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Joined: Jul 2006
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Hi Folks,

So I thought this might be a fun way to analyse a song. I want you to think and try to recall a song lyric that you do not like but was in a song that was critically well received--something that you know you're in the minority on.

Can you analyse why you disagree with the critics?

Robots and automatons and people that always go along with the crowd need not apply.

Perhaps think of this as a more fun, esoteric "prove you're not a robot" test, or if you're into feeling a little humiliation, think of this as pure fun. wink

Here's some obligatory coaxing, "c'mon, guys and gals, you can't possibly be in-line with every critically popular song, and not be fakin' it, you know! "

I have had fun exploring my own psyche' in regards Elton John/Bernie Taupin's "Your Song" and I'll go first by wrapping up my thoughts on it.

Let's stay away from "Imagine" by John Lennon or any song that involves anyone's personal religious/agnostic/atheistic beliefs, okay?

*********************************************************************************************************

My thought on "Your Song" has evolved more in the past week than in the last 48 years prior.

For as long as I can remember, I thought the lyric to be clever bit of proto-shoegazer posturing.

After investigating how Bernie Taupin actually came to write the lyric, I found that "on the record" BT has said that "that is pretty much how I felt" and he wrote "Your Song" in one sitting, at EJ's mom's house when he was 17.

Seventeen, and probably a shy Brit. Let that sink in. Occam's Razor says often the simplest solution is often the right one, and in this case, we also have confirmation from the lyricist that this was the case:

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/elton-john/your-song

So this was a revelation to me. The narrator was not intentionally flawed. The lyricist was not some seasoned writing genius (at 17?) cleverly pretending to be a shy, unpolished first person singular in YS --as if he was masterminding and orchestrating that shy, imperfect voice--he was simply being himself, a shy 17 year old kid writing from his heart!

BT wrote "Your Song" authentically from his seventeen-ear-old heart, in one sitting, and knowing that, I could actually grow to like the song, I think, and it has taught me something that I think country music people have known all along: real humility, sincerity, and a conversational "tone" can help create a lyrical space where normal lyric writing rules need not apply.

I tried listening to it today, and still get a horrible feeling of doom in my chest, but my brain can like the song, except for ONE LINE, now,

But the sun's been quite kind
While I wrote this song
It's for people like you that
Keep it turned on.


I yell at the speakers every time I hear "it's for people like you that keep it turned on" --which makes my head reel for at least two reasons.

How is that different than saying "it's for anyone who chooses to listen to it" and how is that not a bit of a meaningless tautology?

Also, with this line, BT is betraying the notion that the song is for a particular person. Him saying "it's for people like you" would quickly make me feel less than special.

But this was a lyric with no apparent rewrites, just him writing at EJ's breakfast table one morning, and so it's in there, though I think the song is better without "people like you" which betrays the song's basic premise, IMHO..

But I've learned a lot about the song and myself while going on this slightly humiliating but fun journey. smile

************************************************************************************************************

So okay..

I hope that anyone that takes issue with my thoughts, that's fine, but please also play along and name a critically popular song whose lyric you are in the minority on, and delve into your own psyche' and I think it will be fun to hear why you hear that particular song different from most other people.

I've shown you mine.. smile

Mike

Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/08/19 09:06 PM.

Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
Joined: Oct 2017
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Joined: Oct 2017
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Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Hi Folks,

So I thought this might be a fun way to analyse a song. I want you to think and try to recall a song lyric that you do not like but was in a song that was critically well received--something that you know you're in the minority on.

Can you analyse why you disagree with the critics?

Robots and automatons and people that always go along with the crowd need not apply.

Perhaps think of this as a more fun, esoteric "prove you're not a robot" test, or if you're into feeling a little humiliation, think of this as pure fun. wink

Here's some obligatory coaxing, "c'mon, guys and gals, you can't possibly be in-line with every critically popular song, and not be fakin' it, you know! "

I have had fun exploring my own psyche' in regards Elton John/Bernie Taupin's "Your Song" and I'll go first by wrapping up my thoughts on it.

Let's stay away from "Imagine" by John Lennon or any song that involves anyone's personal religious/agnostic/atheistic beliefs, okay?

*********************************************************************************************************

After investigating I found that "on the record" BT has said that "that is pretty much how I felt" and he wrote "Your Song" in one sitting, at EJ's mom's house when he was 17.

Seventeen, and probably a shy Brit. Let that sink in. Occam's Razor says often the simplest solution is often the right one, and in this case, we also have confirmation from the lyricist that this was the case:

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/elton-john/your-song


The narrator was not intentionally flawed. The lyricist was not some seasoned writing genius (at 17?) cleverly pretending to be a shy, unpolished first person singular in YS --as if he was masterminding and orchestrating that shy, imperfect voice--he was simply being himself, a shy 17 year old kid writing from his heart!

BT wrote "Your Song" authentically from his seventeen-ear-old heart, in one sitting, and knowing that, I could actually grow to like the song, I think, and it has taught me something that I think country music people have known all along: real humility, sincerity, and a conversational "tone" can help create a lyrical space where normal lyric writing rules need not apply.

I tried listening to it today, and still get a horrible feeling of doom in my chest, but my brain can like the song, except for ONE LINE, now,

But the sun's been quite kind
While I wrote this song
It's for people like you that
Keep it turned on.


I yell at the speakers every time I hear "it's for people like you that keep it turned on" --which makes my head reel for at least two reasons.

How is that different than saying "it's for anyone who chooses to listen to it" and how is that not a bit of a meaningless tautology?

Also, with this line, BT is betraying the notion that the song is for a particular person. Him saying "it's for people like you" would quickly make me feel less than special.

But this was a lyric with no apparent rewrites, just him writing at EJ's breakfast table one morning, and so it's in there, though I think the song is better without "people like you" which betrays the song's basic premise, IMHO..

But I've learned a lot about the song and myself while going on this slightly humiliating but fun journey. smile

************************************************************************************************************

So okay..

I hope that anyone that takes issue with my thoughts, that's fine, but please also play along and name a critically popular song whose lyric you are in the minority on, and delve into your own psyche' and I think it will be fun to hear why you hear that particular song different from most other people.

I've shown you mine.. smile

Mike


I think its a great idea to analyze some popular songs, just to see what people think of them. The problem with that though is you are suddenly pushed into a place where you have to come up with something about it. I think thats the internet at work. Once upon a time people just listened to songs, they didnt break them down for better or worse. I wish I could go back to a time where I didnt understand music, and chords and harmonies, when I just listened. If I try I can do it, but its a bit like NOT noticing the pink elephant in the room.

Much like art 10 people can listen and have 10 different views, most people dont care enough to even give an opinion, if its on its on, if not, its not. We give ourselves way too much credit, thinking people give a [naughty word removed] about our process, only other songwriting geeks do!

Back to YS. Its not that its intentionally made to sound off kilter or flawed, it just came out that way. And its not surprising that it came from the heart, cause it shows. Some of the lines like So excuse forgetting, or... but then again no, it's for people like you... just sound cool. Sometimes its how the words sound as opposed to what they mean. Listen to most REM songs, the words are everything even though they usually dont say much.

II recall Bob Seger saying that his line "I wish I didnt know now what I didnt know then" he was gonna throw away. And the producer said WHYYYY? He said cause he thought it was bad grammar, and the producer said I dont care if its bad grammar its a great line, so it stayed.

Sometimes style wins over substance, you dont forget those lines in Your Song!

Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 5,711
Likes: 18
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OP Offline
Top 50 Poster
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 5,711
Likes: 18
Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Hi Folks,

So I thought this might be a fun way to analyse a song. I want you to think and try to recall a song lyric that you do not like but was in a song that was critically well received--something that you know you're in the minority on.

Can you analyse why you disagree with the critics?

Robots and automatons and people that always go along with the crowd need not apply.

Perhaps think of this as a more fun, esoteric "prove you're not a robot" test, or if you're into feeling a little humiliation, think of this as pure fun. wink

Here's some obligatory coaxing, "c'mon, guys and gals, you can't possibly be in-line with every critically popular song, and not be fakin' it, you know! "

I have had fun exploring my own psyche' in regards Elton John/Bernie Taupin's "Your Song" and I'll go first by wrapping up my thoughts on it.

