You know one of your friends is really into someone they like when they bring that person up in conversation all of the time. If you’ve been on the other side of this you know what it’s like to have someone always on your mind.
Like the first burst of emotions when you fall in love, the intensity of your thoughts about this other person wanes over time but it never really disappears. What happens after years in being in a relationship with someone isn’t that they leave your thoughts, it's just that you get so used to them being in you thoughts it becomes normal to think of the them all of the time.
“Always on My Mind,” is one of the most famous and beautiful love songs in popular music. It’s as much an apology song as a statement of commitment. Brenda Lee first recorded it in 1972:
This song was a moderate success but it was Elvis Presley’s cover the brought this song into prominence:
My introduction to this song was through Willie Nelson:
Brenda Lee is a fantastic singer but what works with Nelson’s and Presley’s version is the fact that they both exude this feeling of regret and heartache. This song isn’t an open apology. It’s not saying: “I did all of these things wrong,” instead it goes with “maybe. . . I did something bad.” That’s a big deal for this character in this song. You hear that in the desperate voice of Elvis in his later years and the beat-up and battered voice of Willie Nelson.
Willie Nelson really owns this song. It feels like songs that he wrote for himself. There’s a conversational feeling to the verses that opens up into a beautiful chorus. There’s desperation, a feeling that this is the last attempt to bring this person back into his life, yet he can’t just come out and say that he was wrong. It’s tragic on some level how much he just can’t bring himself to open himself up. But you feel like he’s trying and maybe that’s enough.
What consolation is it really that someone who has done you wrong was thinking about you the entire time?
It depends on the situation, but for me it means a lot. It’s a statement that other things in life aren’t as important and through all of stuff they did wrong, they couldn’t help but think of you. The knowledge that someone is thinking about you is comforting. It lets you know that you matter, that you mean something and that you are always with the people who love you.
Showing posts with label Dance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dance. Show all posts
Monday, April 1, 2013
Monday, November 26, 2012
8th Grade Playlist: 6. Dynamite by Taio Cruz
I don’t really like this song.
When one of my 8th graders submitted this song to me as one of his favorites, I groaned a little on the inside. Sometimes when things go “viral,” my reactions is negative. I still have a little of the “when something gets incredibly popular, I don’t want to go with the crowd,” thing in me. ( I didn’t actually watch Titanic until this last fall).
Honestly, I don’t really know this song that well and I don’t know a lot about Taio Cruz beyond what’s in his Wikipedia. As I listened to this song repeatedly on the way to work, I just didn’t find something in this song that I found that interesting. And then I watched this:
. . .and it reminded a lot of this:
I’m not saying that “Hungry Hearts,” is comparable to “Dynamite” on a musical level. They are very different songs, but both of them have inspired something similar, something truly amazing about music.
When you have an entire stadium full of people singing a song with complete joy, something is right about the music, something is really working. There’s objective arguments that one can make about the quality of a song but that’s not really relevant when you look at the way a whole crowd enjoys a song.
“Dynamite” is hooking into the singular theme that is present throughout all rock music: liberation. Rock and American pop music continues to inspire people through almost six decades, and each generation has different ways to express this idea feeling of liberation. For Taio Cruz, its going to a club and dancing, which really isn’t all that different than what the Beatles were singing about in “Twist and Shout.”
“Dynamite” doesn’t connect with me, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important, significant and meaningful to other people. It’s hard sometimes when you look at another generation’s music to make sense of it, but that’s okay. It doesn’t have to “work” for you. In the same way that younger people don’t get the music I love, I’m not going to love all of the music my students bring to me. What’s important is not that we convince each other of the quality of the music we like but rather what the music means to us. That’s where we find common ground.
The love of music is a beautiful thing. If you really love music, then rejoice in people’s love of music, even if that love is directed towards a song you don't like. This is something we should all celebrate as we live our lives, and if you are of a certain age, while singing “A-Yo.”
When one of my 8th graders submitted this song to me as one of his favorites, I groaned a little on the inside. Sometimes when things go “viral,” my reactions is negative. I still have a little of the “when something gets incredibly popular, I don’t want to go with the crowd,” thing in me. ( I didn’t actually watch Titanic until this last fall).
Honestly, I don’t really know this song that well and I don’t know a lot about Taio Cruz beyond what’s in his Wikipedia. As I listened to this song repeatedly on the way to work, I just didn’t find something in this song that I found that interesting. And then I watched this:
. . .and it reminded a lot of this:
I’m not saying that “Hungry Hearts,” is comparable to “Dynamite” on a musical level. They are very different songs, but both of them have inspired something similar, something truly amazing about music.
When you have an entire stadium full of people singing a song with complete joy, something is right about the music, something is really working. There’s objective arguments that one can make about the quality of a song but that’s not really relevant when you look at the way a whole crowd enjoys a song.
“Dynamite” is hooking into the singular theme that is present throughout all rock music: liberation. Rock and American pop music continues to inspire people through almost six decades, and each generation has different ways to express this idea feeling of liberation. For Taio Cruz, its going to a club and dancing, which really isn’t all that different than what the Beatles were singing about in “Twist and Shout.”
“Dynamite” doesn’t connect with me, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important, significant and meaningful to other people. It’s hard sometimes when you look at another generation’s music to make sense of it, but that’s okay. It doesn’t have to “work” for you. In the same way that younger people don’t get the music I love, I’m not going to love all of the music my students bring to me. What’s important is not that we convince each other of the quality of the music we like but rather what the music means to us. That’s where we find common ground.
The love of music is a beautiful thing. If you really love music, then rejoice in people’s love of music, even if that love is directed towards a song you don't like. This is something we should all celebrate as we live our lives, and if you are of a certain age, while singing “A-Yo.”
Friday, June 15, 2012
Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
“Bad Romance” is one of Lady Gaga’s greatest works and one of the best pop songs ever created. It’s a powerful song that through the shadow of its dark imagery is a celebration of everything that is awesome about popular music.
After her breakthrough album The Fame, it was difficult to imagine what Lady Gaga was going to do next. Songs like “Pokerface” and “Paparazzi” (this hyperlink and others in this entry link to other post about these songs) pushed the boundary of what people felt comfortable as pop music. She using strongly referential musical styles with provocative lyrics. There is nothing original about the elements that Lady Gaga used in her first album, but the way she put things together and presented herself was something that no one was else was doing at the time.
Her first album was a triumph but lacked a song with true universal appeal that spoke beyond her neo-1980s dance music and disturbing music videos. Yes, singing “Pokerface” is a good time, but something feels off about rocking to this song in a large group of people.
To lead off her second album The Fame Monster we got “Bad Romance.” The song opens with a glorious rising vocal line leading into the words “caught into a bad romance.” This hook could have been easily used in an Elton John song or after the chorus in a Springsteen anthem. It is simple and straight forward, which is exactly the reason it is so appealing. It’s a melody that an entire stadium of people could sing along with after only hearing for the first time.
Then Lady Gaga presents her second hook. This chant is uniquely Gaga in its quirkiness and even more catching than the opening line. After a verse, a pre-chorus that draws back the texture we get the final hook in the chorus. As the chorus continues we hearing the opening line come in and like the glorious moment in “Tonight, Tonight” from West Side Story when Leonard Bernstein layers in songs on top of each other, the song opens up in sheer joy.
Yes, the lyrics are weird, but the themes are not.
This is a song about someone wanting a relationship even though she knows that there are bad things involved in being together. Instead of pushing this away, Lady Gaga embraces the bad possibilities, the bad romance because she simply wants this regardless of what other people tell her. She knows its not good for her but she wants it anyways. This is a song about taking a chance, not playing safe because as she sing, she doesn’t want to be friends, she wants something more.
Many songs in the this album express the message Lady Gaga has been expressing in her advocacy. Like “Edge Of Glory,” “Bad Romance,” carries the theme of accepting who people for who they are, good and bad. "Bad Romance" is about accepting what you want and who you are regardless of what other people tell you. It’s a feeling that things may be bad and may look bad but that doesn’t mean that have to be bad. “Bad Romance” is similar to songs like “He’s A Rebel,” about a girl wanting to be with someone that others say are bad.
Yes, this is an innocent and misguided viewpoint, but this is same viewpoint that gives us songs like “God Only Knows.” Lady Gaga captures this feeling of “I’m going to do what I want,” with strength and attitude. This is a pop song with the soul of a rock song because like all great rock music "Bad Romance" is about liberation and empowerment.
If you listen to the song and don’t know what I’m talking about, sing along and you will feel what I mean.
After her breakthrough album The Fame, it was difficult to imagine what Lady Gaga was going to do next. Songs like “Pokerface” and “Paparazzi” (this hyperlink and others in this entry link to other post about these songs) pushed the boundary of what people felt comfortable as pop music. She using strongly referential musical styles with provocative lyrics. There is nothing original about the elements that Lady Gaga used in her first album, but the way she put things together and presented herself was something that no one was else was doing at the time.
Her first album was a triumph but lacked a song with true universal appeal that spoke beyond her neo-1980s dance music and disturbing music videos. Yes, singing “Pokerface” is a good time, but something feels off about rocking to this song in a large group of people.
To lead off her second album The Fame Monster we got “Bad Romance.” The song opens with a glorious rising vocal line leading into the words “caught into a bad romance.” This hook could have been easily used in an Elton John song or after the chorus in a Springsteen anthem. It is simple and straight forward, which is exactly the reason it is so appealing. It’s a melody that an entire stadium of people could sing along with after only hearing for the first time.
Then Lady Gaga presents her second hook. This chant is uniquely Gaga in its quirkiness and even more catching than the opening line. After a verse, a pre-chorus that draws back the texture we get the final hook in the chorus. As the chorus continues we hearing the opening line come in and like the glorious moment in “Tonight, Tonight” from West Side Story when Leonard Bernstein layers in songs on top of each other, the song opens up in sheer joy.
Yes, the lyrics are weird, but the themes are not.
This is a song about someone wanting a relationship even though she knows that there are bad things involved in being together. Instead of pushing this away, Lady Gaga embraces the bad possibilities, the bad romance because she simply wants this regardless of what other people tell her. She knows its not good for her but she wants it anyways. This is a song about taking a chance, not playing safe because as she sing, she doesn’t want to be friends, she wants something more.
Many songs in the this album express the message Lady Gaga has been expressing in her advocacy. Like “Edge Of Glory,” “Bad Romance,” carries the theme of accepting who people for who they are, good and bad. "Bad Romance" is about accepting what you want and who you are regardless of what other people tell you. It’s a feeling that things may be bad and may look bad but that doesn’t mean that have to be bad. “Bad Romance” is similar to songs like “He’s A Rebel,” about a girl wanting to be with someone that others say are bad.
