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-Kings
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Chanukah Song by Adam Sandler
I grew up surrounded by Jewish people.
At least a third if not more of the people in my school were Jewish. I had no idea that Jewish people were a minority of the world population. When December rolled around it seemed that just as many people were talking about celebrating Chanukah as Christmas.
A couple things became clear to me in elementary school. If you were Jewish you got your gifts earlier and instead of one night of gifts there were eight. My elementary school logic concluded that having multiple nights of gifts and celebrations was for superior. I mean eight nights!! How could that not be better?
One of the early hints that Jewish culture was not prevalent as Christian culture was the fact out of all of the Holiday songs we sang in school and I heard on the radio, the only Jewish one I knew “Dreidel, Dreidel”
I don't know if the "Courtney Cox" counter melody is part of the original song but it seems to work. . . she is Jewish, right?
I realize that there are other Chanukah songs out there they are not as well know as other Christmas songs like “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” Leave it to Adam Sandler to help fill the gap in our culture with “The Chanukah Song,”
Saturday Night Live has a long tradition of musical comedy like this clip of Andy Kaufman doing this early sketch from the sketch comedies show's first season.
Adam Sandler added to this tradition creating a song to reassuring Jewish children who felt that they were the only Jewish people in their neighborhood that they weren’t alone.
In “The Chanukah Song,” Sandler lists off people in popular culture who are Jewish and what becomes instantly apparent is that even though only 1.4% of the population in America is Jewish they have made amazing contributions to popular culture. Captain Kirk, Spock, James Caan, the Three Stoogies AND the Fonz. Seriously, Asian-Americans make up 5% of the population in the United States and what have we contributed, Mr. Sulu, Bruce Lee and John Cho.
Adam Sandler has a great time with this song. He sets up hilarious rhyme that seem to come out of nowhere, “You don't need "Deck The Halls" or "Jingle Bell Rock" 'Cause you can spin a dreidel with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.”
Then there are the unapologetically preposterous rhymes. Yes, yarmulke does rhythm with Chanukah, but not a lot of other words do so Sandler gets creative. There’s “Supersonicah,” “gin and tonicah,” “wannakah” and of course the crowd favorite “smoke your marijuanikah.”
I don’t know what the spirit of Chanukah is, I’ve never celebrated the holiday and my knowledge about "miracle of the container of oil" is weak at best. But for me “The Chanukah Song” is about a sense of pride. Adam Sandler reminds us in a joyous and hilarious way that Jewish people are not alone and have plenty of people in our culture to take pride in.
Adam Sandler may have been a kid growing up feeling like the only Jew in his community but he’s created a song about Chanukah that people who aren’t Jewish sing along to, revel in and share in the Joy of being a Jew.
Not too shabby.
At least a third if not more of the people in my school were Jewish. I had no idea that Jewish people were a minority of the world population. When December rolled around it seemed that just as many people were talking about celebrating Chanukah as Christmas.
A couple things became clear to me in elementary school. If you were Jewish you got your gifts earlier and instead of one night of gifts there were eight. My elementary school logic concluded that having multiple nights of gifts and celebrations was for superior. I mean eight nights!! How could that not be better?
One of the early hints that Jewish culture was not prevalent as Christian culture was the fact out of all of the Holiday songs we sang in school and I heard on the radio, the only Jewish one I knew “Dreidel, Dreidel”
I don't know if the "Courtney Cox" counter melody is part of the original song but it seems to work. . . she is Jewish, right?
I realize that there are other Chanukah songs out there they are not as well know as other Christmas songs like “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” Leave it to Adam Sandler to help fill the gap in our culture with “The Chanukah Song,”
Saturday Night Live has a long tradition of musical comedy like this clip of Andy Kaufman doing this early sketch from the sketch comedies show's first season.
Adam Sandler added to this tradition creating a song to reassuring Jewish children who felt that they were the only Jewish people in their neighborhood that they weren’t alone.
In “The Chanukah Song,” Sandler lists off people in popular culture who are Jewish and what becomes instantly apparent is that even though only 1.4% of the population in America is Jewish they have made amazing contributions to popular culture. Captain Kirk, Spock, James Caan, the Three Stoogies AND the Fonz. Seriously, Asian-Americans make up 5% of the population in the United States and what have we contributed, Mr. Sulu, Bruce Lee and John Cho.
