"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)
(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:
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.
Any musical biopic has to first be about the music, and few people have touched more musical artists than producer/arranger Quincy Jones.
In the second half of the 20th century, there is very little Jones didn't do. (most of this info is from his Wikipedia entry)
When Jones was 14, he met 16 year old Ray Charles, who inspired him. Jones went to college with Clint Eastwood, who was also a music major at Seattle University.
Jones left college to tour Europe with bandleader Lionel Hampton. Jones worked as a trumpeter and pianist, but also displayed his gift as an arranger. Afterwards, he moved to New York, where he got commissions for doing arrangements for such notable artists as Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Gene Krupa, and even Ray Charles.
Jones first touched musical super stardom when he played second trumpet behind a studio band for Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey's tv show, where Elvis Presley made his first tv appearances, including a performance of Heartbreak Hotel, which was his first number 1 hit.
But playing music was only a sidelight for Jones. His musical genius was in arranging, and his work in movie and tv scores is legendary, including such films as In Cold Blood, In the Heat of the Night, and They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!, as well as tv shows Sanford and Son, Ironside, and The Bill Cosby Show, as well as tv miniseries Roots.
But it is his work with famous singers and their hits that makes a biopic of Jones such an intriguing concept. Just consider the following list:
--Lesley Gore It's My Party and You Don't Own Me were both produced by Jones.
--Frank Sinatra's 1965 album "Sinatra at the Sands", considered by many to be his finest album, where Jones arranged and conducted the Count Basie Orchestra.
--Michael Jackson's albums "Off the Wall", "Thriller", and "Bad" were all co-produced by Jones. "Thriller" is still the best selling album of all time.
--We Are the World was produced by Jones, and was performed by a list of singers that was a musical Who's Who of late 20th century artists, including Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and Tina Turner, just to name a few.
Jones' influence didn't end in music. He was even a producer on the Oscar-winning film The Color Purple.
This list just scratches the surface of Quincy Jones' impact on 20th century music and culture. Any musical biopic of Jones would be epic in its scope, making him well deserving of a movie.
Bleeding Cool had a post the other day, which stated:
The box office success of Bohemian Rhapsody could pave way for other musician biopics to strike while the coals are hot.
Here are three artists Hollywood should consider for their next biopic film...
The writer, Tom Chang, chose Janis Joplin, The Ramones, and David Bowie. While I consider Bowie a fine selection for that list, I have different choices. today begins a three-part series where I present my top three choices.
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson's poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend. One Faustian myth says that he sold his soul to the devil at a local crossroads of Mississippi highways to achieve success. As an itinerant performer who played mostly on street corners, in juke joints, and at Saturday night dances, Johnson had little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime.
After the reissue of his recordings in 1961, on the LP King of the Delta Blues Singers, his work reached a wider audience. Johnson is now recognized as a master of the blues, particularly of the Mississippi Delta blues style. He is credited by many rock musicians as an important influence; the blues and rock musician Eric Clapton has called Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived."
Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its first induction ceremony, in 1986, as an early influence on rock and roll. In 2003, David Fricke ranked Johnson fifth in Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
But most people are more familiar with the Eric Clapton version, known as Crossroads, performed with the band Cream:
While Johnson's influence on both the blues and rock are undisputed, the best part about any musical biopic about Johnson would be how it handles his "deal with the devil" rumor, or even his mysterious death, probably murdered, at the age of 27. There is a ton of good mystery here, allowing for even a fanciful biopic of Johnson to be quite entertaining.
Music videos are an art form of their own. But watching them can sometimes remind one of songs that are almost completely unrelated.
Case in point: Sia's Cheap Thrills, which was released in 2016 and dominated the worldwide charts that year, hitting number 1 on more charts than you can shake a stick.
Admittedly, Cheap Thrills isn't a deep song. But it is fun and bouncy.
