Date: Dec 12, 1970
Weeks: 2
Pop music history is riddled with songs that took a distinctive, attention-grabbing introduction, and used it to lead into a bland, ordinary, unexciting song. I'm happy to say this is not one of them, because this song manages to live up to the promise of that unique calliope opening.
The bass and sax throughline in this song is wonderfully distinctive and remarkable on its own, and when put together with the calliope make for an unmistakable and appealing song. I also enjoy how the chorus builds into a bit of choas before gathering itself together and pushing back to the calliope. It's hard to believe any pop music sound could be cohesive with an opening that sounds like it came from the circus, but this song pulls it off. I'm not surprised to learn the music was written by Stevie Wonder, because I'm starting to realize he's one of the great music writers of the 70s.
And Smokey Robinson deserves no small credit for writing lyrics that match the music's tone so well. He took that circus theme and ran with it, writing a song about a person who has a happy face metaphorically painted on, even though he's sad about a breakup. "Smiling in the public eye, but in my lonely room I cry." The sad tone of the lyrics contrast with the happy way Robinson sings them, in a way that is perfectly paired with the whole "Tears of a Clown" concept. Like the words suggest, the song isn't as happy as it might seem at first.
My verdict: Like it. This is a well-crafted and well-performed song. I just wish I could have found a cleaner mix to share, because the only thing that could improve it is a fuller bass line.
Showing posts with label Stevie Wonder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stevie Wonder. Show all posts
Friday, March 30, 2012
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Song #845: "Wild Wild West" by Will Smith featuring Dru Hill and Kool Mo Dee
Date: Jul 24, 1999
Weeks: 1
I'm trying something a little different with the format, here. I wasn't having much luck keeping up the pace, so I'm going to try writing longer-form entries less often. Let's see how that goes.
After the 1997 success of Will Smith's theme song from "Men In Black," it seemed like a no-brainer to follow it up with a theme song to his next big summer movie. Sell records, promote the movie, everybody wins. Well, everybody except the movie-going public, perhaps, who got really excited for a movie that turned out to be pretty terrible. I'm a big sucker for sci-fi westerns myself, so I was willing to give the movie a lot of leeway. But it didn't fail to disappoint even me. I was just looking for cheesy, exciting fun, and it couldn't deliver.
The good news for our purposes is that all the fun that was missing from the movie seems to have ended up in the song. Or, more particularly, in the music video. That video tells a better story than the movie, and somehow everything that was ridiculous in the movie becomes cool in the music video. Maybe it's because the breaks to sing and dance provide just enough heightened reality to make the wacky steampunk setting cool.
This song is super-catchy. It samples from some healthy sources, and that works to its benefit. Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" provides an insanely catchy beat that provides an exciting energy that carries through the song. The chanting of the "Wild Wild West" title during the chorus comes from Kool Moe Dee's "Wild Wild West." That song is okay, but the chanting is definitely the best part. On top of those are added some catchy bass hooks and additional 70s synth tracks that come off charming, rather than dated. Stevie Wonder has a writing credit on this song, and I wonder if it's just because they used his sample or if he actually contributed some of the additional material. Either way, it really works.
I really enjoy the vocals in this song, too. Will Smith is my favorite rapper. He has an excellent sense of meter and rhyme. I won't say I always like his songs, but I always like his performance. On top of that we have singing vocals by the band Dru Hill, especially the lead singer, Sisqo. I've heard a lot about Sisqo, but I can't say I've heard any of his own songs before. He's really showing off here, but he's not really overperforming because the annoying vocal flourishes are kept to a minimum. I think if his was the only performance in the song, I would call it high-pitched and annoying. But it works here with Will Smith and the backup vocals balancing him.
I love these lyrics, too. Somebody realized that the boastfulness typical in a lot of rap songs mirrored the braggadocio of the wild west cowboy, or at least the romanticized movie image of the wild west cowboy. And that's a great idea for a song. In particular, I like the section that goes "Trying to bring down me, the champion? When y'all clowns going to see that it can't be done?" That's a lyric that could come from any rap song and would leave me scratching my head what it's about. But in a rap song from a cowboy movie? I immediately picture the bad guy's henchmen having a shootout with the hero. And I even like that the lyrics directly reference characters and plot from the movie. It helps make the song tell a story, even if the story is kind of vague.
My verdict: Like it. It's a great song on its own. Listening to it again actually got me kind of excited to watch the movie again. Fortunately I remembered it was pretty bad, so I think I can resist the temptation.
Weeks: 1
I'm trying something a little different with the format, here. I wasn't having much luck keeping up the pace, so I'm going to try writing longer-form entries less often. Let's see how that goes.
After the 1997 success of Will Smith's theme song from "Men In Black," it seemed like a no-brainer to follow it up with a theme song to his next big summer movie. Sell records, promote the movie, everybody wins. Well, everybody except the movie-going public, perhaps, who got really excited for a movie that turned out to be pretty terrible. I'm a big sucker for sci-fi westerns myself, so I was willing to give the movie a lot of leeway. But it didn't fail to disappoint even me. I was just looking for cheesy, exciting fun, and it couldn't deliver.
