Every Breath You Take: The Singlez

The patron saint of lyrical confusion - Sting!

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With time off comes some navel gazing...I mean, introspection and I started to think about the meanings of songs. Is the meaning of a song what the songwriter or performer meant to say or how people took it? So I decided to think about this a little more and write about a few songs where I think the artist and public don't agree on the meaning of a song and then give my completely biased opinion on what the meaning of the song ended up being. So I named the post after one of the most famous examples, The Police "Every Breath You Take", Sting's obsessive stalking tune that is believed by many to be a devoted love song. I'm pretty sure it was Billboard's biggest hit of the entire 80's decade. "Every breath you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you." I didn't know it was about stalking until I heard Sting say it, after finding out it seemed so obvious. Well, enough rambling time to get started!

The Song: "Sex Type Thing" by Stone Temple Pilots


The Intended Message: The song was meant to ridicule the mindset of male sexual aggression by writing in the first person as if they were an aggressor. Driving the point home was one of the hardest rocking grunge riffs of the 90's.

Sample Lyrics:
I am a man, a man/Ill give ya somethin that ya wont forget/I said ya shouldnt have worn that dress/I said ya shouldnt have worn that dress

Public Reaction: Many people took the song to be pro-male sexual aggression, the band had to do positive PR to offset the negative backlash as "Sex Type Thing" grew in popularity. Fortunately for STP, the additional backlash of Scott Weiland imitating Eddie Vedder in the "Plush" video drowned out the first problem.

The Verdict: Over time the backlash has faded and the part that has stuck in memory is that killer riff. To me, if "Sex Type Thing" is meant to be an anti-male aggression object lesson it fails miserably. "Here I come, I come, I come"? C'mon! But I think most don't remember or listen to the lyrics though, just the beat. And if you set aside the lyrics, this song is wicked awesome.

Link to the Song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s3lmr09oVg

Next up, a song that was changed by a remake-

The Song: "All By Myself" by Eric Carmen / Celine Dion


The Intended Message: The original 70's version by writer and performer Eric Carmen was a model of inconsolable self pity. Carmen was all by himself and made it a painfully lush and empty place to be.

Sample Lyrics:
Hard to be sure/Some times I feel so insecure/And love so distant and obscure/Remains the cure

Public Reaction: For two decades, the public identified with Carmen's lonely boy anthem. Then Celine Dion remade it with an arrangement that transformed the song into a Titanic sized statement that loneliness would end by screaming at the top of your lungs. Primal scream therapy for lite rockin' single people in the 90's. Can I get a latte' with that?

The Verdict: Dion's arrangement and the American Idol contestants who have stuck onto it to use that huge hanging high note at the end have changed the meaning of the song. Anyone can end the pain of loneliness with a chest thumping shout at an unsuspecting public (try it, I guarantee someone will notice. Maybe not someone who will love you, but someone will come.)

Link to the Song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVKv6PdBR-I

And one more for the road-

The Song: "Highway To Hell" by AC/DC


The Intended Message: The band says the song is about touring. Touring is hell and it's done on a highway going from show to show. A stomping beat and rugged guitar riff is all you need for a ticket.

Sample Lyrics:
No stop signs, speed limit/Nobodys gonna slow me down/Like a wheel, gonna spin it/Nobodys gonna mess me round/Hey satan, payed my dues/Playing in a rocking band/Hey momma, look at me/Im on my way to the promised land

Public Reaction: AC/DC's dangerous hard rock image, combined with an album cover where guitarist Angus Young has devil horns plus the fact they named the whole record after this song made it Devil Worship 101 as far as the general public was concerned. When I went to an AC/DC concert in 2000 there were still sign carrying Religious people trying to save souls at the gate.

The Verdict: Yes, I think the song is about touring. That doesn't matter, the band played up the Satanic angle on the record release and created an anthem for Satanists world 'round. But I think most people aren't Satanists so it's really just a song about being a bad ass for most.

Link to the Song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erJc4dzZ3IA

That's it for this round, I'll have to see if I can dig up some more songs to put in this category. Until then, I won't be by myself ('sniff') AAANNNYYMMOOORREEEE!!!!

