Try - Colbie Caillat

I'm off from work today and tomorrow, but a couple of work songs have been nagging me. I've been working about 35-40 hours a work, which is great, but of course that means more exposure to terrible music. Boo-hoo. haha. I end up with some songs stuck in my head and I'll annoy my husband by singing them terribly. That's carried over from work where I'll also more or less speak the lyrics, resulting in the usual "don't quit your day job, Kristin" type of comment. haha.

I HATE

"Try" by Colbie Caillat is played about 3 (incidentally, it took more "songwriters" than than to write this crappy song) times a day. It's a terrible song and to me just screams ROUGH DRAFT. The song seems so unfinished and has "in the meantime" or "holding place" types of lyrics. The repetition of a single word isn't always a downfall of a song, but the execution here really hurts the supposed message lurking underneath.

I sorta understand the sentiment to the song. It's referring to that teenage girl trying their best to get guys to like them or making friends and pretending to be something you're not. That constant need to have people like you, even if it means sacrificing your own sanity. I don't understand the "Try, try, try, try-yy..." remark though, because it sounds like a put down, as in why bother trying? It's a weirdly backhanded the song, mostly in the words chosen to express these fleeting emotions involved in one's self-esteem and view of themselves in this difficult world. I'm also perplexed by the "get up-get up-get up" line the song. Wait, what? The poor girl has already taken her clothes off so guys will like her, she maxed out her credit cards (is she old enough to even have said cards?) to buy "cool" clothes (which nowadays are all horribly unflattering anyway). I think she's done more than her fair share of "getting up". Which one is it?

This song is supposedly about Caillat's own personal struggle with image as a pop star. The video resembles a Dove soap ad, with various women in white tops looking at the camera. It apparently features a cornucopia of bland ("The Blend") artists such as Sheryl Crow, Christina Perri, and many more. It's the epitome of accessible feminists patting themselves on the back for their mainstream contribution to society. I guess that's a harsh thing to say. I'm sure they're nice people and everything, using their notoriety to help their young fans cope with the trials and tribulations of being a woman or really just a human (no one has it easy). Maybe they're just trying their best to put to rest some of the stereotypes women have been trying to shake off for centuries. I suppose any positive change made (whether fueled by popularity or not, which comes off as the ultimate irony, feminist ideals are trendy) is step towards the right direction. It's just too bad, positive message or not, this song is just terrible.

As for her background, Caillat is a California native and her dad, Ken Caillat, co-produced the aforementioned Fleetwood Mac record, "Rumours". She also sings other "work song" hits (ugh) "Realize", "Falling For You" and possibly some others I'm not aware of. You sorta wonder about the supposed "struggle" that these "artists" go through if they're from southern California and have a music producer in their family. I'd say it shouldn't matter, but sometimes its a bit annoying when these music careers are seemingly handed to some. I think I'm just saying this because, while Colbie's probably a really nice person and everything (already said that), but someone like her in say a small town on the other side of the country would probably never reach these same heights. I like California, but I hate that location is so important to one's success, despite how much talent they have. That's why New York and Los Angeles are over populated. I sure wish that would change. Talent is talent no matter where you're from or reside.

Wilson Phillips/Berlin

I HATE

At work, there are many cover versions of superior original songs played throughout the day. Here's "Go Your Own Way" originally by Fleetwood Mac, redone by Wilson Phillips. Like many of the songs I hear throughout the work day, I'm not sure who sings most of the songs I hear. This one came as a surprise because it was a group I had actually heard of. I think back in elementary school either myself or my sister had a Wilson Phillips tape or CD. They play a few of their songs at my present job and I've heard their songs probably all throughout my retail "career" (*shudders*). If you're not familiar with their singing, do yourself a favor and just skip to their parents music, Brian Wilson (father of Wendy and Carnie) of the Beach Boys and Michelle Phillips (mother of Chynna) of the Mamas And Papas.

MTV had a special, or a pilot that never launched called "The 25 Lamest Videos". It starred Denis Leary, Janeane Garafalo, Jon Stewart and Chris Kattan (the only funny thing I think he ever did). I have it taped off of TV, but unfortunately it's not available in it's entirety online. Number 23 on the countdown is Wilson Phillip's "Hold On" which is hilariously torn apart. I recall such lines "Prince Valiant haircut" referring to Chynna Phillips and Carnie Wilson after harshly being called "the fat chick" is said to also have the "best personality". Soo wrong. Speaking of Carnie, have you seen her on "Celebrity Wife Swap"? Her husband was such a jerk. If anybody should "go their own way", it should be her.

Fleetwood Mac's original version of "Go Your Own Way" (released in 1977) is bitingly cruel but ended up being a huge hit song for them. The group consisted of two on again off again couples and a weird drummer. This particular song is about guitarist Lindsay Buckingham and backing vocalist Stevie Nicks' deteriorating relationship. I mean the whole time he's telling her "YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WAY" or really, "get the fu** outta here!". It's a pretty mean song despite it's upbeat sound. BUT, this is a blog about work songs, so I'm stuck with the neutered Wilson Phillips version which has about as much energy as a coma. It's almost as if they have no clue what they're even singing about. It's devoid of emotion and any sort of understanding of the lyrics. I find this true among many newer artists; it's all vocal acrobatics and absolutely no sense of what they're singing about. It's soulless and meaningless.

Courtesy of http://www.azlyrics.com

"Go Your Own Way"

Loving you

Isn't the right thing to do

How can I ever change things that I feel?

If I could

Baby I'd give you my world

How can I

When you won't take it from me?

You can go your own way

Go your own way

You can call it another lonely day

You can go your own way

Go your own way

Tell me why

Everything turned around

Packing up

Shacking up's all you wanna do

If I could

Baby I'd give you my world

Open up

Everything's waiting for you

You can go your own way

Go your own way

You can call it another lonely day

You can go your own way

Go your own way

I LIKE

"Take My Breath Away" (1986) by Berlin isn't played too often at work, but I get pretty excited when I hear it, saying "yes!" to myself. I like Berlin, although I only have their first record ("Pleasure Victim") with "The Metro", "Sex (I'm A..), etc. This song was written by soundtrack great, Giorgio Moroder and also Tom Whitlock which was used in the film "Top Gun".  It even won an Oscar for Best Song that year. My husband Jeffrey and I while traveling across California stopped at some landmark from that film in San Diego. Apparently this song caused a rift in Berlin because it wasn't written by band songwriter, John Crawford and shortly after they split up. 

"Take My Breath Away"

Watching every motion

In my foolish lover's game

On this endless ocean

Finally lovers know no shame

Turning and returning

To some secret place inside

Watching in slow motion

As you turn around and say

Take my breath away

Take my breath away

Watching I keep waiting

Still anticipating love

Never hesitating

To become the fated ones

Turning and returning

To some secret place to find

Watching in slow motion

As you turn to me and say

My love

Take my breath away

Through the hourglass I saw you

In time you slipped away

When the mirror crashed I called you

And turned to hear you say

If only for today

I am unafraid

Take my breath away

Take my breath away

Watching every motion

In this foolish lover's game

Haunted by the notion

Somewhere there's a love in flames

Turning and returning

To some secret place inside

Watching in slow motion

As you turn my way and say

Take my breath away

Take my breath away