Trivia Questions

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Artist Watch: April Smith and The Great Picture Show

I was turned on to April Smith and TGPS when their song Terrible Things was featured in the season promo for Showtime’s Weeds. I don’t particularly like Weeds but I was amazed at how well the song fit with the commercial. It is rare that one finds such a perfect fit between show and music but I digress. April Smith has one of the most unique and interesting voices and styles I’ve heard in a long time. I can compare her unique-ness to that of Florence Welch of Florence and The Machine(Dog Days Are Over) in the sense that their voices come along once in a decade. Both Florence and The Machine and April Smith and The Great Picture Show also use some non-conventional instruments and styles within their songs. April Smith blends Jazz, Blues, and classic Americana/Folk on her new album Songs For a Sinking Ship. April is a little like a modern day lounge singer. Her voice transports you to an earlier time, but all of her songs still sound modern. Favorite songs off the album are Wow and Flutter which is similar to Terrible Things in its bluesy jazz vibe and Cant Say No which has an almost Saloon-like feel elevated by the use of trumpet. You can listen to the whole album here. April Smith and The Great Picture Show is for fans of Florence and the Machine, Etta James, and Karen Oh.

Worst Lyric of the Week

Artist: Pink

Song: Raise Your Glass

Bad Lyrics “Don’t be Fancy/ Just Get Dancey/ Why so serious?”

When I first heard this song I began rocking out to it like I normally would on a Pink song (for example So What). Because I tend to use Pink songs as my pump up/work out songs I was expecting a lot from this new song on her greatest hits cd. Yet I was surprised at how terribly written the song is.   Yes, I know this song is catchy and very classic Pink. However these lyrics are so bad and they come up multiple times within the song. Pink later sings “If your too school for cool/ and your treated like a fool.” I mean seriously? My niece who is three years old could probably have thought of better rhymes than this. Dancey is not even a recognized word! I know its not the first time people have made up words for songs but in this case it is a hindrance. I expected more from you Pink. I really did.

Dont Worry Be Happy

Every Tuesday on 1043.fm they have “Two-for Tuesdays” meaning you get back to back songs from the same artist all day long. I love this concept because in all of classic rock there are some really great songs and with two in a row from the same artist I have a high chance of hearing one of my favorites. Yesterday I heard two songs from The Police and was struck by how their early music was so influenced by Reggae (favorites include Roxanne and Walking On The Moon). I had heard a lot of their music for quite a long time, thanks to my older sister’s big crush on Sting, but never really paid attention to their musical influences. I was a bit surprised at how mainstreamed The Police were able to become even though they relied so heavily on non-traditional pop/ new-wave elements within their songs. So this got me thinking about the progression of Reggae into pop music and where it stands today.

Reggae music came about in the 1960’s and was propelled to the forefront of modern music through Bob Marley and the Wailers. What is interesting about Reggae is that sometimes you aren’t really aware of how present it is. Take for example The Beatles song Ob la Di Ob la Da. This is a case where a song was Reggae influenced, but wasn’t completely over-the-top reggae and therefore more appealing to the general public. Don’t get me wrong Reggae is a cool genre of music, but it is definitely not for everyone.

There are some obvious reggae-fusion hits that are really mainstreamed for example UB40’s Red Wine, or The Clash’s (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais, but there are other more recent artists who have been blending Reggae fusion with traditional pop means. Take for instance No Doubt. Gwen Stefani knows how to rock, but in No Doubt’s album Rock Steady many of their songs were highly influenced by Reggae, for example Underneath it All, and Hey Baby. These songs rose to the top of the pop billboard charts even though they are actually Reggae hits. Other artists like Shaggy and Sean Kingston have used their Jamaican roots to create modern Reggae/Pop hits (like Shaggy’s It Wasn’t Me or Sean’s Letting Go). Other examples of Reggae-influenced popular billboard artists are The Fugees and Sublime. There have also been a few more recent reggae (or reggae fusion) songs that blew up the billboard charts; Travie McCoy’s Billionaire and Michael Franti’s Say Hey (I love you) to name a few. Its clear to me that early Reggae roots have definitely influenced more modern American pop for the better, so we are able to have a more diverse sound among the sea of “all the same melodies.”