Artist Spotlight: Red Hot Chili Peppers 1989 - 2006

Nobody weird like them. Red Hot Chili Peppers bring funky good times to rock.

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I've been meaning to do a Spotlight on the Red Hot Chili Peppers for a while because they're one of my favorite alternative bands. I've put it off because I've covered three of the CDs before, but I figure since double dipping has become a standard in the music and dvd field (like every DVD title has to have a regular version, then an expanded version, then a deluxe version, then a directors cut, then a remastered version and then it goes on and on...) I can do it too. For the most part, the lineup of the band while I've listened to them has been Anthony Kiedis (vocals and sorta rap), Flea (bass), Chad Smith (often said to look like Will Farrell, drums) and John Frusciante (guitars).

The L.A. funkmeisters are always good for some bumpin' grooves and odd ball lyrics that add a little fun to the day. I first started listening to them through a friend in College that played bass and thought RHCP was great. Then I got hooked on the riff of their song "Taste The Pain" when it was used in the movie Say Anything (it's towards the start when John Cusack is stuffing paper in his tape player to get it to work). So I eventually picked up a used copy of Mother's Milk so my story with the RHCP starts there.

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Mother's Milk (1989)

Mother's Milk is famous mainly for their popular cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". The funk skater punk edge modernized the song and at this point may be better known than the original (not knocking Stevie Wonder, Innervisions is a great album). "Knock Me Down", inspired by their deceased original guitarist Hillel Slovak, also got radio play. RHCP had a reputation for playfully lewd songs and of the albums I've heard this was the strongest in that direction ("Sexy Mexican Maid" comes to mind). The odd "Magic Johnson" stood out as well as their cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire". Compared to what would follow, Mother's Milk was like the last blast of teen adolescent innocence before hitting young adulthood. The loose open feel and energy fitted well with my life at that time.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)

Producer Rick Rubin took the band to the core of its sound, leaving muscular funk bass riffs, skittering guitar jabs and Kiedis' rap singing to propel the sound sans whimsy. The uber funky "Give It Away" was the lead single and was matched with a classic video. The ballad "Under The Bridge" displayed new found maturity and led to a monster #1 smash. With that momentum established, the funk lust of "Suck My Kiss" and the dramatic acoustics of "Breaking The Girl" went into the charts as well. The rest of the disc grinds, pops and bounds along nicely to create an Alterna rock classic. I'll always associate this disc with the end of College and the thought of new possibilities on the horizon. And "Sir Psycho Sexy". Who could forget that song!

One Hot Minute (1995)

But all was not well in the RHCP as Frusciante's escalating drug problems led to his departure mid tour in 1992. The band still had some tracks left that were unreleased so they made the most of it, most notably with the hit "Soul To Squeeze" from the Coneheads soundtrack. The guitar slot became a revolving door that eventually hit on Dave Navarro (ex-Jane's Addiction, ex-Carmen Electra). I lost track of the band at this point and ignored their 1995 release though I couldn't get away from the hits "My Friends" and "Aeroplane" even when I wanted to. The songs are OK, just didn't WOW me. What did WOW me was a cover of the Ohio Players "Love Rollercoaster" from the Beavis and Butthead soundtrack. That was the jam I wanted to hear! It made work fun.

Californication (1999)

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Frusciante came back to the fold and re-energized the band to record one of their best efforts. Californication shows the band moving from frenzied funk rock punks to elder statesmen of pop with their most varied album. They reeled off hits like the moody "Scar Tissue", the trademark funk of "Around The World", the melancholy pop of "Otherside" and the wistful title cut. Elsewhere the band would bounce between the straight funk of "Get On Top" to the sweeping balladry of "Road Trippin". Even album tracks like the scratch funk of "I Like Dirt" and the mellow "Porcelain" were memorable. An unexpected come back that I played to death in 1999, it was a cornucopia of Pop goodness. It came at the right time, there were some positive changes in our life at this time that the album went nicely with.