Let's stay away from "Imagine" by John Lennon or any song that involves anyone's personal religious/agnostic/atheistic beliefs, okay?

*********************************************************************************************************

After investigating I found that "on the record" BT has said that "that is pretty much how I felt" and he wrote "Your Song" in one sitting, at EJ's mom's house when he was 17.

Seventeen, and probably a shy Brit. Let that sink in. Occam's Razor says often the simplest solution is often the right one, and in this case, we also have confirmation from the lyricist that this was the case:

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/elton-john/your-song


The narrator was not intentionally flawed. The lyricist was not some seasoned writing genius (at 17?) cleverly pretending to be a shy, unpolished first person singular in YS --as if he was masterminding and orchestrating that shy, imperfect voice--he was simply being himself, a shy 17 year old kid writing from his heart!

BT wrote "Your Song" authentically from his seventeen-ear-old heart, in one sitting, and knowing that, I could actually grow to like the song, I think, and it has taught me something that I think country music people have known all along: real humility, sincerity, and a conversational "tone" can help create a lyrical space where normal lyric writing rules need not apply.

I tried listening to it today, and still get a horrible feeling of doom in my chest, but my brain can like the song, except for ONE LINE, now,

But the sun's been quite kind
While I wrote this song
It's for people like you that
Keep it turned on.


I yell at the speakers every time I hear "it's for people like you that keep it turned on" --which makes my head reel for at least two reasons.

How is that different than saying "it's for anyone who chooses to listen to it" and how is that not a bit of a meaningless tautology?

Also, with this line, BT is betraying the notion that the song is for a particular person. Him saying "it's for people like you" would quickly make me feel less than special.

But this was a lyric with no apparent rewrites, just him writing at EJ's breakfast table one morning, and so it's in there, though I think the song is better without "people like you" which betrays the song's basic premise, IMHO..

But I've learned a lot about the song and myself while going on this slightly humiliating but fun journey. smile

************************************************************************************************************

So okay..

I hope that anyone that takes issue with my thoughts, that's fine, but please also play along and name a critically popular song whose lyric you are in the minority on, and delve into your own psyche' and I think it will be fun to hear why you hear that particular song different from most other people.

I've shown you mine.. smile

Mike


I think its a great idea to analyze some popular songs, just to see what people think of them. The problem with that though is you are suddenly pushed into a place where you have to come up with something about it. I think thats the internet at work. Once upon a time people just listened to songs, they didnt break them down for better or worse. I wish I could go back to a time where I didnt understand music, and chords and harmonies, when I just listened. If I try I can do it, but its a bit like NOT noticing the pink elephant in the room.

Much like art 10 people can listen and have 10 different views, most people dont care enough to even give an opinion, if its on its on, if not, its not. We give ourselves way too much credit, thinking people give a [naughty word removed] about our process, only other songwriting geeks do!

Back to YS. Its not that its intentionally made to sound off kilter or flawed, it just came out that way. And its not surprising that it came from the heart, cause it shows. Some of the lines like So excuse forgetting, or... but then again no, it's for people like you... just sound cool. Sometimes its how the words sound as opposed to what they mean. Listen to most REM songs, the words are everything even though they usually dont say much.

II recall Bob Seger saying that his line "I wish I didnt know now what I didnt know then" he was gonna throw away. And the producer said WHYYYY? He said cause he thought it was bad grammar, and the producer said I dont care if its bad grammar its a great line, so it stayed.

Sometimes style wins over substance, you don't forget those lines in Your Song!



Well my intention is not to "push" anyone to come up with anything, but thought that most folks could think of a song or two where they buck the odds and don't go with the flow. I thought that might be interesting to share and hear and understand, is all.

Rhetorically speaking, if this ain't the place for songwriting nerds, where is?

How is this a case of how the Internet is a bad thing?

I thought it could be a fun, unusual approach to talking about songs. smile

Mike


Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 7,412
R
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Offline
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R
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 7,412
Aw, Well,
Four I don't like very much but were pretty big. ELVIRA by the Oak Ridge Boys. SUNDY MORNING COMING DOWN, Written by Kris Krfstofferson, WOLVERTON MOUNTAIN and HELLO WALLS.


Ray E. Strode
Joined: Jul 2006
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Whoa, Ray!

"Sunday Morning Coming Down" is one of my favorite songs ever!

I would certainly love to hear more than the headlines as to why you don't like it, if you're feeling it..

Mike


Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 4,990
Likes: 15
F
Top 50 Poster
Online Content
Top 50 Poster
F
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 4,990
Likes: 15
Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Hi Folks,

So I thought this might be a fun way to analyse a song. I want you to think and try to recall a song lyric that you do not like but was in a song that was critically well received--something that you know you're in the minority on.

Can you analyse why you disagree with the critics?

Robots and automatons and people that always go along with the crowd need not apply.

Perhaps think of this as a more fun, esoteric "prove you're not a robot" test, or if you're into feeling a little humiliation, think of this as pure fun. wink

Here's some obligatory coaxing, "c'mon, guys and gals, you can't possibly be in-line with every critically popular song, and not be fakin' it, you know! "

I have had fun exploring my own psyche' in regards Elton John/Bernie Taupin's "Your Song" and I'll go first by wrapping up my thoughts on it.

Let's stay away from "Imagine" by John Lennon or any song that involves anyone's personal religious/agnostic/atheistic beliefs, okay?

*********************************************************************************************************

After investigating I found that "on the record" BT has said that "that is pretty much how I felt" and he wrote "Your Song" in one sitting, at EJ's mom's house when he was 17.

Seventeen, and probably a shy Brit. Let that sink in. Occam's Razor says often the simplest solution is often the right one, and in this case, we also have confirmation from the lyricist that this was the case:

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/elton-john/your-song


The narrator was not intentionally flawed. The lyricist was not some seasoned writing genius (at 17?) cleverly pretending to be a shy, unpolished first person singular in YS --as if he was masterminding and orchestrating that shy, imperfect voice--he was simply being himself, a shy 17 year old kid writing from his heart!

BT wrote "Your Song" authentically from his seventeen-ear-old heart, in one sitting, and knowing that, I could actually grow to like the song, I think, and it has taught me something that I think country music people have known all along: real humility, sincerity, and a conversational "tone" can help create a lyrical space where normal lyric writing rules need not apply.

I tried listening to it today, and still get a horrible feeling of doom in my chest, but my brain can like the song, except for ONE LINE, now,

But the sun's been quite kind
While I wrote this song
It's for people like you that
Keep it turned on.


I yell at the speakers every time I hear "it's for people like you that keep it turned on" --which makes my head reel for at least two reasons.

How is that different than saying "it's for anyone who chooses to listen to it" and how is that not a bit of a meaningless tautology?

Also, with this line, BT is betraying the notion that the song is for a particular person. Him saying "it's for people like you" would quickly make me feel less than special.

But this was a lyric with no apparent rewrites, just him writing at EJ's breakfast table one morning, and so it's in there, though I think the song is better without "people like you" which betrays the song's basic premise, IMHO..

But I've learned a lot about the song and myself while going on this slightly humiliating but fun journey. smile

************************************************************************************************************

So okay..

I hope that anyone that takes issue with my thoughts, that's fine, but please also play along and name a critically popular song whose lyric you are in the minority on, and delve into your own psyche' and I think it will be fun to hear why you hear that particular song different from most other people.

I've shown you mine.. smile

Mike


I think its a great idea to analyze some popular songs, just to see what people think of them. The problem with that though is you are suddenly pushed into a place where you have to come up with something about it. I think thats the internet at work. Once upon a time people just listened to songs, they didnt break them down for better or worse. I wish I could go back to a time where I didnt understand music, and chords and harmonies, when I just listened. If I try I can do it, but its a bit like NOT noticing the pink elephant in the room.

