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Walrus Returns... Again!

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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    In Thirteenth Place with Three Points is jluv with Don't Smoke in Bed by Carly Simon.

    This one is well down there for me in this round jluv, but I think it's just a matter of taste rather than it being a bad song. I've just never really a been a man for these jazz "standards" or crooning, of a sort, type of tunes: they just tend to leave me emotionally and intellectually unmoved: if you're going to give it to me, then give to me raw, as far as I'm concerned.

    Not that there's a lot wrong with it really on its own terms - her vocals are good, there's a pithy sass to the lyrics and the orchestra swoops and soars convincingly - it just didn't make me feel much of anything. And my view of it didn't move much over time.

    Maybe a part of it is down to the fact that, back when I did smoke, I used to love smoking in bed.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,192 ✭✭✭✭Deja Boo


    I am amazed any of my songs struck a chord, thanks for listening and for the fine analysis Arghus, I always learn something.

    As a side note on Killing the Blues, one of it's appeals is the interesting/subtle shift of leads - both singers switch between singing harmony and melody a few times.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    In Second place with Fourteen Points is Necro with November Rain by Guns'n'Roses.

    I was a metal and rock and roll kid and, as I've already written about with 'Maiden, holding judgmental opinions was all I did. Alongside Maiden and AC/DC and a few others of what I perceived to be musical dinosaurs - I had a lot of scorn for G'n'R and, you know what, I still do... kinda. 

    They're one of the few big hitters of classic rock that I still don't really have much of an interest in after all these years. For me they don't truly fcking rock hard enough: there's always a handbrake on. And they're messy without being interestingly chaotic and they definitely aren't commendably slick or tight to make up for it, and I'm sick to death of some of their songs - will always hate the absolute cheese on toast that's Sweet Child O' Mine - and Axl is pretty obnoxious, in fact they're all pretty obnoxious... and the fact that they've been dining out for the last 35 years on a tiny back catalogue and I suspect that underneath it all they're just really a hair metal band in their heart of hearts. Ah, I could go on, but I won't (not a fan of Axl's whine either).

    But, I can't argue with November Rain. It's a tune. The rest of their stuff I can completely take or leave, but this is their one true absolutely inarguably classic song in my view.

    It's so, so, melodramatic, over the top, bombastic - even gaudy - that it should be a hokey, absolutely bogus bullsh!t piece of overdone crap - but, fck, somehow, it works.

    Its sheer monumental go-for-broke hugeness seems to help it become almost superhumanly sincere. Despite all the accoutrements: the piano, the multiple parts, the choir, the sky-high walls of instruments, an entire bloody orchestra, I don't doubt for a second that this piece of music is coming from the bottom of Axl Rose's bankrupt and dissipated heart and that the main driving force that anchors the gargantuan thing and gives it soul-stirring power is how completely emotionally real it is. All my haughty reservations about G'n'R get swept aside, like matchsticks in a flood, in the torrential hot-blooded tour-de-force that is this song. 

    And of course all the individual parts of the song are awesome and always musically interesting, melodically memorable - the song is full of earworms - and unashamedly unrestrained. And Axl's voice, for once, doesn't sound like pure nasally shyte either.

    And, I have to talk about Slash here: full disclosure, I think he has a good shout of being the single most overrated guitarist ever - I've seen too many videos of him too far gone to even play his guitar right, or to even be aware that it's hanging off him in the first place, to have an entirely favourable opinion of the man in general, but his solos here are magnificent. Some of the most melodic, expressive and thoroughly dramatic playing you'll ever hear. I personally love the outro solo the most of the three: holey moley that soaring, sustained bend and vibrato lick is just unadulterated dynamite, I don't care that he milks it for about two minutes, give me an hour for all I care - feel it for the love of God.

    Post edited by Arghus on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    In Fourteenth Place with Two Points is Bogey Lowenstein with Trustfall by Pink.

    I just flat out didn't like this song. I wish I could say something nice about it, but I'd be really struggling. Subjectively - no, just did not like it. Sorry Bogey.