Adam Sandler has a great time with this song. He sets up hilarious rhyme that seem to come out of nowhere, “You don't need "Deck The Halls" or "Jingle Bell Rock" 'Cause you can spin a dreidel with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.”
Then there are the unapologetically preposterous rhymes. Yes, yarmulke does rhythm with Chanukah, but not a lot of other words do so Sandler gets creative. There’s “Supersonicah,” “gin and tonicah,” “wannakah” and of course the crowd favorite “smoke your marijuanikah.”
I don’t know what the spirit of Chanukah is, I’ve never celebrated the holiday and my knowledge about "miracle of the container of oil" is weak at best. But for me “The Chanukah Song” is about a sense of pride. Adam Sandler reminds us in a joyous and hilarious way that Jewish people are not alone and have plenty of people in our culture to take pride in.
Adam Sandler may have been a kid growing up feeling like the only Jew in his community but he’s created a song about Chanukah that people who aren’t Jewish sing along to, revel in and share in the Joy of being a Jew.
Not too shabby.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by The Jackson 5
Now I never believed in Santa Claus.
My parents being immigrants and not Christians did their best with Christmas. They did the gift thing, got a tree decorated the house but that was as far as it went with my family. We visited Santa in the mall and took pictures with the guy but there was never any illusion that anyone but our parents were responsible for getting us gifts. It wasn't so much that my brother and I were motivated to be good because of Santa but rather our parents.
Now perhaps having an outside influence, an omnipresent force like Santa to remind kids to be good is helpful but it kind of seems like a parental cop-out. I mean if your child is acts better when you mention Santa Claus as opposed to behaving well just for you then it seems you may have some behavior and respect issues to deal with.
The one song that most directly addresses the Santa Claus myth is "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." Originally performed on sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in 1934, this song became an instant Christmas classic.
Now most recordings of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" come from the perspective of an adult warning a child to be good. The words are a little ominous and foreboding saying telling a child that they should not only be good for Santa sake but "good for goodness sake."
Just think about the lyrics a second. Every line of the verse starts out with "you better." If that's not a veiled threat I don't know what is. I mean the song never explicitly describes what will happen if you are bad but I got to wonder if there isn't something punitive involved with Santa besides not getting gifts. This in addition to the fact that Santa is kind of a stalker is kind of disturbing, I mean this guys knows EVERYTHING!!
Here's the thing, I actually like this song the connotations don't work from me but it’s different hearing the words come from a child. This is one reason that my favorite version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is by The Jackson 5.
Not that it was enough for The Jackson 5 to break out with "I Want You Back" (which was one of the first posts I wrote), but the Jackson 5 and the geniuses at Motown continued to revolutionize popular music.
The Jackson 5 reved up the "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," adding a classic up tempo Motown beat. They also changed the melody on the line "Santa Claus is coming to town." Instead of starting low and rising up and down using broken thirds, it starts on high note out of nowhere falling down before jumping up for another high note. I mean Michael just gives that high note everything that he's got. You can just picture him closing his eyes, throwing his head back and letting free his voice.
In Michael's hands this song is less about being good or being bad, but just celebrating the fact that Santa is on his way. Michael captures a child like joy and innocence like other children singers but his vocal power and expression adds a layer of soul to his performance that takes this song to a whole different level.
The Jackson 5's version is so influential that many artist like Bruce Springsteen “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” is as the Jackson 5 did modifying the melody and mimicking the Jackson 5's joyous spirit.
Listening to Michael makes you feel that he actually believes that Santa coming to town and his joy makes me want to believe in Santa Claus.
My parents being immigrants and not Christians did their best with Christmas. They did the gift thing, got a tree decorated the house but that was as far as it went with my family. We visited Santa in the mall and took pictures with the guy but there was never any illusion that anyone but our parents were responsible for getting us gifts. It wasn't so much that my brother and I were motivated to be good because of Santa but rather our parents.