Much like art 10 people can listen and have 10 different views, most people dont care enough to even give an opinion, if its on its on, if not, its not. We give ourselves way too much credit, thinking people give a [naughty word removed] about our process, only other songwriting geeks do!

Back to YS. Its not that its intentionally made to sound off kilter or flawed, it just came out that way. And its not surprising that it came from the heart, cause it shows. Some of the lines like So excuse forgetting, or... but then again no, it's for people like you... just sound cool. Sometimes its how the words sound as opposed to what they mean. Listen to most REM songs, the words are everything even though they usually dont say much.

II recall Bob Seger saying that his line "I wish I didnt know now what I didnt know then" he was gonna throw away. And the producer said WHYYYY? He said cause he thought it was bad grammar, and the producer said I dont care if its bad grammar its a great line, so it stayed.

Sometimes style wins over substance, you don't forget those lines in Your Song!



Well my intention is not to "push" anyone to come up with anything, but thought that most folks could think of a song or two where they buck the odds and don't go with the flow. I thought that might be interesting to share and hear and understand, is all.

Rhetorically speaking, if this ain't the place for songwriting nerds, where is?

How is this a case of how the Internet is a bad thing?

I thought it could be a fun, unusual approach to talking about songs. smile

Mike


When I say push I mean, that when somebody asks a question, why is this song good, or why is this bad, you then switch gears from being a listener, to being an analyzer. Most folks listen and either stop listening, listen while doing something else, or keep listening cause they really like it. No reasons given.

yeah, as songwriters we look at things differently, and i do think its a great idea. it just changes how music is listened to when you listen under a microscope. But Im game, sounds like fun, this sort of thing has been done on other sites, be nice to see, but alot of folks dont even bother.

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I can admire and respect a song while gagging on it every time I hear it. One of Elvis Presley's greatest songs, "Suspicious Minds" falls into that category.

It makes my skin crawl. Seriously. Meanwhile, everything about it impresses me as a very well-written song. I understand the lyrics, I wouldn't rewrite them, they work perfectly, the music is hook-filled and the production is arranged masterfully. And I despise it.It doesn't make me feel good when it plays.

It goes back to childhood, so maybe I'm responding to the combination of the impossible complainy message that also drips with "I love you" while saying "I don't trust you at all and nor you me" all coming from the overwrought delivery from that fat sweaty guy in a comedic superhero suit who used to be so cool.

There. That felt good. And I KNOW I'm out on a limb that's about to crash into a burning forest. I'm caught in a trap.

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Originally Posted by Mark Kaufman
I can admire and respect a song while gagging on it every time I hear it. One of Elvis Presley's greatest songs, "Suspicious Minds" falls into that category.

It makes my skin crawl. Seriously. Meanwhile, everything about it impresses me as a very well-written song. I understand the lyrics, I wouldn't rewrite them, they work perfectly, the music is hook-filled and the production is arranged masterfully. And I despise it.It doesn't make me feel good when it plays.

It goes back to childhood, so maybe I'm responding to the combination of the impossible complainy message that also drips with "I love you" while saying "I don't trust you at all and nor you me" all coming from the overwrought delivery from that fat sweaty guy in a comedic superhero suit who used to be so cool.

There. That felt good. And I KNOW I'm out on a limb that's about to crash into a burning forest. I'm caught in a trap.


This is very true also. Most people agree that classical music is some of the greatest music ever written, but how many of us want to listen to it? How many of us break it out at a party, lol

I agree, "somewhere over the rainbow" I feel is one of the greatest songs ever written, but personally I think it sucks, if that makes any sense. I guess it goes back to subjective and objective.

But i guess we can learn from stuff that we know is great, but dont necessarily like.

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Um, Well Michael,
I have been listening to country music since the early 50's. A lot of great songs have been recorded thruout that time, most before 1956. SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN envisions a guy in a drunken stupor who is so miserable he doesn't know which end is up and appears it will get no better. Not much to grab onto. Porter Wagoner a bit earlier recorded a song Entitled: Skid Row Joe. Not much better than SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN but on the same Theme.

Kristofferson is the son of an Air Force General, if I remember correctly and believe it or not a Rhodes Scholar. Now what the hell a Rhodes Scholar learns is beyond me but Kristofferson wanted to be a Country Songwriter. Eh well, me too. Johnny Cash had a slew of great songs before he recorded SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN. So it is a big letdown to me that he recorded such a song. It may have been a favor to K. However glad you like it.


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Originally Posted by Ray E. Strode
Um, Well Michael,
I have been listening to country music since the early 50's. A lot of great songs have been recorded thruout that time, most before 1956. SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN envisions a guy in a drunken stupor who is so miserable he doesn't know which end is up and appears it will get no better. Not much to grab onto. Porter Wagoner a bit earlier recorded a song Entitled: Skid Row Joe. Not much better than SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN but on the same Theme.

Kristofferson is the son of an Air Force General, if I remember correctly and believe it or not a Rhodes Scholar. Now what the hell a Rhodes Scholar learns is beyond me but Kristofferson wanted to be a Country Songwriter. Eh well, me too. Johnny Cash had a slew of great songs before he recorded SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN. So it is a big letdown to me that he recorded such a song. It may have been a favor to K. However glad you like it.


I just listened to Johnny Cashs version cause i wanted to know what the hell you were talking about LOL. 1956 shew

Good song, but seems to me to be more about not having family connections than it is drinking.

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When I saw this post this song sprang immediately to mind. " Where Do You Go To My Lovely".
It's not so much the lyrics (apart from those annoying repeats like "yes they are", "yes you do" etc., which are quite clever but the tune is a constant drone to me.

No chorus, no bridge. Just the same rolling, annoying tune like a stuck record.
Last week a guy in a bar said to me it was his favourite song of the '60's so what do I know?

You talk like Marlene Dietrich
And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire
Your clothes are all made by Balmain
And there's diamonds and pearls in your hair, yes there are

You live in a fancy apartment
Off the Boulevard St. Michel
Where you keep your Rolling Stones records
And a friend of Sacha Distel, yes you do

You go to the embassy parties
Where you talk in Russian and Greek
And the young men who move in your circles
They hang on every word you speak, yes they do

But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed?
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes I do

I've seen all your qualifications
You got from the Sorbonne
And the painting you stole from Picasso
Your loveliness goes on and on, yes it does

When you go on your summer vacation
You go to Juan-les-Pins
With your carefully designed topless swimsuit
You get an even suntan on your back, and on your legs


It's never too late? Yes it is, so do it now.

If, given time, a monkey can write the complete works of Shakespeare maybe there's hope for me.

http://store.cdbaby.com/cd/vicarnold2

http://www.soundclick.com/vicarnold

http://soundcloud.com/vic-arnold

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Originally Posted by Mark Kaufman
I can admire and respect a song while gagging on it every time I hear it. One of Elvis Presley's greatest songs, "Suspicious Minds" falls into that category.

It makes my skin crawl. Seriously. Meanwhile, everything about it impresses me as a very well-written song. I understand the lyrics, I wouldn't rewrite them, they work perfectly, the music is hook-filled and the production is arranged masterfully. And I despise it.It doesn't make me feel good when it plays.

It goes back to childhood, so maybe I'm responding to the combination of the impossible complainy message that also drips with "I love you" while saying "I don't trust you at all and nor you me" all coming from the overwrought delivery from that fat sweaty guy in a comedic superhero suit who used to be so cool.

There. That felt good. And I KNOW I'm out on a limb that's about to crash into a burning forest. I'm caught in a trap.



Hi Mark,

Haha, I am happy to have aided in you getting that off your chest!

That was probably his biggest chart hit (that and 'In The Ghetto') after he returned from Vietnam. I always thought it was a Mac Davis tune, but it turns out it's some writer named "Mark James" whose other big write was "Always On My Mind."

I think you're safe, Mark. "Suspicious Minds" is an easy song to dislike. The main thing for me is that 2/4 snare beat in the chorus was old even by 1969 and though I like it in some Tex-Mex music, on the upbeat, it just makes me think of gogo dancers, which isn't necessarily a bad thing I guess..Imagine the different kind of song this would have been with a Thom Bell production and Al Green singing.