Yes, this is an innocent and misguided viewpoint, but this is same viewpoint that gives us songs like “God Only Knows.” Lady Gaga captures this feeling of “I’m going to do what I want,” with strength and attitude. This is a pop song with the soul of a rock song because like all great rock music "Bad Romance" is about liberation and empowerment.
If you listen to the song and don’t know what I’m talking about, sing along and you will feel what I mean.
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Sign by Ace of Base
What does the “The Sign” mean to you?
To my wife, it’s a song that came out when she was around 9 years old. For a talent show her and a couple of her friends came up with a dance for this song and performed it. My wife’s understanding of this song back then wasn’t very deep. She thought that this song was literally about a sign.
This song was huge. “The Sign” was the #1 one song of 1994 and sold over nine million copies in America alone. Part of it’s appeal was its drum beat but also that this song had layers beyond the idea of a “printed sign.”
For me, the song is about someone seeing a sign in the sense of an action revealing something deeper. Like when you are going out on a date with someone who is constantly texting throughout dinner, that’s a “sign,” that he or she is not that into you and lacks elementary social skills.
What’s the sign in this song? They never say. It’s kind of like Meat Loaf ‘s “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That). People don’t seem to know what “that” is (even though the song pretty clearly lays out that it is cheating/adultery). “The Sign” doesn’t really help us in a literal sense understand the sing but we get an emotional sense what finally seeing the sign feels like.
You get a sense of this in the way that the chorus of this song opens up harmonically. But the best part that describes this and my favorite part of the song is when the song modulates (suddenly changes keys). This occurs at the end of the instrumental break after the second chorus: “I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes and I am happy not living without you. . . ”
There’s a beautiful sense of freedom that happens in that moment. The song changes from that point on from a contemplation of circumstance to a celebration. While I love this moment and this song, I don’t know if the song is strong enough to appeal outside of my memories.
Is this song notable for any other reason than nostalgia? I don’t know. I’m too biased having grown up with this song in my life to know for sure. I can’t help but wonder if pop music that means so little to me actually means a lot to the younger generation and will continue to mean something to them as they grow up. It’s hard to say, but songs like “The Sign,” make me take pause before I criticize the latest pop music trend, because sometimes nostalgia is enough of a reason to make a song meaningful.
To my wife, it’s a song that came out when she was around 9 years old. For a talent show her and a couple of her friends came up with a dance for this song and performed it. My wife’s understanding of this song back then wasn’t very deep. She thought that this song was literally about a sign.
This song was huge. “The Sign” was the #1 one song of 1994 and sold over nine million copies in America alone. Part of it’s appeal was its drum beat but also that this song had layers beyond the idea of a “printed sign.”
For me, the song is about someone seeing a sign in the sense of an action revealing something deeper. Like when you are going out on a date with someone who is constantly texting throughout dinner, that’s a “sign,” that he or she is not that into you and lacks elementary social skills.
What’s the sign in this song? They never say. It’s kind of like Meat Loaf ‘s “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That). People don’t seem to know what “that” is (even though the song pretty clearly lays out that it is cheating/adultery). “The Sign” doesn’t really help us in a literal sense understand the sing but we get an emotional sense what finally seeing the sign feels like.
You get a sense of this in the way that the chorus of this song opens up harmonically. But the best part that describes this and my favorite part of the song is when the song modulates (suddenly changes keys). This occurs at the end of the instrumental break after the second chorus: “I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes and I am happy not living without you. . . ”
There’s a beautiful sense of freedom that happens in that moment. The song changes from that point on from a contemplation of circumstance to a celebration. While I love this moment and this song, I don’t know if the song is strong enough to appeal outside of my memories.
Is this song notable for any other reason than nostalgia? I don’t know. I’m too biased having grown up with this song in my life to know for sure. I can’t help but wonder if pop music that means so little to me actually means a lot to the younger generation and will continue to mean something to them as they grow up. It’s hard to say, but songs like “The Sign,” make me take pause before I criticize the latest pop music trend, because sometimes nostalgia is enough of a reason to make a song meaningful.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Don’t Leave Me This Way by Thelma Houston
The Disco genre of the 1970s is unfortunately one of the most unpopular historical music eras in pop music. I understand that the popularity of the Disco music got out of control and that people yearned for something different, but the backlash and anti-Disco events like Disco Demolition Night were ridiculous in retrospect.
Whenever something becomes popular, it’s usually based in the core of something that is of a high quality and then it’s the knock-offs and the imitators that breed annoyance. You can’t let the mediocrity in the genre overshadow the great stuff. It’s like saying the Harry Potter books are garbage because you read some slapped together children’s novel about a wizard. “Disco Duck” was a pretty atrocious song but you can’t let it get in the way of Thelma Houston’s masterpiece “Don’t Leave Me This Way.
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes originally recorded this song with Teddy Pendergrass singing lead.
This group is best known for one of the most heart-breaking soul hits of the 1970s.
Teddy’s vocals are incredible. It’s impossible to really compare what he brings to this song with Houston’s performance. They are both incredible. What gets to me more about Thelma Houston’s version is that there is a sense of both desperation and strength. Coming from a woman’s perspective there’s something tragic yet beautifully liberating about this song.
"Don't Leave Me This Way" starts as being heartbreaking. She is singing about how she “can’t survive, can’t stay alive” without his love. The chorus changes tone to a joyful celebration of how great his love has made her feel. Here is a woman laying it out on the line how much she needs her man. In a way, it’s a statement of dependency but there’s something else going on here.
At the same time this is a song that is a celebration of love and the fact that it is in this feeling that you can freedom. Like the way music can help you become free in the joy of dance, his love brings her that feeling. Instead of dwelling on the pain that he brings her she focuses on the feeling of ecstasy. Maybe it’s not about begging a man who is treating her poorly to stay but elevated a man and making his realize how great a person he is and how the power of his love.
There is something haunting and unforgettable about this song. The opening humming and the beautiful orchestration capture the best of Disco and really the best of music. For me this song is a plea to people moving on from Disco music to not leave in anger. While people at the time expressed annoyances towards this genre it's nice to see that people years later revel in the joy disco brought to their lives and I'm so glad that this song is around to remind people of that feeling.
Whenever something becomes popular, it’s usually based in the core of something that is of a high quality and then it’s the knock-offs and the imitators that breed annoyance. You can’t let the mediocrity in the genre overshadow the great stuff. It’s like saying the Harry Potter books are garbage because you read some slapped together children’s novel about a wizard. “Disco Duck” was a pretty atrocious song but you can’t let it get in the way of Thelma Houston’s masterpiece “Don’t Leave Me This Way.
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes originally recorded this song with Teddy Pendergrass singing lead.
This group is best known for one of the most heart-breaking soul hits of the 1970s.
Teddy’s vocals are incredible. It’s impossible to really compare what he brings to this song with Houston’s performance. They are both incredible. What gets to me more about Thelma Houston’s version is that there is a sense of both desperation and strength. Coming from a woman’s perspective there’s something tragic yet beautifully liberating about this song.
"Don't Leave Me This Way" starts as being heartbreaking. She is singing about how she “can’t survive, can’t stay alive” without his love. The chorus changes tone to a joyful celebration of how great his love has made her feel. Here is a woman laying it out on the line how much she needs her man. In a way, it’s a statement of dependency but there’s something else going on here.
At the same time this is a song that is a celebration of love and the fact that it is in this feeling that you can freedom. Like the way music can help you become free in the joy of dance, his love brings her that feeling. Instead of dwelling on the pain that he brings her she focuses on the feeling of ecstasy. Maybe it’s not about begging a man who is treating her poorly to stay but elevated a man and making his realize how great a person he is and how the power of his love.
There is something haunting and unforgettable about this song. The opening humming and the beautiful orchestration capture the best of Disco and really the best of music. For me this song is a plea to people moving on from Disco music to not leave in anger. While people at the time expressed annoyances towards this genre it's nice to see that people years later revel in the joy disco brought to their lives and I'm so glad that this song is around to remind people of that feeling.
Monday, June 6, 2011
The Edge Of Glory by Lady Gaga
“It’s a meditation on where you are going to stand, with who and where you are going to stand.”
Bruce Springsteen said this to describe his masterpiece album Darkness On The Edge Of Town. The same words apply to Lady Gaga’s newest single “The Edge Of Glory.”
Does it seem crazy to compare Lady Gaga and Bruce?
Well take these things into consideration: Lady Gaga has called “The Edge Of Glory,” her “Born To Run” and wrote it as a throwback to Springsteen and his music. She was so inspired by Bruce that she featured Springsteen’s saxophone player Clarence Clemons in the middle of the song. If you strip away the dance beat the echoes of Springsteen come across more clearly.
To me Lady Gaga isn’t the crazy outfits or the provocative music videos. Lots of artists have done similar things to Gaga like Madonna and David Bowie and while these images make an impression in pop culture what is truly meaningful, what truly lasts is their most heartfelt music.
Lady Gaga’s best work has been a combination embracing her influences and mixing them with deep personal feelings like “Speechless” an Elton John-inspired song about her father, which she sang with the Rocket Man himself in a loving tribute to her father and Elton.
“The Edge Of Glory” is similar, taking the memory of her grandfather and mixing in some Springsteen creating the same hopefulness and longing that Springsteen so often expresses.
The title itself expresses a feeling of being at cusp of something great and needing someone else to help you get there. Lines like “Right on the limits where we know we both belong,” and “I’m on the edge of something final we call life” are so much deeper than they seem. For Lady Gaga to push her music beyond the provocative to the emotions shows great growth as an artist.
Gaga described the “Edge Of Glory” as someone’s last moment of earth. The bravery, the optimism, the pure celebratory euphoria expressed in this song makes a powerful statement on the way that we should not only face death, but the challenges we face every single day.
The creation of music is a conversation. One artists writes a song and another responds. Just like in a spoken conversation the comments that keep the discussion evolving are the statements that build off of what has been said before and add something personal and meaningful.
Lady Gaga embraces music in this way and responding to things other artists have said previously doesn't make her unoriginal but it makes her a real artist and get her closer to the edge of her musical glory than ever before.
Bruce Springsteen said this to describe his masterpiece album Darkness On The Edge Of Town. The same words apply to Lady Gaga’s newest single “The Edge Of Glory.”
Does it seem crazy to compare Lady Gaga and Bruce?
Well take these things into consideration: Lady Gaga has called “The Edge Of Glory,” her “Born To Run” and wrote it as a throwback to Springsteen and his music. She was so inspired by Bruce that she featured Springsteen’s saxophone player Clarence Clemons in the middle of the song. If you strip away the dance beat the echoes of Springsteen come across more clearly.
To me Lady Gaga isn’t the crazy outfits or the provocative music videos. Lots of artists have done similar things to Gaga like Madonna and David Bowie and while these images make an impression in pop culture what is truly meaningful, what truly lasts is their most heartfelt music.
