BSE? Round 3 Part 1

Shit's getting real now. This round is going down in two 8 song parts partly because I'm writing more for these later rounds and partly because 16 at one time is a lot.

Match 3.1

Victor: Brian Wilson - BNL

Defeated: Peacebone – Animal Collective

Why did this song deserve to be here?

What a cool song. To those who don’t know the band this might actually be animal collectives most accessible song. Once you get past the noise intro there’s a pop song in there. Of course being animal collective it’s still quite original and noisy. There’s a galloping synthesizer keeping the beat throughout the whole song and space age noises come in to provide our countermelody to the vocals. Speaking of which I don’t think the lyrics make much sense but they do sound good. This is one of those cases where each individual sentence is more important than a cohesive whole. Lines like “I was a jugular vein in a juggler’s girl” don’t really make much sense but damn do they sound sweet. Of course he even addresses this somewhat in one nugget of wisdom “It’s not my words that you should follow, it’s your insight”

Why did it lose?

I know it’s odd that I brought back a first round to have it go all the way to the 4^th round. But the first round was easily the hardest match BNL has faced and of all the other 3^rd round songs Peacebone is one of the easiest. Not to take anything away from the song or Brian Wilson’s victory but I think I can only see maybe 1 or 2 more remaining songs on the list Brian Wilson could have beat. Spoiler warning: this song will lose next round

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxvGHQHiY70 (hmmm that’s an odd one (Though I would expect no less FROM ac….))

Match 3.2

Victor: A Day in the Life – The Beatles

Defeated: Stand by Me – Ben E. King

Why did it deserve to be here?

This is one of the most recognizable songs out there. Of course it helps that it has one of the most common chord progressions ever. It’s actually often referred to as the “Stand by Me Progression” and it goes C Am F G for the musically inclined. Some of the songs it’s in are Earth Angel, Duke of Earl, Every Breath you Take and This Magic Moment. So how does a song with such a common progression be so recognizable. Well it definitely starts with the bass. It gives us our first taste of the background riff and continues throughout the song. This riff’s picked up by the orchestration later in the song. I must say that adding strings to a pop song often cheapens it and makes it sound over produced but they work very well in Stand By Me. I think this is due to the simplisticness of the other parts, the song’s not trying to do too much.

Why did it lose?

Another causality of The Beatles. A Day in the Life is so damn good

Match 3.3

Victor: No Woman No Cry – Bob Marley

Defeated: Like a Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan

Why did it deserve to be here?

What a strange song for a folk artist. There’s such a strange hate coming off of this song. I guess I always knew that it was about the fall of someone a little too big for their britches but this is the first long look I’ve taken at the song in a while and I’m really seeing a lot contempt in the lyrics. It’s strange though, there’s definitely pity present too. Wiki suggests that Bobby was referring to a friend of Andy Warhol who had some sort of fall. That’s all well and good but I think it’s a bit more general than that and Dylan is referring to that sort of extravagant lifestyle in general.

The song had some interesting effects on the music world too. For one it was the first single to break out despite being well over 3 minutes (clocking out at 6 minutes and 13 seconds) This is also the song where Bobby got famously booed for using electric instruments because he was “selling out [man]” Reportedly someone even shouted “Judas” at him during one of his concerts. Fucking Hippies eh?

The song definitely sounds like Dylan with some of the most famous instances of Dylan’s particular vocal style (e.g. HOw does it FEEEEeeel.) We’ve got Bob tearing up the harmonica at various points in the song too. Our big stand-out instrumentation wise though has to be the organ which plays throughout the song and has a very unique and interesting quality to it.

I’m happy to say that Bob likes this song as much as we do. It kills me when artists don’t like their own songs (see Sweet Child of Mine and GNR.) So I’m glad to hear Bob’s Opus is among his own favorites.

Why did it lose?

This is the first of the real giants to fall and it took a giant to do it. I think many (most) would disagree with this pick but I gotta go with my own instincts. Marley crafted a masterpiece and gets me every time.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk3mAX5xdxo

Match 3.4

Victor: Lost in the Supermarket – The Clash

Defeated: For What it’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield

Why did it deserve to be here?

Great in it’s simplicity. The main riff in this song are two one measure long notes. Of course there’s lots of other assorted guitar parts scattered through the song and they’re richy and twangy. I always thought this was a Vietnam war song but apparently it’s about some small riotish happenings over clubgoing, huh. But this song gets it’s notoriety for being a representative of this 60’s generation of civil unrest. It may be about curfews and clubs at it’s core but it’s applicability to so much of the sixties makes it so much more memorable.

Why did it lose?