Why do you think Reggae is such a recent popular American genre?

Misheard Lyrics

Today as I was driving in my car and began singing Jesse McCartney’s song Shake. There is a line in the song which goes Shorty hittin' me up /Says she wanna re-up/ Knows I got the best in town. In my mind I heard and then sang Shorty hitting me up/Says shes Gonorrhea / Knows I got the best in town. This got me to thinking about lyrics that are often misheard. I have a very good friend who without fail would always mess up the lyrics to songs. I would reply “why are you signing the song if you don’t know the lyrics?” But this incident proves to me that mishearing/mis-singing the lyrics can happen to anyone (ps can anyone tell me what “re-up”means??). As my mother could tell you when I was younger I used to belt out the lyrics “Im your Fetus Im your fire” when listening to Venus by Bananarama.

This got me thinking about some of the most misheard lyrics around. The first song that comes to mind is Def Leppard’s Pour Some Sugar on Me. As many people can attest, I find that any song by Def Leppard is frankly not understandable. But Pour Some Sugar On Me is particularly incomprehensible. There was even a T-Mobile commercial that made fun of this song for its often misheard lyrics. Another song that came to mind was The Pussycat Doll’s When I Grow Up. The Pussycat dolls sing When I grow up/ I wanna see the world/Drive nice cars/I wanna have groupies. This line is particularly misheard as “I wanna have boobies.” I also think that Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the most misheard songs of all time. It has that whole fast pace-higher pitched section that is difficult to understand by even the most skilled lyricist.

In a previous post I spoke about songs that were censored for their titles, but did you know that some songs get censored for their misheard lyrics? Often times if the word is ship, and can be confused with s*** then it can be bleeped out or left out of a song for the radio. For example The Black Eyed Peas song Don’t Phunk With My Heart was changed to Don’t Mess with my heart because of the fact that phunk sounded too much like the f word (most likely the BEP’s purpose in this song).

In order to avoid a complete botching of song lyrics or an unnecessary censorship label one should take more care in annunciation or in writing the lyrics in the first place. If you want to see some really funny misheard lyrics and their accompanying stories check out The Archive of misheard lyrics http://www.kissthisguy.com/funny.php. My favorites include a botching of Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love “Might as well face it/You’re a d*** with a glove” and Bee Gee’s Stayin Alive [ah, ah, ah, ah] “steak and a knife, steak and a knife.”

What are your most misheard lyrics?

Lyric of the Week

Artist: Travie McCoy

Song: Need You

Lyrics: I know its not your fault, but I’m a locked door/ And Inside I’m a mess by someone before/ And I wish that I, I could find a key/ To unlock all the things that you want us to be/ Let me open up and start again/ But there’s a safe around my heart/ I don’t know how to let you in/ And that’s what keeps us apart

Need You is probably my favorite Travie (aka Travis) McCoy song to date. I know everyone in the entire universe was in love with Billionaire but this song has a lot more depth, and shows his skill as a singer, and not just a rapper. I like these lyrics because I know guys who have been closed off or damaged by someone who has hurt them before (I also know plenty of girls like that too). This closure causes a lot of problems in the relationship, because it causes a person to be more cautious and less likely to be fully open and honest with their new partner. In this song Travie is trying to make his woman understand that he is actually trying, as he says later in the song: Call up the locksmith/ Tell him we need him quick/ We’ve got a million keys/ None of them seem to fit. In my opinion this song signifies progress. This guy is trying to get better for his current lady love, as opposed to just staying stagnant in the black hole that is left post a bad breakup. One has to ask the question, is this song about Katy Perry? This song is also super catchy and really easy to listen to. Good job on your newest super catchy album Lazarus Travie. 

