Live To Tell - Madonna

As promised, albeit a month later, here's my post about Madonna's "Live To Tell". This is one actually gets a decent amount of airplay at work, just about everyday. I've always liked this song, as with most early Madonna records. It's dark, dreamy and dated, but in a good way. I remember the video with scenes from Madonna's then-husband, Sean Penn's film, "At Close Range", which I've never seen.

There's also scenes that include weirdo extraordinaire, Christopher Walken (with a mustache!) who I think plays Penn's dad. There's also fellow weirdo, Crispin Glover in the credits, along with Sean's brother Chris who starred (not as Sean's character Spicoli, but a similar character named Tom Drake) in the hard to find "Fast Times Are Ridgemont High" sequel, "The Wild Life". You (and me) can watch the whole movie here, which is based on the true story of 1960s gang leader Bruce Johnston Sr. and his son Bruce Jr. who later testified against his dad in 1978.

I remember having the "Live" music video taped off of TV on a VHS and the ending being cut off (I think Los Lobos' Ritchie Valens cover of "La Bamba" from the movie was on there too). I've noticed at work they play a different version of "Live" than in the original video that has a longer pause in the middle, with an extra weird sound effect. When I hear it, I always picture the gun held in Penn's hand again Walken's face at that point in the song. It's off the 1986 Madonna album, "True Blue", which has many good songs on it including this and its title track. I'm pretty sure I heard it originally though from the "Immaculate Collection"cassette my sister had and eventually wore out. I'm wondering if that "best of" was sort of the bridge between the gap in Madonna's career from her awesome 80s pop to her even more risque and I guess more serious, but meh 1990s transformation with "Vogue" and such. She always has weird religious references in her work, with "Conception" being swapped out for "Collection" in that compilation and her crazy video for "Like A Prayer" (which was co-written by Patrick Leonard, who also scored "At Close Range"). Also, from what I've read, "Live To Tell" is apparently performed with a crown of thorns upon Madonna's head when played live. Interesting...

yikes!

Apparently, "Immaculate" is all remixed, somewhat redone versions of her classic songs, so that would explain the differences between that and the originals. It's almost always a good bet to stick with the original songs. Why mess up a good thing? Hear that, George Lucas? Ugh, why would do back and mess up Star Wars? By the way Steven Spielberg, it's "Raiders Of The Lost Ark", not "Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark". 

Counting Stars - OneRepublic

The obvious, work bums me out. I guess its all in my own attitude. I'm tired and when I'm off from work (like today), I sorta sit around and not do a whole lot. This can attributed to working 40 hours a week, or also my occasionally crippling anxiety and by association depression problems. It's all excuses though I think. I'm at least writing something so I don't feel like a total jerk and wasted my day off.

I contacted the company I work for in reference to the music they play in my store. They said it was up to the district manager what kind of music is played. Oh boy, well forget about asking her. When I was still fairly new at my job, I neglected to say "hello" to her when she came in the door because I was with a customer at the register. Needless to say, my manager wasn't pleased based on the district manager telling her I didn't greet her. The irony though is I was never officially even introduced to the district manager; she never said hello to me. This is the vicious cycle of retail or probably any workplace; you're told one thing, but shown something else entirely different. They never "practice what they preach". It's beyond infuriating. Especially when you 8-10 hours a day hearing the same songs over and over. This brings me to my next victim.

I'm really starting to relate to this song lately but unfortunately, we gotta hear the crap-fest below

I HATE

OneRepublic. I'll hear these guys' songs at least a few times a day. As of late, it's neck and neck between "Love Runs Out" and "Counting Stars" as far as repeated playings go. I can't stand hearing them, this goes for "I Lived" which is another one of their s"hits". "Counting Stars" was used in an ad for a Patrick Wilson TV show in which I don't think is even on anymore. I've also heard it without the little acoustic introduction in other stores I've shopped at. I'm guessing that portion of the song makes it more "adult contemporary"? I've noticed most of the songs I hear just sound like contemporary Christian music to me. I'm wondering if that's partly intentional or not. bleechhh. In "Counting Stars" he does say "praying" a lot though... Hmmm.. Well apparently one of this guys went to a Christian high school, so there ya go! 

ugh, I just really hate this song. I'm sure there's some sort of underlining deep meaning, but holy crap, it's just so derivative and just stupid sounding. There's that short guitar intro and then the rest sounds like a Casio demo. "Take that money/watch it burn" just *vomits*. Just make it go away! Read the words below.

"Counting Stars" 

[Chorus:]

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars

Yeah, we'll be counting stars

[Verse 1:]

I see this life like a swinging vine,

Swing my heart across the line

In my face is flashing signs,

Seek it out and ye shall find.