Mike

Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/09/19 01:58 PM.

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Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

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Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
Originally Posted by Mark Kaufman
I can admire and respect a song while gagging on it every time I hear it. One of Elvis Presley's greatest songs, "Suspicious Minds" falls into that category.

It makes my skin crawl. Seriously. Meanwhile, everything about it impresses me as a very well-written song. I understand the lyrics, I wouldn't rewrite them, they work perfectly, the music is hook-filled and the production is arranged masterfully. And I despise it.It doesn't make me feel good when it plays.

It goes back to childhood, so maybe I'm responding to the combination of the impossible complainy message that also drips with "I love you" while saying "I don't trust you at all and nor you me" all coming from the overwrought delivery from that fat sweaty guy in a comedic superhero suit who used to be so cool.

There. That felt good. And I KNOW I'm out on a limb that's about to crash into a burning forest. I'm caught in a trap.


This is very true also. Most people agree that classical music is some of the greatest music ever written, but how many of us want to listen to it? How many of us break it out at a party, lol

I agree, "somewhere over the rainbow" I feel is one of the greatest songs ever written, but personally I think it sucks, if that makes any sense. I guess it goes back to subjective and objective.

But i guess we can learn from stuff that we know is great, but dont necessarily like.



Hi FD,

Try to articulate why you think it sucks. This is where the fun lies, for me at least.

"Somewhere Over The Rainbow" was a meh song for me after I grew up, but then I heard Israel Kamakawiwo ole's version in the early 90s and fell in love with the song again. To me it's an innocent expression of longing to hold on to one's dreams. Holding on to the child inside ourselves, as it can be a source of light as we go through life. I think some songs are great but aren't durable enough to withstand a million listens. The melody and harmonic structure is so perfectly wed to the lyric that for me, this one can.

Love to hear you express why you no likey.

Mike

Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/09/19 01:16 PM.

Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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Originally Posted by Ray E. Strode
Um, Well Michael,
I have been listening to country music since the early 50's. A lot of great songs have been recorded thruout that time, most before 1956. SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN envisions a guy in a drunken stupor who is so miserable he doesn't know which end is up and appears it will get no better. Not much to grab onto. Porter Wagoner a bit earlier recorded a song Entitled: Skid Row Joe. Not much better than SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN but on the same Theme.

Kristofferson is the son of an Air Force General, if I remember correctly and believe it or not a Rhodes Scholar. Now what the hell a Rhodes Scholar learns is beyond me but Kristofferson wanted to be a Country Songwriter. Eh well, me too. Johnny Cash had a slew of great songs before he recorded SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN. So it is a big letdown to me that he recorded such a song. It may have been a favor to K. However glad you like it.


Hi Ray,

I think you have a superficial "read" on that KK lyric. To me, it's about loneliness and it speaks in brutally honest language the self-destructive measures we can go to feel less emotional pain. The lyric doesn't focus on the source of the pain, or any solutions to it, but is more like a snapshot of the vulnerable mental state the singer's in on Sunday, a day that for most of us signifies as FD says family life.

The song appeared amidst the Easy Listening Country phase of the early Seventies and made those songs (Rose Garden, For The Good Times, etc.) look saccharine by comparison.

Cash would revisit this theme when he recorded Trent Reznor's great song, "Hurt" in 2003.

Mike



Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/09/19 02:00 PM.

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Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

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I have a problem with a whole specific sub-category of songs..

Whatever subcategory of noxious songs "The Greatest Love" falls into. If you're gonna tell me I should "learn to love myself" (cuz it's, after all, the greatest love) --I'm gonna need a dinner and a nice walk in the park, first.

It belongs in a musical called, "Social Workers!" and kept there, away from humanity, forever.
And I've also "Never Been To Me" and I hope it never happens, LOL...

I'm guess I'm just a jaded ex-record store guy..

Mike


Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/09/19 02:05 PM.

Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
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Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
Originally Posted by Mark Kaufman
I can admire and respect a song while gagging on it every time I hear it. One of Elvis Presley's greatest songs, "Suspicious Minds" falls into that category.

It makes my skin crawl. Seriously. Meanwhile, everything about it impresses me as a very well-written song. I understand the lyrics, I wouldn't rewrite them, they work perfectly, the music is hook-filled and the production is arranged masterfully. And I despise it.It doesn't make me feel good when it plays.

It goes back to childhood, so maybe I'm responding to the combination of the impossible complainy message that also drips with "I love you" while saying "I don't trust you at all and nor you me" all coming from the overwrought delivery from that fat sweaty guy in a comedic superhero suit who used to be so cool.

There. That felt good. And I KNOW I'm out on a limb that's about to crash into a burning forest. I'm caught in a trap.


This is very true also. Most people agree that classical music is some of the greatest music ever written, but how many of us want to listen to it? How many of us break it out at a party, lol

I agree, "somewhere over the rainbow" I feel is one of the greatest songs ever written, but personally I think it sucks, if that makes any sense. I guess it goes back to subjective and objective.

But i guess we can learn from stuff that we know is great, but dont necessarily like.



Hi FD,

Try to articulate why you think it sucks. This is where the fun lies, for me at least.

"Somewhere Over The Rainbow" was a meh song for me after I grew up, but then I heard Israel Kamakawiwo ole's version in the early 90s and fell in love with the song again. To me it's an innocent expression of longing to hold on to one's dreams. Holding on to the child inside ourselves, as it can be a source of light as we go through life. I think some songs are great but aren't durable enough to withstand a million listens. The melody and harmonic structure is so perfectly wed to the lyric that for me, this one can.

Love to hear you express why you no likey.

Mike


I could say why I think its a great write, and why I dont like it? Sounds like a bit like a hot ice pack.... lol

"Objective" why I think its great.
Great write because it's a perfectly simple, economistic, universal idea. Speaks of transcendence, which oddly in most of the rock music I listen to, that's what I tend to like. very to the point and short and sweet, no wasted words, like most standards.

It's a feel good song that makes you think of not really the way things are, but the way things could be. Sweet, nice, wholesome. Uplifting during some hard periods in our country, Gorgeous melody, great arrangement on the track.


Why I dont like it: Subjective

Basic reason is it's not in my wheelhouse of music. I like alot of different stuff but music like that just never did anything for me. So overall tastes.

Sappy, while nice and sweet, it's bullchit. Written specifically to tug on the heart strings, in a pretentious kind of way. Some of the best stuff just gets you without trying, this tries a bit too hard. I dont like music that refuses to look out the window...so to speak.

Boring. Again might be part of the musical tastes idea.

But if I saw somebody post it here, I would surely clap and recognize the talent and the beauty of the music they just posted. I just wouldnt listen to it on my own time!



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Hi again, Mark,

I should add that this is a fun bit of prose and spot-on assessment for me as well:

It goes back to childhood, so maybe I'm responding to the combination of the impossible complainy message that also drips with "I love you" while saying "I don't trust you at all and nor you me" all coming from the overwrought delivery from that fat sweaty guy in a comedic superhero suit who used to be so cool.

It's a mini-catharsis when we can articulate a feeling. smile

Mike


Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
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from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Hi again, Mark,

I should add that this is a fun bit of prose and spot-on assessment for me as well:

It goes back to childhood, so maybe I'm responding to the combination of the impossible complainy message that also drips with "I love you" while saying "I don't trust you at all and nor you me" all coming from the overwrought delivery from that fat sweaty guy in a comedic superhero suit who used to be so cool.

It's a mini-catharsis when we can articulate a feeling. smile

Mike


Yeah thats a good point, and maybe more on point than anything too. A song about not trusting each other delivered by a singer who at that point in his career doesnt seem like somebody you should trust...life imitating art? Im Sure Elvis had alot of that going on in his life too

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Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Imagine the different kind of song this would have been with a Thom Bell production and Al Green singing.



Whoa! That would definitely fly. I could relate to that—in a way that Elvis's delivery and arrangement doesn't allow me to relate to, because it just doesn't *sound* like the feeling when I've felt it. The feeling is less bombastic, and definitely not like a Phil Spector fever dream. I wish the Righteous Brothers had beaten him to the punch much earlier, because this arrangement would really work for them. But Al Green! Man that would sound great.