However, the video, which features the singer dancing around and not visually singing at all, reminds me oddly of another old but fun music video for Paul Simon's 1986 hit You Can Call Me Al:
You Can Call Me Al is a song of mid-life crisis and exploring the world, whereas Cheap Thrills is a basic party song. The only connections between these two songs are both are upbeat, and the lead singers keep their mouths shut for the better part of their music video (although Simon does lip sync the background chorus). Other than that, these are just two very good songs for different reasons.
There are some songs that are just cool. Stevie Wonder has more than his share of cool songs, and Tell Me Something Good is one of the best examples, even though he never had a successful cover of it.
The best known and most popular cover of it was by the band Rufus (with Chaka Khan) back in 1974, going all the way to number 1 on the Cash Box top 100 chart. They also garnered a Grammy Award for it.
You ain't got no kind of feeling inside
I got something that will sure 'nough set your stuff on fire
You refuse to put anything before your pride
What I got something will knock all your pride aside
Tell me something good
Tell me that you love me, yeah
Tell me something good
Tell me that you like it, yeah
The most clever part of the lyrics is in the second verse:
Got no time is what you're known to say
I'll make you wish there was forty eight hours to each day
More recently, the song was given a good cover by Pink, in the 2006 movie Happy Feet.
Pink shows Tell Me Something Goodcovers cannot travel too far from the original. The song requires that slow, awkward tempo, which helps to give the lyrics their seductive power.
Tell Me Something Goodis a song which has stood the test of time quite well, even if it is very much an example of the 1970's R&B genre.
Last week, I covered Five Finger Death Punch's Sham Pain, as part of an ongoing view of musical views of wealth and celebrity. This week, the song is still a play on the word champagne, but with a different purpose than wealth and celebrity. How about getting drunk?
Shampain by Marina & the Diamonds is a decent song, with an infectious melody, slick production, but the lyrics don't go very deep.
Marina & the Diamonds was just another name for singer Marina Diamandis. She was not hugely successful, with her biggest hit, Primadonna, reaching #3 in Austria and Ireland in 2012.
On the other hand, Shampainonly reached number 141 on the UK charts. However, at least Shampainborders on seriousness, whereas Primadonna is just flirty.
Unfortunately, the seriousness of Shampainis limited to one small verse (lyrics from Genius):
I wonder when the night will reach its end
'Cause sleep is not my friend
Drinking champagne, meant for a wedding
Toast to the bride, a fairytale ending
Drinking champagne, a bottle to myself
Savour the taste of fabricated wealth
Even worse, this is where the depth of this song ends. Frankly, this song could have explored the feelings of the singer. Is she jealous of the bride? Was the groom a former lover? Was she an unmarried woman getting older, feeling regret? Or maybe she is the bride herself, with the "toast to the bride" being sarcastic, as she regrets her own marriage? There's a lot of ways this song could have gone, as opposed to the focus being on getting drunk on champagne.
Shampainis just a mildly interesting song that uses slick production to cover for lack of depth.
There are plenty of great songs that have dealt with the topic of being depressed and getting drunk, with the best example being One for My Baby (and One More for the Road), which was covered by just about everyone, with Frank Sinatra's version being both the most popular and arguably the best.
Last week, I discussed a song that looked at wealth and celebrity with respect (Weezer's Beverly Hills). This week, I am flipping that view to the inside perspective from Five Finger Death Punch's Sham Pain.
The verses of Sham Pain cover a laundry list of complaints from the perspective of a rock star. For example (lyrics from Google):
I never cared about the money never really needed fame
You think it would've changed me, but I've always stayed the same
The label tried to sue me, TMZ tried to screw me
Blabbermouth can fuck itself 'cause they never fucking knew me
Everybody seems like they're waiting for me to die
Talk shit behind my back, can't look me in the eye
They say I'm overrated, that I should've already faded
Give a shit about it all 'cause I love to be so hated
However, the chorus is a reality check for the singer:
All in all it's a good life I got what I want
I can't complain (I can't complain)
I'm living the good life a toast to you now
It's all sham pain (it's all sham pain)
Of course, "Sham Pain" is a play on words, from the phrase "it's all champagne", which is a common joke, meant to say sarcastically "it's all good". In the case of this song, it's more of a poking fun at one's own complaints about their own wealth and celebrity.