Old but I'm not that old

Young but I'm not that bold

And I don't think the world is sold

I'm just doing what we're told

And I I I I feel something so right by doing the wrong thing

And I I I I feel something so wrong by doing the right thing

I could lie, couldn't I, couldn't I?

Every thing that kills me makes me feel alive.

[Chorus:]

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be-we'll be counting stars

[Verse 2:]

Baby. I feel her love and

And I feel it burn down this river every time

Hope is our four-letter word, make that money watch it burn

Old but, I'm not that old

Young, but I'm not that bold

And I don't think the world is sold

I'm just doing what we're told

And I I I I feel something so wrong by doing the right thing

I could lie, couldn't I, couldn't I?

Everything that drowns me makes me wanna fly

[Chorus:]

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be-we'll be counting stars

Oh, take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

[Chorus:]

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be-we'll be counting stars

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Here's some "interesting" quotes from the YouTube video: 

Read their "SameThatTune" entry where "Counting Stars" is compared to Madonna's 2005 song, "Hang Up". 

In lieu of that, my next entry will be a "like" of Madonna's "Live To Tell". 

Spotify Playlist, etc

I started working a ridiculous Spotify playlist that I based on my own findings of what I've heard at work (past and present) and also a master list I found on one of the SiriusXM message boards. I take screen shots (as I'm sure you've noticed) of what's "Now Playing", because without that, I probably would have no clue who sings most of the songs I hear while at work. Most contemporary, radio-friendly music just goes over my head, I'm not really into it. Certain songs will sometimes age okay, but as a whole, meh, not too interested. You'll this gargantuan playlist (and it's not done, it's a work in progress), at top right of the blog page, or just below this text for your convenience. I guess I'd suggest hearing snippets of it to the get the general idea. I can't imagine anyone reading this blog would actually want to thoroughly listen to this playlist, but hey, you never know. There are a few good songs on there to be fair, some I don't personally remember ever hearing at work, but have apparently been played on "The Blend" at some point. Any-hoo, enjoy (or not)! Let me know if there's something missing. There is a particular song I used to hear at my old job at TJ Maxx. I have no idea who sang it, but I'm guessing it's from the late 1990s and it's a dance type of song, you know really artificial sounding. The only lyrics I unfortunately remember are just "nah nah nah-nah" and something along the lines of "we're going round the world again..". I also heard that same song at Universal Studios once when I stepped onto one of those flat escalators into the park from the parking garage. Any ideas?

Cool Kids - Echosmith

MEH

A group of young siblings who call themselves Echosmith somehow ended up blowing up the charts, all while still being high school age. Oh, they're from Los Angeles? No wonder. Like I've mentioned in previous posts, location is seemingly your second or hell even first priority when becoming a success in music. Its pretty frustrating, so tons of otherwise mediocre at best artists profit from their craft, while someone doing it way better in an small town somewhere else isn't going to near the same heights. As I think to myself occasionally at work while I'm mentally writing this blog, that Le Tigre song really holds true (believe it or not!); MEDIOCRITY RULES.

Anyway, Echosmith I guess aren't' the absolute worst thing I've heard, but it's sorta bland. I appreciate that they probably heard a bunch of Depeche Mode and decided to somewhat revive that New Romantic sound of the 1980s, but in this case, these kids actually seem to care what people think of them. "Cool Kids" is supposed to be some sort of "it's okay to be yourself" type of anthem for adolescents. Maybe its a case by case situation, but besides not wanting to be "like the cool kids" in high school (which was in the mid 1990s when this band was just being born), I don't even think I knew who they were. hahaha. I hung around with a different crowd every year. The "weird" girls, the druggies, the goth kids, the virginal boy band lovers, the hippies. I always considered myself "miscellaneous" because I didn't really belong to a specific group. Hell, I gave a report in one of my classes on 1960s punk (when I was just starting to get into it at about 17 and first started playing live shows in a band).

Upon reading the YouTube comments for Echosmith's music video, I discovered that many misheard the lyrics as "cookies" instead of "cool kids", which is pretty funny. And also, that apparently the girl from "The Grudge" makes a half-second appearance in the video. Are there subliminal messages packed into that 4 minute whine about peer pressure? I'm amazed by singer, Sydney's appearance. Holy jailbait! I always think it's odd when you can see a girls inside back hem of her dress. Then the rest of the band sorta dresses like Ducky from "Pretty In Pink". It's Andie And The Duckys, ladies and gentlemen! Ahhh!!!! Sydney's pronunciations are very strange also. Words such as "background" sound as if she can't close your mouth all the way. I'm not sure why it sounds that way.

I hope today isn't as insanely busy as it has been. Being one of the few stores in town can have its good points and bad. Today is Monday so it's Senior Discount Day. UGH.

