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Post by scoOter on Jan 5, 2008 9:43:27 GMT -5
list paul's songs here that have both hated & loved elements within the same song. these elements can be musical, lyrical, production, whatever. just back it up with an explanation. of course, this is all opinion, but i am interested in everyone's opinions. my first entry is:
fugitive kind
overall, i really, really dig this song. i do NOT like the opening, though. i could deal with the dirge-y music of the opening, in fact it is a nice (but unnecessary) counterpart to the more spirited "main song", but the lyrics! the lyrics are so bad in this opening. not only that, they are awkwardly delivered; the part about "jerks", especially. it sounds like paul himself doesn't even believe these lines. don't even get me started on the "outskirts of a sundown" stuff. ugh.
that said, the first time i heard the song i was FLOORED, FLOORED i say, when the song actually kicked in. i had two immediate reactions, hate then love, upon my initial listening. the "main song" has great playing, the lyrics are delivered REALLY well with appropriate intensity, and they are good. in fact, these lines rank among my favorites: "We can write down our dreams and hide 'em under the bed, and walk down the street
with lightbulbs on our heads."
it's like there are two completely different songs he was working with, and i would like, strictly from a curiosity standpoint, to hear a full version of the song we are hearing the opening. i suspect i would hate it, but it might be interesting.
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Post by Placemat on Jan 5, 2008 17:03:51 GMT -5
fugitive kind overall, i really, really dig this song. i do NOT like the opening, though. i could deal with the dirge-y music of the opening, in fact it is a nice (but unnecessary) counterpart to the more spirited "main song", but the lyrics! the lyrics are so bad in this opening. not only that, they are awkwardly delivered; the part about "jerks", especially. it sounds like Paul himself doesn't even believe these lines. don't even get me started on the "outskirts of a sundown" stuff. ugh. that said, the first time i heard the song i was FLOORED, FLOORED i say, when the song actually kicked in. i had two immediate reactions, hate then love, upon my initial listening. the "main song" has great playing, the lyrics are delivered REALLY well with appropriate intensity, and they are good. in fact, these lines rank among my favorites: "We can write down our dreams and hide 'em under the bed, and walk down the street with lightbulbs on our heads." it's like there are two completely different songs he was working with, and i would like, strictly from a curiosity standpoint, to hear a full version of the song we are hearing the opening. i suspect i would hate it, but it might be interesting. Scooter sums up my thoughts about this tune exactly. I hated the opening so much, I skipped this song, every time it came on. It was a while before I even heard the second half of the tune. The first time I actually heard the second part, I remember thinking it was a hidden track. Obviously two separate tunes, mashed together, for reasons beyond me...& Don't even get me started on the Billy the Kid line.  P.S. The more I contemplate this song, the more I want it to be a sequencing error. The opening bit is just a half finished interlude (ala Foker). |
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MacGyver
Beagle Scout
We were gonna meet...
Posts: 1,641
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Post by MacGyver on Jan 5, 2008 18:51:36 GMT -5
I kind of like the intro to Fugitive Kind... :/
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Post by scoOter on Jan 6, 2008 10:26:20 GMT -5
I kind of like the intro to Fugitive Kind... :/ again, i don't mind the piano opening, but the vocals & lyrics are the problem. i just listened to the opening, and my feelings haven't changed at all. i will say, however, these lines are pretty ok: "Ive been bought Its quite a scandal Just got out alive I gave em all That they could handle Then I took a dive" strangely enough, those lines almost seem to be from the future. like he would have written them after the disaster that was the release of suicaine. anyone have another song to talk about? |
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Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Jan 7, 2008 2:10:01 GMT -5
anyone have another song to talk about? I mentioned this on another thread, but I think the way PW sings "Meet Me Down the Alley" sinks it. That song could have done for alleys and sidewalks what "Skyway" did for skyways and one-ways. I'd like to hear PW sing "Meet Me" with more snotty attitude and less American Idol angst in his delivery. But back to "Fugitive Kind"  ... That Billy the Kid line, even if you hate it, is kind of intriguing. What was he getting at? A couple far-fetched possibilities: - Based on her short story "The Sojourner," "Billy the Kid" was the second and last screenplay by Carson McCullers, who PW namechecked in "Dice Behind Your Shades." It doesn't have anything to do with the real-life Billy the Kid (just has a kid character named Billy) but it does contain this famous line: "There's nothing that makes you so aware of the improvisation of human existence as a song unfinished. Or an old address book." - The real life Billy the Kid seems like a good character for a PW song. He's described one place as "a misunderstood youth, an underdog, a rebel, a scapegoat and a good badman." - The "stone on a grave ... just another epitaph" lines could have something to do with the real-life Billy the Kid: WILLIAM H. "BILLY THE KID" BONNEY, U.S. outlaw, 1859-1881 Where Buried: Fort Sumner Cemetery, Fort Sumner, N.M. Gravestone: Tabular monument, stolen from grave in 1950, recovered in Texas in 1976. Epitaph: "Truth and History. 21 Men. The Boy Bandit King-He Died As He Lived." By the way, anyone seen the movie?  ... or read the play?  The Fugitive Kind, one of Williams' early plays, is also used as the name for the movie based on his play Battle of Angels (Battle of Angels was also the basis for the later play Orpheus Descending) |
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Monkey
Beagle Scout
Ninja Republican
Everybody dance like there's ass in your pants
Posts: 2,438
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Post by Monkey on Jan 7, 2008 20:50:02 GMT -5
I have nothing especially substantial to contribute except to say that I love "Fugitive Kind," intro included, and the "dreams/lightbulbs" line is one of my favorite PW lyrics.
