"The Rock Album is not dead it just needs to be rebooted"

"The Rock Album is not dead it just needs to be rebooted"

Tom Ewing is the writer of the Poptimist blog over at Pitchfork. Pitchfork is a music website I admittedly have mixed feelings about, but I tend to like his observations so I read his work. His recent blog post caught my attention. (http://pitchfork.com/features/poptimist/7945-poptimist-37/).

Notice that I called him a 'writer' and not a 'blogger'. This is an important distinction, because his recent post about the 'state of the album' (at least that's what I think it was about) really seemed to be about declaring things 'dead'. Pitchfork is a music website and music websites (i.e. blogs) are just music magazines rebooted. The internet was supposed to kill magazines, but magazines are no more dead than websites will be if iPad Magazines take off. The terminology just morphs and changes.

See, at some point in the last decade writers became bloggers, because the term 'writer' is associated with old media and new media is trying to declare old media dead. Old media is not dead and it never will be. Just like the album is not dead and never will be. Just because you change the packaging of something doesn't mean it's dead. All media, art, or creation for that matter is in a current state of flux, but nothing is 'dead'. It's all just being redefined... reinvented. It's too easy to just declare things dead.

This is a tough topic to write about because it's comes down to opinions, differences in perception, and artistic nuance. I have all all the respect in the world for people like Tom whom write good pieces about music consistently. Sometimes I think I could and then I tackle a subject like the 'death of the album' and I realize how tough writing well about something like music truly is. That said, I think most music fans of any genre would agree that the 'album' as we know it is in need of some new blood. Hey-ho-let's go.

1.

To understand how the album can be saved we have to understand why it failing in it current state. As a 20+ year old music fan all I can do is state my experiences both as lover and collector of music and someone who worked in a used music shop. Watching the collapse of the old record business the past 5 years has been equal parts interesting, entertaining, and ultimately gratifying. It needed to be dismantled. The internet is the great equalizer of creation and consumption and no one understands this better than the record industry.

In my early years as a record buyer (8-12) I loved 45's and cassette singles. My dad was a disc-jockey so I grew up with loads of 45's around the house. I love the single. Once upon a time (the late 50's & early 60's) the record industry embraced the pop single as the little works of art they can be. Albums still sold well, but the single was the format. It was both a great way to introduce an artist and not to invest too much in them… a great way to test the waters. Albums had a place, but on radio the pop single reigned supreme. This happy trend continued for the most part in America through the early 90's. The album grew in popularity throughout the 60's, 70's & 80's, but the single still had a big place. That is until the labels decided they didn't want it around as much. And while people state that the internet killed the music industry the last decade I will argue it was the CD in the 90's that did them in.

See, a generation of music buyers grew up during the alternative rock 90's when a lot admittedly somewhat mediocre artists wrote some really good tunes. Unfortunately, the indies (where a lot of these rock bands would've comfortably fit) were bought by the majors and 'singles' were not the toast of the hour… albums were. Those artists (mainly rock bands)played shows, signed contracts with the record industry based on a good song or two, and they produced a 15 track album. Again, with maybe a few good songs in their repertorie. These bands, inspired by the attitude of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, etc, all the sudden became to be 'album bands' (either by choice or committee) and the record industry was all for it. I mean from business angle who wouldn't like to make 15 bucks instead of 4 off of a piece of plastic? Therefore not a whole lot CD Singles were to be found, especially in America.

A lot of these rock bands were not Nirvana.. hell, they weren't even Toad The Wet Sprocket. With no CD single to buy and the cassette single dying as a format consumers threw down 15 bucks for an album-15 bucks for a song in some instances. Sometimes we were pleasantly surprised with the result(Jeff Buckley). Often times we felt burned(Candlebox). A lot of bands that would've been happy turning out a few 7 inch singles and touring to get their feet wet were signed to major labels. They made mediocre, half-baked albums and even more mediocre sophomore albums. Then these bands also found themselves deep in debt to the label along the way.