Jeez, it’s not getting any easier is it? I love FWIW but I just can’t pick it over the Clash here. Probably another controversial pick, but I think it’s the right one.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZP0pzDRtQw

Match 3.5

Victor: Heroes – David Bowie

Defeated: Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper

Why did it deserve to be here?

This song is an utter heartbreaker and a song of hope at the same time. Cyndi’s talking about leaving someone and the uncertainty that goes with. The chorus reassures us “If you’re lost you can look and you will find me, Time After Time.” These few repeated lines that make up the chorus really drive home the point. Themes of leaving, distance, and memories are all touched upon in the verse but none of that is as important the support Cyndi offers.

The music is sooooooo eighties too and I love it. Synthes and electronic drum beats only fit the mood in very specific songs and mostly these songs are overly poppy 80’s Jams (see She Blinded Me With Science, I Wear My Sunglasses at Night, Living in a Box etc.) Somehow Lauper turned this synth beats into something that fits a serious composition perfectly. The ticking clock in the background is especially effective. It’s thematically spot on and musically interesting.

Why did it lose?

It’s hard to even say, both these hold special places for me. I think Bowie is better musically though. Cyndi is pretty damn eighties too.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdQY7BusJNU

Match 3.6

Victor: Boys of Summer – Don Henley

Defeated: Come on Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners

Why did it deserve to be here?

I’ve told people before that if I ever had a daughter Eileen would be my first pick for names. “Eileen? Like from the song?” Yeah, from the song. “Isn’t Eileen like a sexual object in that song? Is that how you want people to see her? I remember that line about the dress” Wtf, shut up. It’s a pretty name from a pretty song. Everyone I tell this has pretty much this same reaction and I want to slap them.

The song itself is a marvelous hoedown. The video is awesome with the band members all wearing overalls without shirts and playing banjos. The lyrics are fun and happy and the music matches it well. Just an all around hit.

Why did it lose?

My gut wanted Come on Eileen, it’s been one of my favorites for song long! But I have to admit that Boys is objectively better. Though I don’t think I share quite the enthusiasm that Rushlow has for it. It was close.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc-P8oDuS0Q

Match 3.7

Victor: The Modern Leper – Frightened Rabbit

Defeated: Stan - Eminem

Why did it deserve to be here?

Drew has been giving me flack the whole way along here about this song. I still agree with all of those picks though easily. Listening to Stan still gives me chills to this day. It’s easy to make a song that’s sad or a song that’s happy but what about those other emotions? Eminem captures anger, fear, paranoia and obsession in this 7 minute package. First off the Dido sample is amazing. “Thank You” (The source material) is a cheery song about how things are ok with someone in your life. So Eminem takes this happy tale and turns it around completely. Suddenly the someone isn’t a significant other, it’s a distant celebrity. The one thing keeping Stan sane is the thought of Eminem in his life (“with your picture on my wall, it reminds me that it’s not so bad.”) He tries repeatedly to contact Shady and get a response back with no success. This eventually leads him into a dark spiral that ends with a brutal suicide in which he also kills his pregnant girlfriend.

Slim comes in at the end as a voice of reason for Stan, but of course by now his letter’s too late. This an interesting perspective from the celebrity side of the artist-observer equation. Slim is commenting how the celebrity can’t always be everything the fan wants them to be. This case is especially exaggerated as Stan is looking for soulmate of sorts, but it can applied to the fan who wants a regular correspondence or special recognition as well.

The style of the song of the song is perfect. Slim distinguishes his own voice from the teetering character Stan using extra desperation and anger in the voice whereas “Slim” speaks with more of a calming concerned voice. Stan also sounds like a fan and references concerts and songs much like a fan would. The verses sound like letters but still hold to a flow and rhyming scheme. Eminems words are calculated well and the song achieves all the goals Slim has set.

Why did it lose?

Both have pretty fantastic lyrics. Maybe it’s just my personal tastes of Pop/Indie music over Hip-Hop pushing Modern Leper over the top. Leper has a great tune saddled with it’s poignant words.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snHfdV3gw9Q

Match 3.8

Victor: The Message – Grandmaster Flash

Defeated: Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag – James Brown

Why did it deserve to be here?

Ok, this is a pretty sweet song but it took a pretty weak bracket to bring it to the third round. It probably would have lost to Sweet Child o’ Mine immediately if it wasn’t for the fact that GNR doesn’t like the song themselves. 99 Problems ain’t exactly a hard 2^nd round either. All that aside it’s just one of those sweet old dance songs. This is really how dance should be done. The horns are kickin’ James Brown is bringing the funk and everything is in it’s right place.

Why did it lose?

The Message does deserve it’s spot handily, you gotta give it to the Grandmaster.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtqDB2spyG0 (I wish all music videos were like this)