Musical Musings

Musical Musings… Theory Of A Social Deadman Distortion

Posted on by sgottahurt

Here’s a definition for ya folks:

lib•er•al bor•row•ing /ˈlib(ə)rəl ˈbärō-iNG/
1. The act by which an “artist” uses another artist’s work as a part of their own (usually musicians)
2. Stealing

I’ve written about this subject for more than several occasions, and it still intrigues me how often it occurs.  What’s great about this latest discovery is it might restore some of my street cred, since usually the findings are about Katy Perry, Pink, or Avril Lavigne.

Is it just me, or does Theory of a Deadman’s Lowlife sound a shit-ton like Social Distortion’s Ball and Chain (at least it’s verses)?  Is it an homage?  Do they claim it’s a sequel?  Or is it liberal borrowing in full effect?

Musical Musings… What Makes Dubstep Dubstep?

Posted on by sgottahurt

To be honest, I’ve went over the all-knowing Wikipedia, and though extensive, I still barely get what makes dubstep what it is.  It’s still techno to my limited understanding, just with a half-step drum pattern and wobbling bass lines?  I guess it does sound different enough, because unlike techno… I kinda like it.

This is an example of dubstep by Plastician called Japan:

Or it may be grime.

I don’t know.

Musical Musings… Is There An Equivalent To Squinting For Your Ears?

Posted on by sgottahurt

If you squint your ears just a bit, Neil Young’s The Needle and the Damage Done, which is this song…

…sounds just a bit like Jewel’s You Were Meant For Me, which is this song:

It should also be noted that both songs are about addiction… Jewel’s addiction is only slightly more pathetic.  Gah…

(SIDENOTE: I don’t really like Neil Young, but I like Jimmy Fallon’s impersonation of him.)

(BONUS SIDENOTE: Jewel’s covered that song.)

Musical Musings… Randy Newman Could Have Been In Coldplay

Posted on by sgottahurt

Their skin tones don't match.

My sister was recently listening to this song on Sirius XM and it suddenly occurred to her that Coldplay’s front man, Chris Martin, kinda sounds like Randy Newman.

Here’s the song in question, Everything’s Not Lost:

Now here’s Randy Newman’s Losing You (ha!) from Toy Story 3:

My concern over her revelation is that the two will be forever connected in my mind, like that picture above.  Just like when I realized Shakira sings a lot like Kermit the Frog…

Their skin tones don't match, either.

Musical Musings… This Song Electric Blues

Posted on by sgottahurt

That post title up there might be misleading.  Blues sounds like a variation of blows and by no means do I want anyone to confuse the two.

On the contraire, I want people to start equating the phrase Electric Blue with things that are awesome beyond words, such as the song Electric Blue by Icehouse:

(SIDENOTE: John Oates of Hall &, um, something, co-wrote the song with the Australian band, and apparently once stated that if Icehouse didn’t release it, his band would have.  Thought you’d like to know, so you’re not Out of Touch…)

One thing bothers me about this song though… I feel like it was in a movie, but I can’t find anything that states it was.

My best guess is this movie:

Kim Cattrall's finest performance

Or this movie:

Booger's finest performance

Mannequin is the more likely option, since it was released in 1987 (as was Electric Blue); Better Off Dead was in 1985.  But then again, Starship’s Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now was Mannequin’s signature tune.

I’ll wager $2 that John Cusack’s saxophone solo in Better Off Dead is so imprinted as an earworm in my brain, that any sax solo trudges up comparison and memories.

Or Electric Blue simply sounds like all music at that time.  Who knows…

Musical Musings… This Song Is Quite Dreadful So I Thought I’d Share

Posted on by sgottahurt

Far be it for me to claim that I’m above listening to the Love Song station on Sirius XM, so here’s me claiming I’m well below.

Today, I heard this tune from 1968 by Bobby Goldsboro (?) called Honey, and in many ways, it’s simply terrible.

First, I’ve always found that songs about… well, let me make you listen to it first:

How misogynistic can this song be?  He laughs at her crying, he laughs at her dreaming, he laughs at her almost hurting her herself… he even calls her “kinda dumb.”  And as for the twist ending?  She’s dead?!  Like I was about to say before the video, I never understood the trend of dead teenager songs in the 60’s, but this one has the special distinction of once being called the worst song of all time.

