Back in October I thought this blog had died and that I'd never post a single song here anymore. So I watched this short film and decided to put an end but with some kind of farewell. Fortunately, it didn't die; it was just a little break. =)
Death Buy Lemonade is a film made for the final year at Sheridan College animation program by Kyu-bum Lee. The film was completed in April 2010. [He] was born in Seoul, Korea and moved to Canada at the age of 11. [He] graduated from Sheridan Bachelor of Applied Arts Animation program in April 2010 and Death Buy Lemonade is the product of the last year [he] spent there.
If you wanna know more about Lee and his works, access the blog about this film, which is btw from where I took the paragraph above. =)
The Walkmen are an American indie rock band, with members based in New York City and Philadelphia. The band formed in 2000 with three members from Jonathan Fire*Eater (the most hyped young group that nobody has ever heard of) — Paul Maroon (guitar, piano), Walter Martin (organ/bass), and Matt Barrick (drums) — and two from The Recoys — Peter Bauer (bass/organ) and Hamilton Leithauser (vocals, guitar).¹
They prefer the sound of vintage musical instruments, particularly the upright piano, and have often recorded at Marcata Recording, a recording studio built in Harlem in 1999 by the three former members of Jonathan Fire*Eater and later relocated to upstate New York.¹
All the windows are glowing The branches bending low The skyline is swinging Rocking back and forth Walking down this dirt road Watching at the sky It's all I can do It's all I can do
All the years keep rolling The decades flying by But… The days are long So here's one to the pigeons And the tugboats on the river Here's one to you For walking in my shoes
Oh you know I'd never leave you No matter how hard I try You know I'd never leave you And that's just how it is
But Molly She's like you Oh the static That is in everyone but you Oh it's funny To think it through Everybody That is deep Everyone but you
"Eu tava mexendo no violão, começando a fazer a melodia, e a primeira imagem que apareceu foi exatamente esta: uma cidade submersa, isolada de tudo. Porque, cantarolando, parecia que a música queria dizer isso. Eu tinha que ir atrás da explicação dessa cidade submersa. Aí eu coloquei os escafandristas, e surgiu a história de um amor adiado, um amor que fica para sempre. Essa idéia do amor como algo que pode ser aproveitado mais tarde, que não se desperdiça. Passa-se o tempo, passam-se milênios, e aquele amor ficará até debaixo d'água. Um amor que vai ser usado por outras pessoas, um amor que não foi utilizado porque não foi correspondido, e então ele fica ímpar, pairando... Esperando que alguém o apanhe e complete a sua função de amor".
Não se afobe, não
Que nada é pra já
O amor não tem pressa
Ele pode esperar em silêncio
Num fundo de armário
Na posta-restante
Milênios, milênios
No ar
E quem sabe, então
O Rio será
Alguma cidade submersa
Os escafandristas virão
Explorar sua casa
Seu quarto, suas coisas
Sua alma, desvãos
Sábios em vão
Tentarão decifrar
O eco de antigas palavras
Fragmentos de cartas, poemas
Mentiras, retratos
Vestígios de estranha civilização
Não se afobe, não
Que nada é pra já
Amores serão sempre amáveis
Futuros amantes, quiçá
Se amarão sem saber
Com o amor que eu um dia
Deixei pra você
Se a dona se banhou
Eu não estava lá
Por Deus Nosso Senhor
Eu não olhei Sinhá
Estava lá na roça
Sou de olhar ninguém
Não tenho mais cobiça
Nem enxergo bem
Para que me pôr no tronco
Para que me aleijar
Eu juro a vosmecê
Que nunca vi Sinhá
Por que me faz tão mal
Com olhos tão azuis
Me benzo com o sinal
Da santa cruz
Eu só cheguei no açude
Atrás da sabiá
Olhava o arvoredo
Eu não olhei Sinhá
Se a dona se despiu
Eu já andava além
Estava na moenda
Estava para Xerém
Por que talhar meu corpo
Eu não olhei Sinhá
Para que que vosmincê
Meus olhos vai furar
Eu choro em iorubá
Mas oro por Jesus
Para que que vassuncê
Me tira a luz
E assim vai se encerrar
O conto de um cantor
Com voz do pelourinho
E ares de senhor
Cantor atormentado
Herdeiro sarará
Do nome e do renome
De um feroz senhor de engenho
E das mandingas de um escravo
Que no engenho enfeitiçou Sinhá
O que é que você tem, conta pra mim Não quero ver você triste assim Não fique triste o mundo é bom A felicidade até existe Enxugue a lágrima, pare de chorar Você vai ver, tudo vai passar Você vai sorrir outra vez Que mal alguém lhe fez, conta pra mim Não quero ver você triste assim Olha, vamos sair Hum... pra que saber aonde ir Eu só quero ver você sorrir Enxugue a lágrima, não chore nunca mais E olha que céu azul, azul até demais Esqueça o mal, pense só no bem Que assim a felicidade um dia vem Agora uma canção, canta pra mm Não quero ver você triste assim
Olha, vamos sair Hum... pra que saber onde ir Eu só quero ver você sorrir Enxugue a lágrima, não chore nunca mais E olha que céu azul, azul até demais Esqueça o mal pense só no bem Que assim a felicidade um dia vem Uma canção, canta pra mim Não quero ver você tão triste assim
Be nice, say thank you
And please once in a while
It's a beautiful world we live in
So give your brother a smile
Turn to a stranger
And give him a pat on the back
It's not that hard to
Maybe the friendship will last
Wonderful! (Wonderful)
It's so wonderful! (wonderful)
Wonderful! (Wonderful)
It's so wonderful!
Don't smoke, don't litter
Don't step on a beetle or ant
Always walk on the sidewalk
Never tread on the grass
Be kind, be courteous
Open the door for your mom
Help an old person across the street
Give the bum something to eat
Wonderful! (Wonderful)
It's so wonderful! (wonderful)
Wonderful! (Wonderful)
It's so wonderful!
When you walk into the room,
Girls frown, boys swoon,
You're the spark that lights the gloom
And my heart sings.. to your tune.
I flash my hungry smile
and it makes you run a mile
Have you heard the birds and bees?
Have all caught STDs
I beg you darling please
I wanna see you on your (ohhh) knees
But all you got to do is do it
To know there's really nothing to it
All you got to is do it now
(ooh-oooh x4)
I flash my hungry smile
and it makes you run a mile
When the hours getting late
You open up your garden gates
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
If love is just a race
I never seem to come.. first place
But all you got to do it
To know there's really nothing to it
If you dont you'll just regret it
But if you do you won't forget it
All you got to do is do it
To know there's really nothing to it
All you got to do is do it, now
Come back to me no need to hide
Make a little room for me tonight
Come back to me no need to hide (x2)
Make a little room for me tonight
Harry Irene were a couple that lived in the green
Harry Irene were a couple that ran a canteen
Ran a canteen
Ran a canteen
Two people Harry and Irene like you never seen
The floor was made of oak, the door was smokey gray
Their tuna sandwiches would turn the dark into day
They sold wine like turpentine to painters
They took to social life like props to aviators
Harry Irene were a couple that ran a canteen
Harry Irene were a couple that lived in the green
Ran a canteen
Ran a canteen took Harry for all of his green and Irene
Harry was left holding an empty canteen
And by the way folks, it was Dusty not Harry
What does this mean?