Overall, Sham Pain did well, hitting number 1 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock charts this year. But the idea behind this song isn't exactly original. Consider Joe Walsh's Life's Been Good:
While Walsh, like Five Finger Death Punch, tends to poke fun at his own lifestyle, there are more serious takes on the life of a rock star, with Bob Seger's Turn the Page standing out as one:
If there is a lesson in all of this, it is that no matter what your situation is, or how good it may be, money and fame don't eliminate problems from your life. Wealth and celebrity don't make your life better or worse. They just make it different.
It is unusual to hear music speak of celebrity and wealth with respect. Weezer's 2005 hit Beverly Hills is the rare song which does exactly that:
While it may seem to be a sarcastic take on wealth and celebrity, that wasn't the intention behind it. Per Rivers Cuomo, the song's writer (and lead vocalist and guitarist of Weezer), from the Weezer recording history page on the Wayback Machine:
"I was at the opening of the new Hollywood Bowl and I flipped through the program and I saw a picture of Wilson Phillips. And for some reason I just thought how nice it would be to marry, like, an “established” celebrity and live in Beverly Hills and be part of that world. And it was a totally sincere desire. And then I wrote that song, Beverly Hills. For some reason, by the time it came out—and the video came out—it got twisted around into something that seemed sarcastic. But originally it wasn’t meant to be sarcastic at all."
While the song contains a lot of imagery which could have been used to bash wealth/celebrity, Cuomo comes clean in the song's bridge (lyrics from Genius.com):
The truth is I don't stand a chance It's something that you're born into And I just don't belong
But Cuomo has no regrets about this:
No I don't I'm just a no class, beat down fool And I will always be that way I might as well enjoy my life And watch the stars play
If it is possible to turn envy into a vicarious thrill, then Beverly Hills recommends it.
Back on September 27th, Marty Balin died. He was founder of Jefferson Airplane, and later co-founder of Jefferson Starship.
His contributions to music history have been covered extensively elsewhere. But his most popular song, which he wrote and sang, was Miracles, featured on the 1975 Jefferson Starship album Red Octopus, which was the highest selling album of any incarnation of the "Jeffersons" (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship). Balin later did a solo version of the song on his 1999 album, Marty Balin Greatest Hits.
(hat tip to Wikipedia for the pic)
Miracleswalks a fine line between treacle and classic love song. Fortunately, the music and thoughtful chorus save it:
The music is jazz-infused pop with a distinctly 1970's sound. It has a sound that is just smooth that goes down like an over-creamed coffee with just enough sweetener.
Or maybe too much sweetener, as the verses border on sickening sweet. For example (from Google):
Every time you come by let me try (come on by)
Pretty please, with sugar on it, that's how I like it, ugh.
I can't even believe it with you
It's like having every dream I ever wanted
(Dream of a lifetime) come true.
I picked up your vibes, you know (I'm having a fine time)
It opened my mind but I'm still dreaming.
Yeah (yeah eh eh oh)
And you're right where I found you, with my arms around you! (oh baby)
Fortunately, the chorus forms an intriguing relationship between two ideas:
If only you believe like I believe, baby, (If only you believe like I believe)
We'd get by
If only you believe in miracles, (If only you believed in miracles so would I)
We could apply that logic to many conflicts beyond romantic relationships, and that could be why this song still seems relevant today, in spite of the overly sweetened verses.
The success of Miracles (which reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart) may have taken Jefferson Starship in a direction they didn't want to go. According to Songfacts:
...the very middle-of-the-road sound of "Miracles" didn't sit well with [Jefferson Starship singer] Grace Slick, who told BAM magazine in 1980: "All of that 'baby come back to me' stuff was us trying to copy 'Miracles.' We'd never been a real hot singles band. So, when 'Miracles' hit, it was all of a sudden 'better stick with that s--t.' But I felt odd doing it, felt like I was wearing a costume, a monkey suit or something."