This harmful trend continued after the alterna-boom, into pop crusade of late 90's, and into internet era. Even with some CD singles being produced; they were often grossly overpriced. A lot of times a whole album(CD) would be on sale for 10 or 12 bucks and the single (with six remixes of the same song) would be 4 or 5 bucks. So you bought the album, obviously. And don't even get me started on imported singles. The single was so marginalized, especially in America that I have to say I'm elated it's making a comeback. Much like the current state of publishing, the record industry was victim of it's own overpriced glut of average product. Technology is leading the consumer revolt.

2.

Tom Ewing's article fails to directly mention iTunes which, quite frankly, saved the record industry and rebooted it back to its 1960's roots when the single mattered. Before the 50's & 60's sheet music sales were what dictated the charts, but the 45rpm changed all that. The 'album as art form' ( a whole other cultural impact topic) did the same thing to rock music music in the 60's, but bubblegum & disco took back the single in the 70's. New wave & MTV moved singles in the 80's. This trend goes back and forth.

He states that "pop music is becoming a medium based on singles". It once was and, arguably, it always should be a medium based on singles. That goes for rock bands too. Artists shouldn't feel compelled to deliver an album to their audience until they have enough good songs to fill it. I don't care what genre you are. The line between Rock and Pop is very thin, much thinner than anyone will admit, and I think the single and album format have a place in both genres. In fact, I would argue that 'chart success' during a certain period is the only defining differentiator between those two genres. I mean seriously, during the 90's R.E.M. was just as popular as Mariah Carey. They were both played on pop radio ad nauseum

Furthermore, Tom uses Train's "Hey Soul Sister" as the measuring stick for the current state of rock's popularity, but that's like using Eminem as the bar for the current state of hip-hop. They both get played a lot on the radio and get a bunch of downloads, but neither are indicative of what's happening at the DIY level of popular music. I do think rock music is in a rut, but I hardly think Train is the band I would use to show the state of the union. Arcade Fire winning a Grammy for best album is a better jumping off point in my opinion. There are signs of life, but the rock bands need to be a little more creative.

Contrary to Tom Ewing's thoughts, I don't think 'pop' or 'rock' are in a bubble. I think all music genres are in a healthy re-invention phase. The single has been reinvented as the download, MTV is now YouTube, and where does that leave the album? Well, it needs to be reinvented too and it's probably up to rock & roll to figure out how. I mean, let's face it, the 'album as art form' is a rock creation. How about some ideas?

For starters, who says an album has to be a collection of songs that come out at the same time? Much like magazines being re-envisioned on tablet computers or television being rethought as subscriptions. Maybe rock & roll needs to think outside the box a bit more. I mean rock bands are supposed the great creators of popular culture and yet most are clinging to old paradigms of distribution and packaging. Maybe the album just needs a good old-fashioned reboot.

There are unlimited tools at a band's disposal to create interactive and inventive music experiences. The first thing is great songs, but you also have: the web, social networking, new ways to distribute music, apps, publishing, YouTube, and music playing devices that can serve as a portal of unlimited creativity. The album experience needs to reinvented.

The single should just be the key you offer to a bigger a door for your listener. For some the key will be enough, but if you make it interesting enough you can get them to open the door. Then you save the album experience for something you control. By all means put your album in the shops or iTunes, but I don't think the money is in the 'unit sales' of albums or singles anymore (if it ever was). It's in experience of the artist you sell to your fans; and there can be so much more for you to offer now if you truly want to create an experience for your listener. Some rock bands get it, but not enough. It's a multi-faceted approach that will let the artist make some money.

The resurgence of the pop star was lucky enough to coincide with the both the DIY aesthetic of internet marketing and people's willingness to buy singles; which plays to the strength of pop music. If you look at Lady Gaga, Little Boots, Florence, Adele, etc. they completely control their persona; much the way rock bands or hip-hop stars of the past have. And you know what those 'pop stars' are selling singles and a lot of albums… because their whole record is good. I realize the the word 'good' is subjective, but maybe sometimes a genre falls into cultural insignificance because they are not producing the best music of a time period.