By The Way (2002)

A sort of sucker punch to me, the first single and title track was a hyperkinetic funk rocker with a slammin' beat. When I got the CD, the rest of the album was mostly soft, drifty and forgettable. There were some high spots like the mildly catchy "Can't Stop" or the laid back "The Zephyr Song" (or to me, "Cell Phone Song" because that's what I hear in the chorus) but I can't remember most of the album and I've played it more than once. So By The Way was just "good enough" too me, nothing I got excited about. I mainly think of shopping for groceries with my wife when I think of this disc, that's where I think I've heard it the most. In supermarkets trying to decide between wheat bread and Wonder.

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Stadium Arcadium (2006)

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When I heard RHCP was releasing a double album, my first response was "eh". It sorta made sense because I didn't think I was alone in being put off by their super soft direction even though it was clearly where the band's heads were at. So Stadium Arcadium initially met my expectations, two CDs were enough space to put out a full disc's worth of slow, dreamy pop and still grab fans with some of that slap happy funk rock that brought them to the dance. Over time the discs have grown on me and now view it as the group's magnum opus. Everything you like about the Chili Peppers are spread out, the poppin' bass licks, cooing background vocals, indelible melodies and occasionally odd instrumentation are all here plus more. It doesn't eclipse the classics, but is a great source of one stop shopping for any fans of the band and includes one of my favorite RHCP songs, "Tell Me Baby". And it's great for long car rides or long commutes to work.

It's been a long trip with the funky monks from So Cal, they've gone in and out of style but were guaranteed to raise a smile whenever I heard them. And since Stadium Arcadium was a double album and I just plain like this next video, I'll close with "Dani California". I wonder what they'll do next?

Wall - E World

Number 5 is alive! Robots find love and loneliness in the future in Wall - E.

Today my wife and I went to see Pixar's Wall-E, the latest computer animated adventure from the people who made The Incredibles, Toy Story and Finding Nemo. Pixar has been creating inventive family entertainment for over a decade now with a focus on simply told stories that are as character based and visually ground breaking as possible for all ages film goers. Wall-E is a continuation on these themes and even adds to their repertoire of tricks.

The film starts with a short that I think is called Presto. Presto is done in a classic Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes format involving a Magician who wants to pull the Rabbit out of the hat and the pain the Bunny Rabbit causes the Magician for not feeding him. The look of the bit had that classic Opera house staging that you would see in old Looney Tunes clips and a lot of cartoonish slapstick ensues. Presto was a great start to the show and is worth seeing on its own.

Wall-E began and was immediately marked by it's desolate, lonely mood in the first third. The film involves a futuristic Earth overrun by pollution to the point that humans have left and robots attempt to clean up by stacking compacted trash as high as skyscrapers. In this future, only one robot is left functioning called a Wall-E. This robot has been active for so long it's developed a personality, collecting junk and keeping a pet cockroach. Wall-E longs for love and contact - he gets his chance with the arrival of an advanced robot called Eve sent from a scout ship to scan the new Earth.

I don't want to give too much away, so I'll skip to what I thought of the movie. In terms of all ages entertainment, Wall-E and the other characters were likable and cute coming across nicely. As is the norm for kids movies, a gaggle of odd ball but well intentioned characters perform heroic feats in the face of danger. The animation continues to progress as more detail is added in the computer graphics to the point that live action actors can be placed in the shot and it doesn't look entirely distracting (some noise is added to those shots to unify the look). Overall, the visuals are impressive but fit seamlessly into the story.

What really made an impact was the willingness to put quiet and melancholy moods into the piece. The first section of the movie reminded me a bit of AI: Artificial Intelligence in terms of the feeling of isolation and detachment (though the playing up of Wall-E as a klutz and friendly robot offset the mood to avoid depression). But the initial set up of the movie gives the proceedings weight even as it hits the more action adventure oriented second half.

Also, there was a bit of social commentary in the movie. The idea of an Earth abandoned due to pollution as a result of over consumption of resources from a conglomerated consumer society is about as fully explored as it can get. And the lazy malaise that follows is given screen time as well.

So when you add it all up, Wall-E succeeds on all levels. Cute kids story, brainy sci-fi, amazing animation. Another gem in the Pixar library.