The good news for our purposes is that all the fun that was missing from the movie seems to have ended up in the song. Or, more particularly, in the music video. That video tells a better story than the movie, and somehow everything that was ridiculous in the movie becomes cool in the music video. Maybe it's because the breaks to sing and dance provide just enough heightened reality to make the wacky steampunk setting cool.
This song is super-catchy. It samples from some healthy sources, and that works to its benefit. Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" provides an insanely catchy beat that provides an exciting energy that carries through the song. The chanting of the "Wild Wild West" title during the chorus comes from Kool Moe Dee's "Wild Wild West." That song is okay, but the chanting is definitely the best part. On top of those are added some catchy bass hooks and additional 70s synth tracks that come off charming, rather than dated. Stevie Wonder has a writing credit on this song, and I wonder if it's just because they used his sample or if he actually contributed some of the additional material. Either way, it really works.
I really enjoy the vocals in this song, too. Will Smith is my favorite rapper. He has an excellent sense of meter and rhyme. I won't say I always like his songs, but I always like his performance. On top of that we have singing vocals by the band Dru Hill, especially the lead singer, Sisqo. I've heard a lot about Sisqo, but I can't say I've heard any of his own songs before. He's really showing off here, but he's not really overperforming because the annoying vocal flourishes are kept to a minimum. I think if his was the only performance in the song, I would call it high-pitched and annoying. But it works here with Will Smith and the backup vocals balancing him.
I love these lyrics, too. Somebody realized that the boastfulness typical in a lot of rap songs mirrored the braggadocio of the wild west cowboy, or at least the romanticized movie image of the wild west cowboy. And that's a great idea for a song. In particular, I like the section that goes "Trying to bring down me, the champion? When y'all clowns going to see that it can't be done?" That's a lyric that could come from any rap song and would leave me scratching my head what it's about. But in a rap song from a cowboy movie? I immediately picture the bad guy's henchmen having a shootout with the hero. And I even like that the lyrics directly reference characters and plot from the movie. It helps make the song tell a story, even if the story is kind of vague.
My verdict: Like it. It's a great song on its own. Listening to it again actually got me kind of excited to watch the movie again. Fortunately I remembered it was pretty bad, so I think I can resist the temptation.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Song #588: "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne & Friends
Date: Jan 18, 1986
Weeks: 4
I'm not why this song is credited to "Dionne & Friends," other than that perhaps the 1980s wasn't quite ready to handle "Dionne Warwick featuring Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder." I really loathe this song. It's like a blander version of "We Are The World" (#566). I was originally going to say "but without being for a cause," but a quick glance at Wikipedia reveals this song's proceeds benefited AIDS research. Even so, everyone involved deserved a better song than this. With 3 very talented singers, plus Dionne Warwick, you would think the results would have been better.
Something about Dionne Warwick's voice bugs me. She sounds insincere and unspontaneous and overly practiced. I admit that if you put her in the right song, the problems I have with her voice are minimized somewhat. But this song is not the right song.
The song's biggest problem is that it's so gentle, so synthesized, and so light that it sounds like a karaoke song. It sounds like the 8-bit adaptation of itself. There's almost nothing organic and natural about the music. I'm sure there's real sax, piano, drums, and even light guitar involved here, but they are so slight that they might as well me synthesized. Oh, but I do like the harmonica okay.
The next biggest problem is that while the music is too gentle, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and Gladys Knight are overdoing it. These are three very talented singers, but they are completely overpowering the music. It's a terrible match. Part of me wonders if they thought they were going to be performing this song over another, much better instrumental accompaniment. To be fair, Dionne Warwick's performance does match the music. And the song does seem a bit warmer whenever she is singing.
The lyrics are so padded out I almost expect to find styrofoam peanuts in them. They're just a little too warm and cheesy and full of casual use of the word "love" for me. "Keep smiling, keep shining." The smiling part is fine, but the "shining" part is filler, with no context to explain it. I suppose I must concede that the lyrics make a bit more sense with the AIDS context, if you imagine this is a conversation between two friends, one of whom is dying from disease. Still, that meaning isn't exactly explained within the song. Overall, the lyrics are fine, I guess, but they are so bland and generally devoid of meaning that I don't care for them.
My verdict: Don't like it. It's obviously trying to imitate "We Are The World," which wasn't a very good song itself, but it can't even live up to that standard.
Weeks: 4
I'm not why this song is credited to "Dionne & Friends," other than that perhaps the 1980s wasn't quite ready to handle "Dionne Warwick featuring Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder." I really loathe this song. It's like a blander version of "We Are The World" (#566). I was originally going to say "but without being for a cause," but a quick glance at Wikipedia reveals this song's proceeds benefited AIDS research. Even so, everyone involved deserved a better song than this. With 3 very talented singers, plus Dionne Warwick, you would think the results would have been better.
Something about Dionne Warwick's voice bugs me. She sounds insincere and unspontaneous and overly practiced. I admit that if you put her in the right song, the problems I have with her voice are minimized somewhat. But this song is not the right song.