The album isn't dead. Rock isn't dead. Nothing is dead. Artists just need to write good songs, make good albums, and figure out ways to make them experiences. This keeps people buying records and not torrenting them, although lets face it, that Pandora's Box is never gonna close. But if you can create an experience 'un-torrentable' then you succeed.

At the end of the day I think a lot of record buyers don't distinguish between rock or pop music. It's just all just a varying degree of whatever is in fashion during a time period. People who consume music just want good songs. If you are an artist who writes enough good songs people are gonna buy your album; whether it be Taylor Swift or TV On the Radio. Maybe pop music just sounds fresher than rock music the last few years, but if there's one thing we all know about music: the next tide shift in taste could be just around the corner.

My Love Letter to Taylor Swift

Oh Taylor Swift. Where to start with you dear, where to start. First off: I love that song “Teardrops On My Guitar”, and that other one “Love Story”... Oh, and that other one, “You Belong With Me”. They get in in my head and stay there. Damn you for that. Our relationship could’ve ended there and I would’ve been fine, but alas you had to win dozens of awards, beat Beyonce on MTV, incur the wrath of an ego-maniac, win more awards, and be the only female artist in history (IN HISTORY) to end the year with two albums in the top 10. Oh, and you have had more legal (and probably illegal) downloads of your music since that particular stat has been tracked. All of this has got me thinking about you and now I think that perhaps you are far more than just some girl with a guitar... you actually might matter to music.

Awhile back, in sticking to my theory that you are only important to pop culture if Andy Warhol would’ve painted you, I said just that to some friends who were “hating” on you. Now, keep in mind that doesn’t neccessairly mean that your music in any good (the fact that I think Warhol would’ve painted you), but I defintely think you are a pop culture reference point. This has happened for several reasons; mainly by accident.

First off you are the 'great white young hope of singer-songwriter female driven “country” music'. No stress there... just thought you should know that this is the burden that has been bestowed upon you by your friends in Nashville. I have started referring to you as America’s Sweetheart and I actually mean it with no irony. You are inspiring a generation of girls to pick up a guitar and write a song and that is HUGE. Anybody who wants to give you shit about that... you send them to me. I mean as much as I love Lady Gaga, Little Boots, Beyonce, and such; if i had a little girl I think I feel a little less overwhelmed if she listened to, admired, and wanted to be Taylor Swift (then say Ke$ha). There is a 'princess next door' quality about you that some find annoying, but I find somewhat endearing; if not charming. Part of your attraction is that some people want to believe in a fairytale every now and then and you've somehow incorporated this ideal into your persona. It might even be an accident, but it kinda works... for now at least.

Second of all, you are somehow becoming the bridge between the old-falling-apart notions of the the way music industry was and the glossy-digital-downloadable reality of what music wants to become. A lot of this is due to your age. Your first album came out at 16... word spread about your MySpace page (yeah, it was that long ago), and before you know it your were becoming a country-folk phenom. Couple that with the fact you can play a guitar and write your own songs and you were just the girl Nashville was wating for. The perfect combination of the past and the future. Country music had new safe little bubble to float on for a bit. Ahh, but then someone at your label had the wherewithal to do a pop mix of “Teardrops On My Guitar” (which is how I began my interest in you) and you then started to infiltrate the pop world. Brilliant, but dangerous. You now have a new whole audience of fickle people to deal with... good luck with that.

See, this leads to the third phase on your road to pop culture relevance: Kanye West and the MTV Music awards. You could have just stayed in your happy, safe world of white horses, acoustic guitars, and girlish notions of romance; but you entered the leagues of the big boys( & girls) and you beat them. And I cheered a little, because I thought you were the underdog, wrote pretty good songs, and are kinda ‘adorkable’ yourself to boot. Kayne, (who I love) did what the biggest artist in world of any era does... he makes a exhibition of himself and in doing so brought you along for the ride. Welcome to pop culture relevance, where you too can be a question in 'Trivial Pursuit'

Now you’re here. This the is big girl ride now. The backlash has started: Your live performances aren’t good enough (even though you really sing), you win too many awards (even though your songs are quite good), you are a little too awkward and “awshucks” for some people (even though you are but 20 years and probably still figuring out life...much less all this pop shit).