Ultimately, the true lesson of Miracles isn't in its chorus, but rather in another lesson: You cannot replicate success. You can only hope to repeat it.
One of the purposes of this blog is to give a little more love to some songs which many might have missed the first time around. One such song is Ain't No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant, from 2008:
The music is somewhat simple, with a fusion of bluegrass and rock, with a hint of blues.
The lyrics are a standard three verses with three choruses, all telling the story of a narrator who encounters three people, all of whom are "wicked": a prostitute, a robber, and a preacher who steals from his church. All of them have the same excuse, as provided by the chorus:
Oh there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed
There ain't nothing in this world for free
Oh no, I can't slow down, I can't hold back
Though you know, I wish I could
Oh no there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good
If the song has a virtue, it is that it keeps things simple. It tells the story, and leaves any judgments up to the listener to determine whether these people are truly "wicked", or just trying to survive, at least until the preacher's story:
I saw a preacher man in cuffs, he'd taken money from the church
He'd stuffed his bank account with righteous dollar bills
But even still I can't say much because I know we're all the same
Oh yes we all seek out to satisfy those thrills
Even if you delve into Christian philosophy, it would agree with this summary. From John 8:1-7:
1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
Similarities to Christian philosophy end there, as the actions of the wicked might be considered sinful. In some Christian philosophies, the wicked in the song might even be damned for their actions, indicating that even after we (the wicked) "close our eyes for good", we might not even get rest.
This is where the song possibly contradicts itself. When it is being sympathetic to the wicked, giving their reasons for their actions:
Oh there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed
There ain't nothing in this world for free
This gives their reasons as ones of survival, rather than what it said in the preacher's verse:
But even still I can't say much because I know we're all the same
Oh yes we all seek out to satisfy those thrills
But can you lump in the preacher with the others, who are merely doing what they do to survive? The fact that the preacher verse is separate from the others does leave this question unanswered, although one might conclude from the preacher's inclusion that he is no different from the others, at least in the eyes of the narrator.
If there is a lesson in this song, it is that being bad is no easier than being good. Regardless of your reasons for wicked actions, those reasons will never go away, and you will have to repeat the actions over and over again.
Miss Independentis a song for which Kelly Clarkson has taken a lot of critical grief, which is undeserved. The song is a powerful expression of a woman who has cut herself off from her emotions, only to find herself drawn into a relationship.
Let's start with the critics. first, the main song they compare it to Christina Aguilera's Dirrty, which is on a level of comparing it to Can't Get Next to You, aka nothing like it:
Admittedly, Miss Independent was co-written by Aguilera, but that doesn't make it a rip-off of Dirrty.
In fact, as much as Clarkson herself credits Aguilera, note that Clarkson herself has a co-writing credit on it. One can argue how much of Miss Independent belongs to each singer, but the fact is that Aguilera dropped it from her album, and Clarkson picked it up, finished it, and recorded it.
If anything, Miss Independent is closer to Aguilera's Fighter:
Even if you make that comparison, it is a reasonable (albeit subjective) argument to call Miss Independent superior to Fighter. Miss Independentwent all the way to number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream top 40 chart, while Fighter only reached number 5 on the same chart in the same year, 2003.
The true virtue of Miss Independent lies in its contrast between the mid-tempo R&B verses, and the powerful rock ballad chorus, which is enhanced by Clarkson's vocals, which are reminiscent of Tina Turner or Aretha Franklin, by Clarkson's ability to bring emotion to everything she sings here.
On the topic of the emotions presented, Clarkson sings the initial verses with an almost flirty sound to her voice, allowing the listener to imagine a life of dating without intention, just playing around while fully planning to stay single:
Miss independent
Miss self-sufficient
Miss keep your distance
Miss unafraid
Miss out of my way
Miss don't let a man interfere, no
Miss on her own
Miss almost grown
Miss never let a man help her off her throne
So, by keeping her heart protected
She'd never ever feel rejected
Little miss apprehensive
Said ooh, she fell in love
That last line explains, and leads into, the chorus, which hits some high energy notes even as it displays how love turns her world upside-down:
What is the feelin' takin' over?