Lady Gaga’s best work has been a combination embracing her influences and mixing them with deep personal feelings like “Speechless” an Elton John-inspired song about her father, which she sang with the Rocket Man himself in a loving tribute to her father and Elton.
“The Edge Of Glory” is similar, taking the memory of her grandfather and mixing in some Springsteen creating the same hopefulness and longing that Springsteen so often expresses.
The title itself expresses a feeling of being at cusp of something great and needing someone else to help you get there. Lines like “Right on the limits where we know we both belong,” and “I’m on the edge of something final we call life” are so much deeper than they seem. For Lady Gaga to push her music beyond the provocative to the emotions shows great growth as an artist.
Gaga described the “Edge Of Glory” as someone’s last moment of earth. The bravery, the optimism, the pure celebratory euphoria expressed in this song makes a powerful statement on the way that we should not only face death, but the challenges we face every single day.
The creation of music is a conversation. One artists writes a song and another responds. Just like in a spoken conversation the comments that keep the discussion evolving are the statements that build off of what has been said before and add something personal and meaningful.
Lady Gaga embraces music in this way and responding to things other artists have said previously doesn't make her unoriginal but it makes her a real artist and get her closer to the edge of her musical glory than ever before.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Round 3: Don McLean Vs. Madonna
Some people argue that "American Pie," released by Don McLean is one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded. Inspired by the tragic death of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper, Mclean created this epic song is thick with musical symbolism.
Versus:
Praised by McLean himself as "a gift from a goddess," and "mystical and sensual," Madonna's version of this song released in 2000 become a worldwide hit. Cutting out some, of the versus and transforming the background to a modern swirl of electronic wonder, Madonna's cover was a major departure from the original.
The Winner:
I have to confess that I don't love "American Pie." While I find the symbolism interesting, it's more like playing a game of trivia trying to name the references. All of the lines simply don't really add up to have a deep layer of emotional meaning. Yes, this is great sing along song and the nostalgia is inspired but something about it seems pretentious.
Probably the biggest disconnect with McLean's version is that he singing about an event that few people have a deep emotional connection to. What Madonna is singing about instead is our the love of "American Pie" the song and how it is part of the American musical tapestry. In this way Madonna's version is more meaningful and relevant.
I'm not saying the McLean's version is bad, it's just that through Madonna's version I feel more immediately what it means to be American.
Next Week: Billy Idol Vs. Tommy James & The Shondells
Versus:
Praised by McLean himself as "a gift from a goddess," and "mystical and sensual," Madonna's version of this song released in 2000 become a worldwide hit. Cutting out some, of the versus and transforming the background to a modern swirl of electronic wonder, Madonna's cover was a major departure from the original.
The Winner:
I have to confess that I don't love "American Pie." While I find the symbolism interesting, it's more like playing a game of trivia trying to name the references. All of the lines simply don't really add up to have a deep layer of emotional meaning. Yes, this is great sing along song and the nostalgia is inspired but something about it seems pretentious.
Probably the biggest disconnect with McLean's version is that he singing about an event that few people have a deep emotional connection to. What Madonna is singing about instead is our the love of "American Pie" the song and how it is part of the American musical tapestry. In this way Madonna's version is more meaningful and relevant.
I'm not saying the McLean's version is bad, it's just that through Madonna's version I feel more immediately what it means to be American.
Next Week: Billy Idol Vs. Tommy James & The Shondells
Monday, January 17, 2011
Don't Stop Me Now by Queen
“I Gotta Feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas was one the most popular songs of the last couple years. Oprah featured this song on her show, it has become a staple at wedding receptions and WAY too many school groups have performed this song in concert.
. . . ugh. . . This song is awful. Maybe it’s the fact that Fergie isn’t the lead vocalist, or the fact that it’s extremely repetitive and lacks musical creativity. Listing off the days of the week in a song is about as creative as reciting the alphabet. I’ve had difficulty justifying my feeling about this song until recently. What I realized is that this song fails at a fundamental level to expressive in a meaningful the emotions described in this song and I came to this conclusion after rediscovering a song that does, “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen.
Queen is so much more than “Bohemian Rhapsody.” This British rock group created music that ranged from the tongue-in-cheek (“Killer Queen”) to the breathtakingly beautiful (“Who Wants To Live Forever”). In 1978, they released the ultimate, “I’m revved up and ready to have an amazing out night on the town song.”
Starting with a slow piano accompanied reflection, Freddie Mercury glides up to his shining falsetto as he describes how he is ready to have a great time and pleads to us not get in his way. Mercury gently asks for us to not stop him with soft gentle hits. When he tells us the reason why, the music speed up and whisks us away.
Like racing down the street in a convertible on a warm summer night there is adventure and excitement in the groove of the drums, piano and bass. Mercury goes on to describe himself as a tiger, a racing car ready to “go, go, go!” With hilarious lyrics like “that’s why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit,” we can’t help but get pumped up. I mean, looks, he’s a rocket ship AND a satellite and a “machine” ready to reload. . . that’s um . . .yeah . . .anyways, these lyrics are pure fun.
Brian May, Queen’s amazing guitarist plays his first notes after the vocal break perfectly describing the sheer joy and glee that Mercury is singing about going on to accompany Mercury’s voice.
Queen bookends the song with Mercury crooning over the piano part that was featured in the intro. With freedom and grace, his voice soars like a dream up into the night sky. It’s my favorite moment of the song as he sings with pure unbridled freedom and joy.
“Don’t’ Stop Me Now,” is injected with so much personality and craft. This isn't some manufactured attempt to get people dancing, this is an expression of emotion, this is art. With a variety of sections and musical variation, Queen outdoes the Black Eyed Peas creating not only a song, but an everlasting moment.
Queen's conviction and determination to keep having a good time trumps any feelings the Black Eyed Peas get Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
. . . ugh. . . This song is awful. Maybe it’s the fact that Fergie isn’t the lead vocalist, or the fact that it’s extremely repetitive and lacks musical creativity. Listing off the days of the week in a song is about as creative as reciting the alphabet. I’ve had difficulty justifying my feeling about this song until recently. What I realized is that this song fails at a fundamental level to expressive in a meaningful the emotions described in this song and I came to this conclusion after rediscovering a song that does, “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen.
Queen is so much more than “Bohemian Rhapsody.” This British rock group created music that ranged from the tongue-in-cheek (“Killer Queen”) to the breathtakingly beautiful (“Who Wants To Live Forever”). In 1978, they released the ultimate, “I’m revved up and ready to have an amazing out night on the town song.”
Starting with a slow piano accompanied reflection, Freddie Mercury glides up to his shining falsetto as he describes how he is ready to have a great time and pleads to us not get in his way. Mercury gently asks for us to not stop him with soft gentle hits. When he tells us the reason why, the music speed up and whisks us away.
Like racing down the street in a convertible on a warm summer night there is adventure and excitement in the groove of the drums, piano and bass. Mercury goes on to describe himself as a tiger, a racing car ready to “go, go, go!” With hilarious lyrics like “that’s why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit,” we can’t help but get pumped up. I mean, looks, he’s a rocket ship AND a satellite and a “machine” ready to reload. . . that’s um . . .yeah . . .anyways, these lyrics are pure fun.
Brian May, Queen’s amazing guitarist plays his first notes after the vocal break perfectly describing the sheer joy and glee that Mercury is singing about going on to accompany Mercury’s voice.
Queen bookends the song with Mercury crooning over the piano part that was featured in the intro. With freedom and grace, his voice soars like a dream up into the night sky. It’s my favorite moment of the song as he sings with pure unbridled freedom and joy.
“Don’t’ Stop Me Now,” is injected with so much personality and craft. This isn't some manufactured attempt to get people dancing, this is an expression of emotion, this is art. With a variety of sections and musical variation, Queen outdoes the Black Eyed Peas creating not only a song, but an everlasting moment.
Queen's conviction and determination to keep having a good time trumps any feelings the Black Eyed Peas get Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
Monday, January 3, 2011
It’s My Party by Leslie Gore/Quincy Jones & Amy Whinehouse
As Diana danced around the room with Buffy in her arms singing “It’s My Party,” changing the lyrics to “It’s My Buffy,” I smiled at this cute display of affection not really thinking much about the song.
“It’s My Party” by Leslie Gore is one of those 1960s pop songs that everyone knows. It’s so deeply embedded into our pop culture that we don’t really think about it. Like a single tree in a forest, what makes this song unique and special gets lost in the larger view.
Then I read in Rolling Stone that Amy Whinehouse teamed up with Mark Ronson to record this song on a tribute album to Quincy Jones. Now I absolutely love Ronson’s work with Whinehouse. Ronson’s signature as a producer is to record 1960s style background instrumentals with live instruments mixed with an dark modern sensibility. With songs like “Rehab” he created grooves that were so undeniably infectious that you can’t help but take notice.
I immediately downloaded this song from iTunes and listened to it in awe.
I personally love Amy Whinehouse’s voice. It’s a beautiful soulful disaster and I understand why her voice sounds to some as incomprehensible warbling, but it works for me. Regardless of how you feel about the vocals you got to give credit to Ronson’s brilliant production. It’s groovy, dark and mysterious.
Now you may be wondering as I was, what “It’s My Party” has to do with Quincy Jones. Well, Jones who has produced some of the most important music in popular culture (everything from Count Basie to Michael Jackson’s Thriller) started his career with “It’s My Party” as the first single he produced.
If you take a listen to Leslie Gore’s version carefully with fresh ear you realize how astounding this song is.
Quincy Jones' instrumental arrangements are impossibly intricate and tight (check out the brass hits right before Gore starts singing). The bass and drums lock in like a drum machine but groove like only live musicians can.
In front of all of this is Leslie Gore’s vocals. Somehow Jones pushes her voice into the foreground in the recording so her voice is right in your face. It’s impossible to ignore her voice in a texture of instruments that she could have easily gotten drowned out if not for Jones production.
Then there’s the odd but brilliantly powerfully lyrics about a girl who’s heart is being broken at her own party but exclaims that since it’s her party she can do whatever she wants, even cry. This is a powerful embrace of emotion and through this statement, there is independence and a whole lot of soul. When she sings “you would cry to, if it happen to you” you realize she’s right.
Sometimes we take for granted for things that are always around and when you take a look a closer look at something with a fresh perspective you never know what you can find.
“It’s My Party” by Leslie Gore is one of those 1960s pop songs that everyone knows. It’s so deeply embedded into our pop culture that we don’t really think about it. Like a single tree in a forest, what makes this song unique and special gets lost in the larger view.
Then I read in Rolling Stone that Amy Whinehouse teamed up with Mark Ronson to record this song on a tribute album to Quincy Jones. Now I absolutely love Ronson’s work with Whinehouse. Ronson’s signature as a producer is to record 1960s style background instrumentals with live instruments mixed with an dark modern sensibility. With songs like “Rehab” he created grooves that were so undeniably infectious that you can’t help but take notice.
