"Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast,
To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.
I've read, that things inanimate have mov'd,
And, as with living Souls, have been inform'd,
By Magick Numbers and persuasive Sound."--William Congreve (1697)
Electric Light Orchestra's 1981 song Hold on Tight is a good example of a simple song with simple lyrics, that just sounds good.
The piano work in it has a strong 1950's style, reminiscent of Jerry Lee Lewis. But the synthesizers bring a definitive 1980's sound, giving it a cross-genre sound which works quite well.
Even though the song topped out at number 2 on the Billboard rock charts, and number 10 on the billboard Hot 100 pop chart, Hold on Tight has stood the test of time quite well, mostly thanks to the simple yet inspiring message of its lyrics (from Google):
Hold on tight to your dream Hold on tight to your dream When you see your ship go sailing When you feel your heart is breaking Hold on tight to your dream
Even the French lyrics included in the song are just translations of the English lyrics, so the song works in two languages:
Accroches-toi a ton reve Accroches-toi a ton reve Quand tu vois ton bateau partir Quand tu sents ton coeur se briser Accroches-toi a ton reve
Fortunately, the third trailer did feature a song from the 1990's:
You may not remember Connection by Elastica, but that is the song in the trailer. It was also Elastica's biggest hit, reaching number 2 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in 1994.
If you aren't familiar with Elastica, don't sweat it. They formed in 1992, broke up in 2001, and had 2 albums in-between. Only their first album, the self-titled "Elastica", reached number 1 on the UK charts, but fared a miserable number 66 in the U.S. charts. Their second album, The Menace, never charted in the U.S. and only reached number 24 in the U.K.
As for Connection, songwriter (and Elastica's lead singer) Justine Frischmann got sued for lifting the intro riff from another song, Wire's Three Girl Rhumba, from 1977:
Frischmann lost in court, and lost some royalties in the process.
Ironically, the guitar riff in question is the most noticeable part of the song in the Captain Marvel trailer.
After taking a week off, I am back with my 2018 song of the year.
I tend to use Spotify for most of my music-listening. One of the intriguing features of Spotify is they can give you your own listening habits for the past year, including which song I listened to most. Considering the wide variety of songs I listen to (there are 1,466 songs on my main playlist alone, not counting the 9 other playlists I have for my own moods), any one song topping the others is an impressive feat, although probably not by a huge margin.
Aside from my main Spotify playlist, one of my favorites last year was my "Noir" playlist, which I describe as follows:
Noir honors all things "noir", including music from the classic film noir era, as well as more modern classics like "Body Heat", all the way up to tech noir like "Blade Runner". It even includes songs that it does not take any imagination to picture in a film noir scene.
One of the songs which is in both my main and my Noir playlists is Change My Mind, by The Motels. This is a song I have loved since I first heard it on The Motels "All Four One" album, from 1982.
Change My Mind has an oddly, yet beautiful, lounge jazz sound, which is even stranger when coming from one of the major 1980's new wave bands.
But even more interesting is the Change My Mind's lyrics. Like many of The Motels' early music, the lyrics display poetic brilliance. From AZLyrics:
I bet you guessed where I was some time ago And I bet that you really didn't know I don't need you I don't want you But I might change my mind
We could take off for Paris on a cruise You and me could make front page news But it don't mean nothing Don't mean a thing Cause I might change my mind
There was a time when it was good We laughed and danced all over the neighborhood You'd take my hand I apologize But I just might change my mind
I got to know if I've been or gone Need to know if it's worth hangin' on Time is mine What's mine is yours And I just might change my mind I just might change my mind I just might change my mind
Usually love songs are either crazy in love, or sadly rejected, or even occasionally unrequited, but Change My Mind displays a rare capriciousness. Lead singer Martha Davis goes back and forth throughout the whole song, in her finest chanteuse form, before finally ending with the line "What's mine is yours", only to pull back once more with three lines of "I just might change my mind".
Ultimately, Change My Mind is one of the greatest songs of flirtation ever written, offering everything while committing to nothing. Combining Change My Mind's lounge jazz sound with flirtatious lyrics allowed it to slip into one of my favorite playlists in 2018, and contributed to the song's standing as my song of the year for 2018.
(This is the third part of my December series about my favorite Christmas songs.)
It would be impossible to discuss great Christmas songs without mentioning Bing Crosby, whose Spotify artist listing shows his top 10 songs as Christmas songs (with all of them used in the tens of millions).
I still remember the Bing Crosby Christmas album my Aunt Betty gave me decades ago (see the cover below), which was the perfect Christmas song album. I have never heard a better one. Crosby had that rich baritone voice which was made for Christmas songs.
Crosby's most popular song is White Christmas, which is beautiful in both its music and lyrics. But it was important not just for its imagery, but also its impact on World War II, when it was first released (1942).
