Tag: Michael Bublé

Saturday Flashback: Barenaked Ladies – Elf’s Lament

“I’ve not got anything against Mickey Bubbles.”

Tim: Next in the line of Christmas albums from years gone past – Barenaked Ladies brought out Barenaked for the Holidays in 2011; for this they teamed up with a just getting started Michael Bublé, who had yet to establish his position as King of Christmas.

Tom: Huh! I like Barenaked Ladies, and I’ve not got anything against Mickey Bubbles. Let’s have a listen.

Tim: And it’s full of workplace resentment, because how much more festive can you get?

Tim: And just like that, the image of happily toiling elves gets chucked out the window as quickly as a happy Santa did the moment the Killers came along.

Tom: It took me until about the second verse to work that out, because it sounds like such a happy song.

Tim: Let’s be honest: they have a point. Spending all year working in a factory just because of what you are, producing millions of toys that, as stated, may well have been discarded within hours of being received. It’s upsetting, really, and to be honest I think we should be thanking these guys for bringing attention to this sad state of affairs, trying to prevent us all falling for the pro-Santa propaganda of films like Elf and Arthur Christmas. SHAME ON YOU, Hollywood, for giving in to the fat man.

Tom: But never mind all that: because this is a lovely song! This is classic-era Barenaked Ladies, with an extra guest vocalist. Not sure I like the cheesy outro, but hey, it’s Christmas. I can live with it. And I know it doesn’t count for the “will this lift Tom’s humbug spirit” contest, because it’s an old one — but this got pretty damn close.

Saturday Flashback: Michael Bublé – It’s A Beautiful Day

“The best cheery breakup song since Cee-Lo.”

Tom: I know what you’re thinking. Bublé? Have I gone mad? Well, not really – because this isn’t him crooning some old track. It’s a very good bit of pop music with a big-band sound to it. And better than that: it’s the best cheery breakup song since Cee-Lo.

Tom: Isn’t that wonderful?

Tim: Haha, oh, it certainly is that.

Tom: A brass section that seems to be hopped up on caffeine, a traditional bassline — by which I mean, something played on a bass guitar — thumping along below it, and a major-key happy melody line about a breakup.

Tim: It’s great! It’s almost impossible not to smile when watching that. He’s just so jaunty, it’s almost infectious.

Tom: Plus, a lyric video that includes video footage! And it’s really well animated!

Tim: A nice change from what we’re used to, though I’d expect nothing less.

Tom: But the best version of this? It’s the version with Ant and Dec, Lewis Hamilton, a golf cart, a pub, a walk through a scenery dock, and so many little attention-to-detail in-jokes.