I immediately downloaded this song from iTunes and listened to it in awe.
I personally love Amy Whinehouse’s voice. It’s a beautiful soulful disaster and I understand why her voice sounds to some as incomprehensible warbling, but it works for me. Regardless of how you feel about the vocals you got to give credit to Ronson’s brilliant production. It’s groovy, dark and mysterious.
Now you may be wondering as I was, what “It’s My Party” has to do with Quincy Jones. Well, Jones who has produced some of the most important music in popular culture (everything from Count Basie to Michael Jackson’s Thriller) started his career with “It’s My Party” as the first single he produced.
If you take a listen to Leslie Gore’s version carefully with fresh ear you realize how astounding this song is.
Quincy Jones' instrumental arrangements are impossibly intricate and tight (check out the brass hits right before Gore starts singing). The bass and drums lock in like a drum machine but groove like only live musicians can.
In front of all of this is Leslie Gore’s vocals. Somehow Jones pushes her voice into the foreground in the recording so her voice is right in your face. It’s impossible to ignore her voice in a texture of instruments that she could have easily gotten drowned out if not for Jones production.
Then there’s the odd but brilliantly powerfully lyrics about a girl who’s heart is being broken at her own party but exclaims that since it’s her party she can do whatever she wants, even cry. This is a powerful embrace of emotion and through this statement, there is independence and a whole lot of soul. When she sings “you would cry to, if it happen to you” you realize she’s right.
Sometimes we take for granted for things that are always around and when you take a look a closer look at something with a fresh perspective you never know what you can find.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Nobody But Me by The Human Beinz
I love The Office.
What a way to open the season. "Nobody But Me" was originally written and recorded by The Isley Brothers.
The Human Beinz simplified the song down and changed it from a soul classic to a 1960s garage band anthem. The actually name of the band was suppose to be The Human Beingz, but Capitol Records left the "g" out when they released "Nobody But Me" and they didn't want to correct it.
Here they are The Human Beinz performing their 1967 hit, a couple months ago!
What a way to open the season. "Nobody But Me" was originally written and recorded by The Isley Brothers.
The Human Beinz simplified the song down and changed it from a soul classic to a 1960s garage band anthem. The actually name of the band was suppose to be The Human Beingz, but Capitol Records left the "g" out when they released "Nobody But Me" and they didn't want to correct it.
Here they are The Human Beinz performing their 1967 hit, a couple months ago!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
California Girls (Gurls) by The Beach Boys (Katy Perry)
“California Girls” by The Beach Boys is an important benchmark for the band providing a glimpse into the genius they would reveal the next year in 1966 with their album Pet Sounds. This song may not have featured the most progressive of lyrics but demonstrated a wide array of tone colors and a remarkable musical depth that inspired band like the Beatles to think outside of the box.
“California Gurls” is a song recorded by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg inspired by Jay-Z’s tribute to New York, “Empire State Of Mind.” Released in late May of this year, this song has gone on to become one of the most popular songs of this summer. Katy’s song is a throwback musically and lyrically with 1980s influenced synthesized sounds and cultural references (“Daisy-Dukes”?!? How old do you have to be to get that reference?). Oh, and the music video features Perry transforming her swim suit into a whip cream canon giving the illusions of lactating whip cream out of her mammary glands . . . yeah. . . not so hot.
One of my friends suggested I look at the Katy Perry song but I couldn't help but think about The Beach Boys song that basically has the same name. Does it make sense to compare songs that were recorded 44 years apart? They are from completely different times with completely different musical sensibilities but they do share a spiritual connection.
Both of these songs are tributes to the California from different perspectives. The Beach Boys claim they have traveled the world and while all these other girls they have met are great they don’t match California girls. Katy takes the perspective of an insider talking about how great her girls are and how they will “melt your Popsicle” (man, I don’t even know where to take this one).
What’s stands out to me after listening to these two songs is how progressive the Beach Boys were in their production of their song. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Katy Perry (one of my earlier posts was about “Hot N Cold”), but my God, really listen to what The Beach Boys were doing.
They open “California Girls” with a slow guitar sparkling like the reflection of a sunrise in the ocean. Through the first verse, the Beach Boys add layers of instruments but it’s the second verse where the music gets blown wide open. It’s like someone coming around a corner and suddenly seeing a beach full of people partying and surfing in the sun. The back-up singing, the saxophones, the shining vibraphone and the booming percussion create a Cathedral of soun.
Pointing this out is not a knock against Katy Perry. She has again demonstrated her ability to create catchy tunes, perfect to dance too, exuding her quirky and infectious personality through her vocal performance.
For me, "California Gurls" doesn't quite work for me, some of it is the weird imagery from the video, but most of it comes from comparing it The Beach Boys song which I can't help with song titles so similar.
If you love Katy's song, party on!! More power to you, every summer needs a song to dance to and Katy's given us a great one. I'll be here listening to music that's older than I am wondering how The Beach Boys captured the innocence and wonder of summer in music . . . disturbed by the imagery of a girl angrily shooting whip cream out of her bikini top.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Baby by Justin Bieber
It’s rare that I experience I piece of music without any preconceptions. Most of the time when I listen to new music I know the artist and/or know something about the song. Also most of the time I listen to the song, but I don’t really experience it.
Don’t get me wrong, listening to a song is an active and vital way to interact with music but it’s a different when you perform a song or dance to it. This is why dancing to “Baby” this week was one of the of the greatest musical experiences I’ve had in recent memory.
Let me explain.
For the past two weeks I’ve taken an Orff level 1 class at Vadercook College of Music in Chicago. Carl Orff was a composer who helped develop an approach to teaching music to children that revolutionized music education bringing the natural way children play, create and interact with music into the classroom.
Motion is a big part of Orff’s approach which I'm not great at. During the movement part of the Orff class I felt self-conscious, insecure and a little silly dancing around the room creating different shapes and waving scarves around (this is a sarcastic analysis of the role of movement if Orff curriculum, there's a lot more going on here).
Part way through the our motion session last Wednesday when we were learning folk dances something started happening. I noticed that I was picking up the dance steps quickly and that I was pretty good at this. Then I started having fun and not caring about the way I looked to the people around.
As we neared the end of the session, the instructor told us we were going to do the same folk dance we had just practiced to traditional music to some different music. As the music started, I heard gentle guitar plucks and the vocalization of a young singer and before I knew it we started dancing. The folk dance started with the group in a large circle so when the group started going you had to dance or get run over.
I didn't have time to think about the song, all I could do was dance to it staying completely in the moment. Before I knew it an uncontrollable smile came upon my face and as I lost myself moving to the music.
After the dance was over, someone identified the song as “Baby” by Justin Bieber. No, I haven’t been under a rock, I know who Justin Bieber is, I just haven’t listened to any of his music. I’ve heard plenty about him and I’m really glad that I didn’t know it was him before I started dancing or else I wouldn’t have enjoyed the music filled with the negativity I've heard about his music.
I don't know what the fuss is all about. “Baby” is a perfectly fine pop song. It’s nicely crafted. There’s not a lot of frills or anything musically revolutionary but it’s fun and my experience dancing to it was unforgettable. Sometimes it's more than the music that makes a song important to us. Sometimes it's the way we experience it that makes it meaningful and dancing to "Baby" made this song unforgettable for me.
Driving home from class I was so excited about the idea of teaching movement and dancing to my students next year. There are many reasons to teach dancing. I could write a dissertation on the educational benefits of movement activities but it wasn’t until last Wednesday I realized how much fun folk dancing could be and how much I want to help my students attain the feeling pure joy that came from experiencing music through dance.
Don’t get me wrong, listening to a song is an active and vital way to interact with music but it’s a different when you perform a song or dance to it. This is why dancing to “Baby” this week was one of the of the greatest musical experiences I’ve had in recent memory.
Let me explain.
For the past two weeks I’ve taken an Orff level 1 class at Vadercook College of Music in Chicago. Carl Orff was a composer who helped develop an approach to teaching music to children that revolutionized music education bringing the natural way children play, create and interact with music into the classroom.
Motion is a big part of Orff’s approach which I'm not great at. During the movement part of the Orff class I felt self-conscious, insecure and a little silly dancing around the room creating different shapes and waving scarves around (this is a sarcastic analysis of the role of movement if Orff curriculum, there's a lot more going on here).
Part way through the our motion session last Wednesday when we were learning folk dances something started happening. I noticed that I was picking up the dance steps quickly and that I was pretty good at this. Then I started having fun and not caring about the way I looked to the people around.
As we neared the end of the session, the instructor told us we were going to do the same folk dance we had just practiced to traditional music to some different music. As the music started, I heard gentle guitar plucks and the vocalization of a young singer and before I knew it we started dancing. The folk dance started with the group in a large circle so when the group started going you had to dance or get run over.
I didn't have time to think about the song, all I could do was dance to it staying completely in the moment. Before I knew it an uncontrollable smile came upon my face and as I lost myself moving to the music.
After the dance was over, someone identified the song as “Baby” by Justin Bieber. No, I haven’t been under a rock, I know who Justin Bieber is, I just haven’t listened to any of his music. I’ve heard plenty about him and I’m really glad that I didn’t know it was him before I started dancing or else I wouldn’t have enjoyed the music filled with the negativity I've heard about his music.
I don't know what the fuss is all about. “Baby” is a perfectly fine pop song. It’s nicely crafted. There’s not a lot of frills or anything musically revolutionary but it’s fun and my experience dancing to it was unforgettable. Sometimes it's more than the music that makes a song important to us. Sometimes it's the way we experience it that makes it meaningful and dancing to "Baby" made this song unforgettable for me.
Driving home from class I was so excited about the idea of teaching movement and dancing to my students next year. There are many reasons to teach dancing. I could write a dissertation on the educational benefits of movement activities but it wasn’t until last Wednesday I realized how much fun folk dancing could be and how much I want to help my students attain the feeling pure joy that came from experiencing music through dance.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Why you should be proud to love Twilight: Eclipse
As I’ve been seeing people in the last couple days the normal “what have you been up to?” question has come up and I answer with one of the most significant events of last weekend: “I saw The Twilight Saga: Eclipse with my wife.”
I’ve been getting one of two responses, the standard “Twilight is crap and people who enjoy the books and the movies are idiots for liking them (even though I haven’t read the books or seen the movies myself)” or more interestingly a sheepish acknowledgment that they had seen the film and in general enjoyed the experience. It’s this latter response that I want to address.
I’m not really going to get into too much what I thought about the film but in general I liked it. The overall Twilight storyline continues to maintain my interest. The back-stories of the vampires were great, I loved the guy who was a confederate soldier and Dakota Fanning as the Darth Vader vampire was really fun. While the dialogue was often sub-par, the portrayal of teenagers trying to figure out romance was pretty dead on. If you think that Bella isn’t a realistic character you haven’t spent a lot of time around teenagers.