    Even the vocal inflection she puts on the "Trust" in the Trustfall in the first couple of seconds on the song sent a jolt of annoyance immediately across my nerves. And that repeating sample or something - coming in and out of the song at random like an auditory non-sequitur - that sounds like the despairing roar of a dying elephant - what on earth is going on with that?

    The whole thing just played to me as a blatant attempt to write a Robyn type number, or an EDM type banger: but it felt very derivative and uninspired. It just didn't have that weird mix of chilliness and humanity that Robyn's best songs have. It felt a bit cynical: we'll have a house beat here, the few synth washes here, what other rote elements do we require?... and we'll put all the ingredients together and we'll bake the cake as instructed and serve it up - even if it's tasteless.

    Pink definitely has a good voice, but this tune has a waft of desperation about it: an established act trying to stay current by recruiting some in-demand collaborators and then collectively blanding their way to an approximation of something they are trying to emulate.

    If you like it I hope it, sincerely, rocks your socks off - but it's a hard thumbs down from me!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    In First Place with Fifteen Points is Rikand with Whores by Bobby Conn.

     

    This one just kept rising through the ranks. At first I thought, yeah, this is interesting, it'll probably be in the top half, but - again - the more I listened, the more I found myself remaining profoundly unbored by the song no matter how many times I listened - to the point where I could give number one to no-one else.

    I'm a sucker for beautiful songs about ugly things, or, vice-versa, ugly sounding songs that are actually straightforward pop songs, once you scratch the surface, and, on top of that, I find songs that leave you in an unsure, even downright uncomfortable space, to be very interesting -  so, it's not a surprise to me, in the end, that I loved this.

    The song defies easy categorisation - well, you could try, I suppose: it's a freak-folk influenced number, with bluegrass and jazzy elements, with a character driven narrative in a 90's slacker mode, with thematic echoes of The Velvet Underground... sure, maybe, I don't know. It sure sounds good like

    Rikand's entry said, about the song: "The song has so many different facets and elements to it" - and that's completely right.

    If you took the vocals out of it completely and just left it as an instrumental it would still be pretty damn nifty: with the cool harmonics and chord progressions and flutes, sitars, and the excellent fiddle playing - that satisfying dramatic plucked motif is my favourite part - and the roller-coaster dynamics. The whole palette is spidery, beguiling, campy - and, dare I say it, innocently inviting. 

    But, the song does have lyrics and vocals and it's here the glorious confusion starts.

    It's kind of a horrible song. But it's also kind of not. It's either supremely tasteless or downright Saintly in its understanding of the foibles of being a human - or maybe it's both things simultaneously? Some of it is funny in a completely vulgar matter-of-fact way, but there's also a compassion, even a championing of the characters in the song. Are they the unfortunate ones? Or are we, the regular working stiffs, the real patsies in this world? And add to that the gender-bending, perspective shift in narrators - in that respect, it reminded me a bit of Don't You Want Me Baby by The Human League. I appreciate that mix of high and low brow in the song. I go weak at the knees for that kind of stuff.

    So, the song is musically warm and inviting and granularly detailed, with thematic concerns that are alternately laugh out loud funny, conflicting and concerning - frequently all at once. Every listen gives me something new to pick up on or think about - even if I feel deeply weirded out about it. Number one.

      

            



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    So, hopefully, will be able to boot on and up the pace of the reveal from now as things are less busy with Christmas & New Years in the rear view.

    Felt bad shyting on a few of the songs, but, take solace in the fact that I'm only a randomer on the Internet! And there's always round three!

    Definitely out of round two I'm going to follow up with listening to more Alison Kraus and Bobby Conn - I thought my knowledge of 90's/00's weirdo musical oddballs was pretty decent, but I had never heard of him, so good find Rikand: even though I don't think he's proving a popular choice!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,199 ✭✭✭Bogey Lowenstein
    That must be Nigel with the brie...


    Oh no! The dying elephant is my favourite part, ha ha.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,031 ✭✭✭SineadSpears


    I liked this song when I first heard it. Then I heard it on the radio & was a bit meh. But it was played over & over for weeks & I end up loving it.

    Still don't know what she's singing about because I never paid attention to the lyrics, I just like the sound of the song 😊

    There's something comforting about being around someone who understands your need for silence & space. You don't have to fill the air with words or explanations, they just get it..