I probably wouldn’t go that far.  These two current songs are pretty bad, too.

Musical Musings… Country Music Ain’t What It Used To (Stereotypically) Be

Posted on by sgottahurt

I finally got Sirius XM a few months ago, and as it goes with most new technologies that I drag my feet on, I don’t know how I lived without it.

(SIDENOTE: I’m still unsure how I feel about Facebook.  It reminds of the last fifteen minutes of LOST when everyone finds each other in “heaven” against all odds.  Have I mentioned how much I hate the last fifteen minutes of LOST?)

That being said, I bounce around the stations.  Whereas I used to have about 10 terrestrial channels, I now have an additional 10 solid satellite ones, if not more.  So for me to stumble across a crossover country song isn’t that unusual.  What is unusual is this song by Tim McGraw called Felt Good on My Lips:

That’s country music?  I mean, yeah, there’s still the omnipresent xenophobia, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a good ol’ boy recite these kind of lyrics:

She ordered us a drink
It was a purple kind of pink
She said it’s got a shot of a little bit of everything
Mellow yellow umbrella for a fella like me
It was just a bit mellow for me to be seen with

And also, what’s up with the last song by Taylor Swift?  Back to December sounds like it wants to be the first countremo song (that would be emo country in case you were wondering):

In the spirit of full disclosure – I kind of like both songs I don’t really give a ten-gallon hat.

Musical Musings… This Song Is So 1982

Posted on by sgottahurt

Imagine the year is 1982…

You’re Neil Diamond, and you just walked out of the movie theater with (then) married friends, Carol Bayer Sager and Burt Bacharach.

Together you’ve witnessed what you consider is probably the greatest children’s movie of all time – Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

United, you are so moved beyond words that it screams to come out in song.

After all, between the three of you, you’ve written Sweet Caroline, Nobody Does It Better, and Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.  And the result is this:

How fucking corny and fucking lovely is that song?  Ironically, it was Diamond’s eighth (and last) top 5 hit on the chart (according to his Wikipedia entry).

Now do you want to hear the exact opposite of that?

Musical Musings… Red Hot Chilly Michigan

Posted on by sgottahurt

I’m ashamed to admit that I have a copy of Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Stadium Arcadium and… I’ve never listened to it.  So imagine my surprise when I discovered that they had a song called Especially in Michigan:

Apparently, lead singer Anthony Kiedis is from Grand Rapids, hence the tune’s existence.  Albeit the ditty could have existed without him coming from here.  (Filmmaker Paul Schrader is also from Grand Rapids, and he set half of Hardcore there.  But that’s neither here nor there.  Well, I guess it is here… moving on…)

What I’m equally surprised by is that nothing locally ever uses it for promotion.  I suppose it doesn’t contain the most uplifting lyrics in the world, with gems like this:

Lions and Tigers come running just to steal your luck…

I guess the moral of the story is I’d rather listen to anything other than more Rebecca Black…

Musical Musings… More Liberal Borrowing To Report

Posted on by sgottahurt

My job is getting easier and lazier easier.  Since officially declaring my mission to be the champion of originality, I thought:

To illustrate how musical acts steal, er, liberally borrow from others, is there no better way than for me to liberally borrow previously produced mash-ups to illustrate my point?

This was stumbled upon one night while driving to the bar with friends.  The Alan Parsons Project’s Eye in the Sky came on the radio – somehow – and we noticed a striking similarity to Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now.  Here’s the work of another:

As for this one, I read about it on the TripleDoubleU, but I’d be a very sad panda if I didn’t include any mention of how Justin Bieber’s Love Me liberally borrowed the chorus from The Cardigans’ Lovefool:

Fortunately (for him), my arch-enemy Dr. Luke had nothing to do with either of these songs… Although DJ Frank E (what is it with all these tools and their stupid names) produced Bieber’s tune, and he once worked with Dr. Luke to produce Flo Rida’s highly original Right Round (which also introduced the world to Ke$ha)…  Hmmm…

I'll get you next time, Dr. Luke... Next time!

(Original songs after the jump) Read More