When SG came out, a few reviewers drew comparisons to Tom Waits, I've always seen this song as an attempt to combine a Waitsian piano ballad with a Westerbergian pop-rocker, and one that worked pretty well IMHO.
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Post by mrblasty on Jan 7, 2008 21:09:40 GMT -5
I also like this song from start to finish, and don't understand the contempt people have for the opening lines.
"Say a prayer, and make it simple...it's the only kind that works"
"Don't know where I'll go or run now....(with the famous self deprecating tone to the following line) ....like I ever did".
I never really did understand the "Walk down the street with light bulbs on our heads" line. Does it have to do with ideas?
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Post by scoOter on Jan 8, 2008 9:15:03 GMT -5
I never really did understand the "Walk down the street with light bulbs on our heads" line. Does it have to do with ideas? my take is that he & the person he wants to run away with him can secretly keep track of their dreams & ideas, never tell anyone else, and walk around knowing things that others do not. and taking a weird sort of pleasure in that. |
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randolph500
Star Scout
round the corner give it some gas
Posts: 758
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Post by randolph500 on Jan 8, 2008 10:58:24 GMT -5
I've resisted the temptation to tuck in ... but...
I understand that some don't get it.
However this song kicks veritable ass.
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Post by scoOter on Jan 8, 2008 14:43:44 GMT -5
I've resisted the temptation to tuck in ... but... I understand that some don't get it. However this song kicks veritable ass. i wouldn't think it is fair to say i, as the originator of this thread, do not "get" the song or the lyrics; whether in the opening or the main parts. i adore the bulk of the song. i just HATE the opening. more than that, i HATE the delivery of the lyrics, and i don't think they are that great to start with. which is why i was floored by how great a song it actually is... once i made it through the opening. too incongruous for my taste. maybe a FULL song in the mode of the opening would be transcendent, but tacked on to the main song is not what this reporter likes. then again, i am but one reporter.... |
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randolph500
Star Scout
round the corner give it some gas
Posts: 758
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Post by randolph500 on Jan 8, 2008 16:04:03 GMT -5
i wouldn't think it is fair to say i, as the originator of this thread, do not "get" the song or the lyrics; whether in the opening or the main parts. Hey Scooter, nothing against you or anyone... I'm just saying that it doesn't rock everyone's boat. But for me it inspires a prolonged bout of wild air-piano/guitar thrashing and posturing...particularly whilst driving. |
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Post by scoOter on Jan 8, 2008 16:33:26 GMT -5
for me it inspires a prolonged bout of wild air-piano/guitar thrashing and posturing...particularly whilst driving. me too, once i get through the opening  |
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graeme
Second Class Scout
Posts: 28 
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Post by graeme on Jan 9, 2008 8:28:59 GMT -5
i think the song is fantastic,as is as far as i`m concerned the whole album...i`m surprised still by any negativity towards this release,but then again..it wouldn`t pay for us all to be the same.........
it ain`t for everyone............
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Post by raccoon on Jan 9, 2008 8:44:17 GMT -5
Maybe Paul has heard Robyn Hitchcock's 'man with the lightbulb head' ??
I'm the man with the lightbulb head
I turn myself on in the dark
I'm the man with the lightbulb head
I turn myself on for a lark
And how's about you, my pretty one?
Do you still roll and dream of bees?
How's about you, my pretty one?
Do you still dream of bees?
I'm the man with the lightbulb head
I turn myself on all the time
I'm alone like a queen in bed
With a barrel of vodka and lime
And how's about you, my pretty one?
Do you still smear yourself with jam?
How's about you, my pretty one?
Do you know who I am?
"Daddy, it's the man with the lightbulb head."
"Avert your eyes from his gaze, Junior, and we may yet be saved."
"But Daddy... it's you!"
"You're too late.I've come to turn you on. Huhahaha!"
"I'm the man with the lightbulb head
I turn myself on in the dark
I'm the man with the lightbulb head
I turn myself on for a lark."
"Excuse me, madam, is this your brain?"
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