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,199 ✭✭✭Bogey Lowenstein
    That must be Nigel with the brie...


    When I started hearing it on the radio first I thought it was 'it's a trust-fund baby' for ages.☺️



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,031 ✭✭✭SineadSpears


    😳 I thought so too until... Well, just now.

    It never occurred to me to question why she'd be singing about a trust fund baby 🤦‍♀️.

    & I clearly don't pay attention enough, I seen Argus notes naming the song as TRUSTFALL but I still would have continued singing Trust fund baby in my head 😁

    There's something comforting about being around someone who understands your need for silence & space. You don't have to fill the air with words or explanations, they just get it..



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,820 ✭✭✭✭Goldengirl


    Haha , glad to see I am not the only one who supplies her own 'lyrics '!

    Singing songs for a long time with the wrong words and never thought the singer might mean something else 😂 all along ..



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,820 ✭✭✭✭Goldengirl


    @Arghus beautifully written details on every song ..loving it , So well done 👏



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,570 ✭✭✭Declan A Walsh


    There are a few threads floating about on Boards with Misheard Lyrics, particularly in After Hours, but here is one I started in the Music Forum a number of years ago.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,820 ✭✭✭✭Goldengirl


    Very good , makes me feel a lot better 👍

    Now if I could remember what songs ! 😂

    You see they all sound right to me. I hear the right lyrics and the next time I have forgotten it all over again. My lyrics are imprinted .



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    Will get the reveal of Round Three a-going tomorrow.

    There could be a bit of hurt feelings after this one.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,192 ✭✭✭✭Deja Boo


    Nothing you say will hurt my feelings Arghus. :)



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,784 ✭✭✭Mollyb60


    Loving this reveal - amazing work Arghus. Are you a music journalist or something? You're really getting to the heart of these songs and I am here for it!!!

    I'm with you on November Rain. I hate G&R with a passion (nasally Axl grates my ears) but there is no denying it's a masterpiece of a song. And I love Pink but I would never have submitted that song for this (each to their own Bogey of course!). It's her attempt at an EDM track and it's just nonsense. She has so many better songs. And we'll have to agree to disagree on the Bobby Conn song. Maybe it's a grower but I've no desire to listen to it again. I hate the violin, everything about the song is discordant and weird and I really dislike it. If it's meant to evoke a feeling it's doing that, just not the kind of one that makes me want to hear that again.

    I'm raging now I didn't get some entries in but I just didn't have the time to devote to it cos of stupid RL.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    In Twelfth Place with Three Points is Bogey Lowenstein with Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton.


    This song more than any other sums up the curate's egg of a challenge in this round. 


    It's definitely sincere. You couldn't get any more sincere... and yet I don't like it as a piece of music. 


    I feel very conflicted about expressing my dislike about a number of songs in this round as they obviously mean a lot to people and when you ask someone to choose something that is the epitome of "sincerity" to them - and then proceed to start listing your issues with that choice, it feels like you run the risk of saying: thank you for showing me a part of your soul, now, here's, the problem with it, as I see it... Thread softly because you shyte on my dreams.


    So, yeah, I thought I liked this song more than I actually did. Everyone knows it, knows the tragic story behind it etc, you can hear the main melody in your head as soon as you read the song title.. yeah, that's an undisputed classic, I said to myself.
    But, the more I listened to it, the more bored I was by it. Obviously, the main melody of the song is beautiful, great, iconic even, but they wring every last drop out of it in the song until it nearly feels like muzak by the end: it ends up losing all impact and beauty for me.


    Plus, I am not a fan of the arrangement of this song - now and it could a criticism of just this version, I know there's multiple different versions out there - but the ever present wonky sounding synthesiser floats like a meandering miasma throughout and all over the instrumental and that pitchy sound, coupled with the slow pace and the lack of essential change or musical development in the song causes my attention to wander for long stretches: the slow, synthy, syrupy sound of it makes me feel like I'm on tranquilizers or something.


    No, maybe, my lack of love for this song shows the limits of my mind, of my understanding: I can't imagine the pain that lies behind it and I don't want to be ever able to understand it at that level. I admire it, but, as a piece of music, no, I'm fine thanks. 