Is this the best film of the year? Of course not, am I interested to see the next film? yeah, but strangely I find myself almost afraid to admit this to people I talk to, much like the people who are afraid to relate to me that they have seen the film too.
Whether or not we enjoy a piece of art doesn’t always have to do with objective analysis of the quality of a work. The fact that our enjoyment of art isn’t something that is objective is one thing that makes the way we feel about art so meaningful and special.
For example, I really dislike the Black Eyed Peas song “I Gotta Feeling.”
This song is not very interesting to me, there’s little to no depth in it as a pop song and the really catchy hook in this song is used to death. When I’m at a wedding and this song comes on and everyone gets up and dances and is loving the song, who is the one that is missing out? I am. I would be much happier if I liked this song.
My aversion of "I Gotta Feeling" is my loss. In the same breath if you love something and someone else around you doesn’t it’s their loss. They are the one who is missing out and it doesn’t matter what they say at the end of their day, there life is less full of joy because there is one thing out there that they dislike.
Be proud of what you love and if someone decides to bash something you like just let them say their fill and move on with your life. Don't try to fight them or convert them. You can't reason with someone who is being unreasonable. Remember people who respond to your excitement with negativity are simply jealous and bitter because they feel left out of all the fun that you are having.
Experience art that you love and love the art you experience.
I’ve been getting one of two responses, the standard “Twilight is crap and people who enjoy the books and the movies are idiots for liking them (even though I haven’t read the books or seen the movies myself)” or more interestingly a sheepish acknowledgment that they had seen the film and in general enjoyed the experience. It’s this latter response that I want to address.
I’m not really going to get into too much what I thought about the film but in general I liked it. The overall Twilight storyline continues to maintain my interest. The back-stories of the vampires were great, I loved the guy who was a confederate soldier and Dakota Fanning as the Darth Vader vampire was really fun. While the dialogue was often sub-par, the portrayal of teenagers trying to figure out romance was pretty dead on. If you think that Bella isn’t a realistic character you haven’t spent a lot of time around teenagers.
Is this the best film of the year? Of course not, am I interested to see the next film? yeah, but strangely I find myself almost afraid to admit this to people I talk to, much like the people who are afraid to relate to me that they have seen the film too.
Whether or not we enjoy a piece of art doesn’t always have to do with objective analysis of the quality of a work. The fact that our enjoyment of art isn’t something that is objective is one thing that makes the way we feel about art so meaningful and special.
For example, I really dislike the Black Eyed Peas song “I Gotta Feeling.”
This song is not very interesting to me, there’s little to no depth in it as a pop song and the really catchy hook in this song is used to death. When I’m at a wedding and this song comes on and everyone gets up and dances and is loving the song, who is the one that is missing out? I am. I would be much happier if I liked this song.
My aversion of "I Gotta Feeling" is my loss. In the same breath if you love something and someone else around you doesn’t it’s their loss. They are the one who is missing out and it doesn’t matter what they say at the end of their day, there life is less full of joy because there is one thing out there that they dislike.
Be proud of what you love and if someone decides to bash something you like just let them say their fill and move on with your life. Don't try to fight them or convert them. You can't reason with someone who is being unreasonable. Remember people who respond to your excitement with negativity are simply jealous and bitter because they feel left out of all the fun that you are having.
Experience art that you love and love the art you experience.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Hot In Herre by Nelly
It’s getting hot over here in Chicago.
A perfectly logical response to the warming of temperature is to take off articles of clothing, sweaters, hats, jackets, scarf.
Nelly took this a step further. Forget about taking of some of your clothes to cool, “it’s getting hot in herre so take of all of your clothes." This statement would be completely absurd except for the fact the response from the woman in this situation of rising temperature agrees, “I am getting so hot, I’m going to take my clothes off.”
What, is Nelly a hypnotist or something? Really, could he have said, “it’s getting hot herre, so give all of your money” and then the woman would response, “I am getting so hot, I’m going to give you all of my money!”
Okay, okay, I guess this whole “take off all your clothes,” is a natural sensual extension of the idea of one taking some clothes off because of heat. Hey you’re at a party things are getting crazy, why not flirt with the idea of getting naked? Lord knows it's better than what I could have come up with: “It’s getting hot in herre, so open all your windows."
I am SURE that some person who maybe had a little bit too much to drink heard Nelly’s suggestion on how to cool off and actually did take all of their clothes off. You don’t think so? Well, we are a pretty suggestible society; “Hot In Heere” sold over 500,00 copies.
I was in college when this song hit and it was played at every party I went to. There is a lot built into this song that makes it fun to dance to from syncopated bass line to the fascinatingly internal logic of the chorus. There’s plenty of “uh, uh,” Nelly asks for that a crowd can provide (maybe instead of repeatedly asking for a little he should have asked for a lot). Then there’s the lines set apart from the rhythm of the rap like “I think mah butt in there!!” that fun to sing along with.
My favorite part:
Stop pacing, time wasting
I gotta a friend with a fo' in the basement (What?)
I'm just kiddin like Jason (Oh)
Unless you gon' do it.
I don’t even know what he has in the basement but you know it’s something that the girl is kind of offended by but Nelly doesn't care.
Awesome.
One final note about this song apparently extra "R" in "Herre" is not a pronunciation thing but a rather an indication that is really hot. If this song was “Hot In Herrre” books would be igniting into flame.
Don't worry Chicago, no matter how catchy this song is and how hot it gets I will keep my clothes on.
What a song.
Now enjoy Weird Al's version.
A perfectly logical response to the warming of temperature is to take off articles of clothing, sweaters, hats, jackets, scarf.
Nelly took this a step further. Forget about taking of some of your clothes to cool, “it’s getting hot in herre so take of all of your clothes." This statement would be completely absurd except for the fact the response from the woman in this situation of rising temperature agrees, “I am getting so hot, I’m going to take my clothes off.”
What, is Nelly a hypnotist or something? Really, could he have said, “it’s getting hot herre, so give all of your money” and then the woman would response, “I am getting so hot, I’m going to give you all of my money!”
Okay, okay, I guess this whole “take off all your clothes,” is a natural sensual extension of the idea of one taking some clothes off because of heat. Hey you’re at a party things are getting crazy, why not flirt with the idea of getting naked? Lord knows it's better than what I could have come up with: “It’s getting hot in herre, so open all your windows."
I am SURE that some person who maybe had a little bit too much to drink heard Nelly’s suggestion on how to cool off and actually did take all of their clothes off. You don’t think so? Well, we are a pretty suggestible society; “Hot In Heere” sold over 500,00 copies.
I was in college when this song hit and it was played at every party I went to. There is a lot built into this song that makes it fun to dance to from syncopated bass line to the fascinatingly internal logic of the chorus. There’s plenty of “uh, uh,” Nelly asks for that a crowd can provide (maybe instead of repeatedly asking for a little he should have asked for a lot). Then there’s the lines set apart from the rhythm of the rap like “I think mah butt in there!!” that fun to sing along with.
My favorite part:
Stop pacing, time wasting
I gotta a friend with a fo' in the basement (What?)
I'm just kiddin like Jason (Oh)
Unless you gon' do it.
I don’t even know what he has in the basement but you know it’s something that the girl is kind of offended by but Nelly doesn't care.
Awesome.
One final note about this song apparently extra "R" in "Herre" is not a pronunciation thing but a rather an indication that is really hot. If this song was “Hot In Herrre” books would be igniting into flame.
Don't worry Chicago, no matter how catchy this song is and how hot it gets I will keep my clothes on.
What a song.
Now enjoy Weird Al's version.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Hey Ya! by Outkast
While “shake it like a Polaroid picture” became of the most popular phrases of 2003, it doesn’t really work all that well in practice. At the last wedding I was at “Hey Ya!” came on and when the end dance break hit and I watched girls try to shake “it” as if “it” was a rapidly developing photograph. . . yeah . . . not such a good idea.
I still remember the first time I heard this song. My brother sent me the album that "Hey Ya" was on and I received it right before leaving for the airport. In a hurry I uploaded the CD onto itunes and put it on my ipod, got in the cab and got to the airport.
Sitting outside the gate with about half an hour to kill I got out my ipod and listened to “Hey Ya!” My immediate reaction was “what the. . .?!?” Simply mystified by what I heard I listened to the song again and again. After listening to the song repeatedly for half an hour I was convinced I had heard the greatest song ever.
It seemed at the time that the entire world agreed with me. Even if you spent the entirety of 2003 stuck in a cave with your head buried in the ground, you heard “Hey Ya!” This spastic, surreal, pop hit ruled the air waves, dance clubs and internet videos.
Like many popular songs it couldn’t be avoided and through no fault of the song itself, “Hey Ya!” got kind of old. Somewhere along the line screaming “ICE COLD!!” to the question “what’s cooler than being cool?” stopped being clever and simply was a logical answer to a inquiry about temperature.
How does this song hold up now? “Hey Ya!” still sounds like nothing else. The best description I can give for this song is “A Prince song with a touch of crazy, mixed up with the Beatles with a dash of the surrealism.” The sense of humor throughout this song which is not as fresh as it was when the song first came out but it’s still fun.
The musical invention is still impressive. The mixed meter pattern (4+4+4+2) provides a steady but off-kilter feeling. The combination of acoustic guitar with weird synthesized colors contributes to a campy feeling and the reflective lyrics questioning the nature of relationships are blunt and honest, “Why are you so in denial when you know we’re not happy here?”
What sticks with me now more then anything else is the juxtaposition of the overly happy chorus with the doubtful lyrics. It’s like someone is pretending to be happy and is trying too hard. Like someone at a party who is putting a front, it’s just plain awkward.
All of this makes the reality of the statement, “shake it like a Polaroid picture, ” make that much more sense.
I still remember the first time I heard this song. My brother sent me the album that "Hey Ya" was on and I received it right before leaving for the airport. In a hurry I uploaded the CD onto itunes and put it on my ipod, got in the cab and got to the airport.
Sitting outside the gate with about half an hour to kill I got out my ipod and listened to “Hey Ya!” My immediate reaction was “what the. . .?!?” Simply mystified by what I heard I listened to the song again and again. After listening to the song repeatedly for half an hour I was convinced I had heard the greatest song ever.
It seemed at the time that the entire world agreed with me. Even if you spent the entirety of 2003 stuck in a cave with your head buried in the ground, you heard “Hey Ya!” This spastic, surreal, pop hit ruled the air waves, dance clubs and internet videos.
Like many popular songs it couldn’t be avoided and through no fault of the song itself, “Hey Ya!” got kind of old. Somewhere along the line screaming “ICE COLD!!” to the question “what’s cooler than being cool?” stopped being clever and simply was a logical answer to a inquiry about temperature.
How does this song hold up now? “Hey Ya!” still sounds like nothing else. The best description I can give for this song is “A Prince song with a touch of crazy, mixed up with the Beatles with a dash of the surrealism.” The sense of humor throughout this song which is not as fresh as it was when the song first came out but it’s still fun.
