvey +1 — 10/10 brilliant submission. Any instrumental submission has to work extra hard to grab my attention and vote, and this knocked it out of the park Edward James 0 — Good tune ared56 -1 SamRobertsND -1 — Don't really see the connection here. Classic film. Spicey Riche -1