Now perhaps having an outside influence, an omnipresent force like Santa to remind kids to be good is helpful but it kind of seems like a parental cop-out. I mean if your child is acts better when you mention Santa Claus as opposed to behaving well just for you then it seems you may have some behavior and respect issues to deal with.
The one song that most directly addresses the Santa Claus myth is "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." Originally performed on sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in 1934, this song became an instant Christmas classic.
Now most recordings of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" come from the perspective of an adult warning a child to be good. The words are a little ominous and foreboding saying telling a child that they should not only be good for Santa sake but "good for goodness sake."
Just think about the lyrics a second. Every line of the verse starts out with "you better." If that's not a veiled threat I don't know what is. I mean the song never explicitly describes what will happen if you are bad but I got to wonder if there isn't something punitive involved with Santa besides not getting gifts. This in addition to the fact that Santa is kind of a stalker is kind of disturbing, I mean this guys knows EVERYTHING!!
Here's the thing, I actually like this song the connotations don't work from me but it’s different hearing the words come from a child. This is one reason that my favorite version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is by The Jackson 5.
Not that it was enough for The Jackson 5 to break out with "I Want You Back" (which was one of the first posts I wrote), but the Jackson 5 and the geniuses at Motown continued to revolutionize popular music.
The Jackson 5 reved up the "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," adding a classic up tempo Motown beat. They also changed the melody on the line "Santa Claus is coming to town." Instead of starting low and rising up and down using broken thirds, it starts on high note out of nowhere falling down before jumping up for another high note. I mean Michael just gives that high note everything that he's got. You can just picture him closing his eyes, throwing his head back and letting free his voice.
In Michael's hands this song is less about being good or being bad, but just celebrating the fact that Santa is on his way. Michael captures a child like joy and innocence like other children singers but his vocal power and expression adds a layer of soul to his performance that takes this song to a whole different level.
The Jackson 5's version is so influential that many artist like Bruce Springsteen “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” is as the Jackson 5 did modifying the melody and mimicking the Jackson 5's joyous spirit.
Listening to Michael makes you feel that he actually believes that Santa coming to town and his joy makes me want to believe in Santa Claus.
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. . .
Monday, December 7, 2009
I Got You Babe by Sonny & Cher
I never took Sonny and Cher seriously until Sonny Bono died.
Sonny and Cher came a long way from their campy and silly 1970s variety show. After the show was canceled and they divorced Cher went on to establish herself as a solo artist and actor. Even though Cher went through various tabloid controversy including marrying Greg Almond three days after her divorce with Sonny was finalized, Cher went on to have solo hits including “If I Could Turn Back Time” and won an academy award 1986 for best supporting actress. By the time Cher released her biggest hit “Believe” (which I discussed in this earlier post) Cher was respected as a pop diva and had developed an enormous cult following.
Sonny initially took the same route, continuing to produce music and act in film. He didn’t reach the same level of success that Cher did in these ventures. Then in 1988 Sonny Bono shocked the world successfully running for mayor of Palm Springs from 1988 to 1992 going on to serve in the House Of Representatives from 1994 to until his death in 1998.
When Bono died in a skiing accident, people looked to Cher and her eulogy at Sonny’s funeral is one of the most powerful and unforgettable expression of love you will ever witness.
Yes, Sonny and Cher got divorced and remarried, but Cher’s words showed that there was still love between them. Time, circumstance and the failure of their marriage couldn’t’ change what they had shared and what they meant to each other.
After hearing Cher’s words, ”I Got You Babe” transformed from a cheesy pop duet to a touching and heartfelt love song.
Rarely do duets feature two people who are actually in love. It’s hard to know whether its Bono’s production skills which he learned from being Phil Spector’s assistant or Sonny and Cher’s affection for each other that makes this songs glow with warmth the way it does. I like to think it’s the love.
[Spector is one of the greatest record producers who I discussed in this earlier post on “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”].
“I Got You Babe” faces the struggles of life with optimism and hope. The words discuss how problems in life are not as significant because they have each other. The exchange between Sonny and Cher are like wedding vows, however they are not so much promises of future actions but reflections on the great thing they do for each other.