Thinkin' no one could open my door
Surprise, It's time
To feel what's real
What happened to Miss Independent?
No more the need to be defensive
Goodbye, old you
When love is true
Clarkson carries the emotional heft of showing both regret at the loss of her previous life, along with a recognition of things being better than before. The "loss" is a bit tongue-in-cheek, and you can almost hear Clarkson grinning as she sings the chorus.
But the part that Clarkson specifically wrote for the song was the slow tempo bridge, which really carries the emotional heft of lifting the singer from her old life to her new, better life:
When Miss Independence walked away
No time for love that came her way
She looked in the mirror and thought today
What happened to miss no longer afraid?
It took some time for her to see
How beautiful love could truly be
No more talk of why can't that be me
I'm so glad I finally see
This bridge is like a peak into the singer's heart, underneath the rest of this very glossy and well-produced song. The line "What happened to miss no longer afraid?" is especially poignant, as it displays how truly scary love can be. Opening one's self up to the dangerous emotional possibilities of love IS scary, but with a huge payoff when successful, as shown by the line, "How beautiful love could truly be".
The song appropriately finishes with the chorus, leaving the listener on a high note.
Miss Independent was a tentpole to Clarkson's career. While her victory in the first season of American Idol brought her to public attention, Miss Independent showed that Clarkson was more than just a great voice, showing she could bring both songwriting and heart to her music.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU, for short) is a cultural phenomenon, similar to the Star Wars franchise, except with superheroes. Almost as interesting as the movies themselves are the movie trailers, especially from a musical perspective, as they typically include some classic songs playing over the scenes.
There is much internet chatter about a trailer coming soon for the Captain Marvel addition to the MCU, with the film itself expected to be released on March 8, 2019. There are two aspects to the Captain Marvel movie trailer expectation: What has Marvel done musically with their trailers before, and what might they do with this one?
From the first Iron Man movie, Marvel has used popular music in their trailers, beginning with AC/DC's Back in Black:
Arguably, the best use of popular music in Marvel films was Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song in Thor: Ragnarok, where even the character is mentioned in the song (The use of the song during the fight scenes in the film itself kicked up the cool factor immensely):
However, the most famous use of music in the Marvel films was all the 1970's songs used in both of the Guardians of the Galaxy films. This started with the use of Blue Swede's 1974 cover of Hooked on a Feeling in the first GotG trailer:
Ultimately, a movie trailer comes down to two aspects: What does the filmmaker want to reveal, without giving too much away? And how do they want to market the movie?
Just using the three films above, Iron Man was sold with the cool factor, which Back in Black contributes too nicely. On the other hand, Guardians of the Galaxy was sold with more of the oddball/comedy factor, for which Blue Swede's "ooga chaka ooga chaka" version of Hooked on a Feeling makes a nice cover tune. Somewhere in between lies Thor Ragnarok, where the Immigrant Song kicks up the cool factor, but the funny scenes are played minus the music.
So what will Marvel do with music for the Captain Marvel trailer? There are many ways to go, but this is based on the assumption they will be using existing songs to promote their film. (History suggests they will, but there is no guaranty.)
First, if I was the trailer's decision maker on this, my choice would be John O'Callaghan/Audrey Gallagher's Big Sky, which perfectly suits Captain Marvel's pilot background and space travels, not to mention the techno sound reflects the film's scifi aspects perfectly:
However, knowing Disney's history, they will want a more popular tune in the trailer. This decision will likely be based on which aspect of the film they want to emphasize.
For fun factor, Escape Club's 1988 hit Wild Wild West suits the movie, while also contributing a perfect lyrical line, "heading for the 90's", because Captain Marvel is based in the 1990's:
On the other hand, if Disney wants to follow the GotG playbook and only use music from the 1990's, then we have to limit our choices to that decade. From what I have read about the film so far, it seems to be one of the more serious entries in the MCU, with an alien invasion plot.