Pitter Patter

This weekend my husband and I were lucky enough to see a Broadway show (Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music) in honor of my husband’s birthday (thanks Sharon and Lenny!). While at the theater my husband and I began discussing some of our favorite Broadway “moments.” One that came immediately to his mind was the song Not Getting Married Today from Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical Company sung by the excellent Madeline Kahn. I had mentioned to him that I had never seen that particular performance and once we got home we had to watch it. What I realized upon seeing it is that it was a “Patter Song”. A patter song is a song that has a moderately fast tempo, tongue twisting rhyming lyrics, and contains alliterative words that are entertaining when sung at a rapid pace. It was a popular style employed within “opera buffa” or comedic operas(for example Largo Al Factotum from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville), and most commonly used by Gilbert and Sullivan. Gilbert and Sullivan actually have one of the most famous patter songs in their comedic opera The Pirates of Penzance, the song is called I Am the Very Model Major of a Modern Major General. Listening to this song led us to listen to my husband’s favorite patter song The Speed Test from the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. As I watched The Speed Test I realized that I had heard the exact same patter song from The Pirates of Penzance. The Speed Test is literally almost a word for word replica of the song It Really Doesn’t Matter from the film version of Pirates, which in turn was taken from another Gilbert and Sullivan opera Ruddigore (My Eyes are Fully Open). 

Operas and Musicals aside, I began to think about modern day patter songs. The first song that came to mind was Barenaked Ladies’ One Week. In grade school when this song came out the only thing I appreciated was the fact that in no respectable way could I sing the lyrics. Now, I realize that this song pays homage to all previous patter songs that came before it. Another patter song example is The Maladjusted Jester sung by Danny Kaye in the fabulous movie The Court Jester. The television show Scrubs also employed the patter song technique in a musical episode. Dr. Cox sings The Rant Song and applies the same theories as Gilbert and Sullivan, by using similar rhythmic patterns and equally hilarious rhyming lyrics. Two more favorites are Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire and REM’s It’s the End of the World as We Know It.  All these songs provide some sort of comedic or entertaining element by singing the lyrics so rapidly. They also all have convenient and clever rhymes for their songs, and are near impossible to sing for a non-professional, meaning they are all perfect patter songs.

Do you think I missed a crucial patter song? Post your comments below.

TV Music Roundup 1:

Chuck vs the Cubic Z

Song: Beat the Devils Tattoo

Artist: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Music Supervisor: Josh Schwartz

As promised, I am going to dissect the use of music on various t.v shows during this awesome t.v. season. Now one of my favorite shows for new/unique music is Chuck on NBC. Chuck is a show about a normal computer nerd who inadvertently becomes an asset to the CIA when he downloads their entire database into his brain. The show centers on Chuck’s life at his “cover job”(working at a Best Buy type store called the “Buy More” in their Nerd Herd dept), and on his spy missions with Casey and Sarah, his two handlers. Chuck ended up falling for Sarah from day one, and at this point in the show (Season 4) they are dating. This show is a gem from creator Josh Schwartz (creator of The O.C, and Gossip Girl). Josh is one of my music supervision idols. Not only is he young, and the creator of various awesome shows, but he also puts all of the music to his shows himself. I’ll admit, I didn’t really think about music supervision until I watched The O.C. That show opened up my eyes to various bands I didn’t know existed and I really appreciated the show for that. It is also consistency ahead of the music game above all of Alex Patsavas’ shows (for example Greys Anatomy), and uses music thoughtfully as opposed to various lengthy “emotional tracks” employed in Greys.

This week’s music focused mainly on the use of one song Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s Beat the Devil’s Tattoo. This song was not only used as the focal point of Chuck’s episode but was also featured in Josh’s other show, Gossip Girl.  From my previous knowledge of Josh I gathered that he has a thing for BRMC. Firstly, they are emotional without being kitschy, and they have an ironic blues sound to their rock music. He previously used their songs Weight of the World and a personal favorite Salvation in season 3 of The O.C.  While I do appreciate the use of this awesome band’s presence in any television show, I’m surprised by the use of this song in this context for two reasons: 1) This song is much darker than the songs previously used on The O.C with lyrics like “I bled the needle through/You beat the devil’s tattoo” and “Sleepin on a razor/There’s no where left to fall.” 2) I wasn’t sure why this particular song was necessary to move the episode along. It happens to be that the opening bars of the song are really recognizable and probably most used throughout the episode. All in all this was an odd choice for me. Even though I love BRMC, and happen to find this song extremely interesting, I don’t really understand why it was necessary throughout the entire episode. I’m also surprised because that song was released in March of 2010 (waaay before they started shooting season 4) could it be Josh is losing his competitive edge? 