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    In Eleventh Place with Four points is SineadSpears with Gravity by Papa Roach.


    Let me just stay, right off the top, that - rapping or not - Last Resort is still a certified banger. 


    Once again - it's definitely sincere. It's about as sincere as my innocent wee smile in my first communion photos, but I don't really like most of it.


    That most of it is the rapped verses. Oh, boy, do I have a hard time with those. 


    I have absolutely no reason to doubt his sincerity: I fully believe he became a drink & drugged fuelled party animal on the back of success and that he feels like a bit of a dope now after it: sure, who wouldn't! But at least you had the craic...


    I just find the rapping a bit cookie-cutter, yeah, he delivers the lines with conviction, but his flow isn't all that interesting to listen to. And I think I'll just always have auditory PTSD from listening to a lot of bad rap-metal growing up: Jesus, looking back some of that was painfully woeful. Even if the bass player is playing some interesting lead stuff alongside the piano in the verses here 


    Though, the song does have a big saving grace. The chorus is great. That's a huge memorable hook and the song does feel vital and viscerally emotional when they unleash it. I suppose the rest of the song is just a delivery vehicle for the power of the chorus really and I could nearly rate this higher on the power of the chorus alone, I do really like it - it moves me, despite whatever other misgivings I may have - but the other tunes I've placed higher are more unified and satisfying as pieces of music overall for me.  

    Post edited by Arghus on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    In Tenth Place with Five Points is LegEnd Reject with Strong by Robbie Williams.


    Once again, again, it's very sincere: about as sincere as my hatred for life at the thought of getting out of bed on a Monday morning, but, while I can't say I thoroughly dislike it, I'm not hugely into it either.


    I remember this one being on the radio a lot back in the day: it does bring me back to a time where RW was the alpha and omega of all things pop. I know he's spoken a lot since - pretty convincingly - at how much his life was a struggle at that time and I suppose it's interesting looking back now at the extent to which he was hiding in plain sight even back then in terms of his mental health struggles et al with a song like this. 


    I do give the song some credit in that sense. It's pretty real and it gets realer as it goes on too. He sounds pretty flippant in the first verse and elsewhere - "look like Kiss/but without the makeup" -  but that outro refrain of taking the pill to numb the pain, as it fades out to infinity, resonates as a pretty desperate bit of unvarnished honesty. Maybe the song should have had that extra dash of rawness just like that.


    Although, there's more stuff I like too: he's a good singer, with a great range and can pivot convincingly between belting out some falsetto, crooning, or even almost talking to you casually through song. There's piles of extremely memorable vocal hooks in the song, great use of harmonies in the background - particularly in the home stretch of the song.


    But, I dunno, I find the song to be a bit derivative and reminiscent of a lot of the post-Britpop blandness that ruled the roost in mainstream pop/rock of that time. A lot of the guitar work is pure Oasis inspired stuff, almost plagiarism at times, and I've always found Oasis, instrumentally at least, to be a bit colourless and plodding - and I feel the same about the playing here: at least Oasis have Liam's attitude providing something, but when you remove that and essentially copy a lot a lot of the musical template and replace LG with RW being cheekily, charmingly, needingly, vulnerable, it feels like a bit of a weak sauce overall.       



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,604 ✭✭✭nachouser


    You must really hate the third round entries. Maybe just skip to round four and give everyone a pass for round three:-)

    Or maybe you're just busy as ****. Which is also ok.



  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 20,597 Mod ✭✭✭✭Leg End Reject


    He sounds pretty flippant in the first verse and elsewhere - "look like Kiss/but without the makeup"

    I always thought that line was "look like Casper without the makeup" until I read your post, the actual line annoys me too.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,031 ✭✭✭SineadSpears


    Papa Roach are one of my favorite bands so there wouldn't be many of their songs I don't like.

    In this song, I didn't like the ladies voice for a long time. Although I do get it, it suits the pain & anger she is expressing in the lyrics. Under those circumstances, I'd sound like a raspy vengeful demon too!