But unlike Gaga, Beyonce, Ke$ha, or some random American Idol winner you didn’t get dropped into this world by choice; you arrived here sorta by accident. Now you outsell those gals and probably will for years to come. On top of that you'll only half to expel a quarter of the energy they do to remain relevant. You don't have to wear crazy outfits, experiment with 'new sounds', or even have big elaborate tours. You just have to write good songs and sing them... fairly well. This is why you might get hated on for a bit, but hang in there. If you stay smart I think you’re gonna be ok and I actually have a feeling a lot of really great, ‘award winning’ music is still in you; hell, maybe some anger might even come out of you eventually...that could be fun. Don’t get hung up on all this awards crap though...they are meaningless. Just write me another song like “Love Story”.

Somewhere Only I Know: The place where Blake Lewis matters

It’s effing Blake Lewis stupid. He is the most talented person to ever be on American Idol. Sorry, argument over. I realize many people will never take American Idol seriously, which is too bad really. As a pop music fan the show is perennially entertaining and really has produced some great pop stars & thus some great pop songs (“Since U Been Gone”: Kelly Clarkson... Hello!).

Blake Lewis fascinated me the first time I saw him on the show which in itself was a minor miracle since usually I am obsessed with girl pop stars. He did his little beat-boxing thing which was clever, but when he sang he sounded like a lost synth-pop throwback lead singer from the ’80’s. I was intrigued.

At one point during the sixth season of Idol he sang “Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane and I was a fan; if for nothing else simply because he knew that song and then proceeded to nail it. He struck me as an artist, which made him seem a bit out of place on a singing show. Blake Lewis would talk about producing, DJ’s, and remixing and then he would apply all that shit to his performance. Several times during that season I would turn to my girlfriend smiling and simply say, “Damn, this guy is good. He was just born on the wrong side of the pond.” He was always on. And I was right.

He came in second that year, but I felt confident it didn’t quite matter; he was gonna be ok based on pure talent. His first record Audio Day Dream came out and I bought it. It was quite good if not a bit scattered, but there were definitely swatches of the pop brilliance I had seen during his performances on Idol.

I guess I was sorta wrong, because that album just sold ok and Blake Lewis got dropped from his label like so many Idols before him (Ahh, the fickle world of pop culture and record labels). He was luckily (and smartly) picked up by Tommy Boy Records... which leads us to now.

Last month Blake Lewis quietly put out one the best records of the year, Heartbreak On Vinyl. It is simply brilliant if you enjoy dance/electronic/pop music. It harkens back to 1980’s pop music and at this point I wouldn’t feel crazy mentioning it in the same breath as Thriller, Off The Wall, Rhythm Nation 1814, or other great cohesive pop masterpieces from that decade. Heartbreak On Vinyl is that good. Each time I listen to it I hear something else I like. It is electro-pop goodness.

Therein lies the rub. Once again I find myself thinking Blake Lewis is probaly just simply on the wrong side of the Atlantic Ocean. Right now across the pond there is a 80’s Synth-Pop Revival going on (i.e. LaRoux, Little Boots, Sam Sparro, Calvin Harris, etc.). America is not really on that boat right now. I was playing the record for a friend the other day and she summed it perfectly, “This is really, really good, but it doesn’t fit in anywhere.”

I hope that the record finds an audience. I am making a personal crusade include a track on mix cd’s I make for people and play it for anyone who I think has a snowball’s chance in hell at caring. It’s really damn good.

"Speechless: The adjective inducing world of Lady Gaga"

I have always said, jokingly-seriously, that if Andy Warhol wouldn’t have painted you then you don’t matter to pop culture. I'm sure it’s just one of those conversation starters that people love me for (no sarcasm here...move along). Sometimes people try to talk to me about music by squeezing in some indie-bands and I admit to secretly thinking, “These guys aren’t bad, but there's no way Andy Warhol would’ve painted them, they're boring” I do feel pretty confident that Mr. Warhol would have painted Lady Gaga... about 20 times this year alone. She is definitely not boring.