What does this mean?
What's the meaning of this?
Poor Harry, I guess
The moon was singing the blues
The stars in the sky harmonized
singing it too
and I, far below
was singing low and slow
for you
and I know
all the world was singing the blues
The Queen was singing the blues
The President played the saxophone
sounded so along
it was on the news
And from Ursa Minor
in what looked like an all-night diner
came lonely luminous creatures
whose only human feature
was singing the blues
soft and low
The blues was singing the blues
The dead in their graves
and the gods in their caves,
they'd been waiting so long
to sing the blue song
about you
Rob Manning has been working in music for more than 10 years. He has composed original music for a range of advertising agencies, production companies, and television channels.
His credits include documentaries (Louis Theroux, Gordon’s Great Escape, Heston Blumenthal's Feasts, Dispatches, Cutting Edge); commercials (EON/Powergen, HSBC, Johnnie Walker, Airbus, UTV); comedies (Fonejacker, Rush Hour, Funny Cuts); and production music (Lift Music, Big Screen, Boost, MTV, Focus, Ricall).
Rob graduated from Brunel University in 1996 with a distinction in Professional Music, specialising in guitar. He has a studio in North London with a valve desk, a diverse collection of instruments (including guitars, piano, banjo, ukulele, mandolin, bass, dulcimer, accordion, lap steel, dobro, sitar and a nose flute) alongside a large library of virtual instruments.¹
Manning's own words: "This is the title music from Heston Blumenthal's new four part series for Channel 4 called 'Heston's Feasts'. The series is generally quite wacky, and playful so the director wanted the piece to reflect this."
You were wearing that pretty white dress
You wore it with your pretty smile
I was trying to do my best
To see you smile you pretty smile at me
You were dancing, enjoying yourself
Without a care for all the world
I was wishing I was dancing with you
Wishing I could call you my girl
Oh, I couldn't speak my words right
Every time you turned your hear towards me
Oh, I felt so good all that night
You've made a change in me I do believe
I think I'm falling
I think I'm fall-all-ing
I think I'm falling
I think I'm falling
I think I'm fall-all-ing
I think I'm falling
for you
There was nothing you could do wrong
Everything you tried ended in perfection
I kept staring at you for too long
I felt so clumsy trying to get your attention
Oh, my stomach turned right over
Every time you turned your head towards me
Oh, I got so lost in the moment
And nearly told you all about how I
I think I'm falling
I think I'm fall-all-ing
I think I'm falling
I think I'm falling
I think I'm fall-all-ing
I think I'm falling
for you
Just soot for the stars if it feels right
Then aim for my heart if you feel like
Take me away and make it okay
I swear I'll behave
You wanted control, so we waited
I put on a show, now I make it
You say I'm a kid, my ego is big
I don't give a shit
And it goes like this
Take me by the tongue and I'll know you
Kiss me 'til you're drunk and I'll show you
All the moves like Jagger
I've got the moves like Jagger
I've got the moooooves like Jagger
I don't need to try to control you
Look into my eyes and I'll own you
With them moves like Jagger
I've got the moves like Jagger
I've got the moooooves like Jagger
Maybe it's hard when you feel like you're broken and scarred
Nothing feels right
But when you're with me, I'll make you believe
That I've got the key
So get in the car, we can ride it
Wherever you want, get inside it
And you wanna steer, but I'm shifting gears
I'll take it from here
And it goes like this
Take me by the tongue and I'll know you
Kiss me 'til you're drunk and I'll show you
All the moves like Jagger
I've got the moves like Jagger
I've got the moooooves like Jagger
I don't need to try to control you
Look into my eyes and I'll own you
With them moves like Jagger
I've got the moves like Jagger
I've got the moooooves like Jagger
(Christina Aguilera)
You wanna know how to make me smile
Take control, own me just for the night
And if I share my secret
You're gonna have to keep it
Nobody else can see this
So watch and learn, I won't show you twice
Head to toe, ooh baby rub me right
If I share my secret, you're gonna have to keep it
Nobody else can see this
And it goes like this
Take me by the tongue and I'll know you (take me by the tongue)
Kiss me 'til you're drunk and I'll show you
All the moves like Jagger
I've got the moves like Jagger
I've got the moooooves like Jagger
I don't need to try to control you
Look into my eyes and I'll own you
With them moves like Jagger
I've got the moves like Jagger
I've got the moooooves like Jagger
Lately I've been stuck imagining
What I wanna do and what I really think
Time to blow out...
Be a little inappropriate
'Cause I know that everybody's thinking it
When the lights out...
Shame on me
To need release
Uncontrollably
I-I-I wanna go-o-o all the way-ay-ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I-I-I wanna sho-o-ow all the dir-ir-irt
I got running through my mind, woah!
I-I-I wanna go-o-o all the way-ay-ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I-I-I wanna sho-o-ow all the dir-ir-irt
I got running through my mind, woah!
Lately, people got me all tied up
There's a countdown waiting for me to erupt
Time to blow out...
I've been told who I should do it with
Keep both my hands above the blanket
When the lights out...
Shame on me
To need release
Uncontrollably
I-I-I wanna go-o-o all the way-ay-ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I-I-I wanna sho-o-ow all the dir-ir-irt
I got running through my mind, woah!
I-I-I wanna go-o-o all the way-ay-ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I-I-I wanna sho-o-ow all the dir-ir-irt
I got running through my mind, woah!
Shame on me (shame on me)
To need release (to need release)
Uncontrollably (uncontrollably)
I-I-I wanna go-o-o all the way-ay-ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I-I-I wanna sho-o-ow all the dir-ir-irt
I got running through my mind, woah!
I-I-I wanna go-o-o all the way-ay-ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I-I-I wanna sho-o-ow all the dir-ir-irt
I got running through my mind, woah!
Ed, Edd n Eddy is an original animated television series created by Danny Antonucci and produced by Canadian-based a.k.a. Cartoon. The series revolves around three adolescent boys collectively known as "the Eds," who hang around in a suburban cul-de-sac. Unofficially led by Eddy, the Eds constantly scheme to make money off their peers in order to purchase their favorite confectionery: jawbreakers. However, their plans usually fail, leaving them in various predicaments.¹
With a viewership of 31 million households and aired in 29 different countries, Ed, Edd n Eddy was popular amongst kids, as well as adults. Receiving several of awards and nominations, it remains Cartoon Network's longest running original series, as well as the longest running Canadian-made animated series to date.¹ The staff won the 1999 Reuber Awards of Best Television Animation² and the Leo Awards of Best Director and Best Musical Score, the latter represented by Patric Caird — who also worked on the TV series Wildfire and The Dead Zone.
The song "Herdeiro da Pampa Pobre", which means Heir of the Poor Pampa, was originally composed by Gaúcho da Fronteira, a naturalized Brazilian musician and one of the most popular/folk music of this country, with Vainê Darde. It was covered by the rock band Herdeiros do Hawaii and released in the 1991 album Várias Variáveis, as the image below testifies.
Update - 5/12
I'm not used to post cover songs, the only ones that matter are the original compositions released in studio albums and so and so, but I was fooled by one of my friends! He told me it was from Engenheiros and I hadn't checked it until now. And the Gaúcho's has not whistlings. But because this song is here from a reasonable period, I will not erase the post. Instead, I will post both versions, okay?
By the way, it was whistled by the vocalist Humberto Gessinger.
Mas que pampa é essa que eu recebo agora Com a missão de cultivar raízes Se dessa pampa que me fala a história Não me deixaram nem sequer matizes?
Passam às mãos da minha geração Heranças feitas de fortunas rotas Campos desertos que não geram pão Onde a ganância anda de rédeas soltas
Se for preciso, eu volto a ser caudilho Por essa pampa que ficou pra trás Porque eu não quero deixar pro meu filho A pampa pobre que herdei de meu pai
Mas que pampa é essa que eu recebo agora Com a missão de cultivar raízes Se dessa pampa que me fala a história Não me deixaram nem sequer matizes?
Passam às mãos da minha geração Heranças feitas de fortunas rotas Campos desertos que não geram pão Onde a ganância anda de rédeas soltas
Se for preciso, eu volto a ser caudilho Por essa pampa que ficou pra trás Porque eu não quero deixar pro meu filho A pampa pobre que herdei de meu pai
Herdei um campo onde o patrão é rei Tendo poderes sobre o pão e as águas Onde esquecido vive o peão sem leis De pés descalços cabresteando mágoas
O que hoje herdo da minha grei chirua É um desafio que a minha idade afronta Pois me deixaram com a guaiaca nua Pra pagar uma porção de contas
Se for preciso, eu volto a ser caudilho Por essa pampa que ficou pra trás Porque eu não quero deixar pro meu filho A pampa pobre que herdei de meu pai
Eu não quero deixar pro meu filho A pampa pobre que herdei de meu pai
Eu não quero deixar pro meu filho A pampa pobre que herdei de meu pai
Today marks two years since the death of Michael Jackson. Throughout my research, I could only find one song with whistlings. It is in the last studio album released while MJ was alive, his tenth album called Invincible.
"This music video is a not-for-profit, low-budget independent production. The Magic of Michael Jackson was the first fan club to produce a tribute cover video of The King of Pop". Copy-and-paste from Youtube's description. The fake Santana is very funny!
P.S.: A curiosity: A BBC article states that policemen recorded Michael Jackson singing and whistling after his arrest back in 2003 when he faced the charge of child molestation. Does anyone know if this recording is public now? It would be a great thing to have Michael's whistling posted in the blog.
He gives another smile, tries to understand her side To show that he cares She can't stay in the room She's consumed with everything that's been goin' on She says
Whatever happens, don't let go of my hand Everything will be alright, he assures her But she doesn't hear a word that he says
Preoccupied, she's afraid Afraid that what they're doing is not right He doesn't know what to say, so he prays Whatever, whatever, whatever
Whatever happens, don't let go of my hand Don't let go of my hand Whatever happens, don't let go of my hand Don't let go of my hand
He's working day and night, thinks he'll make her happy Forgetting all the dreams that he had He doesn't realize it's not the end of the world It doesn't have to be that bad She tries to explain, "It's you that makes me happy," Whatever, whatever, whatever
Clouds Like Metallics was fine; in Zaireeka they were completely crazy and experimental as we can read in this excerpt from Wikipedia:
"The departure of Jones and a general dissatisfaction with standard 'rock' music led to the three remaining members of the group to redefine the direction of the band with the experimental Zaireeka (1997), a four-CD album which is intended to be heard by playing all four CDs in four separate CD players simultaneously. The music incorporated both traditional musical elements and 'found' sounds (as in musique concrète), often heavily manipulated with recording studio electronics."
With Soft Bulletin (1999) and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002), The Flaming Lips finally reached the mainstream. The first "was lauded by critics and fans alike and topped numerous 'Best of 1999' lists."¹Yoshimi goes further:
"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots appeared in the best albums of the decade lists of many music magazines, such as Rolling Stone (#27) and Uncut (#11). Fortune magazine called the album 'a lush and haunting electronic symphony.' Calling the album 'as strange as it is wonderful,' Billboard magazine explained, 'Beneath the sunny, computer-generated atmospherics and the campy veneer of talk about gladiator-style clashes between man and machines with emotions, Yoshimi is actually a somber rumination on love and survival in an unfathomable world.' Giving the album four-out-of-five stars, Rolling Stone called the production 'ambitious'. Uncut declared 'even by their standards, Yoshimi is astonishing' before declaring it the greatest album released in the magazine's lifetime."
Thereafter, the recognition and also the music style of Flaming Lips became more and more consistent. The band are now considered one of the most inventive band of all time!²³
Their wasn't any snow on Christmas Eve and I knew what I should do, I thought I'd free the animals all locked up at the zoo I opened up the fence where the peacocks were, the lamas were unleashed The snakes and seals could all get out, but they refused to leave....
All of the animals agreed they're not happy at the zoos But they preferred to save themselves, they seemed to think they could...
The elephants, orangutans, all the birds and kangaroos All said thanks but no thanks man, but to be concerned is good...
It started to snow on Christmas Eve in the middle of the night Walkin' through the state park zoo and everything is white...
Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles — such as "Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles", "Free Radicals (A Hallucination of the Christmas Skeleton Pleading with a Suicide Bomber)" and "Yeah, I Know It's a Drag... But Wastin' Pigs Is Still Radical". They are also acclaimed for their elaborate live shows, which feature costumes, balloons, puppets, video projections, complex stage light configurations, giant hands, large amounts of confetti, and frontman Wayne Coyne's signature man-sized plastic bubble, in which he traverses the audience. In 2002, Q magazine named The Flaming Lips one of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die".
That's a description of FL from themselves. It continues with "after signing to Warner Brothers, they scored a hit in 1993 with 'She Don't Use Jelly'. Although it has been their only hit single in the U.S., the band has maintained critical respect and (etc.)"
The album Transmissions from the Satellite Heart is known for having a more pop sound, instead of the lo-fi style we hear from the earlier albums. This is so true that LP's first hit is the above mentioned She Don't Use Jelly. Because of this, they started to become notorious, to make tours and open for great bands, like Red Hot Chili Peppers. This "pop era" (with quotation mark because the evolution of Flaming Lips' sound cannot be marked in periods of styles) lasted until 1995, when all the members of the band had health, drugs or familiar issues.
In this album we also find our second whistling song: Chewin' the Apple in Your Eye. It's a ballad with much of Flaming Lips lo-fi style, despite its little change. As we can see in the video below, whistlings are made by Wayne.
Hey what were ya thinkin When they were startin the show Yeah, i was there But i didn't care at all I was tryin to find you When you got lost in the crowd Cus i'm drunk all the time I like your helium voice
There was a guy in the seat next to mine Watchin the girls when the cops made us stand in line
Yea, so if its sad Well you still gotta live till ya die Man, everyone's chewin the apple you got in your eye
It like at the circus When you get lost in the crowd Your happy but nervous Definite sign that you lost it
There was a guy in the seat next to mine Watchin the girls when the cops made us stand in line
Hello! Today I decided to do this special week about this special band. To introduce The Flaming Lips to people who doesn't know it yet I will begin at the beginning:
The band was formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City when Wayne Coyne, the band's composer/vocalist/guitarist, robbed the instruments from a church! (Which church? Does anyone know?) Three years later Wayne, his brother Mark and the bass player Michael Ivins (that remains in FL until nowadays) did their first show at the Blue Note Lounge.¹
The Flaming Lips' "indie era" (which means before they'd signed with Warner Bros Records) gave birth to four albums, the latest being released in 1990 called "In a Priest Driven Ambulance". According to Wikipedia, "it is a concept album primarily focused on frontman Wayne Coyne's fascination with religion. It is generally considered among critics to be one of the best early period Flaming Lips albums."
The Flaming Lips' first whistling song appears in this album. Well, I don't know, maybe I'm getting old and gag, but I couldn't find anything about the song. (=
Ten men stand in line At the gates of the cemetery on Tuesday morning They're not open today And ten moms stand in line At maternity ward They're not bringin' no babies out to play Anytime today
What's a nice girl like you doin' Walkin' around this part of town? See you sometime tomorrow
And ten men stand in line Waitin' for some personality to be put out on the corner Today ain't garbage day Ain't no grabage taken today
A few days ago I discovered the name of the pop band that sings in this Heineken commercial:
At first glance, I thought the cute blond singer was Avril Lavigne but the voice wasn't from Avril. The commercial stopped on TV and I forgot it. Until these days, when I found out the blond and the band's name. With you, the marvelous lead singer Mette Lindberg from The Asteroids Galaxy Tour!
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour are a Danish duo formed by Mette and the producer Lars Iversen. When at live, the band increases to six members (the horns, drums and so).
The song "Around the Bend" was the second single and, some say, it is the AGT most famous track. The whistling here is very dificult to identify, because it seems like a sound effect — if the video music didn't show Mette whistling (ela faz biquinho!) at 1:37 this song would never be posted here! (=
Ooo ooo
Yeah!
Walk around
Waste another mile now
Mark around
Waste another mile now
You'll feel the need
There's no way to return
You'll feel the need
Oh yeah, it burns
What a ride
Hot love on a platter
Yeah! Yeah!
Give me that thing
Give it my friend
Give me good good times around the bend
I'll stay forever!
Give me that thing
Give it my friend
Give me hot hot love around the bend
I'll stay forever!
Lay down
On that is long
(whistling)
Lay me down
To know the break of dawn
You'll feel the heat
There's no way to return
You'll feel the heat
Oh yeah, it burns
Take a prune
Let it be your out-go
Give me that thing
Give it my friend
Give me good good times around the bend
I'll stay forever!
Give me that thing
Give it my friend
Give me hot hot love around the bend
I'll stay forever!
(ooo ooo)
With you
Ooo ooo
Yeah
Give me that thing
Give it my friend
Give me good good times around the bend
I'll stay forever!
Give me that thing
Give it my friend
Give me hot hot love around the bend
I'll stay forever!
Bauhaus were an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The band was originally "Bauhaus 1919" before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation. With their dark and gloomy sound and image, Bauhaus are generally considered the first gothic rock group.¹
Wait, wait... First gothic rock group! Terrific, huh? The song that testifies the (as they say in their website) "unintentional birth of a genre" is the 1979 first single and 9 minutes track "Bela Lugosi's Dead" (video on YouTube, if you mind.)
So years and years passed, they split up and join again, went on hiatus and finally came back to released Bauhaus final album in 2008. The album named "Go Away White" has one song that features whistling. Pitchfork reviews the album and says the following words about the track: "'Black Stone' melds dark and dancey rhythms and Murphy's novel multi-personality melodramatics with hand claps, whistling, and stilted piano."
My heart
Is a black stone
A streaking mirror
Of unseen creatures
He had a milkness
From the universe
18 thousand feet
A black stone heart
My heart
Is a black stone
A moon glab night
Come with this darkness
I come
With this darkness
And go away white
Go away white
Silver wind and carcass
Carcass and blue
Velocity endless
Ohhhhhhhh
Silver wind and carcass
Carcass and blue
Invisible toooooooo
Ohoh ohohohoh
Ohoh
Ohohohohoh
Hey
Silver wind
And carcass
Carcass and blue
Velocity endless
Ohhhhhhhh
Silver wind and carcass
Carcass and blue
Invisible toooooooo
When my black is back
And sea out of sight
I go there
With my darkness
And go away white
And my black is back
And my sea out of sight
I go there
Wwith my darkness
And go away white
Go away white
Go away white
Go away white
Alexander Ebert is the guy from the indie band Edward Shape & the Magnetic Zeros, the one that has the hit "Home", another whistling song. Besides this band, he also sings in the eletrorock band Ima Robot. Very well.
I had already write about him in the blog, but I'll speak some more things about him. Ebert is from LA and was born in 1978. While his start in Magnetic Zeros was the result of a break down with his ex-girlfriend, his solo career began without any drama:
no drama, sir!
According to Ebert's recording label, Vagrant.com, "during breaks from touring with the Zeroes over the past year, Alex would hole up in his Los Angeles bedroom, working with a bare minimum of recording gear beyond a microphone and simple M-Audio direct box. He had his guitar, a Lowery organ he picked up at a St. Vincent’s thrift store in Los Angeles for seventy bucks, a clarinet he used for the bridge on 'Truth' and a violin he’d found somewhere in Tucson on tour."
The album, called 'Alexander', was released in 2011 and its first single is our whistling song of the day: Truth. According to the weblog Awmusic.ca, "Truth [is] a hip-hopish tune [that] does have an intro that includes whistling but to say it resembles an Andrew Bird song would be like saying it resembles an Eminem tune because it has a rap meter. In this song Ebert takes a look at the darkness within himself and concludes that the only real way to deal with it is to let it out into the light and allow love to enter in it’s place. And if this album has a theme it is that love is what we should all be striving for, love of each other, ourselves and love of something greater than us."
The truth is that I never shook my shadow
Every day it's trying to trick me into doing battle
Calling out 'faker' only get me rattled
Wanna pull me back behind the fence with the cattle
Building your lenses
Digging your trenches
Put me on the front line
Leave me with a dumb mind
With no defenses
But your defense is
If you can't stand to feel the pain then you are senseless
Since this,
I've grown up some
Different kinda figther
And when the darkness come, let it inside you
Your darkness is shining
My darkness is shining
Have faith in myself
Truth.
I've seen a million numbered doors on the horizon
Now which is the future you choosen before you gone dying
I'll tell you about a secret I've been undermining
Every little lie in this world comes from dividing
Say you're my lover
say you're my homie
Tilt my chin back, slit my troath
Take a bath in my blood, get to know me
All out of my secrets
All my enemies are turning into my teachers
Because
Light's blinding
No way dividing
What's yours or mine when everything's shining
Your darkness is shining
My darkness is shining
Have faith in ourselves
Truth.
(Yeah)
Yes I'm only loving, only trying to only love
And yes, that's what I'm trying to is only loving
Yes I'm only loving, trying to only love
I swear to god I'm only trying to be loving
Yes I'm only lonely loving
And yes I'm only feeling only loving, only loving
Ya say it ain't loving, loving but my loving
I wanna only love til I'm only loving
I swear to god I'm only loving.
Trying to be loving, loving, loving, loving, loving, loving, love
Yes I'm only loving, yes I'm trying to only love
I swear to god I'm trying but I'm only loving
Ya say it ain't loving, loving, loving, loving, love my love
Loneome Vice Magic Harvest was composed by a French unknown musician called Alexandre Geindre.
For what I can figure, Geindre has made songs for advertising and fashion shows. Discogs shows us that Geindre has two songs in two compilations of songs played in Fashion Weeks's shows. One of these songs is Lonesome Vice...
The song received s little attention because of a very cute commercial with dogs by Geico Company, which you can watch below.
Adapted from the bio in the Yoñlu's website which is adapted from an article in the March 2008 issue of Rolling Stone Brazil (você pode ler aqui a matéria em português da Rolling Stone):
16 year-old Vinícius Gageiro Marques lived in the Southwestern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre. He was a bright inquisitive young man, a polyglot adolescent who spoke French (he lived with his family in Paris from 3 until 7 years old), and wrote and spoke English without ever taking classes (he learned by watching TV). He began reading Kafka at 12, and at 13 dedicated himself to recording daily life using a photo camera. Vinicius also had an impressive musical aptitude. He demonstrated a knowledge and a critical sense in his analysis of pop music, always written in English and available on various websites. And he recorded hundreds of songs, playing guitars, bass, drums and sound effects in one of the rooms in his house he transformed into a studio.
But his focus had a dark side. "He was serious, maybe too serious," remembers his mother Ana Maria. "Very early on, I understood that his sensitivity to the world was also his weakness."
On the afternoon of July 26th of 2006, 36 days before turning 17, Vinicius locked himself inside the bathroom of his apartment, and took his own life via carbon monoxide intoxication. An avid Internet user with the screen-name Yoñlu, Vinicius stayed on-line until the very last moments, and members of the suicide forum he frequented accompanied his every last step. Before locking himself in the bathroom, Vinicius wrote a letter freeing his family members from any guilt, explaining that his suicide could not have been stopped or imagined. He asked that his wishes be respected because his life was unbearable, he indicated the web address for his blog, thanked his parents for their support and recommended they listen to his music whenever they were sad, exactly as he would do. Even though he didn't suggest they listen to the music he composed, he left them a CD with some of his songs.
On Vinicius'computer (which was being searched by Police investigators), his father discovered some of the precious sounds he had stored away — the majority were his own songs. The music came with enthusiastic commentary made by Internet fans from around the world. Yoñlu, the Brazilian from Gay Harbour (that's how he would refer to Porto Alegre), almost without any real friends in real life, was a popular virtual artist with fans from England, Scotland, Belgium, Canada and North Africa.
His recordings revealed just a fraction of his potential, his talent for experimentalism, and a capacity to create delicate melancholy melodies, something between Badly Drawn Boy, Radiohead, Tortoise and Nick Drake.
Yonlu's sound was enriched by his passion for bossa nova, his attention to the ruptures in Tropicalia (he considered Gilberto Gil the genius of the movement) and the influences of gaucho artists such as Vitor Ramil, his favorite, whose song "Estrela" he covers here.
Between a poetic lyricism and general nonsense, the lyrics, written in English, help uncover who Viñicius really was. Topics like depression, inadequacy and suicide are scattered among the tracks selected for the disc. "Katie Don't Be Depressed," a musical pearl with steamy guitars and popular lyrics, is somber: "Katie don't get depressed/it's serious, I want to say, what the hell is that? / a thought across your mind/ and I see you twist and scream/ even though you have a hand to hold onto/ even though you were cast aside."
Yoñlu is a disc that should have been a post card, but transformed itself into a testament. It's the celebration of a life with the talent for a banquet that stopped at the appetizer. It's a showcase of sound and poetry of the kisses that Vinicius never gave, the dreams he never realized, the anguishes he couldn't get over, his passion for art and especially for music, like he expressed in the letter he wrote to his parents: "I believe that the right cadence and harmony at the right moments can awaken any sentiment, including happiness in the most somber moments."
StrangeGlue's review of the posthumous album from 2009 "A Society in Which No Tear Is Shed Is Inconceivably Mediocre" gives us a complete idea of the song of today:
On Boy And The Tiger, you witness the frantic thought-patterns and decisions that he seems intent to convey and its genuinely one of the most convoluted pieces of music we've ever heard. It starts heavily grounded within folk territory with Vinícius's melancholic vocals and the occasional elephant noise. Within just a minute, the song fizzles out into a warped, eery 'Silent Night' jingle but before eyebrows can even be raised, Vinícius starts up again, this time in an absolutely insane vocal style over a fuzzier folk rhythm. It begins to speed up, quicker and quicker before sounding like a fairground ride and then, once again, the entire song shifts into a simple, almost a cappella hip-hop rhythm. It's comical and you're meant to laugh for a moment but our time here is only brief. Mumbles send shivers down the spine as once again, a new rhythm pushes it's way to the front. A gentle, fragile acoustic guitar is quickly smothered with an abrasive one note electric chord and deep vocals are juxtaposed against a falsetto tone. Soon enough, percussion's are introduced, creating just one more altered rhythm in a piece of art that defies everything music is.
Época Magazine, an important media in the country, stated in an article about Vinícius the history of the whistling in the song The Boy and the Tiger:
"São mais de 60 músicas. Vinícius aprendeu a tocar bateria aos 4 anos, depois piano e violão. Na porta do quarto grudava um cartaz: 'Gravando'. Uma vez chamou a mãe para ajudar na canção 'Tiger', faixa 14 do CD: o aparelho nos dentes não permitia que ele gravasse o assobio."
It was Youñlu's mother who whistled because his dental braces prevented him from whistling.
The boy with a tiger
The boy with the girl
The boy with a tiger
The boy with the girl
The boy is gentle
In forest
The tiger was starving
And go to eat him
When he have an idea
To put the girl for the animal
The tiger was clever
And to raise she for
your his cage
she live in the cage
for ten years
and there the animal
don't let the girl leave
and there the animal
don't let the girl leave
and there the animal
don't let the girl leave
When the boy go to the cage
and take the girl
She cry and cry
with a dangerous to return
a life
With a strange people
Days ago I discovered the pop-cabaret trio Marlango because of its song with whistling. Some inspiration from its musical style is part from Tom Waits and the name's band was because of him too. So I downloaded some Waits albums. If I liked Marlango I would like Tom Waits as well. And I did!
Tom Waits style is hard to define. He can be put on the art rock huge label but we can heard a lot of blues and jazz in his songs. Anyways, what cativates us is his harsh voice and the deep and strange lyrics of his songs. He started his musical career in the early 70s, releasing his debut album in 73. He inspired himself in artists like Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong, Howlin' Wolf, Hoagy Carmichael, Raymond Chandler, and Stephen Foster.¹ Because of his extense and unique discography he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
The whistling song of today has all that I mentioned above about Waits: odd lyrics, a jazzy melancholic guitar, a hoarse almost-speaking way to sing. I found in the website Tom Waits Library some explanation about parts of the song that may be unintelligible. Take a look! :)
Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me
Come closer don't be shy
Stand beneath a rainy sky
The moon is over the rise
Think of me as a train goes by
Clear the thistles and brambles
Whistle 'Didn't He Ramble'
Now there's a bubble of me
And it's floating in thee
Stand in the shade of me
Things are now made of me
The weather vane will say...
It smells like rain today
God took the stars and he tossed 'em
Can't tell the birds from the blossoms
You'll never be free of me
He'll make a tree from me
Don't say good bye to me
Describe the sky to me
And if the sky falls, mark my words
We'll catch mocking birds
Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me
Radical Face is the Ben Cooper's musical project/alter ego. According to Wikipedia, "He named himself Radical Face because he 'thought it was kinda funny'". His music style is defined as indie pop / indietronica.¹
Radical Face has only one studio album called "Ghost". It was released in March, 2007 on Morr Music. "'Ghost' is a concept record. I know that's a dirty word to a lot of people, but I like concept records. It was written with the idea of houses having memories, and people leaving ghosts behind whenever they move from one place to the next. An idea that whatever we do in our homes is collected in the walls and might come out and haunt whoever moves in next. So the songs are all short stories, tied together with a theme."²
I could find on his website's forum a short explanation about the whistling song "Glory":
I have synesthesia, so I see colours when I hear certain pitches, but more clearer when I conceptualize a key signature. Like Glory, I see gold, and I figured out the pitches in my head with what notes (on a piano) give me gold, predicted it was based in C# Major because that key gives me gold too, and it turned out I was right (at least I think so haha).
I was born when they took my name
When the world turned wicked, when I joined their game
But I turned upon them
Like you always knew I'd do
I sat and dreamed at the foot of your bed
Split my skull and reached inside my head
Pulled out the pictures and wished that I'd forget
But you stitched me up then
Wiped the blood from off my chin
Now I sit on rooftop's edge
Muddy street beneath my swollen head
Trying to forget you
But we've never met
And the sky is ripped from the flying clouds
The chimneys' mouths spewing smoke around
And I can't stop coughing
My lungs just won't calm down
But still I keep grinning
As the blood from my face stains the ground
A bird, caught in the wires
Pleading for help I can't provide, I'm not that big
I hope for the best but nothing changes, I'm sorry
But I was blessed with bad eyes
There's a lot that I missed but I don't mind, I'm not that old
I'll find out what broke me soon enough
Searching for more songs I discover a top10 list of Indie Tunes that feature whistling. There are in this list the obvious like Peter, Bjorn and John (here), Edward Shape (here) and The Drums (here), but there are novelty too. Glory by Radical Face (or Radical Face by Glory, I don't know!), which I will post in the next day, and Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft! by The Wedding Present.
So who are The Wedding Present? They are from Leeds, England and way back in 80s they would start, with bands like Primal Scream, Mighty Mighty, The Soup Dragons, etc. a new genre in UK mainly inspired by the Smiths, REM, Happy Mondays, My Bloody Valentine: the indie rock.¹² Now they by their own words:
The Wedding Present rose from the ashes of The Lost Pandas, a band formed in Leeds in the early 1980s by David Gedge [vocals, guitar] and Jaz Rigby [drums]. Keith Gregory [bass] and, later, Michael Duane [guitar] completed the line-up. The Lost Pandas became The Wedding Present when Rigby and Duane moved to New York and were replaced by Peter Solowka [guitar] and Shaun Charman [drums, backing vocals]. This line-up lasted until after the first album, George Best.
After George Best a lot of replacement happened. But we are going to stay in George Best. To start with, let's explain that George Best was a football player. In his native land, people used to say the maxim: "Maradona good; Pelé better; George Best." What heresy! Everyone knows Pelé is undefeatable!*
Best and Pelé
* In spite of Pelé himself has said that Best was the greatest footballer in the world!
Anyways, Best stamps the cover of TWP's 1987 debut album. According to All Music, "George Best is easily the best possible introduction to the Wedding Present's work; it's also a fine introduction to the entire C-86 scene that had such an impact on British rock." All Music also made a perfect review of this whistling song and I had to post it here:
In the Wedding Present's early days, David Gedge was a master of presenting real-world emotional conflicts in a way that most pop-song lyricists never think of. Instead of the usual boy/girl clichés, Gedge focuses on small moments of anger, pettiness or confusion, set to his indie-jangle tunes in an appealingly conversational way. The opening track of the Wedding Present's debut album, 1987's George Best, is a perfect example: there have been plenty of pop songs about cheating girlfriends over the decades, but few are as needling as "Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft." Gedge is unafraid to come across as a petty jerk here, and as the verses skirt around the real topic at hand (at one point, he asks to borrow a book, and at another, he inquires about the quality of the film his girl and her new friend were spotted at), the chorus gets right to the point, both admonishing her to stop trying to explain herself and passive-aggressively sulking with the key line "Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream." It's a remarkably unpleasant set of lyrics, made more so by the fact that most listeners have probably behaved this badly to a significant other at some point. Musically, the song is less manic than most of the Wedding Present's early tracks, an uncharacteristically midtempo stroll that features a particularly great staccato lead guitar riff from Peter Solowka.
Oh why do you catch my eye, then turn away?
I thought we said all the things we had to say
Shaun said he saw you holding hands with your new friend
How does it feel to know you've just won again?
Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream
Can I keep that book of yours and maybe this one too?
Oh sure, I'll bring them round tomorrow if that will do
Was it really full? They must have queued there since half past three
Oh I didn't go, was it a good film? Well that's just me!
Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream
Guess who I saw by your old house just the other day
That kid we used to think was mad, but now he looks okay
I think someone's here, look out the window, I can't make out who
Oh I'd love to stay but I've really got so many things to do
Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream
An anonymous follower of this blog commented that there's another Chad's whistling song. This time it is from his third album called Soft Airplane from 2008.
Chad's record label SubPop gives us its analyse of the album: "recorded primarily on an old tape machine and a JVC ghetto blaster in Chad’s Calgary basement, Soft Airplane retains the handmade charm and singular character of his previous records, while incorporating new layers of sophistication and weight."
--
I'm having a lot of problems to upload songs to 4shared, so you can listen to and download "Phantom Anthills" clicking below.
There isn't music video, but I found on YouTube a stop motion short-film that made use of this song. The short was done by the user Alligator Lions. Enjoy it!
--
This tiny body is see-through
I caught it swimming inside of you
It might be trying to haunt you
It's bending down and it's lighter than air
Oh
But no one knows
Oh
But no one knows
It goes to sleep right beside you
Cute there as it swims through your hair
Could it be dreaming about you?
Could it be dreaming about you?
Chad VanGaalen is a Canadian singer/songwriter from Calgary, Alberta. He is 34 years old.¹ He is also animator and producer.²
VanGaalen has released four full studio albums, the latest this year. To be exact, the latest album, called "Diaper Island", was released May 17.³Pitchfork critics said the "its [his] cohesive sound and restraint [and] an economy in his instrumentation and recording" that makes this album a success. VanGaalen's style should be defined as indie folk. SubPop states that "with Diaper Island, VanGaalen distills his approach, producing his most sonically cohesive album to date, and the closest thing he has done to a rock album."
You will pull strange gifts from the heart of the trees, oh
Unforgotten love not forgotten peace, oh no
Will you drag me into the heart of the boiling sea?
You can soothe my mind with your silence,
Oh Sara, I hear you calling me
Sara, wake me up when you're home
Ah, Sara, wake me up when you're home
Sara, wake me up when you're home
Ah, Sara, wake me up when you're home
You're a golden beam breaking into the ocean deep
On a single breathe to be lead to escape, no
Now you cast your light and exposing the same colors, oh
You consume my mind into silence,
Oh, Sara, I hear you calling me
Sara, wake me up when you're home
Ah, Sara, wake me up when you're home
Sara, wake me up when you're home
Ah, Sara, wake me up when you're home
XTC were a New Wave/pop band from Swindon, England, active between 1977 and 2005.¹ According to the website h2g2.com, "XTC remain a critically-acclaimed band. They were formed in the post-punk New Wave of the late 1970s, but, once on the verge of greatness, their fall from grace was as shocking as it was sudden." The rest of the history is in the website...
The album with the whistling song was released in 1980 by Virgin Records. It's the fourth studio album by the band and it's called Black Sea.
There's on MySpace an interview with Colin Moulding (bass & vocal) in which he talks about this song and the whistling in it, and I will put it here completely:
TB: Let's talk about "Generals and Majors," which was a single from Black Sea. Did you feel the weight of the success of "Nigel" on your shoulders as you were writing "General and Majors," or were things simply moving so fast that you didn't have to think about it? CM: Things were probably moving a bit too fast to think about it. I started thinking about it later on, and then the failure started! [laughs] But I was still on the crest of the wave, I think, with this -- out on tour all the time, and didn't have time to think. Started to imagine grander things. Of course, which was exactly what I should have been doing -- being imaginative and grabbing stuff, and not worrying about it too much.
[chuckles] I really couldn't believe me luck when they said, " 'Generals and Majors,' hey, that sounds great!" I thought it was just okay. I thought what really got the song going was Andy's guitar riff, more than anything. That's the power in the song, I suppose. Some of the parts are rather nursery-rhyme-y, I think...
TB: But, because of that, very memorable to a listener.
CM: I suppose so. I think I just liked the power of it, and Andy's chiming guitar. You hear the song on telly sometimes -- they'll play it over the football matches and stuff. I guess it's because of that glorious, chiming stomp.
TB: Do you remember what prompted you to write the song?
CM: I remember I was thinking of the phrase "Oh, What a Lovely War." You know, the absurd idea of a "good war." I don't know if you remember, but there was a film in England called "The League of Gentlemen," about robbing a bank. The gist of it was, these guys all were in the army, and had had [Sandhurst-type accent] "a bloody good war." Now they were redundant -- they were out of the army, in pretty duff jobs -- not really succeeding in Civvy Street as they had in the war. They were good at what they did, you know. So, they all plot to rob a bank, basically, and get caught in the end, obviously -- they can't succeed, just think of the message it'd send to society! -- but I remember one of the guys saying, "Yeah, I had a bloody good war."
I was putting these phrases together in my head, and thinking of generals and officers having a "good" war, and I think that's where it came from. Not true for the cannon fodder, of course.
TB: I was just going to say -- it's usually a lot easier for a general or major to have a "good war"!
CM: Yeah, exactly. So that was where it came from -- the pomposity of a phrase like that. They'll never come down until they're victorious again, you know? They're on a high, because they're having a "good war."
TB: Would this have been a matter of you sitting down with a guitar and, as you were saying before, just working music and lyrics out together?
CM: I had that lyric thing, and I just started strumming an F7 chord -- I'd started messing about with "Dr. Robert," the Beatles song, which is pretty full of seventh chords. I was also thinking of "Paperback Writer," which is really just one chord, and I'd thought, "I'd like to write a song that's more or less one chord." So, I'm strumming in F, and had this phrase "generals and majors" in my head, along with this marching-type rhythm -- an unlikely combination, really, but I didn't question things as I later did. If they go, then go with it. I didn't worry to much about "why." It just is, you know? I didn't realize then that this is just what I should be doing!
TB: When you're young like that, too, you don't feel that you have to think. It's enough to do, you know? I think that's perhaps a burden of age -- as you get more experienced, you start thinking more about motives.
CM: I think you think that it should take longer! "It should take longer than two minutes to write a song! It can't be worth anything if it only takes that long." But I know now that this way of thinking is totally wrong. If it takes that amount of time, it's probably worth more!
TB: Yeah, a little bit purer.
CM: Exactly. Once you start thinking about changing it, then it's worth nothing. I didn't say "why" then -- I was just happy to go with things. Then I did start asking why, a few years later -- and now I think I've come out the other side. I can see now that I was overdoing it, exactly what I shouldn't be doing.
TB: So, you brought the song up with the band, I presume, and it was a rehearsal/arranging-type of situation?
CM: Yeah, kind of just strumming me acoustic, and seeing what they thought. Pretty much had all the chords. But it did lack something. We have a tape of us rehearsing it in a Swindon rehearsal hall [released on Coat of Many Cupboards], and it's got me playing bass, and I think the guys are just strumming on the F chord. It didn't sound too interesting -- it needed something that was going to go through those chords. I think Dave got on playing with the chords, but there was some noodling to be had, you know? [laughs] Somebody had to come up with something, and Andy came up with that great chiming guitar part that goes through everything. I think Dave's got a little something going as well, in a kind of lower register, something syncopated.
TB: And then Terry's got his "pea soup" drumming, of course...
CM: Yeah, well, I think at the time everyone was just nutty on Disco. I still like Disco, though I haven't listened to any records in a long time. I think Blondie's "Heart of Glass" had influenced some people.
TB: I think the main reason Disco was successful was that it had this very primal beat, easy to dance to -- but then Terry takes it to the next level and makes it vicious!
CM: Yeah! It's vicious Disco! [laughs] I don't think he could play anything that had a very light touch -- every time he touched the snare it exploded, you know? It's the John Bonham school of drumming, I think. That was his style, you know. It was great live, actually -- it really came over live, because of the power. But when it came time to do things with a lighter touch, it was different -- he didn't have as much of a feel for that.
But Black Sea was his album, drumming-wise. I think he really felt comfortable with those songs.
TB: And the two of you, especially on this song, lock together so tightly.
CM: It was almost first take, I think. I don't remember doing it too many times -- it was just a matter of, "Well, let's get in there and do it." It really gelled right away, and we said, "That's a bloody great backing track -- we can really build on this now." I think it was me, Dave and Terry that put the backing track down, and Andy put his part ..wards, as an overdub. I think the chiming guitar needed a special sound -- kind of a chorus-y, flange-y kind of sound, and it was easier to do that separately as an overdub after we'd got the backing track down.
Again, I realize now that the first takes are usually the best ones.
TB: Yeah, because there's a spontaneity and a feeling...
CM: I always say that if you track with me, and we're having a run-through while the engineer is getting his sound -- [laughs] that's always the one that you've got to keep!
TB: [laughing] If you can, yeah! If the engineer doesn't mess up!
CM: Exactly! I don't like doing those run-throughs, because you might get something you want to keep, and they might fuck it up. I'd rather it be a case of, "Let's just play a little piece, and let him get a sound. That way, we can save ourselves for that first couple of takes, and don't throw them away."
TB: Were [producer] Steve Lillywhite and [engineer] Hugh Padgham amenable to that? Because I remember Andy telling me, with Mutt Lange, you guys played "This Is Pop" something like 30 or 40 times.
CM: Mutt Lange was the other school, yeah. If you didn't get it first time, he'd go [imitates Lang], "We'll play it until you do get it." But it's kind of like Burt Bacharach, when he came to London to do "Alfie" with Cilla Black at Abbey Road. He and George Martin were trying to decide which take to use, and I think they got it -- or George Martin thought they had it -- on the second take, but Burt Bacharach said, "No, no, she can do it better than that." And I think it was take 23 that they decided on!
[chuckles] Of course, I think you can do it so many times, that you come round the other side. You get really, really rotten for so many times, but then you come out the other side and it becomes spontaneous again.
TB: Is there anything else in particular you remember about the recording of this? I know, for example, during the chorus, there's that great stomping effect -- I was wondering how you guys got that.
CM: We were very enamored with the New York Dolls' "Jet Boy." And on that, they used stack heels on a parquet floor -- that kind of school of thuggery, you know. [chuckles] So we stomped and yelled in the Stone Room at the Townhouse, and got that kind of "Oi, oi, oi, oi!" sound. The whistle was also quite important, I think. None of us could whistle in the key of the song, and make it sound good.
TB: Yeah, and it's hard to whistle loud enough to really cut through a Rock and Roll song.
CM: Indeed, yeah. We had problems with the humming part of the song as well. We had to get somebody from the kitchen, a guy called Step, I think. The cook from the kitchen, and my, could he hum! [laughs] That part was all him.
I think the whistling is partly the Korg synthesizer. I think it's mixed in with somebody whistling.
TB: And when you did the song live, it was just Dave playing keyboard, right? Did anyone even attempt to whistle the part live?
CM: I don't think we could whistle loud enough to cut through the row, you know? So, yeah, that part was Dave.
TB: And I think even the humming part was keyboard when you did that live, correct?
CM: That was the Korg, yeah.
TB: Who came up with the ideas to add whistling or humming to the song?
CM: I suggested the whistling.
TB: Was that something that happened in the studio, or did you know from the beginning that you'd want something like that in there?
CM: I think I knew I wanted to add that melody line, maybe as a vocal part, but then I thought, "Wouldn't that be good if it could be whistled?" I knew that I couldn't whistle it, and it was kind of a search for someone who could whistle it in that key. So we used a bit of trickery, because it was generally acknowledged that it would be a good idea to get the whistle to happen, so I think everybody tried, to see who had the best whistle, but none of us could really cut the mustard. Probably Andy did better than most -- he can whistle quite well. But the key was killing everybody, so I think we did it partly on a keyboard, and then mixed in Andy's whistling.
TB: How much arranging work was done in the studio as opposed to in rehearsal? I'm also wondering how much input the producer had, because, depending on the producer, that is the type of thing that they can help a band with. But I know you guys have had varying levels of that over the years...
CM: Lillywhite was pretty good. I don't think he came up with too many ideas, but he knew when we had a rotten one. [laughs] Or, it was kind of, "That's good, Colin, but you need to refine it more," or "You need to do this." He didn't come up with many ideas, but he recognized when a good idea came out and needed to be refined.
He's a kind of vibe-y guy -- he would help the record, do what was important for the spirit of the record. And from that perspective, he did a pretty good job. I don't think he's a musician, though his brother is a drummer. He was a good producer in his own way -- his attributes were right on for what we needed, I think. Of course, by that time, I don't think he was doing a lot of engineering -- he had Hugh Padgham in the engineering chair, and Hugh did rather well for himself! [laughs] I think we were surprised when we couldn't get him later for less than $10,000 a track! [laughs] "Oh, remember us?" A good team, though.
TB: [laughs] Yeah, that was for Nonsuch, wasn't it?
CM: We were going to use the pair of them on Nonsuch -- we were going to get the old team together. But Lillywhite was having a few marital problems at the time with Kirsty MacColl. Kirsty wanted him to come on holiday with her, and I think he'd already arranged to work with us. In the end, he had to blow us out.
TB: And then Hugh was so expensive, that you ended up with Gus Dudgeon instead, I guess?
CM: [laughs] Cut-price Gus! Yeah, Gus was one of these characters where we'd seen his name on a lot of famous records, and so we thought he might have the right credentials for us, you know? He probably liked the old school, as it were, more than we did.
TB: Back to "General and Majors" -- as you were saying, this was a favorite song of yours to do live... CM: It seemed to go down a storm live. It's good to play, and everyone enjoyed doing their parts.
TB: Did you end sets with this?
CM: Yes. For a good while. We used to chop and change -- I even remember it in the beginning of a set. I'm not sure when, exactly. But certainly, for a good part of our live career, it was at the end.
TB: You paired it up with "Living Through Another Cuba," right?
CM: Yes, we started with "Cuba" and then ended with "Generals and Majors." Then we thought "Nigel" could be the encore one.
TB: I know there's a video to this -- Richard Branson was in it, wasn't he?
CM: I felt a real bit of a shit at the time, because I think they'd agreed that we were going to do "Towers of London" as the single. We might have even done a video for it, thinking that it was going to be the first single. In fact, I'm almost sure that was the way it was -- we'd done the video for "Towers of London," then there was a change of heart. They decided they wanted "Generals and Majors" as the first single, and that "Towers of London" would be the second single, even though we'd already made the video for it, and we couldn't afford to do one for "Generals and Majors"!
So, we didn't have a video, "Generals and Majors" was coming out, we were going to Australia, so how the fuck were we going to promote it? We needed a video, so we could get on "Top of the Pops" and stuff. It just wasn't very well thought-out, you know. Maybe they should have carried on and released "Towers of London" -- at least we had a fairly decent video we could give to the BBC while we were in Australia, but those were the kind of managerial bollocks we had to deal with at the time -- that we were going to Australia on the eve of releasing a single off the record! Not very good timing.
So, just before we were going to head off on some sort of major tour, they had what's known as the annual party at the Manor, which is Richard Branson's recording studio in the country. Huge kind of manor house, where we've done several records. On that particular day, they were doing a documentary about the Manor, and the party that was taking place. So, there we were, doing a fake recording of "Towers of London" at the Manor, and being filmed as part of the documentary. After they'd done that, we thought, "Well, hang on a minute, we've got 'Generals and Majors' coming out -- we've got a film crew here -- I've got an idea! Let's get the film crew to make a cut-price video!" [laughs] So that's what happened.
So, when you see the bouncy castle at the end of the video -- that's because it was there for the party, and we just cleared off the kids using it, and said "We're shooting a video here -- go play on the swings."[laughs] We were kind of desperate, I think.
TB: [laughing] Necessity is the mother of invention, right?
CM: Absolutely! Necessity knows no bounds. So we just made a cut-price video, since we were desperate and going out of the country the next day. We had nothing to promote the record, and were going to be away for weeks, and knew it was going to die unless we did something.
Quite bizarre, really. I think one or two of those geezers who were dressed as generals were part of the film crew! Along with [Virgin Records'] Simon Draper and, of course, Richard Branson. But ludicrous, really. A lot of the band acting, and when you get the band acting, it's not good, is it! [laughs]
TB: Well, there is a certain "Hard Day's Night" vibe to the video -- you know, the silly, more surreal bits.
CM: Yeah, I hope it comes over that way. It's always difficult to know how it's coming over. Hoping it's seen as a bit of fun -- [laughs] how could they see it as anything else? But the sentiment of the song -- of having a "lovely war" -- is a bit more serious, of course.
Generals and Majors ah ah they're never too far from battlefields so glorious out in a world of their own They'll never come down till once again victorious
Generals and Majors always seem so unhappy 'less they got a war
Generals and Majors ah ah like never before are tired of being actionless.
Calling Generals and Majors everywhere Calling your World War III is drawing near
Generals and Majors ah ah They're never too far away from men who made the grade out in a world of their own They'll never come down until the battle's lost or made
Generals and Majors ah ah like never before, are tired of being in the shade. Download