    I'd been listening to the song for years before I figured out who Maria Brinks was (because, well, I didn't like her voice so had no reason to look her up).

    She's part of the band In This Moment & they end up being a great discovery for me. Love, love, love so many of their songs.

    To think, she was right there under my nose for so long without me knowing what a great band she was part of.

    I shared one of their songs before but they're a bit on the heavier side so it was purely submitted for my own pleasure 🙃.

    There's something comforting about being around someone who understands your need for silence & space. You don't have to fill the air with words or explanations, they just get it..



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    We are so back….

    In Ninth Place with Six Points is Declan A Walsh with New Town Velocity by Johnny Marr.

    I think this is a good solid song, but, having said that, it doesn't really grab me with too much force. The guitar tone is, predictably, really great: chiming and clear, but yet carries a bit of weight to it too. I like all the different guitar tracks criss-crossing each other throughout. The production is flawless in its no-frills factor: drums, bass, backing vocals all crystal clear and no nonsense. The playing is obviously very good: it's Johnny Marr, but it's also not that incredibly surprising or exciting either? And I think he's just an okay vocalist. He can carry the tune, but I feel his vocals are just kinda there to complement the textures of all the guitars, rather than being the emotional pull of the song.


    Maybe that's it: for me the song is pleasant to listen to because the tones and textures just straight-up sound good, but I feel a bit underwhelmed in the end - even though some of the ingredients are undoubtedly tasty and I wouldn't find it inexplicable if people find it more satisfying than I do.       



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    In Eighth Place with Seven Points is Electric Nitwit with Your Last Breath by Overhead, The Albatross.


    Ah, I have actually seen these guys live - and they undoubtedly have something going on. And this type of slow-build up to crescendo filled climax is just very satisfying - properly exhilarating when you're in the same room as it as it's going on. 


    I like that their strain of it is a bit more gentle and synth based, in places, compared to what I typically would listen to that's adjacent to this: the likes of GY!BE, Mogwai or Isis. My favourite part is probably when the sax enters and changes it up at about 4:20 and it all becomes much more knotty and dense for a period - perhaps would have preferred it if they had kept it going in that vein: just get knottier and knottier, instead of getting bigger and bigger. 


    It's a real surprising change when the vocals come in after five minutes. Vocals, much less an actual narrative, was absolutely the last thing I was expecting to enter the picture here. I must say it's kind of a brave one to change the focus of the track like that: in my experience a lot of this brand of epic post-rock almost seems to regard the sound of the human voice as verboten.


    And it is real straight-from-the-heart gut wrenching stuff. I do admire that decision to put that all out there - it does give the song an inescapable humanity. But I don't know if I could say it's entirely well executed. I understand that the vocalist is going for a vocally raw, even rough style of delivery - but I find that he's just mixed so loud, that to my ears it's off-puttingly overpowering. And I don't know if the vocally driven part of the song feels wholly connected and of a piece with the preceding instrumental build-up. I feel like they've tried to Frankenstein two different musical things together and some of the joins are showing a bit. It lacks a bit of refinement IMO.


    I like this song, but I wouldn't say I'm blown away by this song. There's definitely a lot of good ideas to be heard here and maybe that's why I'm being a tad harsh - there's obvious potential here that could bring them to that next level.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    In Seventh Place with Eight Points is nachouser with In Your Hands by James Yorkston & The Athletes.

     
    One of the rare ones in this round - I think about three out of the fourteen in total - that isn't concerned with death, self loathing, or disillusionment.


    This is a nice simple song - and I mean that in an entirely complimentary way.

    It's romantic and hopeful. The vocal melody is cute and subtly catchy and I like his understated delivery: he's a man at ease and at love and doesn't need to impress anyone but the object of his affection about it.

    There's a sense of the joy and possibilities of being in love and how even the simple things in life can take on a new wondrous quality when you've been dosed up with a case of the cupids. And I like the contradictory lines "I've got it all worked out/I'm in your hands" - that to me evokes that feeling of trust, of the essential safety, of being head over heels with that someone. There's a guileless truthfulness to it. 