Cher’s voice in amazing the middle of the song, “and when I’m sad. . . .” Coming out of the texture her voice pours out with a purity and strength. There's a hint of her later vocal strength that can be heard as she effortlessly grows soars through the melody.
In 1987, on the David Letterman show Sonny and Cher reunited to sing “I Got You Babe.” The way that Sonny and Cher looked at each other was magical.
All the pain between them, all of the controversy in their lives for a moment was gone and what you had left with was two people lost in song and each other.
“I Got You Babe” captures in song one of the greatest love stories in popular music. It may not have ended in the traditional way but it showed us all the power of love to overcome the challenges of life and the power of music to express love.
Sonny and Cher came a long way from their campy and silly 1970s variety show. After the show was canceled and they divorced Cher went on to establish herself as a solo artist and actor. Even though Cher went through various tabloid controversy including marrying Greg Almond three days after her divorce with Sonny was finalized, Cher went on to have solo hits including “If I Could Turn Back Time” and won an academy award 1986 for best supporting actress. By the time Cher released her biggest hit “Believe” (which I discussed in this earlier post) Cher was respected as a pop diva and had developed an enormous cult following.
Sonny initially took the same route, continuing to produce music and act in film. He didn’t reach the same level of success that Cher did in these ventures. Then in 1988 Sonny Bono shocked the world successfully running for mayor of Palm Springs from 1988 to 1992 going on to serve in the House Of Representatives from 1994 to until his death in 1998.
When Bono died in a skiing accident, people looked to Cher and her eulogy at Sonny’s funeral is one of the most powerful and unforgettable expression of love you will ever witness.
Yes, Sonny and Cher got divorced and remarried, but Cher’s words showed that there was still love between them. Time, circumstance and the failure of their marriage couldn’t’ change what they had shared and what they meant to each other.
After hearing Cher’s words, ”I Got You Babe” transformed from a cheesy pop duet to a touching and heartfelt love song.
Rarely do duets feature two people who are actually in love. It’s hard to know whether its Bono’s production skills which he learned from being Phil Spector’s assistant or Sonny and Cher’s affection for each other that makes this songs glow with warmth the way it does. I like to think it’s the love.
[Spector is one of the greatest record producers who I discussed in this earlier post on “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”].
“I Got You Babe” faces the struggles of life with optimism and hope. The words discuss how problems in life are not as significant because they have each other. The exchange between Sonny and Cher are like wedding vows, however they are not so much promises of future actions but reflections on the great thing they do for each other.
Cher’s voice in amazing the middle of the song, “and when I’m sad. . . .” Coming out of the texture her voice pours out with a purity and strength. There's a hint of her later vocal strength that can be heard as she effortlessly grows soars through the melody.
In 1987, on the David Letterman show Sonny and Cher reunited to sing “I Got You Babe.” The way that Sonny and Cher looked at each other was magical.
All the pain between them, all of the controversy in their lives for a moment was gone and what you had left with was two people lost in song and each other.
“I Got You Babe” captures in song one of the greatest love stories in popular music. It may not have ended in the traditional way but it showed us all the power of love to overcome the challenges of life and the power of music to express love.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac
Imagine that you’ve just gotten through a messy break-up with your girlfriend or boyfriend. This is a break-up that is full of anger and bitterness, a relationship that has dissolved to the point that you can’t stand being in the same room as the other person. Now imagine that you have to work with this person during long 10-hour days.
Now try to imagine that in your group of five people there is another couple going through the same thing. If you can picture how tense, awkward and painful this situation would be, then you have some idea what it was like for Fleetwood Mac in the 1970s.
Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were breaking up and so were John McVie and Christina McVie. Then there was the fifth member Mick Fleetwood, stuck in the middle of it all. These five people made up the most famous iterations of Fleetwood Mac recording one of the most famous albums in rock history: Rumors.
Within Fleetwood Mac there were three songwriters, Christina McVie whose keyboard based pop music included great hooks and introspective lyrics as well as an optimistic sheen, like in “You Make Loving Fun.”
Stevie Nicks wrote songs that had a more mystical feel, mixed with heartfelt longing. But as sad and dark as her songs were there was always a sense of hope in her music.
