Song #496: "The Tide Is High" by Blondie

Date: Jan 31, 1981
Weeks: 1

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I'll always associate this song with an ad I saw once for reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which played off the "I want to be your Number One" lyric in this song to promote a week of shows about Commander Riker. That ad cracked me up, but unfortunately it seems the Internet failed to document it for me to share here. Too bad.

I was going to start by commenting on the song's obvious reggae influence, until I discovered it's actually a cover of a song by a reggae band, the Paragons. Blondie seem to play up the reggae style of it a bit more, adding horns and crossing over into ska territory. And I like everything about it. The bass and drum lines are compelling, the horns are appealing, and the strings are used sparingly for accents late in the song.

What I particularly like is the chaotic, mixed percussion through the background. I've often put songs on a scale of relaxing verses energetic, but I think what I really like is intensity. Here's a song that has an overall relaxing tone without losing any intensity, and a big part of it is that the percussion keeps that intensity even when everything else is indicating relaxation.

And just when the song nears the end and threatens to get repetitive, Debbie Harry injects some weird intensity into her vocals to keep the variety coming. The weird intensity of vocals near the end really stands out, but I think it makes the song memorable, and keeps you on your toes, unsure when to expect it.

The lyrics aren't quite so great. It's mostly the same chorus over and over, and the chorus lyrics don't seem to mean much. "The tide is high" is a metaphor that doesn't really get explained. The line "I'm gonna be your number one" doesn't really explain what it means. I guess its meaning is obvious, but the phrase "number one" is so unusual that I'm not surprised someone latched onto it when making a Star Trek promo. And what few verse lyrics there are don't even rhyme, but they're close enough that it doesn't seem like a deliberate choice. "Every girl wants you to be her man. But I'll wait dear until it's my turn." Doesn't rhyme. Heck, the original lyric is "Every man wants you to be his girl. But I'll wait dear until it's my turn," and that doesn't rhyme any better.

My verdict: Like it. The lyrics are easy to ignore, and the overall sound is great.

Not No. 1: 20/20 Reports on New Wave in 1979

Date: Dec 1979

This is a neat bit of video that I got linked to a little bit ago. It's a 20/20 news segment from 1979, featuring Hugh Downs, that talks a bit about the history of rock and roll and the lead up to the New Wave movement. It's amusing to listen to them list off the names of "classic" rock musicians, and then try to make a funny comparison to a new band who would dare to compete to become the new classics. And then they bring up a bunch of bands that went on to become classics. Blondie, The Ramones, The Clash, Elvis Costello. Whoever picked these bands to profile did a good job picking bands that turned out to last a long time.

Anyway, it's an interesting and informative trip through the history of rock and roll to that point.

Song #463: "Heart of Glass" by Blondie

Date: Apr 28, 1979
Weeks: 1

One of the great things about Blondie's best songs is that you can hear the 70s turning into the 80s. This song
is a great example of that. The backing drums and bass are very disco, but the keyboards and vocals are pure New Wave. On review of Wikipedia, I discovered this song was a bit controversial among punk fans at the time because of its disco sound. Blondie was accused of selling out by making their sound more mainstream, but in retrospect it seems more like they were just interested in trying out different musical styles, and they found a good one here.

This is another example of that early 80s "thin" sound I've referenced before. There is almost no lead guitar in this sound. Most of the music is in the bass line, with keyboards providing most of the treble side. There are some guitar rhythms as accents, but they aren't exactly the main thing happening musically here. I think that the thinness of the sound makes every part you do hear more enjoyable. The bass stands out, and it's a really good bass line. The rhythmic guitar line, despite being very subtle, manages to be catchy.

Debbie Harry's vocals are a great match for this sound, too. Her voice isn't particularly strong, so the music's restraint allows you to hear her. And her voice is very pleasant, especially in this song.

The lyrics are pretty clever. While the music and the vocals are playing like this is a sweet little love song about lost love, the lyrics are actually about how the singer realized her loving relationship wasn't so great after all, and she's glad it's over. There are a lot of songs that get sad about lost love, but this one is actually happy about it. "It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind."

My verdict: Like it. Blondie is a great band with a great sound, and this is one of their best songs. I'm glad it made this list.