Tim: There’s a Swedish film out; it’s called Tusen Bitar, much like this song from its soundtrack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-1t1qfRLWM
Tim: It’s a cover of a song from a few years back, but is substantially more cheerful, and I like that a lot.
Tom: Agreed: without that cheerful tone, this song could easily turn into a dirge.
Tim: The title means Thousand Pieces, and as for the rest of the lyrics I’m having a little trouble parsing what Google’s spitting out, but never mind – basically, it’s a fun track to listen to which has been given a rather happy makeover. So who’s complaining?
Tom: Well, me, but only slightly. There’s a lot of potential for a Big Rousing Outro here, and I don’t think it ever quite reaches the potential it’s got.
Tim: It’s lovely, especially with those strings all over the place. Reminiscent of Call Me Maybe at the start, actually, though that’s probably not what she’s going for. Oh well.
Tim: Emma Olivia, a Swedish 14 year old who’s got a song out.
Tom: And it’s called “My Shoes”.
Tim: Good reading skills.
Tom: I’m against this on principle.
Tim: Ah.
Tim: Pleasantly, this isn’t a song about the depth of love and the tragedy and pain of heartbreak that always sounds utterly ridiculous when coming out of, say, 16 year old Zara Larsson. Instead, we just have “I really really really like you,” which, even if it does leave something to be desired in the variety area, does at least save the melodrama for post-adolescence.
Tom: Nope. Can’t listen without cringing.
Tim: Really? Because I can’t listen without smiling.
Tom: That chanting, the “really really really” like you lyrics… no.
Tim: Oh. Although, for the other lines in the chorus – is shoe-writing a thing? Because, well, okay.
Tom: I wouldn’t know, I’m not 14 years old. I suspect I’m getting Too Damn Old for songs like this.
Tim: You say that, but I reckon that despite the lyrics, it doesn’t sound that much like a kid singing – certainly a lot less so than Junior Eurovision’s Julia Kedhammar – and that’s a good thing. Yes, the voice could do with developing a bit, particularly with the long note just after two minutes in, but otherwise: sounds great.
Tom: I think my reaction’s basically summed up as a slightly shuddering “gaaah” — with one exception. That middle eight deserves to be in a much better song. In fact, I’m fairly sure it already is, I just can’t remember where.
Tim: Oh. OHHH. OH GOD, yes it does remind me of something. Agh, oh I don’t know. I still think it’s great.
It’s basically saying “listen to some other song”.
Tim: You may remember YOLO, or quite possibly you’ve attempted to purge it from your memory. Either way, Ida’s back with this, with a surprisingly self-defeatist chorus line.
Tim: Now, I know where she’s coming from – very often, there’s not anything on the radio I want to here. I do sometimes want to put my anthem on. But no offence, Ida: this here’s not particularly anthemic.
Tom: The intro and first verse really put me off this: that kind of stripped-down attitude shouty-pop doesn’t really do much for me. As for the chorus: well, I guess the most I can say is that at least it’s not the verse.
Tim: It’s a good track, sure, with nice production, a good example of the female almost-shouting vocal that’s so in fashion, and well-meaning and identifiable lyrics. But you need to get on to that lyricist, because halfway through this, if I’m paying attention to it, I’m gonna be switching it off.
Tom: True. It’s basically saying “listen to some other song”.
Tim: Nice lyric video, though, even if it doesn’t realise how much gravitas one should pay to the word ANTHEM.
Tom: If the best I can say about the song is “I liked the typography”, then I’m not exactly giving it a high rating.
Tim: ‘Fight For Us’. And, rather appropriately, it can only be described as a TRIUMPH. This is a brassed-up live version; the studio version’s on Spotify if you want it.
Tom: See, I’ll always favour something with a brass section.
Tim: Differences between this and the studio one: this has a whole lot of brass; the other has a bit more backing under the verses, so they basically balance out. And really, they’re both great. Vigorous, with exactly the level of power you’d expect a song called that to have.
Tom: Agreed: this ticks all the boxes for a song like that: that final chorus is wonderful.
Tim: It’d be lovely if I knew what the lyrics were, because this is a song I’d love to be able to shout along to the chorus with, entirely drowning out his perfectly good vocals but never mind, because I’d be FIGHTING FOR US. FIGHTING, you hear me? It’s what we NEED to do, and I’ve got this on in the background and all I can really think is that man, that’s some good brass on there.
“I’m about to get analytical, because I think this song deserves it.”
Tim: Fancy some bored looking people holding bits of cardboard?
Tom: You sure know how to hype up a video.
Tim: In my defence, there aren’t many other ways of describing it.