The musical invention is still impressive. The mixed meter pattern (4+4+4+2) provides a steady but off-kilter feeling. The combination of acoustic guitar with weird synthesized colors contributes to a campy feeling and the reflective lyrics questioning the nature of relationships are blunt and honest, “Why are you so in denial when you know we’re not happy here?”
What sticks with me now more then anything else is the juxtaposition of the overly happy chorus with the doubtful lyrics. It’s like someone is pretending to be happy and is trying too hard. Like someone at a party who is putting a front, it’s just plain awkward.
All of this makes the reality of the statement, “shake it like a Polaroid picture, ” make that much more sense.
Friday, May 14, 2010
10 Reasons To Get Excited About Music: #4-1
[to see the first part of this list #10-8 click on this link]
10. Music Gods Still Walk The Face Of The Earth
9. American Idol and Glee are teaching the youth of America (and some of us who need refreshers) the history of pop music.
8. Rock Is Broadway
[to see the second part of this list #7-5 click on this link]
7. Teen Music Doesn’t Suck
6. Rolling Stone Is A Great Magazine
5. Music Is Everywhere
Now, we have the final four . . .
4. Genre? What's A Genre?
The lines between musical genres have been obliterated. Marketing people would love to define what we listen to into categories, too bad popular music has made this nigh impossible.
You Want to rap over rock? Go for it.
You want to record a country album? Why not?
Record a hit song as a kids record? Sure
Breaking genres is awesome for artists so they can express their art and not categories. As for us as an audience, we get to listen to anything we want as we explore music not because of its genre but despite it. Marketing companies no longer have power to tell us what we shall listen. We have the power.
3. Music Is Funny Again
Sometimes we take music too seriously. In the 1980s Weird Al Yankovich provided much needed perspective and relief from the sometimes preposterous hits of the 1980s. I mean really, Michael Jackson stopping a gang knife fight? Really?
While artist like The Barenaked Ladies and Brad Paisley continue to inject humor into music, there is a certain amount of darkness and gravity in popular music. Thank God the clouds are breaking and it's okay to laugh again.
From "I'm On A Boat" to "D*&$ In A Box," Andy Samberg with help from Saturday Night Live has reintroduced to us how great it is to laugh at music.
Glee is showing us how the context can point out the absurdity of great pop music and watching people sing atrociously bad on American Idol is a little bit of Shadenfruede we've all enjoyed. We can't forget youtube.com which as disseminated more musical humor both intentional and unintentional than Weird Al could ever imagine.
2. Twilight Is Changing The Way We Listen To Music
The soundtrack to the Twilight film adaptations of the best-selling Stephanie Meyer vampire saga are actually soundtracks. These aren't corporate marketing tools laced with singles meants to cash out on a film. Remember soundtracks like Batman Forever that featured the Seal hit "Kiss From A Rose"? That sound was recorded before the film and had nothing to do with Batman.10. Music Gods Still Walk The Face Of The Earth
9. American Idol and Glee are teaching the youth of America (and some of us who need refreshers) the history of pop music.
8. Rock Is Broadway
[to see the second part of this list #7-5 click on this link]
7. Teen Music Doesn’t Suck
6. Rolling Stone Is A Great Magazine
5. Music Is Everywhere
Now, we have the final four . . .
4. Genre? What's A Genre?
The lines between musical genres have been obliterated. Marketing people would love to define what we listen to into categories, too bad popular music has made this nigh impossible.
You Want to rap over rock? Go for it.
You want to record a country album? Why not?
Record a hit song as a kids record? Sure
Breaking genres is awesome for artists so they can express their art and not categories. As for us as an audience, we get to listen to anything we want as we explore music not because of its genre but despite it. Marketing companies no longer have power to tell us what we shall listen. We have the power.
3. Music Is Funny Again
Sometimes we take music too seriously. In the 1980s Weird Al Yankovich provided much needed perspective and relief from the sometimes preposterous hits of the 1980s. I mean really, Michael Jackson stopping a gang knife fight? Really?
While artist like The Barenaked Ladies and Brad Paisley continue to inject humor into music, there is a certain amount of darkness and gravity in popular music. Thank God the clouds are breaking and it's okay to laugh again.
From "I'm On A Boat" to "D*&$ In A Box," Andy Samberg with help from Saturday Night Live has reintroduced to us how great it is to laugh at music.
Glee is showing us how the context can point out the absurdity of great pop music and watching people sing atrociously bad on American Idol is a little bit of Shadenfruede we've all enjoyed. We can't forget youtube.com which as disseminated more musical humor both intentional and unintentional than Weird Al could ever imagine.
2. Twilight Is Changing The Way We Listen To Music
Now you may not like Twilight or the music associated with this series but you to admit that the integration of these two art forms is an exciting developments in literature and music. When done right like in a great film, combining the right music with the right book has the potential to create deeper and more powerful artistic experiences.
I can't wait to buy a book that comes with its own soundtrack.
1. Music Can't Die.
The idea that "rock is dead" or any kind of music or art being "dead" is like saying that humanity is dead. This pessimistic viewpoint not only goes against music but ourselves, our potential, our hopes and our dreams.
Yes, there are ups and downs in music. Even at the best of times there is mediocre music in our popular culture but without fail great artists and great music remind us why we love music.
The only way that the people we love truly die is if we somehow exorcise their spirit from our being. This however is an impossibility because every moment, every conversation and every song not only influences who we are but is everything that we are.
Love the music you listen to and the listen to music that you love.
The idea that "rock is dead" or any kind of music or art being "dead" is like saying that humanity is dead. This pessimistic viewpoint not only goes against music but ourselves, our potential, our hopes and our dreams.
Yes, there are ups and downs in music. Even at the best of times there is mediocre music in our popular culture but without fail great artists and great music remind us why we love music.
The only way that the people we love truly die is if we somehow exorcise their spirit from our being. This however is an impossibility because every moment, every conversation and every song not only influences who we are but is everything that we are.
Love the music you listen to and the listen to music that you love.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Billy Elliot!
Billy Elliot! is the best new Broadway show that I’ve ever seen in the past ten years.
I haven’t seen every new Broadway show that’s out there but I saw Wicked and the Jersey Boys which had long and successful runs in Chicago, where I live. While seeing both of these shows were fantastic experiences, they didn’t really work for me.
As much as seeing witches fly in Wicked was awe-inspiring and as original the story is, the music is inconsistent. What’s disappointing is that the music sounds like “Broadway music” falling into this new modern musical genre of songs that are a little bit too long with words that simply aren’t that meaningful.
Jersey Boys featured beautifully performed and authentic 1960s pop music but totally side-stepped some important historical plot points, like how they stole most of their musical ideas from African-American performers. The best part of the show ended up being the fact that it becomes an oldies sing-along concert which while fun, is NOT what I’m looking for in a Broadway show. It would have been far more effective as a concert at Ravinia.
Billy Elliot! embraces what it means to be a musical, utilizing all of the artistic elements for one reason: to tell the story. The acting is direct and passionate. The set designs while not revolutionary skillfully creates Billy’s world. The music, brilliant composed by Elton John, adds depth and emotion while not drawing much attention to itself.
Then there’s the dancing.
I have never been impressed with dancing at a Broadway show and I’ve been to over a dozen shows. More often than not the dancing in shows feels like an afterthought, but in Billy Elliot! the dancing is breathtaking.
Check out the “angry dance” after Billy’s dad prevents him from perusing his dream and audition for the Royal Ballet School.
What you saw on the Tony Awards stage is exactly what I saw on stage. The brilliant use of the coal sign and the riot police shields perfectly represents how the conflict in Billy’s community is affecting his life.
Billy Eliot! is based on a film, which features an 11-year-old Jamie Bell giving one of the best child performances in film.
[the only reason this film is rated R is because of the use of swear words, otherwise it’s a PG film].
Elton John and company tell this story and takes the emotional beatsof the films and expanded them onto the stage. For example, here is the original “angry dance” from the film.
The film does things with the camera that you can’t do on stage, and there are things happening on stage that you simply can’t do in film. While it’s the same, it’s different. If you’ve seen the film, you can expect to feel the same emotional notes but in a completely different way.
If you haven’t seen the film, go rent it. It feels as good as the cheesy music in the trailer promises. It’s a great film, mature and smart (in some ways feels like a great sports films). If you’re a musical and you’re in Chicago you have to see Billy Elliot! C’mon, this show made me almost cry when Billy finally does a boy pirouette after weeks of practice.
There’s no greater compliment for a piece of art than to say that it makes you want to experience more art. Billy Eliot! not only makes you wish you could watch the whole musical all over again but it also makes you want to dance.
I haven’t seen every new Broadway show that’s out there but I saw Wicked and the Jersey Boys which had long and successful runs in Chicago, where I live. While seeing both of these shows were fantastic experiences, they didn’t really work for me.
As much as seeing witches fly in Wicked was awe-inspiring and as original the story is, the music is inconsistent. What’s disappointing is that the music sounds like “Broadway music” falling into this new modern musical genre of songs that are a little bit too long with words that simply aren’t that meaningful.
Jersey Boys featured beautifully performed and authentic 1960s pop music but totally side-stepped some important historical plot points, like how they stole most of their musical ideas from African-American performers. The best part of the show ended up being the fact that it becomes an oldies sing-along concert which while fun, is NOT what I’m looking for in a Broadway show. It would have been far more effective as a concert at Ravinia.
Billy Elliot! embraces what it means to be a musical, utilizing all of the artistic elements for one reason: to tell the story. The acting is direct and passionate. The set designs while not revolutionary skillfully creates Billy’s world. The music, brilliant composed by Elton John, adds depth and emotion while not drawing much attention to itself.
Then there’s the dancing.
I have never been impressed with dancing at a Broadway show and I’ve been to over a dozen shows. More often than not the dancing in shows feels like an afterthought, but in Billy Elliot! the dancing is breathtaking.
Check out the “angry dance” after Billy’s dad prevents him from perusing his dream and audition for the Royal Ballet School.
What you saw on the Tony Awards stage is exactly what I saw on stage. The brilliant use of the coal sign and the riot police shields perfectly represents how the conflict in Billy’s community is affecting his life.
Billy Eliot! is based on a film, which features an 11-year-old Jamie Bell giving one of the best child performances in film.
[the only reason this film is rated R is because of the use of swear words, otherwise it’s a PG film].
Elton John and company tell this story and takes the emotional beatsof the films and expanded them onto the stage. For example, here is the original “angry dance” from the film.
The film does things with the camera that you can’t do on stage, and there are things happening on stage that you simply can’t do in film. While it’s the same, it’s different. If you’ve seen the film, you can expect to feel the same emotional notes but in a completely different way.