Then there was Lindsey Buckingham, the virtuosic guitar player and composer of some of the angriest most bitter songs in rock. Nothing expresses the raw expression that Buckingham often demonstrated like “Go Your Own Way.”
From the opening line “loving you isn’t the right thing to do,” the anger and resentment is palpable. This is a person who feels “maybe I’d give you my world” but is angered by the fact that the other person “won’t take it from me.” The chorus is unforgiving, defensive and at the end of a break up. Singing “you can go your own way” is saying that you don’t care. The truth is that the opposite of love is not hate but indifference which why Rhett saying “I don’t give a damn” in the end of Gone With The Wind is one of the harshest lines in film history.
It’s not the just the words. Most of the notes in the melody of the verse are on off beats making the words come out in angry unpredictable exclamations. In Lindsey’s voice there’s a tense almost scary energy as he sings the verses sounding like a man at the edge of a breakdown.
The guitars lines accent the offbeats while the bass line and drumming doesn’t clearly outline the beat in the verses mirroring the unsteady feeling of the melody line. Then the chorus hits and all the instruments as well as the melody fall into the beat expressing the only thought that Buckingham is sure of: “you can go your own way.” Musically the chorus is a brilliant arrival point set up musically in the instruments, which adds depth to the words as they develop throughout the song.
“Go Your Own Way” is one of the most well known and loved Fleetwood Mac songs. I don’t it’s because people love hearing a hurt and angry man scream about he hates his former love. It’s not so much a celebration of break ups and anger but a statements of saying “We’re not going to take it any more.” Lord know we’ve all had moments in our lives when we’ve wanted to scream that into someone’s face.
Thanks Fleetwood Mac for going through the pain and never giving up on your art to give us "Go Your Own Way." It may have almost killed all of you emotionally to record it but what you have created has connected with generations combining passion, pain and beauty like no other band in rock music.
Now try to imagine that in your group of five people there is another couple going through the same thing. If you can picture how tense, awkward and painful this situation would be, then you have some idea what it was like for Fleetwood Mac in the 1970s.
Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were breaking up and so were John McVie and Christina McVie. Then there was the fifth member Mick Fleetwood, stuck in the middle of it all. These five people made up the most famous iterations of Fleetwood Mac recording one of the most famous albums in rock history: Rumors.
Within Fleetwood Mac there were three songwriters, Christina McVie whose keyboard based pop music included great hooks and introspective lyrics as well as an optimistic sheen, like in “You Make Loving Fun.”
Stevie Nicks wrote songs that had a more mystical feel, mixed with heartfelt longing. But as sad and dark as her songs were there was always a sense of hope in her music.
Then there was Lindsey Buckingham, the virtuosic guitar player and composer of some of the angriest most bitter songs in rock. Nothing expresses the raw expression that Buckingham often demonstrated like “Go Your Own Way.”
From the opening line “loving you isn’t the right thing to do,” the anger and resentment is palpable. This is a person who feels “maybe I’d give you my world” but is angered by the fact that the other person “won’t take it from me.” The chorus is unforgiving, defensive and at the end of a break up. Singing “you can go your own way” is saying that you don’t care. The truth is that the opposite of love is not hate but indifference which why Rhett saying “I don’t give a damn” in the end of Gone With The Wind is one of the harshest lines in film history.
It’s not the just the words. Most of the notes in the melody of the verse are on off beats making the words come out in angry unpredictable exclamations. In Lindsey’s voice there’s a tense almost scary energy as he sings the verses sounding like a man at the edge of a breakdown.
The guitars lines accent the offbeats while the bass line and drumming doesn’t clearly outline the beat in the verses mirroring the unsteady feeling of the melody line. Then the chorus hits and all the instruments as well as the melody fall into the beat expressing the only thought that Buckingham is sure of: “you can go your own way.” Musically the chorus is a brilliant arrival point set up musically in the instruments, which adds depth to the words as they develop throughout the song.
“Go Your Own Way” is one of the most well known and loved Fleetwood Mac songs. I don’t it’s because people love hearing a hurt and angry man scream about he hates his former love. It’s not so much a celebration of break ups and anger but a statements of saying “We’re not going to take it any more.” Lord know we’ve all had moments in our lives when we’ve wanted to scream that into someone’s face.