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Wow, I just read that Donna Godchaux is one of the "Ooo-oo-oo-oo-ooooooo" voices on "Suspicious Minds". Elvis was a Deadhead!

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I’ll play! “Call Me”. artist: Blondie.

This is just an annoying song/lyric to me. When it comes on the radio, I change the channel. There’s a bazillion “Call me” lines in the lyric and it grates on my nerves. The song is on the soundtrack of the movie, “American Gigolo”. I don't think I ever saw that movie, but I know many people think the song is fun and playful...with the “Ooo-ooo-ooos” and foreign language...what is that French, Italian? I don't know what those words mean but imo, they’re the most interesting part of the lyric. More enticing of her suitor there (that's the whole song, though, isn't it?)...and the words sing well and at least she’s not repeating, “call me”! grin

Also, the song has a drive to the music that starts from the get-go and does not stop which I might be able to get behind if there were no lyrics....lol.

And I remember it playing on the radio when I was younger c-o-n-s-t-a-n-t-l-y. “Call me” has permeated my brain permanently I think! It’s become so “sing-songy” in my mind. That’s it! I bet the radio ruined it for me---overplaying the song. And how many years ago did it come out and here I am....still sick of it? Wow.


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Originally Posted by Vicarn
When I saw this post this song sprang immediately to mind. " Where Do You Go To My Lovely".
It's not so much the lyrics (apart from those annoying repeats like "yes they are", "yes you do" etc., which are quite clever but the tune is a constant drone to me.

No chorus, no bridge. Just the same rolling, annoying tune like a stuck record.
Last week a guy in a bar said to me it was his favourite song of the '60's so what do I know?

You talk like Marlene Dietrich
And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire
Your clothes are all made by Balmain
And there's diamonds and pearls in your hair, yes there are

You live in a fancy apartment
Off the Boulevard St. Michel
Where you keep your Rolling Stones records
And a friend of Sacha Distel, yes you do

You go to the embassy parties
Where you talk in Russian and Greek
And the young men who move in your circles
They hang on every word you speak, yes they do

But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed?
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes I do

I've seen all your qualifications
You got from the Sorbonne
And the painting you stole from Picasso
Your loveliness goes on and on, yes it does

When you go on your summer vacation
You go to Juan-les-Pins
With your carefully designed topless swimsuit
You get an even suntan on your back, and on your legs


youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8XQZYIiNgo

Hi Vic,

Yes, a well known hit in Britain that didn't cross the pond, but I know the song. Kind of like a second-rate Scott Walker tune, name dropping French people and places. Cloaked in reverb and a vocal style that might've inspired Natalie Merchant's. And despite all that, I think I'd like the song if it weren't for the length. But yeah, it's pretty much 1, 6, 4, 5, all the way through.

I was into the whole Scott Walker thing (years later, though--I was too young at the time), but the more esoteric he got, the more I loved his work, and this takes all his worst qualities and distills it into a pretentious, sing-songy, never ending, blurring mess!

Nice one!

Thanks,

Mike

Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/10/19 01:05 PM.

Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

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Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
Originally Posted by Mark Kaufman
I can admire and respect a song while gagging on it every time I hear it. One of Elvis Presley's greatest songs, "Suspicious Minds" falls into that category.

It makes my skin crawl. Seriously. Meanwhile, everything about it impresses me as a very well-written song. I understand the lyrics, I wouldn't rewrite them, they work perfectly, the music is hook-filled and the production is arranged masterfully. And I despise it.It doesn't make me feel good when it plays.

It goes back to childhood, so maybe I'm responding to the combination of the impossible complainy message that also drips with "I love you" while saying "I don't trust you at all and nor you me" all coming from the overwrought delivery from that fat sweaty guy in a comedic superhero suit who used to be so cool.

There. That felt good. And I KNOW I'm out on a limb that's about to crash into a burning forest. I'm caught in a trap.


This is very true also. Most people agree that classical music is some of the greatest music ever written, but how many of us want to listen to it? How many of us break it out at a party, lol

I agree, "somewhere over the rainbow" I feel is one of the greatest songs ever written, but personally I think it sucks, if that makes any sense. I guess it goes back to subjective and objective.

But i guess we can learn from stuff that we know is great, but dont necessarily like.



Hi FD,

Try to articulate why you think it sucks. This is where the fun lies, for me at least.

"Somewhere Over The Rainbow" was a meh song for me after I grew up, but then I heard Israel Kamakawiwo ole's version in the early 90s and fell in love with the song again. To me it's an innocent expression of longing to hold on to one's dreams. Holding on to the child inside ourselves, as it can be a source of light as we go through life. I think some songs are great but aren't durable enough to withstand a million listens. The melody and harmonic structure is so perfectly wed to the lyric that for me, this one can.

Love to hear you express why you no likey.

Mike


I could say why I think its a great write, and why I dont like it? Sounds like a bit like a hot ice pack.... lol

"Objective" why I think its great.
Great write because it's a perfectly simple, economistic, universal idea. Speaks of transcendence, which oddly in most of the rock music I listen to, that's what I tend to like. very to the point and short and sweet, no wasted words, like most standards.

It's a feel good song that makes you think of not really the way things are, but the way things could be. Sweet, nice, wholesome. Uplifting during some hard periods in our country, Gorgeous melody, great arrangement on the track.


Why I dont like it: Subjective

Basic reason is it's not in my wheelhouse of music. I like alot of different stuff but music like that just never did anything for me. So overall tastes.

Sappy, while nice and sweet, it's bullchit. Written specifically to tug on the heart strings, in a pretentious kind of way. Some of the best stuff just gets you without trying, this tries a bit too hard. I dont like music that refuses to look out the window...so to speak.

Boring. Again might be part of the musical tastes idea.

But if I saw somebody post it here, I would surely clap and recognize the talent and the beauty of the music they just posted. I just wouldnt listen to it on my own time!




The Isreal K version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BeKhlUzPUc


Hi FD,

Can we ever really know if a song is designed to pull on our heartstrings?

You never liked the song in "The Wizard of Oz?"

One could argue, SOTR is all about "looking out the window" but I think maybe you must mean something different than I do when I think about looking out the window. In fact, isn't Dorothy literally looking out of her bedroom window when she sings SOTR?!?

I can see how there can be psychological underpinnings, too.

I think I dislike "Suspicious Minds" mostly because the sentiments expressed in it are not so different from the kind that end up in abusive relationships, and though my dad died when I was young, my mother would often talk about hurtful things he did, usually when drunk--but ALWAYS ended each talk with, "but I loved your father" --kinda indoctrinating me into the same, "love equals abuse" kinda mentality. And so hearing that echoed in pop songs would often bring on a visceral dread.

Not that this is you, FD, but I can imagine mature adults who don't like SOTR because life played a number on their inner-child and so songs about dreaming for something (probably) unobtainable always felt a bit phony, because to the "old man" in us, those things certainly are.

But I know you're a dreamer. Couldn't be and not love Springsteen's "Born To Run" album which has a strong undercurrent running through it of wanting some kind of "rainbow" that's out there if we go find it. So with you, I can see it's about the sound, the delivery, more than the message. Bruce hits your sweet spot.

Specifically, to me, the song "Born To Run" is very much to me like SOTR in tone and story. There's great yearning in each. SOTR keeps everything vague and reaches universally. The Boss' song is more Beat poet influenced with longer lines, finding a nice hybrid style that is more prose-like with many specifics, but is arguably universal as well. SOTR is a just a ditty to Born to Run's epic poetry. Both, to me are great songs, with different ways of telling a story of yearning to be somewhere else, somewhere better.

Thanks for your thoughtful take. smile

Mike


Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/10/19 01:57 PM.

Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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I'm glad folks have avoided a few obvious songs like "The Pina Colada Song," "Seasons In the Sun," "Playground In My Mind," and anything bubble-gum.

I can imagine "Alone Again, Naturally" might be disliked for its confusingly happy music/depressing lyric, but I always loved the song. It's Chaplin's "Smile" without telling me what to do, but with a back story.

