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Post by pacinoyes on Nov 27, 2022 15:34:54 GMT
Pulp Razzmatazz (1993) - One of the great UK singles of its era - pre-Britpop or to be precise actually during Britpop. Released as a stand-alone song - which makes it seem even more defined - it is an era defining put-down song.
An example of how meanness often could be the dividing line within the Art form itself - what partially separated The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan who were both masters at it.......and is now lacking to an astonishing degree in our making and assessments of Art .......ironically of course - the culture itself is quite mean and excessively stupid:
"Meanness" in today's fuckwad landscape - is seen as being "uncool" or being "easily triggered" or some such bullshittery .... but passivity is not in line with Rock music's DNA or its recorded history ........here the singer - Jarvis Cocker - strives for and achieves - a kind of specifically cruel, catty, and hurtful commentary with a lacerating swift touch.........if it was "nicer" or merely witty or slightly more hesitant - the song would fail.
He body shames his ex (twice) - he slut shames her too ........ insults her family (first line!), her intelligence, her taste, mocks her mental health.......He is the very opposite of "chill" or "cool" .............and his song is far better for it:
The trouble with your brother, he's always sleeping with your mother And I know that your sister missed her time again this month Am I talking too fast or are you just playing dumb? If you want I can write it down It should matter to you but aren't you the one with your razzmatazz
And the nights on the town? Oh-oh-oh Oh you knew it and you blew it didn't you babe? I was lying when I asked you to stay now no-one's gonna care If you don't call them when you said And he's not coming round tonight to try and talk you into bed And all those stupid little things they ain't working No they aren't working at all oh
You started getting fatter three weeks after I left you Now you're going with some kid who looks like some bad comedian Are you gonna go out, are you sitting at home eating boxes of Milk Tray? Watch TV on your own, aren't you the one with your razzmatazz
And your nights on the town? Oh-oh-oh And your father wants to help you doesn't he babe? But your mother wants to put you away Now no-one's gonna care if you don't call them when you said And he's not coming round tonight to try and talk you into bed And all those stupid little things they ain't working Oh they aren't working any more
Oh well I saw you at the doctor's waiting for a test You tried to look like some kind of heiress but your face is such a mess And now you're going to a party and you're leaving on your own Oh I'm sorry but didn't you say that things go better with a little bit of razzmatazz? Na na nana na na na... and now no-one's gonna care if you don't call them when you said And he's not coming round tonight to try and talk you into bed Now it's half past ten in the evening and you wish that you were dead 'Cos all those stupid little things No they ain't working, oh they aren't working any more.
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Post by Martin Stett on Nov 27, 2022 16:50:52 GMT
The fear of having lost everything before it even begins. The greatest original song in movie history? Certainly, no other hits me so hard as this one.
Happiness is just a word to me And it might've meant a thing or two If I had known the difference
Emptiness, a lonely parody And my life, another smokin' gun A sign of my indifference
Always keepin' safe inside Where no one ever had a chance To penetrate or break in
Let me tell you some have tried But I would slam the door so tight That they could never get in
Kept my cool under a lock and key And I never shed a tear Another sign of my condition
Fear of love or bitter vanity That kept me on the run The main events at my confession
I kept a chain upon my door That would shake the shame of Cain Into a blind submission
The burning ghost without a name Was still calling all the same But I just wouldn't listen
The longer I'd stall The further I'd crawl The further I'd crawl The harder I'd fall I was crawlin' into the fire
The more that I saw The further I'd fall The further I'd fall The lower I'd crawl I kept fallin' into the fire Into the fire Into the fire
Suddenly it occurred to me That the reason for the run and hide Had totaled my existence
Everything left on the other side Could never be much worse than this But could I go the distance?
I faced the door and all my shame Tearin' off each piece of chain Until they were broken
But no matter how I tried The other side was locked so tight The door it wouldn't open
Gave it all that I got And started to knock I shouted for someone To open the lock I just gotta get through the door
And the more that I knocked The hotter I got The hotter I got The harder I knocked! I just gotta break through the door
Gotta knock a little harder Gotta knock a little harder Gotta knock a little harder Break through the door
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Post by pacinoyes on May 1, 2023 6:38:07 GMT
Some lyrics I've liked in 2023 ..........no Americans on this list again - 2 Australia, 1 Ireland, 1 England - get your shit together US - you invented Rock and Roll ffs, Yanks
CMAT - "Whatever's Inconvenient" - "I'd name you Torso Of The Week........... if I still bought Heat magazine" & "You'll never be Mark E. Smith"
Bad // Dreems - "See You Tomorrow" - "Riding the chalk.......... lock all the doors.........ordering chaos.........see you tomorrow!"
Sleaford Mods "UK Grim" - "I want it all like a crack forest gateau - I do drugs in my head so I can still go to bed as I pound the slabs of this dreamscape into X"
The Beths - "Watching The Credits" - "It's just a story I don't quite believe / Full of plot holes and constant monotony / Who's going to root for this unlikeable lead? / Not them, not me, not likely"
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Archie
Based
Eraserhead son or Inland Empire daughter?
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Post by Archie on Aug 13, 2023 19:04:37 GMT
Crystal palaces for floral kings A well-known waving span of wings Witness the sinking of the sun A deep breath of submission has begun
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Post by pacinoyes on Oct 6, 2023 5:27:58 GMT
The Church An Unguarded Moment
One of the greatest singles ........with ingenious word play that repeats 3 distinct ideas: "Telling" others and "Feeling" something ......there's no way Morrissey didn't obsess over this song ..........there's no way The Stone Roses didn't steal this riff either
So hard finding inspiration I knew you'd find me crying Tell those girls with rifles for minds
That their jokes don't make me laugh They only make me feel like dying In an unguarded moment
So long, long between mirages I knew you'd find me drinking Tell those men with horses for hearts
That their jibes don't make me bleed They only make me feel like shrinking In an unguarded moment
So deep, deep without a meaning I knew you'd find me leaving Tell those friends with cameras for eyes
That their hands don't make me hang They only make me feel like breathing In an unguarded moment
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Post by pacinoyes on Oct 7, 2023 6:26:06 GMT
REM Ages of You
REM - in their Great American Band period: 1981-1987 - all on I.R.S. btw - had an uncanny and complex lyrical relationship to animals (nature too..... but that's another story):
In song titles - Disturbance At The Heron House, Hyena, Wolves, Lower - or in the body of a song: "The animals, how strange" or both : Swan Swan Hummingbird - "what noisy cats are we"..........I mean they have a lot ("That's great - it starts with an earthquake - birds and snakes") ........they did this after '87 too but it seemed far less fun and more clunky ("Egypt was troubled by the horrible asp").
This song, in this specific version (the fastest, Bill Berry's drums!) is maybe my favorite of theirs (not kidding) - an outtake that they tinkered with a few times and eventually moved on from ..........with nonsense lyrics or maybe not - it might be an in-joke............. and I think of this line all the time which is meaningless but maybe it makes perfect sense too in just 6 words:
"The horses just don't gossip anymore......."
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Archie
Based
Eraserhead son or Inland Empire daughter?
Posts: 3,544
Likes: 4,241
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Post by Archie on Dec 10, 2023 0:55:52 GMT
I have to be careful not to preach I can't pretend that I can teach, And yet I've lived your future out By pounding stages like a clown. And on the dance floor broken glass, The bloody faces slowly pass, The numbered seats in empty rows, It all belongs to me, you know.
Devastating.
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