"Cool Kids"

She sees them walking in a straight line, that's not really her style.
And they all got the same heartbeat, but hers is falling behind.
Nothing in this world could ever bring them down.
Yeah, they're invincible, and she's just in the background.
And she says,

"I wish that I could be like the cool kids,
'Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids, like the cool kids."

He sees them talking with a big smile, but they haven't got a clue.
Yeah, they're living the good life, can't see what he is going through.
They're driving fast cars, but they don't know where they're going.
In the fast lane, living life without knowing.
And he says,

"I wish that I could be like the cool kids,
'Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids, like the cool kids.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids,
'Cause all the cool kids, they seem to get it.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids, like the cool kids."

And they said,
"I wish that I could be like the cool kids,
'Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids, like the cool kids.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids,
'Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids, like the cool kids.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids,
'Cause all the cool kids, they seem to get it.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids, like the cool kids."

Whoa [3x]

Like the cool kids

Vance Joy - Riptide (updated-Monday April 6th)

I HATE

Ugh, ugghhhhhh. Well today's post is about a "brand new" song introduced by "The Blend". They say he's an Australian "singer/songwriter" apparently singing about a girl and a motel. This is "Riptide" by Vance Joy, which sounds more like a new kind of candy bar (Almond Joy, anyone?). I was sure hoping that this incredibly bland and irritating song would go away. As I've mentioned in previous posts, "The Blend" will add a new song, and then probably use their survey to determine if they should keep it or not. So far, I've heard "Riptide" multiple times, so I think it may have surprisingly made the cut. *barf*. Now, I gotta hear this asshole's (harsh! he's probably a really nice guy!) psuedo-indie rawk wailings everyday. I swear, there's so many of these adult pop guys trying to sound like maybe The Decemberists (not really into them much either) or to a lesser extent (because they're just not all that great to begin with) The Shins. I have a preliminary image of Joy in poofy hair and suspenders, looking like a Dexy's Midnight Runners "Come On Eileen" reject. Of course, nothing again the 'Runners, whom are supposedly a good band, although I have not researched them further than their "meh" hit song. haha.

Dexy's Midnight Runners

Let the crap-fest commence: 

There's an interesting VHS appearance by a fake film called "Velocite" in the music video. They even packaged it as a Vestron film, how funny! Apparently there's not a whole lot of debate on whether its a real film or not (I think it's fake), but I found this entertaining Google+ conversation about it. I'm guessing the age group who would listen to this song would probably be too young to even know what a VHS tape is. The music video is extremely literal to the song, but in this case, the video is way more interesting than the song itself. I would suggest just watching it on mute. haha. VHS has had a slight resurgence in the past few years. Most recently, French blogger, Julien Knez wrote a fake article about VHS tapes, with new films and Tv Shows repackaged as such. This is such a fun project. It's interesting to see the ridiculous artistry that goes into a movie poster or VHS cover. The reinterpretations of the original poster art are always interesting to see.

Vance Joy (aka James Keogh) is a 27 year old and is from Melbourne, Australia. He toured with Taylor Swift in the USA, so I'm sure that laid a hand in his growing popularity. Do yourself a favor, and just listen to the following surperior Australian artists below:

UPDATE (Monday April 6th):

I would like to say after reviewing this song again (and while at work too), this definitely a much lesser evil than the many many other songs I hear at work. My apologies to Mr. Joy. I think the first few times I heard that (I guess) vibrato type of vocal style, I was immediately annoyed. This is a case of where (as said above), the music video can really transform a song. I see it as much darker and weirder than I when I originally heard it. I also think it's pretty extraordinary that this is his first album and he's already world famous, and not from Los Angeles or New York City (or the USA for that matter, so good for him! 

I'll get to work on my next entry after typing this of something worthy of picking apart its excruciating existence. I mean, it is Senior Discount Day at my store, so I'm sure the frustrations will be plentiful! Arrghhh. 

It's Too Late - Gloria Estefan (1994)

UGH, I HATE

I really hate this cover because I love the Carole King original:

It's such a sad, yet sorta sweet sounding song. Gloria Estefan's vocal delivery is cold and unfeeling at best. I mean frankly, "something has died" alright, the emotion that was in this song. Her sing-speak of "I just can't fake it" just makes me want to throw tomatoes at her Fozzie Bear style. It just comes off as super lazy and distracted. I wondered if she was mentally somewhere else when she recorded it. Maybe she had her mind on something else. "Did I lock the front door?", "did I turn the oven off before I left the house?". She sounds so vacant from the song, just devoid of any sadness that the song originally evokes. This is yet another example of singers who don't know what they're singing about. It's also an example of older songs that can't fit into "The Blend's" time frame but the newer cover is acceptable. Other violators of such magnitude are Seal (Al Green's "Let's Stay Together"), Annie Lennox (Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You"), and Michael McDonald (Van Morrison's "Moondance"). All of these are just gawd-awful!