Lady Gaga is quite possibly the most adjective inducing pop star to come along in over decade.... since one Britney Spears at the very the least. That is where the comparison to Britney (who I love) ends, but where the comparison to whole other list begins. Blondie, Madonna, David Bowie, Michael/Janet Jackson, Prince, Grace Jones, you know people Andy would’ve painted. No digs on Gwen Stefani (who I also like), but Lady Gaga seems to be pop-phenom Gwen wanted to be, but just never quite got there. Lady Gaga exudes a certain confidence, intelligence, and attitude that only a special kinda person can pull off. Some pop stars are just too sweet... which is fine, I love my sweet popsters, but to change the game a bit you gotta go after it Red Queen style. Take heads now and take names later.

Of course, it is fine to compare to artists to artists, I mean let’s face it all of pop-culture is rather repetitive; but where the media, the critics, and even the fans sometimes fail is to measure an artist on their own accord. This is where Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (Gaga to the masses) excels. She is slowly/quickly building her own case... “C’mon I challenge you not to like me or at the very least know who I am and respect me”... is the vibe I get from her. Hell yeah.

MTV Shows

She understands the ways of Pop Art better than anyone since Madonna. Lady Gaga gets that unless your music is good all of the outfits, statements, and performance in the world won’t make you matter. For better or worse every single she has put out has been a repetitive radio smash, but as a music fan she gets interesting when you start digging around her album and not listening to the “singles”. You start to understand that any number of tracks could be singles and that’s a hard feat in the world of 2009 pop music... especially an American pop act who is just expected to churn out the money shot single in hopes of selling people a record.

This is where Lady Gaga gets even more interesting. In some ways she is the first pop star of the download era. This is something I will write more about in future, but quite simply the iTunes Store, the internet, and the media are creating a culture of letting the single matter again... which I find incredibly exciting. Yet, she could be the one artist who takes advantage of this and seems to want to make great albums. I love it when artists are at odds with the logic of the times.

See, in the 1990’s and early “noughties” the labels took even more advantage of the record buying public (if that’s possible) by selling us albums by artists only capable of writing one or two good songs, but forcing those artists to make an album. Back in the 1950’s and 60’s, in the heyday of the ’45 record, artists could press a great single and that was ok... that was all they had in them so that is all that was expected. Just because you can't write an album doesn't mean you can't write one the greatest songs of all time.

This was my initial reaction to Lady Gaga, which was fine. I heard “Just Dance” and thought... holy crap that’s a good pop song and proceeded to buy it instantly out of the iTunes store. Then came “Poker Face” which I didn’t like as much, but was fine. “Paparazzi”, though, was fantastic... so I got the record. And then the new record. Yes, I call them records... which she would probably appreciate.

Where I’m going with this is that she makes really good music, it might all be fleeting, but we'll just have to wait and see. Right now she is making the most interesting 4 chord pop music this side of the Atlantic which already makes her fun in my world. She makes bold over-the-top statements about changing pop music forever and I think, “Hell yeah... go do it. Shake it up!”

I want to believe.

The best thing is that if she wanted to be just be a flavor of the month... she would’ve already succeeded; she could’ve taken the money and ran. But there is one song on the Fame Monster called “Speechless” which sounds like a lost David Bowie song. It’s amazing. I listened to like 10 times in a row the other day. I don’t think flavors of the month write songs like that.

"E-Bow The Essay" (Or I don't want to disappoint you)

“E-Bow The Letter” might just be ballsiest single by a major label band in the history of pop music. Of course, R.E.M. is one of those bands that divides people. Some people completely love them other people completely loathe them. I am in love camp and have been since I was 10...when I discovered my older sisters “Dream A Little Dream” original soundtrack album. That album featured “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” which melted my little 10 year old brain. I liked words and that song had lots of them. Needless to say, R.E.M. became the first “proper” band I got into.