The song's biggest problem is that it's so gentle, so synthesized, and so light that it sounds like a karaoke song. It sounds like the 8-bit adaptation of itself. There's almost nothing organic and natural about the music. I'm sure there's real sax, piano, drums, and even light guitar involved here, but they are so slight that they might as well me synthesized. Oh, but I do like the harmonica okay.
The next biggest problem is that while the music is too gentle, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and Gladys Knight are overdoing it. These are three very talented singers, but they are completely overpowering the music. It's a terrible match. Part of me wonders if they thought they were going to be performing this song over another, much better instrumental accompaniment. To be fair, Dionne Warwick's performance does match the music. And the song does seem a bit warmer whenever she is singing.
The lyrics are so padded out I almost expect to find styrofoam peanuts in them. They're just a little too warm and cheesy and full of casual use of the word "love" for me. "Keep smiling, keep shining." The smiling part is fine, but the "shining" part is filler, with no context to explain it. I suppose I must concede that the lyrics make a bit more sense with the AIDS context, if you imagine this is a conversation between two friends, one of whom is dying from disease. Still, that meaning isn't exactly explained within the song. Overall, the lyrics are fine, I guess, but they are so bland and generally devoid of meaning that I don't care for them.
My verdict: Don't like it. It's obviously trying to imitate "We Are The World," which wasn't a very good song itself, but it can't even live up to that standard.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Song #288: "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder
Date: Jan 27, 1973
Weeks: 1
This is a rare ray of light from the 70s. Stevie Wonder is a genuine talent, and this is a great funky rock song of the type that somehow rarely rose to the top of the charts in the 70s. I almost picked an excellent studio performance video of this song, but the quality of its bass wasn't great and it wasn't quite as tightly edited.
That studio performance does a great job of showing each instrument and calling out its addition to the performance. I hadn't even detected the bongos in the song, but once I saw them, I certainly heard them and appreciated their value. And that's a great resource to have, because otherwise the tight integration of the music makes it difficult to pick out each instrument's integration. And yet I still find myself unable to say much more than this: This is an awesome wall of sound.
Obviously the organ/synthesizer part is the featured component and the backbone of this song. It makes this song stand out within the first 20 seconds, and is certainly the most-recognized part of the song. The trumpet line is probably less appreciated, but is just as important and just as effective. The trumpet line is superb, and the song is almost defined as the parts where the trumpets are playing and the parts where you're waiting for the trumpets to come back. The bass line complements the trumpet line, and would be great in any song, but here it's merely providing an excellent foundation. The drum line is also great.
Steve Wonder's vocals are also wonderful. He knows when to sing it straight, and when to embellish it. And he knows when to scream in an effective way. Like all the other instruments, his voice blends in to create an excellent whole.
The lyrics are a seemingly simple assertion that living your life by superstition is no way to live. "When you believe in things that you don't understand then you suffer. Superstition ain't the way." If there's a deeper meaning, I'm not sure I can extract it. I suppose there isn't a lot of clever phrasing to the lyrics or anything, but it doesn't really matter. When the music is as great as this, as long as the lyrics don't seem to contradict each other, the lyrics are fairly irrelevant.
My verdict: Like it. It's a funky classic, and a standout song from a decade I don't usually care for.
Weeks: 1
This is a rare ray of light from the 70s. Stevie Wonder is a genuine talent, and this is a great funky rock song of the type that somehow rarely rose to the top of the charts in the 70s. I almost picked an excellent studio performance video of this song, but the quality of its bass wasn't great and it wasn't quite as tightly edited.
That studio performance does a great job of showing each instrument and calling out its addition to the performance. I hadn't even detected the bongos in the song, but once I saw them, I certainly heard them and appreciated their value. And that's a great resource to have, because otherwise the tight integration of the music makes it difficult to pick out each instrument's integration. And yet I still find myself unable to say much more than this: This is an awesome wall of sound.
Obviously the organ/synthesizer part is the featured component and the backbone of this song. It makes this song stand out within the first 20 seconds, and is certainly the most-recognized part of the song. The trumpet line is probably less appreciated, but is just as important and just as effective. The trumpet line is superb, and the song is almost defined as the parts where the trumpets are playing and the parts where you're waiting for the trumpets to come back. The bass line complements the trumpet line, and would be great in any song, but here it's merely providing an excellent foundation. The drum line is also great.
Steve Wonder's vocals are also wonderful. He knows when to sing it straight, and when to embellish it. And he knows when to scream in an effective way. Like all the other instruments, his voice blends in to create an excellent whole.
The lyrics are a seemingly simple assertion that living your life by superstition is no way to live. "When you believe in things that you don't understand then you suffer. Superstition ain't the way." If there's a deeper meaning, I'm not sure I can extract it. I suppose there isn't a lot of clever phrasing to the lyrics or anything, but it doesn't really matter. When the music is as great as this, as long as the lyrics don't seem to contradict each other, the lyrics are fairly irrelevant.
My verdict: Like it. It's a funky classic, and a standout song from a decade I don't usually care for.
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