Those were somehow both extremely popular and critically vilified.

Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/10/19 01:59 PM.

Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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Originally Posted by Kristi McKeever
I’ll play! “Call Me”. artist: Blondie.

This is just an annoying song/lyric to me. When it comes on the radio, I change the channel. There’s a bazillion “Call me” lines in the lyric and it grates on my nerves. The song is on the soundtrack of the movie, “American Gigolo”. I don't think I ever saw that movie, but I know many people think the song is fun and playful...with the “Ooo-ooo-ooos” and foreign language...what is that French, Italian? I don't know what those words mean but imo, they’re the most interesting part of the lyric. More enticing of her suitor there (that's the whole song, though, isn't it?)...and the words sing well and at least she’s not repeating, “call me”! grin

Also, the song has a drive to the music that starts from the get-go and does not stop which I might be able to get behind if there were no lyrics....lol.

And I remember it playing on the radio when I was younger c-o-n-s-t-a-n-t-l-y. “Call me” has permeated my brain permanently I think! It’s become so “sing-songy” in my mind. That’s it! I bet the radio ruined it for me---overplaying the song. And how many years ago did it come out and here I am....still sick of it? Wow.


Hi Kristi,

Ha! Smiling..love your post..

Debbie Harry puts me to sleep for some reason. I mean, Blondie's "One Way Or Another" is not so different from The Pretenders' "Brass In Pocket" (aka "Make You Notice") but I like the latter. Videodrone is the only Cronenberg movie that's a snoozefest for me. I've never made it to the end.

The fact that I've heard "Call Me" a million times, and when I replay the song in my head I get, "CALL ME! Ahaaaaaa, blah blah blah blah blaaaah, CALL ME, blah blah," and so on and so forth tells me that my brain was shutting down every time I heard the song. Now it has invaded my local supermarket and though there's no visceral dread like for you, I find myself quickly focusing on what kind of salad dressing works with the pasta. . smile

Thanks for your fun take. May you have a "Call Me" free life from here on, forward!

Mike



Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/10/19 01:39 PM.

Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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Originally Posted by Mark Kaufman
Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Imagine the different kind of song this would have been with a Thom Bell production and Al Green singing.



Whoa! That would definitely fly. I could relate to that—in a way that Elvis's delivery and arrangement doesn't allow me to relate to, because it just doesn't *sound* like the feeling when I've felt it. The feeling is less bombastic, and definitely not like a Phil Spector fever dream. I wish the Righteous Brothers had beaten him to the punch much earlier, because this arrangement would really work for them. But Al Green! Man that would sound great.


Yeah, As I told FD above, I found the psychological underpinning as to "why" I disliked the Suspicious Minds lyric.

But for me, like you, it's mainly the kind of forced drama the producer thought was a good thing for the song. Bell/Green would let the lyric do that work. The horn arrangement could be identical, but Green's approach was always "cooler" and more approachable.

If I had detoured my life into the practice of psychiatry, I think I would use the discovery of this "name a song you hate that everybody loves" as a way into a patient's psyche' ..

Mike

Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/10/19 01:43 PM.

Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
[quote=Michael Zaneski][quote=Fdemetrio][quote=Mark Kaufman]I




The Isreal K version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BeKhlUzPUc


Hi FD,

Can we ever really know if a song is designed to pull on our heartstrings?

You never liked the song in "The Wizard of Oz?"

One could argue, SOTR is all about "looking out the window" but I think maybe you must mean something different than I do when I think about looking out the window. In fact, isn't Dorothy literally looking out of her bedroom window when she sings SOTR?!?

I can see how there can be psychological underpinnings, too.

I think I dislike "Suspicious Minds" mostly because the sentiments expressed in it are not so different from the kind that end up in abusive relationships, and though my dad died when I was young, my mother would often talk about hurtful things he did, usually when drunk--but ALWAYS ended each talk with, "but I loved your father" --kinda indoctrinating me into the same, "love equals abuse" kinda mentality. And so hearing that echoed in pop songs would often bring on a visceral dread.

Not that this is you, FD, but I can imagine mature adults who don't like SOTR because life played a number on their inner-child and so songs about dreaming for something (probably) unobtainable always felt a bit phony, because to the "old man" in us, those things certainly are.

But I know you're a dreamer. Couldn't be and not love Springsteen's "Born To Run" album which has a strong undercurrent running through it of wanting some kind of "rainbow" that's out there if we go find it. So with you, I can see it's about the sound, the delivery, more than the message. Bruce hits your sweet spot.

Specifically, to me, the song "Born To Run" is very much to me like SOTR in tone and story. There's great yearning in each. SOTR keeps everything vague and reaches universally. The Boss' song is more Beat poet influenced with longer lines, finding a nice hybrid style that is more prose-like with many specifics, but is arguably universal as well. SOTR is a just a ditty to Born to Run's epic poetry. Both, to me are great songs, with different ways of telling a story of yearning to be somewhere else, somewhere better.

Thanks for your thoughtful take. smile

Mike



I think likes of styles of music play a huge role. We never really had a metal head here or a dead head, chances are they wont like any song first and foremost if its not metal or not Jerry. With Metal heads its a bit of a badge of honor, I only like metal. You wont see Ray speaking of a song thats not country from 1950.

Im a bit more rounded, I like folk, blues, some country, Sinatra, Smokey Robinson. But were all guilty of that.

Bruce always made me aware of the possibilities. Its not just about sound actually. One of my biggest complaints of Bruce was that his music never contained enough guitar. He has two great players as well as himself, and the featured pieces were piano and sax. He really did soul music above anything else.

Yeah I prefer Bruce's delivery to Judy Garlands, but thats not the whole thing. Bruce's music many consider to be a downer. To me when he sang "im goin down" (one of my favorite tracks) I didnt feel like I was going down, I felt I was going up, ready to find something better. He didnt sugar coat like SOTR, he laid it out in all its ugliness but found optimism in it. Somewhere over the rainbow doesnt come anywhere near BTR, as far as entertainment.. But I can still marvel at the craft and the marriage of lyric and melody and all that good stuff. its probably more polished that way than BTR, but doesnt blow your doors off.

In fairness, SOTR was probably more of a kids song, and actually no....I never liked Wizard of Oz, I remember watching it many times, but not really liking it the way I did Willie Wonka, for example.

Last edited by Fdemetrio; 07/10/19 03:10 PM.
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I think the next post should be, I LOVE a song Nobody else seems to like. I have alot of those

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For me, the test of a great song is "will it last?". I can hear "In My Life" and still love it. But a song like "Your Song"? I liked it when it came out, but the lustre faded, I really don't care for it anymore.

Last edited by Pat Hardy; 07/10/19 06:56 PM.
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There is no test.


It's never too late? Yes it is, so do it now.

If, given time, a monkey can write the complete works of Shakespeare maybe there's hope for me.

http://store.cdbaby.com/cd/vicarnold2

http://www.soundclick.com/vicarnold

http://soundcloud.com/vic-arnold

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Here's a little
Song I wrote
You might want to
Sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy
In every life we
Have some trouble
But when you worry
You make it double
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy now

Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy

Ain't got no place
To lay your head
Somebody came
And took your bed
Don't worry, be happy
The landlord say
Your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy,
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy,
Don't worry, be happy

To me, this song is what’s wrong with the entire freakin' world! It is an exercise in the propagation of apathy, and I have despised it from the moment I first heard it! Go figure Lol..... smile

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Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
[quote=Michael Zaneski][quote=Fdemetrio][quote=Mark Kaufman]I




The Isreal K version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BeKhlUzPUc


Hi FD,

Can we ever really know if a song is designed to pull on our heartstrings?

You never liked the song in "The Wizard of Oz?"

One could argue, SOTR is all about "looking out the window" but I think maybe you must mean something different than I do when I think about looking out the window. In fact, isn't Dorothy literally looking out of her bedroom window when she sings SOTR?!?

I can see how there can be psychological underpinnings, too.