Maroon 5

I'm finally off today after what seemed like a marathon work schedule. I'd have to look, but I don't think I worked more than five days in a row, but when your store is one of the few in this small mountain town I'm currently in, it's always insanely busy. The past couple of days, I'd finally had a break from the register, which is what I seem to do mostly. The customers are probably 85% nice, but there's that 15% leftover of mostly mean old ladies, and they just seemed to have all joined together and said, "let's go pick on the workers at..." So, I had it with register and people just degrading me. With fitting room, there's no attendant at my store, so you have to empty all the rooms (which are always full of junk) and then put all the clothes back up in the store. I thankfully didn't have any horror stories (that I remember anyway) that fellow co-workers have expressed in the past. One time a kid peed on the floor because their mom was too caught up in her shopping to take her poor kid to the bathroom. Another time, someone dumped a bunch of clothes on the floor and someone I work with went to pick them up only to discover them dripping in urine. *shudders* People are so disgusting sometimes.

I HATE

As far as music goes, I almost have too many songs that I want to cover. I hate that when I'm at work, I'll suddenly have an idea, but I never have any time to write them down. I sometimes wish I could just write my entries right then and there, but obviously that's not going to happen. When I work fitting room, I'm more aware of the music playing in which I notice more of the repetition of songs. One of the groups most guilty of this is Maroon 5. I can't stand Maroon 5's music. There's at least 3 songs I hear every single day that I work by them; "Love Somebody", "Maps", and "Daylight". "Maps" is played like clockwork after an ad by "The Blend" that combines three music clips from songs with the word "love" in them, which incidentally includes "Love Somebody", Amy Grant's "That What Love Is For" and Faith Hill's "The Way You Love Me" (*vomits*). This happens every single time.

"Daylight" I'm wondering if it has something to do with vampires. He says, "when the daylight comes I'll have to go, but tonight I'm gonna hold you so close". I guess I'm actually romanticising his actions a bit, because for all I know, he might just have to work in the morning. Or, he could be one of those scumbags that leaves immediately after sex. I guess it depends on their individual arrangement. Did they use this song in one of those "Twilight" movies? Upon further investigation, the song's meaning isn't explained. That's fine and all because whatever writings, art, etc I come up with, it usually ends up being left up to interpretation. If you read the wiki entry for "Daylight" (linked above), you'll see much harsh criticism towards this song. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so.

"Love Somebody" makes me want to punch somebody. I'm probably misinterpreting this song also, but sounds like another asshole guy, here pressuring this girl to have sex with him. "I'm only halfway baby, but take me all the wayy". Is he referring to blue balls? Aren't blue balls a myth anyhow? I see in the text of the Wiki entry that one of those assholes (again, they're probably all really nice guys!) from OneRepublic helped write this crap-fest. I'll save my OneRepublic distaste for another entry.

uh oh!

I remember seeing Adam Levine in the first episode of the second season of "American Horror Story". I'll have to re-watch it, but if I remember right he gets killed in that episode. I'm sure he's a nice guy and blah blah blah, but damn, sometimes when hear his music enough to makes you want to kill the guy. Sorry Adam and co!

Tea Will Be Loved, get it? Remember when Snapple was good? I think it went downhill after The Snapple Lady left. Watch all those great old commercials HERE.

I used to hear another one of their songs when I worked at a beauty supply store "She Will Be Loved". That song just grates on my nerves, so at least with their newer songs, they're consistent. "Moves Like Jagger" is another one, but probably not soft enough for work radio station status. My husband had a conversation with a co-worker of his where he found out the poor guy didn't even know who this Jagger character was. hahaha MICK JAGGER!! I guess they never heard the Rolling Stones. Do they live under a rock (nice pun!)? No one "moves like Jagger", in yer dreams!

I watch "Project Runway" and one of the contestants is related to one of the members of Maroon 5. She would say something along the lines of her brother being a "rock star". Ugh, I think he'd have to play rock music to ever be considered as such. I've always hated that "rock star" term anyway. All Maroon 5 songs sound less than natural to me. I can't imagine a live band playing these songs. It all sounds like the result of a couple of keyboards and a drum machine.  Maroon 5 seems to be the new Matchbox 20 as far as soft rock stations go. They're constantly played on rotation with annoying "unique" lead vocalists. I still hear some Matchbox 20 at work unfortunately. The only thing different about Matchbox 20 though is it sounds like actual guitars, etc. I didn't think I could dislike Maroon 5 anymore because they just made me give a slight compliment to Matchbox 20. Bastards! haha. Also, there's way too many "name and number" bands out there. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any good ones. Blink 182? Nope. Eve6? Nope. Sham69? Ah, they're good from what I've heard, I don't know enough of their music though. Effiel65? Nooo.