If you haven’t seen the film, go rent it. It feels as good as the cheesy music in the trailer promises. It’s a great film, mature and smart (in some ways feels like a great sports films). If you’re a musical and you’re in Chicago you have to see Billy Elliot! C’mon, this show made me almost cry when Billy finally does a boy pirouette after weeks of practice.
There’s no greater compliment for a piece of art than to say that it makes you want to experience more art. Billy Eliot! not only makes you wish you could watch the whole musical all over again but it also makes you want to dance.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Shake A Tail Feather by The Five Du-Tones
It
Jelly
Jelly
Back
Booty
Rump
Booty
Rump
Bottom
Groove Thang
Figured out what we’re talking about yet?
Throughout the history of popular music artists have come up with different words for the buttocks. Maybe it’s because “buttocks” is kind of a hard word to rhyme with or because using euphemism for this body part got around the censors. But it’s probably because using slang is simply more fun. And one of the first songs in popular music to sing about the buttocks was “Shake A Tail Feather.”
Most people know this song from the Ray Charles performance in The Blue Brothers.
There were many memorable scenes from this film, considered by many the best films inspired by a Saturday Night Live skit, but few capture the sheer joy of soul music like Ray Charles convincing the Jake and Elwood the quality of a second hand organ by singing “Shake A Tail Feather.”
The origins of this song begin almost twenty years earlier when the Chicago-based group the Five Du-Tones originally recorded “Shake a Tail Feather in 1963.
A joyous and carefree song, “Shake A Tail Feather” portrays a man trying to convince a girl to go out dancing with him. The four lines of first and only verse in this song act as an invitation to dance building up to the chorus.
The chorus starts with a bang on the word “Twist it” but then pulls the momentum back down building up from “bend over, let me you see you shake your tail feather” back up into the beginning of next chorus in an celebratory and infectious way.
The Five Du-Tones recording of this song is a mess, but it’s a beautiful one. It’s got a great groove but it’s not exactly steady and though the vocals are soulful they are a little out of control at moments, but all these shortcoming don't really matter. There’s an electricity and energy in the dirtiness of this recording that you rarely hear in music of today.
In the 1970s as part, Ike & Tina Turner included “Shake A Tail feather” as part of their famous touring review. While there is no doubt that Ike Turner was physically and emotionally abusive to Tina Turner, he was a musical genius polishing soul music up for the masses without loosing its grit and soul.
This recording of “Shake a Tail Feather” is ferocious featuring Tina’s voice, one of the most powerful in rock music. The hilarious exchange between Tina and her back-up singers goading each other on to shake each other’s “tail feather” is hilarious, fun and kind of dirty.
Then in 2003 came “Shake Ya Tailfeather” by Nelly featuring Puff Daddy and Murphy Lee, a rap song written for the Will Smith film Bad Boys 2.
Even though this song won the Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or a group, this song is a mediocre showing that completely drops the ball on an amazing musical opportunity. Instead of sampling “Shake a Tail Feather” or utilizing the phrase with any prominence, it is uttered at the end of the chorus. This song lacks any of the infectious energy that both Nelly and Puff Daddy often featured in their music.
Groove Thang
Figured out what we’re talking about yet?
Throughout the history of popular music artists have come up with different words for the buttocks. Maybe it’s because “buttocks” is kind of a hard word to rhyme with or because using euphemism for this body part got around the censors. But it’s probably because using slang is simply more fun. And one of the first songs in popular music to sing about the buttocks was “Shake A Tail Feather.”
Most people know this song from the Ray Charles performance in The Blue Brothers.
There were many memorable scenes from this film, considered by many the best films inspired by a Saturday Night Live skit, but few capture the sheer joy of soul music like Ray Charles convincing the Jake and Elwood the quality of a second hand organ by singing “Shake A Tail Feather.”
The origins of this song begin almost twenty years earlier when the Chicago-based group the Five Du-Tones originally recorded “Shake a Tail Feather in 1963.
A joyous and carefree song, “Shake A Tail Feather” portrays a man trying to convince a girl to go out dancing with him. The four lines of first and only verse in this song act as an invitation to dance building up to the chorus.
The chorus starts with a bang on the word “Twist it” but then pulls the momentum back down building up from “bend over, let me you see you shake your tail feather” back up into the beginning of next chorus in an celebratory and infectious way.
The Five Du-Tones recording of this song is a mess, but it’s a beautiful one. It’s got a great groove but it’s not exactly steady and though the vocals are soulful they are a little out of control at moments, but all these shortcoming don't really matter. There’s an electricity and energy in the dirtiness of this recording that you rarely hear in music of today.
In the 1970s as part, Ike & Tina Turner included “Shake A Tail feather” as part of their famous touring review. While there is no doubt that Ike Turner was physically and emotionally abusive to Tina Turner, he was a musical genius polishing soul music up for the masses without loosing its grit and soul.
This recording of “Shake a Tail Feather” is ferocious featuring Tina’s voice, one of the most powerful in rock music. The hilarious exchange between Tina and her back-up singers goading each other on to shake each other’s “tail feather” is hilarious, fun and kind of dirty.
Then in 2003 came “Shake Ya Tailfeather” by Nelly featuring Puff Daddy and Murphy Lee, a rap song written for the Will Smith film Bad Boys 2.
Even though this song won the Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or a group, this song is a mediocre showing that completely drops the ball on an amazing musical opportunity. Instead of sampling “Shake a Tail Feather” or utilizing the phrase with any prominence, it is uttered at the end of the chorus. This song lacks any of the infectious energy that both Nelly and Puff Daddy often featured in their music.
Someone needed to record this song again and bring the song back to its original glory. It is a travesty that a generation credit a mediocre rap song for introducing the phrase "shake a tail feather." Someone had to do something about this and two years later one band brought this song back to its roots: THE CHEETAH GIRLS!!!
Yeah, you heard me right, the Cheetah Girls.
A rock group created for a Disney television film (ala Hannah Montana), the Cheetah Girls recorded a version of “Shake A Tail Feather” for Disney’s CGI remake of Chicken Little.
Their version is exactly what you expect out of a Disney pre-teen orientated rock band. It’s poppy, fun, 60s inspired with the Disney’s characteristic musical sheen. Now watching the music video and seeing the silhouettes of the girls with actually tail feathers is a little disturbing and honestly do these girls have to be singing so sensually?
Sigh, whatever at least we are getting back to the roots of this song . . . wait a second . . . now that I think about it, isn't comparing a girl to a chicken isn't exactly flattering. Also, isn't this song a little demanding? He doesn't so much invite the girl to dance but demand it. The connotations imply a specific gender paradigm in which . . . Tang! STOP your brain and just enjoy the song. . . geez. . .
Yeah, you heard me right, the Cheetah Girls.
A rock group created for a Disney television film (ala Hannah Montana), the Cheetah Girls recorded a version of “Shake A Tail Feather” for Disney’s CGI remake of Chicken Little.
Their version is exactly what you expect out of a Disney pre-teen orientated rock band. It’s poppy, fun, 60s inspired with the Disney’s characteristic musical sheen. Now watching the music video and seeing the silhouettes of the girls with actually tail feathers is a little disturbing and honestly do these girls have to be singing so sensually?
Sigh, whatever at least we are getting back to the roots of this song . . . wait a second . . . now that I think about it, isn't comparing a girl to a chicken isn't exactly flattering. Also, isn't this song a little demanding? He doesn't so much invite the girl to dance but demand it. The connotations imply a specific gender paradigm in which . . . Tang! STOP your brain and just enjoy the song. . . geez. . .
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Paparazzi by Lady Gaga
My first encounter with Lady Gaga was hearing a group of my third grade students sing “Poker Face.” I had heard them talk about how much they liked this song and one of them brought it in for me to listen to.
When the song started, almost all of the students immediately started singing along with the opening instrumental hook, which was cute. Some of them started dancing around which was entertaining and also cute. The cuteness continued as they sang along to the lyrics. Then the line came “I’ll get them hot, show him what I’ve got” which was less cute and then the second verse rolled around and hearing a bunch of third graders sing “and baby when it’s love, if its not rough it isn’t fun” diminished any sense of cuteness.
This whole experience put a bad taste in my mouth when it came to Lady Gaga. I know that the kids had no idea what they were singing about and that it was harmless but it still felt a little weird. From my first impression, “Poker Face” seemed like a catchy dance song that had a good hook and was an obvious throwback to the 1980s.
But I wasn’t impressed and I didn’t really understand what the big deal about Lady Gaga was. Months pasts, I read about how Madonna loved her, learned about her background as a trained classical musician and couldn’t really ignore her presence on the popular music scene. However, the singles that came off of her album Fame simpy didn’t do much for me.
Once a month I take a look at the Billboard 200 charts and listen through the top 20 songs to stay current with what’s going on. After listening to Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears nonsensical single “3,” and the Black Eyed Peas” mediocre “I Gotta Feeling” I was ready to give up (good god the only reason these guys are popular has gotta be from a lack of options, I mean starting a song with repeating the same line for 1 and half minutes, seriously?!? “fill up my cup, Mazel tov” are you kidding? SIGH).
Does Oprah have any musical standards? That’s like her recommending a V. C. Andrews book for her book club.
Then I heard a thirty second clip of “Paparazzi,” Lady Gaga’s latest single, and I was blown away and immediately bought the song.
“Paparazzi” immediately reminds me of Madonna. Here is a song that is catchy, easy to dance to but also has intriguing lyrics that reflect contemporary issues. In “Like A Prayer” Madonna relates religious ecstasy to sexuality and in “Paparazzi” Lady Gaga examines the role of paparazzi in celebrity worship and stalking.
This song does sound a little creepy, Lady Gaga uses 1980s synthesized sounds not to imitate acoustic instruments but rather to create a whole new sonic landscape. Sometimes these sounds reflected dark feelings like paranoia as in Rockwell “Somebody’s Wathching Me” (which features Michael Jackson doing backup vocals).
Even though the words are creepy and clearly unhinged “I promise I’ll be kind, but I won’t stop until that boy is mine, baby, you’ll be famous chase you down until you love me,” there is something heartfelt and kind of romantic. It’s like the bridge of “Every Breath You Take” by the Police, you know its creepy but it feels sweet and loving. This takes you into the mind of the stalker who doesn’t see himself as doing anything wrong and also allows people to ignore the meaning of the song if they just want something to dance along to.
Lady Gaga understands that this song is for people to have fun with. The bridge doesn’t really make sense lyrically in the context of the song but it supplies the line “We’re plastic but we still have fun” for people to scream along to on the dance floor.
“Paparazzi” functions beautifully as a pop dance song, giving people everything they need to have a good time from off-beat hand claps to a catchy hook, but it also has an intriguing statement about the consequences of celebrity.
Lady Gaga, I don't understand your fashion sense and I don't like all of your music but thanks for reminding us what great pop music is: meaningful, interesting, skillful, and most importantly a whole lot of fun.