    And the song itself musically is like a comfy duvet: it's warm, cuddly and gentle. I like all the different mellow tones that all drift and drone invitingly, without ever becoming soporific. It's a song comfortable in its own skin and unhurriedly at ease about living your best life and I'm picking up what this guy is putting down. 



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    Sorry for the delay folks…. Round three countdown will continue again tomorrow!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    In Sixth Place with Nine Points is Deja boo with Don't Let The Old Man In by Toby Keith. 

     


    To be fair this song isn't a total bummer either - it does have a central message of hope, or defiance - but the fact that Toby Keith is no longer alive and that he died so unexpectedly and at a young age means that song can't escape - in my mind anyway -  being associated with mortality. 


    I should know the way it goes with all of Deja Boo's selections: they seem simple and straightforward pieces of music at first, but they all have great staying power and turn out to have a lot of little details and nuances that reward repeat listens. Always deceptively rich songs.


    And this one is totally without pretence and entirely direct. At first, to my rock/metal weaned ears, it did sound a bit cheesy - fairly straightforward playing and chords and a sonorous country voice laying down some truth on us.... but there's always layers…


    First of all, his voice really is great - there's just the right amount of grit in there with the sweetness, he's compelling to listen to and it's surprising how dexterous a singer he is: there's depth in the baritone, but a weary sounding tremor in the middle register. You can hear the frailty, but also the strength. Very human.


    The simplicity of the central parts of the song give it a kind of purity, it's almost like a hymn in many ways. And the genuine quality of the sentiments - live life to its fullest and cherish it, because it won't last forever - stop the song from even getting close to being tacky.        


    And I love those tasteful synth swells they have going on in the background. That could come off a bit odd - an electronic wash underneath a very traditional country type of arrangement - but instead it works very well and gives the whole arrangement a touch of the, dare I say it, cosmic: there's even a gong at one point. It was a pretty inspired choice to marry those different elements, it gives the song a transcendance that doesn't just come from the lyrics alone.  



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,144 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    In Fifth Place with Ten Points is cdeb with Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who.


    I'm surprising myself in that I'm rating this one as high as I am - because I'm not sure I even really actually like it all that much - but I kind of admire it and it contains so much cool stuff and genuine intelligence that I have to tip my hat to it to such an extent that here it is.


    I generally find The Who a bit overbearing and plodding. Okay, maybe not at the very start: when there was a liveliness to them, but this is high middle period Who, when they were starting to slow down on the speed and the pronouncements were getting a bit more sweeping, a bit more grand. And to be honest I always found a distinctive vibe of lethargy in their music that had left me a bit cold over the years: of all the "big ones" from that era - Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Doors etc, etc - I find them to be the most boring to listen to.

    Even this song contains many things I'm not fond of. Does it really have to be eight minutes long? It's extremely mid-tempo and - this might be a bit sacrilegious to some - Keith Moon's drumming can get on my nerves: it feels like he's throwing in fill after fill just for the craic and I often wonder how their songs would've sounded if they had a drummer who drummed in service of the song, as opposed to one just going for broke all the time.


    But, only a fool would deny that there's some great stuff in the mix in this song. The use of synthesizer is inspired and the way they incorporated it into the piece was revolutionary. It gives the song a whole extra sonic dimension. And Roger Daltrey is fantastic in the song: that second scream leading into the final section you just can't deny. John Entwistle's bass playing - one thing I do definitely like about The Who - is as interesting and as melodic, but yet as powerful, as it ever was on any Who track. And I do like how raw the tone is on Pete Townsends' guitar, even though I wish he would just cut loose and stop playing recycled r&b stuff. 


    And the absolute total cynicism of the lyrics. A mind blowing fact is that Pete Townsend was 25 when he wrote this and yet it feels like the observations of a man decades literally decades older, wiser and much more weary. It actually cuts deeper than cynicism, it goes past that, into the truth really hurts mode. It's a total kiss off to all the flower power and the optimism of the preceding decade and I have to give the song praise for how totally clear eyed and unsentimental it is about that. It's some achievement to make such an anthem out of the death of something and for it not to be the least bit celebratory about that fact.                     



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,618 ✭✭✭✭Rikand


    Really glad you liked Bobby. This and "Never get ahead" are my two absolute favorites of his



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