I think I dislike "Suspicious Minds" mostly because the sentiments expressed in it are not so different from the kind that end up in abusive relationships, and though my dad died when I was young, my mother would often talk about hurtful things he did, usually when drunk--but ALWAYS ended each talk with, "but I loved your father" --kinda indoctrinating me into the same, "love equals abuse" kinda mentality. And so hearing that echoed in pop songs would often bring on a visceral dread.

Not that this is you, FD, but I can imagine mature adults who don't like SOTR because life played a number on their inner-child and so songs about dreaming for something (probably) unobtainable always felt a bit phony, because to the "old man" in us, those things certainly are.

But I know you're a dreamer. Couldn't be and not love Springsteen's "Born To Run" album which has a strong undercurrent running through it of wanting some kind of "rainbow" that's out there if we go find it. So with you, I can see it's about the sound, the delivery, more than the message. Bruce hits your sweet spot.

Specifically, to me, the song "Born To Run" is very much to me like SOTR in tone and story. There's great yearning in each. SOTR keeps everything vague and reaches universally. The Boss' song is more Beat poet influenced with longer lines, finding a nice hybrid style that is more prose-like with many specifics, but is arguably universal as well. SOTR is a just a ditty to Born to Run's epic poetry. Both, to me are great songs, with different ways of telling a story of yearning to be somewhere else, somewhere better.

Thanks for your thoughtful take. smile

Mike



I think likes of styles of music play a huge role. We never really had a metal head here or a dead head, chances are they wont like any song first and foremost if its not metal or not Jerry. With Metal heads its a bit of a badge of honor, I only like metal. You wont see Ray speaking of a song thats not country from 1950.

Im a bit more rounded, I like folk, blues, some country, Sinatra, Smokey Robinson. But were all guilty of that.

Bruce always made me aware of the possibilities. Its not just about sound actually. One of my biggest complaints of Bruce was that his music never contained enough guitar. He has two great players as well as himself, and the featured pieces were piano and sax. He really did soul music above anything else.

Yeah I prefer Bruce's delivery to Judy Garlands, but thats not the whole thing. Bruce's music many consider to be a downer. To me when he sang "im goin down" (one of my favorite tracks) I didnt feel like I was going down, I felt I was going up, ready to find something better. He didnt sugar coat like SOTR, he laid it out in all its ugliness but found optimism in it. Somewhere over the rainbow doesnt come anywhere near BTR, as far as entertainment.. But I can still marvel at the craft and the marriage of lyric and melody and all that good stuff. its probably more polished that way than BTR, but doesnt blow your doors off.

In fairness, SOTR was probably more of a kids song, and actually no....I never liked Wizard of Oz, I remember watching it many times, but not really liking it the way I did Willie Wonka, for example.



Speaking of Willie Wonka. I'd think "Candy Man" would be much despised by somebody..but it was never a well loved song, anyway.

Yeah BTR and SOTR are apples and oranges except for the common underlying theme, which makes it fun to try to compare them.


Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
I think the next post should be, I LOVE a song Nobody else seems to like. I have alot of those


Sounds like fun.

Feel free to start that thread if you want. I'd contribute after I thought of one. I imagine success in generating responses will come with naming songs most folks are familiar with.

Mike


Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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Originally Posted by JAPOV
Here's a little
Song I wrote
You might want to
Sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy
In every life we
Have some trouble
But when you worry
You make it double
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy now

Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy

Ain't got no place
To lay your head
Somebody came
And took your bed
Don't worry, be happy
The landlord say
Your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy,
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy,
Don't worry, be happy

To me, this song is what’s wrong with the entire freakin' world! It is an exercise in the propagation of apathy, and I have despised it from the moment I first heard it! Go figure Lol..... smile


Hi Tony,

Well, you aren't alone in disliking this song. It was hated by many from the time it came out, but defied the odds and became a smash hit. I imagine it was the fact that it was all McFerrin's voice--that made it kinda novel at the time. I don't think Rundgren had done his all voice album, yet.

I don't mind the song and read it a little different than you. To me he's saying, "all this bad stuff might be happening to you, so just take a time out, cuz there's nothing you can do about it at the moment" --and YES I realize his lyric is actually saying something more like "give up being responsible and be a moron" LOL..but it has that Reggae vibe and I associate it with finding a way to relax, more than anything..

I can also imagine that a little humor was intended, cuz he's describing homelessness and saying DWBH..maybe he could have made that humor even more apparent and absurd with further verses:

your family's all dead
you got a tumor in your head
don't worry..be happy..


cuz then if we shift into seeing McFerrin's intention was also to make us smile from the absurdity of being happy in the face of such tragedy, and then maybe his DWBH idea has already worked..if we smiled, that is..

Mike






Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/11/19 11:50 AM.

Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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I think Dont Worry Be Happy as a song, was terrible. And it showed us that all you need is a catchy hook and can have a hit. Also shows that most listeners dont need much in a song to make them satisfied. The idea comes from an ancient proverb.

That whistle hook was pretty clever, and sticks in the brain, and amazingly he had a hit with it with an a cappela arrangement.

It was such a novelty when it came out, nothing like it was ever played on the radio. Instantly people starting liking it. But I agree, overall the song is pretty shite.

Mcferrin is a talented guy though


Last edited by Fdemetrio; 07/11/19 11:53 AM.
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loved This song still do cant believe someone could class it as trite

SUNDAY MORNING SIDEWALK

COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION SONG OF THE YEAR
FOR 1970

SOME YOU TUBE COMMENTS below

Every time i need a drink I listen to this and some how it makes me put the cork back in the bottle.
------------------------------------------------
I have never seen a non-production video of a song that I have liked -- Until this one.
----------------------------------------------
Excellent job!!

"I Fumbled for my Cleanest Dirty Shirt"

one of my all time favorite lines and one that inspired me to start writing songs!


Being the ex-wife of an alcoholic Vietnam combat veteran (who is now sober), I can attest to the authenticity of these lyrics.

Whatever words I heard here I could once see in the tormented, hung-over morning eyes of my husband.


Well how could anybody who has written a Country Song describe this as A Song Sung By A Drunk out on his feet so to

speak ?


MY Take On This


The singer is describing the morning after
A binge ,with a look back over his life to date

Every line is original, Hes
accomplished what most decent writers try to
do ---Write every line in a way that no one else has done before ,
It’s a Classic


Some lines in the first verse

Sunday Morning Sidewalk


With No way to hold my head that didn’t hurt


The Beer I had for breakfast wasn-t bad ---

So I had one more for desert


I fumbled in my closet and found my

cleanest dirty shirt


---------------------------------------------
As For Myself I Would say

Probably the best seventies country song

Ever written

I have not met many people who don’t rate Kris Kristoferson Songs

Last edited by Cheyenne; 07/12/19 12:46 PM.

One of the most important principles of songwriting is to remember that a good song is a partnership of many different components, all working together to produce a satisfying musical experience.

In that respect, song components are either enhancing or compromising their combined effects.
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Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
Originally Posted by JAPOV
Here's a little
Song I wrote
You might want to
Sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy
In every life we
Have some trouble
But when you worry
You make it double
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy now

Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy

Ain't got no place
To lay your head
Somebody came
And took your bed
Don't worry, be happy
The landlord say
Your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy,
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy,
Don't worry, be happy

To me, this song is what’s wrong with the entire freakin' world! It is an exercise in the propagation of apathy, and I have despised it from the moment I first heard it! Go figure Lol..... smile


Hi Tony,

Well, you aren't alone in disliking this song. It was hated by many from the time it came out, but defied the odds and became a smash hit. I imagine it was the fact that it was all McFerrin's voice--that made it kinda novel at the time. I don't think Rundgren had done his all voice album, yet.

I don't mind the song and read it a little different than you. To me he's saying, "all this bad stuff might be happening to you, so just take a time out, cuz there's nothing you can do about it at the moment" --and YES I realize his lyric is actually saying something more like "give up being responsible and be a moron" LOL..but it has that Reggae vibe and I associate it with finding a way to relax, more than anything..