. . . just ask my third graders. . .
When the song started, almost all of the students immediately started singing along with the opening instrumental hook, which was cute. Some of them started dancing around which was entertaining and also cute. The cuteness continued as they sang along to the lyrics. Then the line came “I’ll get them hot, show him what I’ve got” which was less cute and then the second verse rolled around and hearing a bunch of third graders sing “and baby when it’s love, if its not rough it isn’t fun” diminished any sense of cuteness.
This whole experience put a bad taste in my mouth when it came to Lady Gaga. I know that the kids had no idea what they were singing about and that it was harmless but it still felt a little weird. From my first impression, “Poker Face” seemed like a catchy dance song that had a good hook and was an obvious throwback to the 1980s.
But I wasn’t impressed and I didn’t really understand what the big deal about Lady Gaga was. Months pasts, I read about how Madonna loved her, learned about her background as a trained classical musician and couldn’t really ignore her presence on the popular music scene. However, the singles that came off of her album Fame simpy didn’t do much for me.
Once a month I take a look at the Billboard 200 charts and listen through the top 20 songs to stay current with what’s going on. After listening to Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears nonsensical single “3,” and the Black Eyed Peas” mediocre “I Gotta Feeling” I was ready to give up (good god the only reason these guys are popular has gotta be from a lack of options, I mean starting a song with repeating the same line for 1 and half minutes, seriously?!? “fill up my cup, Mazel tov” are you kidding? SIGH).
Does Oprah have any musical standards? That’s like her recommending a V. C. Andrews book for her book club.
Then I heard a thirty second clip of “Paparazzi,” Lady Gaga’s latest single, and I was blown away and immediately bought the song.
“Paparazzi” immediately reminds me of Madonna. Here is a song that is catchy, easy to dance to but also has intriguing lyrics that reflect contemporary issues. In “Like A Prayer” Madonna relates religious ecstasy to sexuality and in “Paparazzi” Lady Gaga examines the role of paparazzi in celebrity worship and stalking.
This song does sound a little creepy, Lady Gaga uses 1980s synthesized sounds not to imitate acoustic instruments but rather to create a whole new sonic landscape. Sometimes these sounds reflected dark feelings like paranoia as in Rockwell “Somebody’s Wathching Me” (which features Michael Jackson doing backup vocals).
Even though the words are creepy and clearly unhinged “I promise I’ll be kind, but I won’t stop until that boy is mine, baby, you’ll be famous chase you down until you love me,” there is something heartfelt and kind of romantic. It’s like the bridge of “Every Breath You Take” by the Police, you know its creepy but it feels sweet and loving. This takes you into the mind of the stalker who doesn’t see himself as doing anything wrong and also allows people to ignore the meaning of the song if they just want something to dance along to.
Lady Gaga understands that this song is for people to have fun with. The bridge doesn’t really make sense lyrically in the context of the song but it supplies the line “We’re plastic but we still have fun” for people to scream along to on the dance floor.
“Paparazzi” functions beautifully as a pop dance song, giving people everything they need to have a good time from off-beat hand claps to a catchy hook, but it also has an intriguing statement about the consequences of celebrity.
Lady Gaga, I don't understand your fashion sense and I don't like all of your music but thanks for reminding us what great pop music is: meaningful, interesting, skillful, and most importantly a whole lot of fun.
. . . just ask my third graders. . .
Friday, October 2, 2009
Walking In Memphis by Marc Cohn
Matt, what are you listening to?!?
Last Tuesday, I put my car into the shop for a scheduled maintenance so my father-in-law let me borrow one of his cars for the day. The only drawback to my father-in-laws car is the fact that it doesn’t have an ipod hookup in its stereo system (though it does have an audio cassette player, which I doubt has ever been used). In my car, I have an ipod hook up so I’m usually listening to mixes that I make or podcast on the way to work.
As I’m driving to work with a friend I carpool with, we are listening to what happened to be in the CD player which was Taylor Swift's first album. My brother-in-law Matt used this car all summer to get to work, so I knew it was his CD. He was the one who introduced me to Taylor Swift. I swooned over how great “Love Story” is in a previous post but I’m not as big a fan of the first album (though I find “Picture To Burn” hilarious) and anyways my friend in the car isn’t that into her.
The only other CD we could find in this car was a burned mix that was labeled illegibly, the best I could make out was “Scoone 2 + Mix.” Matt introduced me to Taylor, loved that stuff, so I figured I’d check out this other CD he left in the car. We put it in and we find it’s rave music. I’ve never been to a rave, I don’t know anything about rave culture of rave music except for the fact that sometimes glow stick are involved.
My friend and I are giving each song about 30 seconds and finding one dance song after another, sometimes we can decipher what song is being remixed other times we have no idea. I'm not a big fan of this style of music, don’t hate it, just not that into it, especially during an early morning commute. Then we got to a track that had the piano track to “Let It Be.” We both exhaled and relaxed ready to enjoy one the greatest rock songs of all time, and then instead of hearing Paul McCartney's voice enter, we hear Shaggy.
“It Wasn’t Me” mashed up with “Let It Be.” What in God’s name are you listening to Matt?!? My head can’t even begin to explain what is so wrong about this mix. The juxtapositions of these two songs while inventive is just plain wrong. I need a whole post dedicated to this mix to wrap my brain around it.
We can only stand listening to this mix for about 40 seconds and then we move on. What I hear a couple tracks later is the opening piano line to “Walking In Memphis.” Last week, I downloaded “Walking In Memphis” by Marc Cohn off of itunes. I planned to do an analysis of this song that I've found that many people love and connect with. Even though it’s a little adult contemporary, it paints a beautiful picture with cultural references that echo back to songs like “American Pie” capturing a time and place in a unique and unforgettable way.
Instead of Marc Cohn there's a European guy singing about getting prepared to go raving. Instead of singing “walking in Memphis” he sang, “I’m raving, I’m raving.”
As my friend sat in disbelief, I actually started enjoying this song. It was kind of making fun of raving and utilizing the nostalgia of “Walking In Memphis” to comment on the fun of going to a rave in a mocking almost Saturday Night Live kind of way.
Then after the first chorus, to my utter shock and disbelief, “Scotland The Brave” enters.
Probably the most famous Scottish bagpipe song beside “Amazing Grace,” “Scottish the Brave” in a patriotic song and rousing melody that exemplifies the spirit of Scottish music.
Okay, let me try to wrap my brain around this one. Here’s a song based on “Walking In Memphis” a song about an American city, used to sing about raving, a dance almost trance-like experience paired with a Scottish pipe tune. Maybe, Scooter the German band that did this remix, um, didn’t want to seem too American, so they threw in a little dash of Scottish to balance out the Elvis references.
Arrgh, my brain can’t handle this. Too many cultural implications, crashing together.
Matt, what's going on? How are you listening to this stuff? It's not so much that this is "bad" music, but rather it's baffling. You're my brother-in-law and the longer I know you the more I simply think of you as a brother, but really Matt? "Put on my raving shoes?" Are you kidding?
sigh
Honestly, this Mix CD made me laugh out loud which I really needed heading back to work after a long weekend. Thanks for leaving that CD in the car. It totally made my day.
Last Tuesday, I put my car into the shop for a scheduled maintenance so my father-in-law let me borrow one of his cars for the day. The only drawback to my father-in-laws car is the fact that it doesn’t have an ipod hookup in its stereo system (though it does have an audio cassette player, which I doubt has ever been used). In my car, I have an ipod hook up so I’m usually listening to mixes that I make or podcast on the way to work.
As I’m driving to work with a friend I carpool with, we are listening to what happened to be in the CD player which was Taylor Swift's first album. My brother-in-law Matt used this car all summer to get to work, so I knew it was his CD. He was the one who introduced me to Taylor Swift. I swooned over how great “Love Story” is in a previous post but I’m not as big a fan of the first album (though I find “Picture To Burn” hilarious) and anyways my friend in the car isn’t that into her.
The only other CD we could find in this car was a burned mix that was labeled illegibly, the best I could make out was “Scoone 2 + Mix.” Matt introduced me to Taylor, loved that stuff, so I figured I’d check out this other CD he left in the car. We put it in and we find it’s rave music. I’ve never been to a rave, I don’t know anything about rave culture of rave music except for the fact that sometimes glow stick are involved.
My friend and I are giving each song about 30 seconds and finding one dance song after another, sometimes we can decipher what song is being remixed other times we have no idea. I'm not a big fan of this style of music, don’t hate it, just not that into it, especially during an early morning commute. Then we got to a track that had the piano track to “Let It Be.” We both exhaled and relaxed ready to enjoy one the greatest rock songs of all time, and then instead of hearing Paul McCartney's voice enter, we hear Shaggy.
“It Wasn’t Me” mashed up with “Let It Be.” What in God’s name are you listening to Matt?!? My head can’t even begin to explain what is so wrong about this mix. The juxtapositions of these two songs while inventive is just plain wrong. I need a whole post dedicated to this mix to wrap my brain around it.
We can only stand listening to this mix for about 40 seconds and then we move on. What I hear a couple tracks later is the opening piano line to “Walking In Memphis.” Last week, I downloaded “Walking In Memphis” by Marc Cohn off of itunes. I planned to do an analysis of this song that I've found that many people love and connect with. Even though it’s a little adult contemporary, it paints a beautiful picture with cultural references that echo back to songs like “American Pie” capturing a time and place in a unique and unforgettable way.
Instead of Marc Cohn there's a European guy singing about getting prepared to go raving. Instead of singing “walking in Memphis” he sang, “I’m raving, I’m raving.”
As my friend sat in disbelief, I actually started enjoying this song. It was kind of making fun of raving and utilizing the nostalgia of “Walking In Memphis” to comment on the fun of going to a rave in a mocking almost Saturday Night Live kind of way.
Then after the first chorus, to my utter shock and disbelief, “Scotland The Brave” enters.
Probably the most famous Scottish bagpipe song beside “Amazing Grace,” “Scottish the Brave” in a patriotic song and rousing melody that exemplifies the spirit of Scottish music.
Okay, let me try to wrap my brain around this one. Here’s a song based on “Walking In Memphis” a song about an American city, used to sing about raving, a dance almost trance-like experience paired with a Scottish pipe tune. Maybe, Scooter the German band that did this remix, um, didn’t want to seem too American, so they threw in a little dash of Scottish to balance out the Elvis references.
Arrgh, my brain can’t handle this. Too many cultural implications, crashing together.
Matt, what's going on? How are you listening to this stuff? It's not so much that this is "bad" music, but rather it's baffling. You're my brother-in-law and the longer I know you the more I simply think of you as a brother, but really Matt? "Put on my raving shoes?" Are you kidding?
sigh
Honestly, this Mix CD made me laugh out loud which I really needed heading back to work after a long weekend. Thanks for leaving that CD in the car. It totally made my day.
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