What did you think of Beat the Devils Tattoo on Chuck?

C**sored

I was originally going to write a blog post about my love for songs that straddle the risqué line. However, when I listened to AOL radio today I was shocked to find that my favorite song of the summer Cee Lo’s F*!% You had been changed to Forget You. If any of you have not heard the original F*** You then I suggest listening to it immediately. Not only is it risqué but it is darn catchy! Every time I hear it, it is in my head for days. But, in a good way, not in an annoying, ingratiating, never ending way like Straight Up. This ridiculous name change got me thinking to some other songs that were too un-p.c for the airwaves. I’m not going to focus on songs whose lyrics have been changed, hushed, or blurred (for example in F** You Cee-Lo sings “Aint that some S***” which is now changed to the radio friendly “Aint that some Shhh”).  Rather, I will just focus on song titles.

First is the ever-popular If You Seek Amy changed in the US to If You See Amy. Yes, I was one of those people who were like, what’s so bad about someone searching for Amy? Clearly, not understanding the full extent of the song until my older sister explained the nuances to me. Pitiful, I know. But, nevertheless the nuances were not lost on the censorship committee who decided that the message (if)F-(you)U-(see)C-(ka)K Me(my) was not one they wanted on their airwaves. The changed the title to If You See Amy which didn’t really do much good since Britney’s message was a loud and clear one.

Going back a few years the same censorship applied to the Rolling Stone’s Star F***er changed by Atlantic Records to Star Star. This song, chocked full of sexual innuendo and disturbing talk was only censored because of the use of the f word and not its content. 

My favorite censored title is the Black Eyed Peas Lets Get Retarded which was changed to Lets Get it Started. In this case, like Forget You, the entire songs content was changed. From the derogatory Lets Get Retarded the Peas’ Lets Get it Started became one of the catchiest and most recognizable of their songs. In fact it almost always immediately pumps up those who hear it.  I remember it for the semi offensive, but still entertaining song that it was.

So like Forget You, these songs have all been changed in the censor’s mind “for the better,” while in my mind they were changed for the worse, or the ridiculous. I understand not being able to play specific words on the radio, but to change the theme and idea of a song is a ludicrous distortion of the artist’s original product.

Should songs be censored? Post your thoughts below.

Worst Lyric of the Week

Artist: Cody Simpson

Song: iYiYi

Bad/Terrible Lyrics: You were a gift sent from above/ When you're thinking about me, text 1-4-3/ That means I love you girl

Ok, for the twist on the traditional awesome lyric of the week, I chose to discuss something that annoys me every time I hear it. I’m not sure if many of you know who Cody Simpson is, but to many Aussies out there he is the Australian Justin Bieber (even though JB is popular in Australia). He has a similar haircut, a whiny/pre-pubescent voice, and is I’m sure, magnanimously attractive to tween girls. However, this song leaves A LOT to be desired. Lets start with the title; Iyiyi, I didn’t really know what this title was until I heard it in action. It is actually “I, I, I” said with gangsta flair by Flo Rida the collaborator on this song. The chorus begins “Every minute, every second, every hour of the day/ Iyiyi/Every hour of the day/ Iyiyi/ Every time that I'm away/ Iyiyi/ Missing you, missing you.” The fact that they completely misspell the letter I is disturbing enough, however the most offensive/dumb lyrics of the entire song are the lines I listed above. “When you are thinking about me text 1-4-3/ That means I love you girl.” What does that even mean!? I understand how 1-4-3 connotes the amount of letters in I- Love- You. What I don’t understand is why, if she was thinking about him, she would randomly text I love you to indicate his love for her? Or if he is trying to explain that 1-4-3 means I love you, why would he tell a girl to send it to him without her knowledge of what that is. All in all, the sentence structure is confusing and is an extreme mark of laziness in the texting generation. My problem with the song is only in the lyrics because sad as it is, the song is catchy. Darn you tweens!