Thanks Fleetwood Mac for going through the pain and never giving up on your art to give us "Go Your Own Way." It may have almost killed all of you emotionally to record it but what you have created has connected with generations combining passion, pain and beauty like no other band in rock music.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
You Know Me by Robbie Wiliams
Way back in March I wrote a post about "Angels" by Robbie Williams talking about how this world famous artists has not made much of a dent in the American market but is one of the best male pop singers around. Seeing how Robbie is still not a household name in America, it looks like I still have work to do.
Robbie’s second single, “You Know Me,” off his new album Reality Killed the Video Star is good, not ironic good, or good for what it is but truly great. Reality Killed the Video Star is filled with soulful, beautiful and transcendent pop music. If you love music, you owe it to yourself to check out what’s going with Robbie. He will not disappoint.
I was talking to my wife about how the use of acoustic instruments gives country music a warmth, an energy that American popular music often lacks. Robbie injects this into “You Know Me” with doo-wop background singers, soaring strings and brass colors throughout the song. And the timpani drums!!! AWESOME.
Robbie’s musical attitude has a self-assured cockiness, “What a waste of war this peace.” However right under the surface is a romantic, heartfelt and sincere man, willing to admit ones mistakes and express true love, “since you went away, my heart breaks everyday”
Robbie sets his verses with his characteristic rapping. It's a combination of a confident swagger and a nervous man not able to say what he really means. It’s like Hugh Grand bumbling British romantic comedy character but in singer form.
There’s a beautiful moment in this song during the chorus after the instrumental break (about 3 minutes in) when the instruments cut out and provide chords hits behind Robbie. These hits aren’t tight snaps of sound like in funk music but are rather broad strokes of color and warmth. They create a sonic space for the other instrumentals to fill, rise above and overflow in musical color when they enter.
Robbie works within conventions of popular music that we know, adds his individual touch and attitude creating a song that draws upon our musical nostalgia for not only great popular but the emotions those songs evoked.
Give Robbie a chance. This song is great. It’ll make you smile and remind you how great music can make you feel.
Now Robbie’s music video for this song. Um, yeah this is one of the weirder things I’ve seen in a while. I don’t know what he was thinking, well I guess I know what he’s thinking it’s pretty obvious what he’s going for, it’s just. . . um. . .yeah. . . whatever.
Robbie’s second single, “You Know Me,” off his new album Reality Killed the Video Star is good, not ironic good, or good for what it is but truly great. Reality Killed the Video Star is filled with soulful, beautiful and transcendent pop music. If you love music, you owe it to yourself to check out what’s going with Robbie. He will not disappoint.
I was talking to my wife about how the use of acoustic instruments gives country music a warmth, an energy that American popular music often lacks. Robbie injects this into “You Know Me” with doo-wop background singers, soaring strings and brass colors throughout the song. And the timpani drums!!! AWESOME.
Robbie’s musical attitude has a self-assured cockiness, “What a waste of war this peace.” However right under the surface is a romantic, heartfelt and sincere man, willing to admit ones mistakes and express true love, “since you went away, my heart breaks everyday”
Robbie sets his verses with his characteristic rapping. It's a combination of a confident swagger and a nervous man not able to say what he really means. It’s like Hugh Grand bumbling British romantic comedy character but in singer form.
There’s a beautiful moment in this song during the chorus after the instrumental break (about 3 minutes in) when the instruments cut out and provide chords hits behind Robbie. These hits aren’t tight snaps of sound like in funk music but are rather broad strokes of color and warmth. They create a sonic space for the other instrumentals to fill, rise above and overflow in musical color when they enter.
Robbie works within conventions of popular music that we know, adds his individual touch and attitude creating a song that draws upon our musical nostalgia for not only great popular but the emotions those songs evoked.
Give Robbie a chance. This song is great. It’ll make you smile and remind you how great music can make you feel.
Now Robbie’s music video for this song. Um, yeah this is one of the weirder things I’ve seen in a while. I don’t know what he was thinking, well I guess I know what he’s thinking it’s pretty obvious what he’s going for, it’s just. . . um. . .yeah. . . whatever.
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