The obsession with Stipe and company continued into my middle school years. I got “Green”, “Out of Time”, and “Automatic For the People”. I loved them. I then set out to buy every R.E.M. record from 80’s as I discovered that there was whole era of their music I had missed. I was obsessed. I read every interview or article I could find on the group. I thought Michael Stipe was the smartest person in the world and started seeking out books, records, and artists they talked about. For a brief period I even tried to be vegetarian, because Michael Stipe was.

One of the artists Michael Stipe spoke of in his own little obsessive way was Patti Smith, who quite frankly, scared my little 13 year old being. I bought her record “Horses”, because he said it was the best thing ever, but I was probably a few years too young for it. I didn't get it. I can appreciate now, but I could really appreciate her after what happened next.

In 1996 my R.E.M. obsession is still there, but by this time I had dozens & dozens of bands to follow and R.E.M. had gotten borderline trendy with "Monster". I didn't blame them...it was just a little annoying as someone who had loved them forever. I can't imagine how their fans from the early 80's felt. R.E.M. had invented alternative music in someways, but themselves were now a Grammy-winning household name. It is during this time that R.E.M. does two of the most interesting things that a band has done in my time of being a music fan.

One: they sign a multi-million dollar 5 album deal with Warner Brothers. This is interesting because R.E.M. is well past it’s prime as a "singles" band and I think they know it. It just shows how fucked up the record industry had gotten in the 90’s offering “established” bands tons of money and then not understanding why they didn’t sell 5 million copies of every album. This is the beginning of how out of touch music labels were about to become... the fallout which is happening now. R.E.M. took the money and ran. God bless them.

This dovetails with the second interesting thing the band did. They released “E-Bow the Letter” as a single. The first time I heard it I was mesmerized. I thought it was haunting, brilliant, and a complete out-of-left-field choice for major label single. My beloved R.E.M. had infiltrated the majors (from the indies) and released this gem of a song.

I also loved it because it was career suicide. There was no way in hell that song was getting played on the radio. And I was right... it bombed. It was their biggest hit ever in England, which seems about right, but it the States it received a shrug and in turn in started the slow decline of sales for the “godfathers of American Alternative” music. And in someways I couldn’t have been happier; I had my R.E.M. back. Plus, I like words and this song has lots of them.

See the reality is that all bands that sign to major labels have to sell out a little... its called business. You make a record, take it to label, and then they deicide what the single should be that “sells” the record. R.E.M. had had a string hits, but in 1996 the alternative boom was declining and R.E.M. was in the unique position of releasing whatever they wanted to because they were a hot commodity. They chose this odd song in which Michael Stipe sings with his hero Patti Smith about the spiraling culture of stardom. Brilliant.

She never had to deal with the same crap R.E.M. did, because Patti Smith was always in the margins a little, but the fact that R.E.M. was able to help introduce her to generation of music lovers who might not have heard her; and to do it on this song...well, I really admired it. In some ways "E-Bow the Letter" is the song that killed the major label. It was the first chink in the armor if nothing else.

They need not give me any more reasons to write about them, but they still do and I hope they keep at. Damn, I love R.E.M...just love them.

Robbie Williams & His Accidental "World Anthem"

This is going to seem like an over-the-top statement, but if you are reading a blog about pop music then you should be accepting of over-the-top statements.

My statement is this. If we ever make contact with an alien civilization I want Robbie Williams’ “Angels” to be the first thing they hear from this planet. Not just any version, but either the Live from Knebworth, England version or the live version on the UK “Angels” single.

Some people were upset that this song was voted into the UK’s top 10 songs of all-time a few years back, which struck me as pretentious at best. When he stops singing and 300,000 people sing back at him at Knebworth... I mean holy shit, what else do you want from a song(and people wander why the man has an ego). That is the dream of anyone who has ever written a song.

In fact, sometimes when I start to question the humanity of this world we live in I pop in the aforementioned single that has one of the best live versions I’ve heard of the song... and I’ve heard a lot. On this version Robbie Williams dedicates the song to his mom and then proceeds to pour his heart out on the stage except for the second verse; when over 100,000 people do it for him. That is almost more moving in some ways.