I can also imagine that a little humor was intended, cuz he's describing homelessness and saying DWBH..maybe he could have made that humor even more apparent and absurd with further verses:

your family's all dead
you got a tumor in your head
don't worry..be happy..


cuz then if we shift into seeing McFerrin's intention was also to make us smile from the absurdity of being happy in the face of such tragedy, and then maybe his DWBH idea has already worked..if we smiled, that is..

Mike






It's actually funny you say that...... Makes me wonder how many ways the song was edited before it was allowed to air.

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DONT WORRY BE HAPPY

It"s an example that a special voice alongside a popular tempo and a simple

message , can be a hit


It's not shite ---it's something the average weekend dancer can have a bit of fun with

What else could you write to a simple piece of music and a dance tempo that is

popularized by drug heads all over the world; I have no problem with it

I cant see that its worth such venomous comments.


One of the most important principles of songwriting is to remember that a good song is a partnership of many different components, all working together to produce a satisfying musical experience.

In that respect, song components are either enhancing or compromising their combined effects.
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Originally Posted by Cheyenne
loved This song still do cant believe someone could class it as trite

SUNDAY MORNING SIDEWALK

COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION SONG OF THE YEAR
FOR 1970

SOME YOU TUBE COMMENTS below

Every time i need a drink I listen to this and some how it makes me put the cork back in the bottle.
------------------------------------------------
I have never seen a non-production video of a song that I have liked -- Until this one.
----------------------------------------------
Excellent job!!

"I Fumbled for my Cleanest Dirty Shirt"

one of my all time favorite lines and one that inspired me to start writing songs!


Being the ex-wife of an alcoholic Vietnam combat veteran (who is now sober), I can attest to the authenticity of these lyrics.

Whatever words I heard here I could once see in the tormented, hung-over morning eyes of my husband.


Well how could anybody who has written a Country Song describe this as A Song Sung By A Drunk out on his feet so to

speak ?


MY Take On This


The singer is describing the morning after
A binge ,with a look back over his life to date

Every line is original, Hes
accomplished what most decent writers try to
do ---Write every line in a way that no one else has done before ,
It’s a Classic


Some lines in the first verse

Sunday Morning Sidewalk


With No way to hold my head that didn’t hurt


The Beer I had for breakfast wasn-t bad ---

So I had one more for desert


I fumbled in my closet and found my

cleanest dirty shirt


---------------------------------------------
As For Myself I Would say

Probably the best seventies country song

Ever written

I have not met many people who don’t rate Kris Kristoferson Songs



But power to Ray for admitting that, cuz as you say it's a hard song to dislike.

And the value of this exercise is to self-examine "why" we don't like this song that everyone loves. Catharsis and growth can happen from that, like it did with me and "Your Song."

We ALL have a song or two where we are not-in-line with overall critical and public assessments. It feels good to "come out" and share those songs with folks here. Perhaps others help us get a "new look" at that song.

Kris K was a rare breed. Smart enough to write over all our heads, but always chose a conversational tone and identified with everyday people. Most complaints about him are about his vocals, and that's all justified, cuz he wasn't the worlds best singer by a longshot. But I remember, even my mom loved Kris K's work. I think her favorite was a cover of "Help Me Make It Through The Night" which I'm almost positive was KK's writing..

Mike



Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/12/19 01:16 PM.

Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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Originally Posted by Cheyenne
DONT WORRY BE HAPPY

It"s an example that a special voice alongside a popular tempo and a simple

message , can be a hit


It's not shite ---it's something the average weekend dancer can have a bit of fun with

What else could you write to a simple piece of music and a dance tempo that is

popularized by drug heads all over the world; I have no problem with it

I cant see that its worth such venomous comments.


I certainly didnt make venemous comments about Dont worry, if it appeared that way I dont want it to

I feel as a song....it's shite. No melody, trite lyrics, what it IS, is a great performance. I think there's a difference.

When it first came out, i put it right on the same wave length as men without hats safety dance or something similarly goofy.

And im sure some folks got something from it. And Ive heard worse songs, the great performance saves it.

Its just in the annals of the American Songbook, how could you even list it? If studying songwriting, this wouldnt be the song to study. If trying to have a hit it wouldnt help studying it cause there will nothing like it again. Maybe in that respect its uniqueness, i give it some points.

But we cant have a thread "I hate a song that everybody loves" and then complain when somebody says why....

Even the biggests hits of all times have millions of people who hate it, that wont change.

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Aw, Humm,
Well an update why I don't particularly like the song. Now picture this, the person is looking in a dirty laundry hamper for his cleanest dirty shirt, now the picture is he is in a drunken stupor, or just sobering up, whatever the case may be, of which conjures up the stink of a dirty laundry hamper, of which says he needs to do his laundry, of which says how hard it is to write a good song, if that is the image Kristofferson trying to present he did it well, I still don't like it. As another Note, a Music Critic in Stereo Review Magazine reviewed a K Album release. He gigged the Album as less than good. The Album may still be for Sale as far as I know. But to each his own.

Now, about Ackey Breaky Heart......


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Tiptoe through the tulips was a song that grated on my nerves.

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OH Excuse me Chaps I thought I could also comment if I

did not agree with someone who hated a song, and state why I thought

they were wrong ???

What a dull world it would be if we all loved the same things in life

I like cycling around the country side, because the feel of fresh air

on my face invigorates me I often come up with my best songs

whilst loosing a few pounds of unwanted flesh

But thats just me ----- If I am watching a situation Comedy on the T V

and I hear canned laughter badly edited I change to another channel or turn

off the T V, but thats me

Commenting is great and we dont have to agree with each other, so no

problem there; I respect everyone's opinion but excess negativity on here

is beginning to get me down ; I can remember a much older brigade of folk

on here many gone on -- who were less negative ,

Trouble is many on here seem to belive an honest critique of their work that

does not agree with their own mind set , can only be written by a TROLL

Yes I am off the subject of the Original Post , but does that matter ????


One of the most important principles of songwriting is to remember that a good song is a partnership of many different components, all working together to produce a satisfying musical experience.

In that respect, song components are either enhancing or compromising their combined effects.
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Anything by Elvis. I just can't stand his voice and have never been able to take him seriously. He always sounds like an impersonation of himself, and not a particularly good one LOL. Some of that might not be his fault, of course, but there it is. And before all you Elvis fans come down on me like a ton of bricks, remember the title of the thread - I know millions of people all over the world love him.

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Elvis Costello?


It's never too late? Yes it is, so do it now.

If, given time, a monkey can write the complete works of Shakespeare maybe there's hope for me.

http://store.cdbaby.com/cd/vicarnold2

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Originally Posted by Everett Adams
Tiptoe through the tulips was a song that grated on my nerves.


Haha, you're not alone Everett. Tiny Tim was some kind of cultural phenomenon who Johnny Carson loved and had on his show all the time, updating us on his relationship with "Miss Vicki" as I recall..

Mike


Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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I know “Achy Breaky Heart” was a huge hit and made millions, but I hate it. It’s embarrassingly juvenile to me. Anytime I hear it, I rush to a window in fear of puking.

John smile

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Originally Posted by Cheyenne
but excess negativity on here

is beginning to get me down ; I can remember a much older brigade of folk

on here many gone on -- who were less negative ,



But unlike most of us you seem drawn to the thing you object to, like the person who phones the cops to tell them there's nekked folks who forgot to draw their blinds in an apartment across the street--you can see them through your binoculars.

So perhaps, may I suggest that if this thread brings you down because of excess negativity that you put away your binoculars and ignore the thread?

Just a thought, since you don't seem to get that this is meant to be a lighthearted thread and we're all, except for you, having fun here, and not trying to be too serious. smile

But I don't think anyone has a problem with you disagreeing and liking any of the songs that are mentioned as hated, either. It is not in any way, shape, or form ANY kind of sacrilege to dislike or like a song, but it can be interesting to uncover reasons why..

Mike

Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 07/14/19 01:18 PM.

Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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Originally Posted by Vicarn
Elvis Costello?


LOL, no! The other one, you know...whatisname.

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LOL...Get specific, Gavin..if you name a song and give reasons why you don't like that particular song, I could better respond..


Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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