Much like the real March Madness mine also extends well into April and I too am in my final four. While we’re talking about NCAA I would like to extend a “suck it” to Drew and Ian for getting whomped by me this year in our HamMadness tourney. UCONN! UCONN! UCONN! I can feel my pride bars rapidly leveling up as we speak.
Semifinals Match 1
Victor: The Modern Leper – Frightened Rabbit
Defeated: No Woman, No Cry – Bob Marley
Why did this song deserve to be here?
I’ve been misunderstanding the lyrics of this song for years now. This isn’t too strange of an occurrence but the difference here is I usually like my own version of the song better. Maybe that’s just because I’m used to it that way, maybe not. Some examples are the lyrics in Beta Band’s Dry the Rain (“I will be your light” vs. “I will be alright”) and Twilight Sad’s Cold Days From the Birdhouse (“Where are your manners?” vs “Where are your medals?”)
Now I never mistook any of the lyrics in No Woman, No Cry but I certainly got the message wrong. As you can imagine, I thought it was a song about scorning the fairer sex in order to not be hurt. Instead Marley’s meaning is closer to “No Woman, Don’t Cry.” The whole song is about how Marley remembers his life in Trenchtown. There are so many good lyrics in this song and they’re oftern very good at pulling on heart strings.
“Then we would cook corn meal porridge
Of which I'll share with you”
“My feet is my only carriage
So I've got to push on through”
“In this bright future you can't forget your past”
“Ev'rything's gonna be alright”
A lyrics as simple as “Ev'rything's gonna be alright” rarely seems like it’d be something so good. But Marley’s genuine tone makes this repeated line in the bridge the best part of the song.
The style is of course Reggae with heavy organ playing counter melodies with the focus on Marley’s voice. There’s a sweet slow guitar solo in the middle too. Reggae’s not exactly a big genre but this song appeals to absolutely everyone.
Why did it lose?
Mike’s been hitting the Modern Leper hard. If you had asked me if it was going to be in the finals I would’ve said no so I don’t know how he knew. I suppose I’ve tired myself out a bit on No Woman, No Cry as it’s one of the songs I feel like I’ve grown up with. My dad was always a big fan. That said this was incredibly close, as I’m listening to the version linked below I almost feel like switching it up. But as soon as I listen to Modern Leper I know I’ll feel the same way about that. It’s always hard to pick one of these songs, they all deserve their credit.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGqrvn3q1oo (This is a really awesome live version (but not the version on Legend))
Semifinals Match 2
Victor: All My Friends-LCD Soundsystem
Defeated: Changes – 2pac
Why did this Song deserve to be here?
Mike likes to make fun of me for when I rave about people who say “I like all music except for country and rap.” My usual argument is that it doesn’t make sense to “cut yourself off from a whole genre of music.” I repeated that particular line several times and throughout the latter years of college Mike tended to apply it to different situations partially to irk me and partially to agree with the point. For example “How can someone not like beans? It’s like they’re cutting themselves off from a whole genre of legumes!”
All that aside, it really does bother me when someone says they don’t like all of a genre. Periodically in my life I’ve heard people say they don’t like rap. If I’m anywhere near a computer I will make them listen to this song. “Ok, well I liked that song but I still don’t like rap.” Ok, whatever.
I don’t know where to start with this song. 2pac picked the perfect sample to along with his rap. Changes always did feel like a 90’s version of the very 80sish The Way it Is. Those cheesy drum synths are gone and replaced with hip-hop beats. 2pac gets some very talented back-up singers to fill in the gaps as well. It’s all very well produced.
Of course the lyrics are the star of the show. Let’s just look at the first couple lines of the song.
“I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myself
is life worth living should I blast myself?
I'm tired of bein' poor & even worse I'm black
my stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch
Cops give a damn about a negro
pull the trigger kill a nigga he's a hero
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares
one less hungry mouth on the welfare”
What can you even say about something as powerful as that? It doesn’t need any analysis.
Why did it lose?
Gotta go with the gut.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL5sdu3pNrU
Whoa, 2 shoutouts in the semifinals, AND I called the finals in my bracket. Feels good, man.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I hadn't checked this in like a week. Anyway, I don't think I called half of the finals so I'm certainly out of it, though I don't disagree with anything here. It's all good.
ReplyDeleteAs for that NCAA bracket, yours was amazingly good actually. I won our office pool round here because I put the University of Connecticut in the Final Four.