The lyrics start off simply enough, with the traditional Christmas imagery in the setup:
I'll be home for Christmas You can plan on me Please have snow and mistletoe And presents on the tree Christmas Eve will find me Where the lovelight gleams
But then the song takes you away, forcing you to realize where the singer really is:
I'll be home for Christmas If only in my dreams
In other words, that entire setup was only in the singer's imagination.
Can you imagine how powerful this was for both the soldiers in World War II, but also the people at home, imagining their loved ones off fighting a war?
I'll Be Home for Christmas has been covered by more singers than I can list, with several notable being Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Mathis. But Crosby's version remains the gold standard.
Because the emotional impact of this song is so much greater than most Christmas songs, this is why I consider this song my favorite Christmas song of all time.
(This is the second part of my December series about my favorite Christmas songs.)
No list of great Christmas songs would be complete without one by the greatest singer of all-time, Nat King Cole, who made his mark on Christmas with a simple song titled "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)":
"I saw a spiral pad on his (Wells') piano with four lines written in pencil. They started, 'Chestnuts roasting..., Jack Frost nipping..., Yuletide carols..., Folks dressed up like Eskimos.' Bob didn't think he was writing a song lyric. He said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics."
Cole first recorded the song in 1946, and again in 1953 and 1961. The 1961 version, shown above, is the most popular version.
While the song has been covered many times, and by many different kinds of artists, nobody has yet topped what Cole did with it. He was a master of being able to hit each note just perfectly, leaving little room for interpretation later.
On the bright side, he left us with this perfect little Christmas gem.
Although the song itself is kind of simple and cheesy, it is a good example of what made Elvis unique among singers. Nobody can do this song in his style without sounding silly. But Elvis's unique sincerity shines through, allowing him to do songs everyone else should avoid.
A good example of the kind of failure lesser singers risk was shown by none other than Porky Pig in this silly cover:
Kudos to Martina McBride for figuring out the secret to Blue Christmas. It needs Elvis to make it work. Her 2008 virtual duet with him on it was as endearing as the original:
I'll have a Blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue just thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me
And when those blue snowflakes start falling
That's when those blue memories start calling
You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue blue blue Christmas
You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas
The beauty of the lyrics lie in their clever use of colors to contrast different aspects. We have the "Blue Christmas" contrasting with the "Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree", as well as "blue snowflakes" and "blue memories" contrasting with the other person's "Christmas of white". In other words, one person sees blue in the snow while the other sees white.
Some people claim this song is about unrequited love, but I disagree. The line about "blue memories" indicates remembrances of a past Christmas (or many Christmases) with the person who is the object of affection.
Regardless of the song's intent, it is definitely not a song for people who get depressed during the holidays. Otherwise, it shares a virtue of most songs of the blues genre: We get contrarian joy from the sadness of others, by recognizing how good we have it compared to others. That may sound cruel, but isn't that also the basis for why people give prayers of thanks?
This is a continuation of my 3 part series on "Who deserves a musical biopic?", naming three people who would make excellent topics for their lives and contributions to music. Part 1 was about Robert Johnson. Part 2 was about Quincy Jones.
After the Beatles broke up, and before Michael Jackson rose to super-stardom, there was a period in the early to mid-1970's that was dominated by one of the great singer-songwriters of the 20th century, Sir Elton John.
Although considered part of the "glam rock" movement started by David Bowie and extending through to such artists as Freddie Mercury and Queen, Elton was a superstar above those others during his prime, and outlasted the glam rock movement by making some of the best and most popular music of his era.
Most of Elton's songs came from his collaboration with lyricist Bernie Taupin. Taupin would write the lyrics, and Elton would write the music.
Elton's first song to chart was the spiritual-influenced Border Song, but it only reached number 92 on the U.S. charts.
It was Elton's second song from his second album ("Elton John") that finally propelled him to popularity: Your Song, which reached number 8 in the U.S. in 1970.
Through 1976, Elton had 6 number 1 hits, as well as 8 hits in the single digits (2-8). If his career ended there, he would still have a huge place in music history.
But one of Elton's most unique feats was to chart with the same song twice, having done it two times.
The first time Elton did this was with his 1974 hit Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, which he re-did with singer George Michael in 1991.
The second time Elton accomplished this feat was with his 1974 hit Candle in the Wind. Originally written as a tribute to the late Marilyn Monroe, he updated the song's lyrics for the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.
Aside from the music, which will make an awesome soundtrack, Elton's life is also the story of a homosexual man in an era when that was discouraged. But he eventually showed the courage to stand up and admit his sexuality in defiance of the norms of the period.
There was also Elton's battle with drugs, which culminated with an overdose in 1975, at the peak of his career.
There is a lot in Elton John's story upon which to build a movie. Take your narrative pick.
P.S. I cannot mention Elton John without my favorite song of his, 1975's Philadelphia Freedom, performed with a live orchestra:
