Songs that just leave you dumbstruck?

[YI]

Ha, yeah, I agree that Pitchfork certainly has its problems. Most of the reviewers do seem to be of a particular strain of hipster, and you can hazard a good guess at what kind of opinions you'll see expressed about an album before reading the review. Fuck me, did they actually use the 'not our kind of indie' line? That's like the Sun starting a story with "well, of course, we're a bunch of coke-snorting middle-class journo wankers who have trained extensively to fit our stories to the demands and pre-conceptions of the reactionary, white working class, despite knowing much better ourselves, but..."

One thing which worries me though -- I kind of assumed that being a bunch of people on the internet, they'd at least have more opportunity to be objective (than, say, the NME). There's a greater degree of seperation between the writers and the 'scene' (I assumed). But apparently they have a quiet policy of 'updating' reviews; apparently 'reconsidering' certain works and offering them new grades. And these 'reappraisals' just so happen to fit in with the way the wind is blowing about the artist/album in question. Hmm.

Nah, they didn't use the line exactly, but it was basically implied (and picked up on by multiple people). As for the 2nd paragraph, interesting that you mention that, as I've just checked the review, and it's been upped to a 5.something (still criminally low), and a bunch of the writing is different and it's dated 2008, when I'm sure the review coincided closely with when the album was released, which would be '07.

Edited January 4, 2009 by YI

[Emperor Fuckshit]

Yeah, they're incredibly sneaky cunts generally.

[Twist]

Father's Day and Long Live the Queen, both by Frank Turner.

Both are incredible songs, with deep meanings beneath them. I'd advise EVERYBODY check these two songs out, at least, as well as his Thatcher Fucked the Kids song. I think anybody in Britain will get a kick out of that one.

For those of you who don't know he is, he's the former leadman for Million Dead, although he now performs folk instead of post-hardcore/punk or whatever the fuck it was Million Dead actually were.

[YI]

...lol at Pepsi Twist bringing up Frank Turner like "if you don't know who he is", when he's possibly been the most discussed person in this thread.

I mean, I like "Long Live The Queen", but I'm kind of in Fuckshit's corner in this one, in that it does come across too insincere. Catchy tune though...maybe too catchy.

If you read back the lyrics, it just seems silly at times, with certain songs, when put in song format, they work...for example "Never Get To Know" by Paul Baribeau (which I posted about in the 2009 l33t music thread this morning), which is basically about friends/family that fucked their lives up. If you read through the lyrics, it seems a bit silly, but in song form, it really, really works. Like, the way his voice cracks during "And I'd never get to know my mum, cos my mum is an alcoholic" and the wrap up line of "I've been let down by the people that I love, But I will not let down the people who love me"...epic...but "Long Live The Queen", while I quite like it as a catchy tune, it just doesn't 'work'.

[Twist]

Yeah, well, that's what I get for not reading the other posts first.

And Long Live the Queen, for me, doesn't come across as insincere at all. Now I don't know what the song is about, but it certainly feels to me as if it's about a friend of his that died and not something he made up for the benefit of the song. Either way, I it.

EDIT: When I say I don't know what the song is about, I mean I don't know whether it's based on true events. I'm not retarded. Well, that retarded.

Edited January 4, 2009 by Pepsi Twist

[Emperor Fuckshit]

Incidentally, though, I think 'Father's Day's is a much better attempt at an emotional song by Frank. The vocal delivery is much better, the lyrics are a little more subtle (yet still range from the wry to the distraught via the pissed-off), and it's clearly a very personal thing for him to be singing about (maybe 'The Queen is Dead' is too, but I wouldn't have guessed from the song itself). I also think he made the right move by changing the title from 'My Dad's a Cunt'. I wouldn't list it as an 'affecting' song for me personally, but for someone for whom the lyrics resonate a bit more, I could easily see it being spot-on.

For me, the thing about LLTQ is that it tries to juxtapose emotional wroughtness with folk jauntiness, and leaves itself in some kind of no man's land. Also, the lyrcis really are quite bad and scan terribly.

Edited January 4, 2009 by Emperor Fuckshit

[Twist]

'You said I let you down and fucked around, when I was only having fun'.

You can have the greatest relationship with your old man in the world, but at some point in your life that above line would have been appopriate for just about everybody and I think that is where Frank Turner excels, in writing lyrics that openly appeal to everyone whether it be something like that or Thatcher Fucked the Kids, which is so true to British culture these days and an incredible insight on our society that not many people are capable of making.

Edited January 4, 2009 by Pepsi Twist

[Emperor Fuckshit]

I love how the lyric you quoted becomes "You've let me down and fucked around, but I guess you were having fun" in the second verse. That's just such a good piece of writing and 'storytelling', I suppose. And (without knowing what the situation is, obviously) I always imagine Frank's dad hearing that lyric and getting a slight Vince McMahon-style bobbing-adam's-apple thing going on.

'Thatcher Fucked the Kids' is another Frank song that I do like. I think he goes a bit far in legitimating the 'chav' stereotype, though -- it's not just that the kids are bastards because of individualist and neo-liberal economic policies, it's that they aren't basards to the degree that the mainstream media would have you believe; they're at least partially a constructed 'folk devil' that harkens back to Teddy Boys, mods and rockers. But, yeah, it's a start: a good song that I hope makes some people question some things. And not many artists are even doing stuff like that at present, as far as I can tell.

[Twist]

I think the story telling element of Frank Turner's music is where he excels. You don't have to write poetry for lyrics, the words don't need to be flowery and so forth. He does use somewhat simple phrases but strings them together to provide a very good, solid story. His songs will follow the pattern of beginning/middle/end in most cases and will get you emotionally involved. He isn't the greatest lyricist ever, nor will he ever be, but he is a very good story teller.

[Regia]

Who Wants To Live Forever - Breaking Benjamin - It just hits me every time I listen to it.

- A lot of Brand New songs have the same effect, but of the choices this one will win it out, if only for the mental screaming part.

- I don't know why, but it just has that effect on me. Edited January 4, 2009 by regia

[YI]

"Guernica"...got a black eye during that song, live.

And "Long Live The Queen"...I like it as a tune...I just don't feel it. It's far to jaunty. It has an air of tackiness about it, IMO.

Edited January 4, 2009 by YI