Since Disney seems to enjoy hard rocking songs for superheroes, one of the best from the 1990's was Melissa Etheridge's 1993 hit, I'm the Only One:
From the superhero perspective, this song works for both the music, which is serious and hard, but also from the lyrics:
But I'm the only one
Who'll walk across the fire for you
And I'm the only one
Who'll drown in my desire for you
It's only fear that makes you run
The demons that you're hiding from
When all your promises are gone
I'm the only one
Aside from the heroic aspects of the chorus, the line "demons that you're hiding from" works on an ironic level with the movie's plot of the Skrull alien invasion, since the Skrulls do have a decidedly demonic look, although they will be the ones that are "hiding" (they are shapeshifters). From Moviefone:
On the other hand, Disney may go for some cheap politically correct points in the trailer, by propping up the fact this is their first female-led superhero film. Whitney Houston's I'm Every Woman is the perfect 90's song for this effect:
From 1993, I'm Every Woman is an ok song, but it seems a bit too adult contemporary for an action movie trailer.
If Disney wants music with a good beat, but not necessarily rock, they could go for a Britney Spears song from the late 1990's. 1999's ...Baby One More Time is a possible choice, although the lyrics don't speak to the character or the plot:
The irony of Disney using former Mickey Mouse Club member Spears to promote the first female-led Marvel film is too delicious.
Those are my choices for the Captain Marvel trailer. Hopefully, we will find out if I nailed it or missed it in a week or two.
UPDATE 9/14/18: According to this story, the Captain Marvel trailer will be released on Tuesday, September 18th. Stay tuned... UPDATE 9/18/2018: And here is the Captain Marvel trailer. It was a musical non-factor. I missed on this one, unless the next one has some music? We'll see...
When starting a blog about music, what better song to start with than Todd Rundgren's Hello It's Me?
To those of you who don't know me, my name is Ed McGonigal, and I have been blogging for almost 13 years, covering topics like politics, football, and finances. But through it all, I have always enjoyed writing about one of my passions, which is music. While I did some deejaying in my younger days, I cannot claim any kind of special musical education, or even musical background, other than I have listened to nearly every genre of music, enjoying most music, loving some music, and despising others. (You can visit some of my previous blogs here and here.)
Lately, I have been feeling the urge to blog again, but I needed a good topic. Politics has devolved into verbal professional wrestling, financial writing is nothing more than self-promotion, and football has become more about politics than the game itself (kneeling and White House visits are more important than the games). So that leaves my other passion, music. Fortunately, there is plenty of music to discuss without entering into the silliness of politics (Will Rogers said it best: "...all Politics is Apple Sauce.")
But enough about me. Back to Rundgren's song.
Hello It's Me was first recorded and released in 1968 by Rundgren's band Nazz. But it never went anywhere until he re-recorded it with a more uptempo solo version in 1971, which was released in 1973. This time, the song reached number 5 on the U.S. Billboard charts.
Even more surprising about this song was Rundgren's inspiration. According to one Puremusic interview, Rundgren said,
"...the main influence for "Hello It's Me" was an eight bar intro that Jimmy Smith played on a recording of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." He had this whole sort of block chord thing that he did to set up the intro of the song. I tried to capture those changes, and those changes became what are the changes underneath "Hello It's Me." I then had to come up with melody and words, but the changes are actually almost lifted literally from something that was, from Jimmy Smith's standpoint, a throwaway."
Overall, Hello It's Me isn't terrible, but also isn't exceptional for any reason either. The lyrics are inoffensive, with only the tune to salvage it. But in this day and age, that kind of song still stands out, because it sings to us without preaching a message. There isn't an ounce of politics in it.
I won't promise to keep this blog a "no politics zone", but it will always be secondary to the music, when it is mentioned at all. Ars gratia artis, first and foremost. So let's enjoy some music together, shall we?
Citation: Except where linked, all information was from Wikipedia.