As someone who has always wanted to make his mom proud, I find it to be a goose-bump inducing moment of triumph for Mr. Williams, who ironically, was someone I had a hard time “getting” early in his career. I thought his “band” Take That was a joke and his going solo to be, well, unneeded.

But after I heard "Angels" I gave him a free pass into my world of four chord pop music and I have been a pretty big fan of him since. It helps that he is from England, as I tend to give people from that great place a free pass anyway, but the reality is that he is consistent talent and has a huge ego that makes for interesting press. Like I said when 300,000 people sing your song (Guy Chamber's song actually) back at you... you are bound to get a little ego. As well you should.

There is an early live version of this song where Robbie sings it in Berlin, Germany. Freakin’ Berlin. I mean keep in mind that we are only 50 years removed from WWII and this Brit is standing on stage singing a song about angels and the entire audience sings back at him. To me that is what music is about and that is why this song is amazing, dare say it, healing. It reminds a little bit of "Imagine" by John Lennon which could also be a contender for the first thing I want aliens to hear from us, but there is not a video of 300,000 people singing "Imagine". Sorry John.

So, in the end it doesn’t seem strange to me at all that this is the song I want to be statement of our planet. It’s a song of hope that is not corny. It’s a song of love that is not mooshy. And it’s a about angles that isn’t religious. It just feels nice. Which is why 300,000 people sing along.

Because in a world of war, AIDS, famine, etc--- it’d be nice to show another planet that hundreds of thousands of people can occasionally come together and just sing.

Daft Title

I used to hate covers... Cover songs that is. I’ll probably save that topic for a whole other essay, but I was thinking about that today as I listened to several versions of “Bizarre Love Triangle”. See, I often say that the record that made me love covers was Mandy Moore’s 2003 record Coverage, and that might be true; but the song that endeared me most to covers was a little Australian band’s cover of the song that I obsessed over in high school.

Frente’s version of “Bizarre Love Triangle” made me do a double take the first time I heard it because it was so, well, so different. They took an electro-pop masterpiece and scaled it back to nothing but an acoustic guitar and a stark, completely naked, one take vocal that still brings me to near tears.

Last year one of my favorite bands covered it and it became my favorite version, but you know what, I think Taylor Swift could cover the song and I would think it was one greatest things ever; because it is a perfect song and anyone who sings it with any amount of conviction is going connect with a listener.

Today at work I was listening to the original New Order version and it really hit me how good this song was. See, liking a great pop song is like getting a big crush. You get so caught up in the feeling of the moment you don’t even quite realize how good (or bad) it is until later. Today when I was listening to this song my brain about and heart about exploded as I connected the dots about emotions this song stirs up at certain times in my life. It just might be the ultimate crush song.

“Every time I think of you I feel a shot right through with a bolt of blue... living a life I can’t leave behind.” Wow. There are so many good lyrics it’s hard to even cherry pick the best ones out, but the real reason this song is so great because of the storytelling devices. I’m not sure the listener ever knows the point of view of the singer. Are they the one crushing, the one being crushed, or a third party to the ensuing emotion.

I think this is why Angie Hart’s vocal on the Frente version is so crushing (no pun intended). You feel little bit stark when dealing with the topics this song offers up. “I do admit to myself/That if I hurt someone else/ Then I'll never see just what we're meant to be” is not the kinda lyric you sing lightly.

The South version is my favorite, not just because they are one of favorite bands, but because they deconstruct the song a different way entirely. They shake the “ultimate crush” theme down to it’s grade school roots by incorporating music boxes and xylophones... which gives the song an even more bittersweet, if not pseudo-innocent, resonance.

It’s safe to say the New Order crafted the perfect song with “Bizarre Love Triangle”. A song about love, regret, new love, and the excitement of uncertainty, but uncertainty nonetheless. The questions are painted there on the wall, now make you choice, but choose carefully; because as this song proved to me today you can listen to a song thousand times and not really hear it until the thousand and first time you play it. Maybe people are the same way.