Tim: Now that’s a good song. Sort of. Melody’s alright, production’s very good, vocals are on top form.
Tom: It’s that “sort of” I find myself agreeing with. That chorus is pretty, but I’m not sure about the rest of it, and as for the sort-of-rap interjections, well, the less said about that the better.
Tim: Yes, there I’d agree. But it’s the lyrics that get me, because they leave a lot to be desired. Now bear with me because I’m about to get analytical, because I think this song deserves it, unless I’m massively overthinking it.
Here’s the thing: we have bored people in the video. Bored people who are disappointed with their life. They want something more. Something special. Hell, they deserve it – they are, after all, “royalty waiting to be crowned”. So what do we do? How do we make this big change happen? Easy! We, erm, oh. We wait, apparently. Even though “you’re in control, you got so much soul,” we’re all just waiting.
Tom: Mm. When you analyse it like that, it doesn’t really put a good message out, does it?
Tim: No, but perhaps I’m misinterpreting it – perhaps really what it’s trying to do is point out this, that we could be doing something but all we’re doing is sitting on our arses, except I don’t get that vibe from it. With the emphasis vastly more on the waiting that the in control, I get a “you’re in control, so just sit back and everything’ll be great.” And that just doesn’t work for me.
Tom: Agreed. And you know who I’d pick for a more positive message? Oddly, it’d be Eminem.
Tim: You know, here’s where I should be suggesting a pleasant schlager track instead, but no, can’t think of one. Maybe it just has to be angry.
“It’s still rare to find a smash-hit pop song that isn’t about love somehow.”
Tim: Danish, for “Friends Forever”. That’s nice, innit?
Tom: Ah! That’s a coincidence. Our Brazilian reader, CB, sent this in yesterday. I’m guessing it’s not a cover?
Tim: Believe it or not, no.
Tim: Yes, as it happens, it is nice, both with the music and because it really is just about friendship. It’s refreshing to have a track that acknowledges that not all two-person relationships are romantic, and as the (entirely predictable and unemotional) video shows, this is exactly what this is.
Tom: Agreed. It’s still rare, even now, to find a smash-hit pop song that isn’t about love somehow. Wake Me Up’s the first one that comes to mind.
Tim: A celebration of two people who’ve just been BFFs throughout their life. I thought it came across a bit aggressive for a pleasant sentiment like that, to start with, but then I checked the lyrics and it turns out the chorus is about the relationship standing strong through all sorts of challenges (“they do what they want, we’re like water over a fire”) so it actually works very well – appropriate aggression with a whole amount of enthusiastic and celebratory energy.
Tom: A prerequisite for this review: go and remind yourself of Robert Miles’ fantastic One and One from 1999. It’s pure Robert Miles: catchy piano hook (this was after ‘Children’), uplifting style, into a gorgeous middle eight and final chorus. It’s even got a key change.
Tim: All of this is true.
Tom: One and One is one of my all-time favourite songs: even now, writing this, I listened to it through, just because I’d linked to it. Which is why this confused me a lot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA1Vwbok76M
Tim: Huh. That also confused me a bit, but only because for twenty seconds or so I thought you’d linked to to a Spanish guitarified version of the Big Brother theme tune.
Tom: I can’t help but admit that this is a great take on the song. Those synths in the introduction pretty much sum up the late-90s pop sound, don’t they?
Tim: And hard-hitting reality TV social experiments, yes. I like it a lot, especially after a couple of minutes when the rest of the instruments have grown up to drown out that distraction.
Tom: The completely new Spanish guitar line really, really works — as does the electric guitar in the middle eight. And those vocals, with their high rising notes, add something beyond the original.
Tim: They do, actually – I’d wouldn’t describe Maria Nayler’s vocals as being weak, but these are much more, well, meaty, probably because they’re not going for the dreaminess that was almost a feature of the original.
Tom: Don’t get me wrong: the Robert Miles version will stay in my heart. But it’s nice to know that a great track can be covered and still remain great.
“One of the cheesiest dance tunes that I’ve heard this side of 2004.”
Tim: 15th November, Tom, a date that should be in your diary – the 2014 Junior Eurovision Song Contest!
Tom: That is so not going in my diary.
Tim: Here’s Sweden’s entry (as I’ve a feeling you won’t be worried about spoilers for this).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8K365ADCiw
Tim: Yes, it’s clearly a song by a kid, and it probably isn’t too worried about taking itself too seriously.
Tom: That’s true. Which is for the best, because apart from that build into the chorus — and yes, that key change — I’m not that fond of it.
Tim: Nonetheless, it’s a damn good track, and one that’s substantially better than a lot of entries to proper Eurovision, though I’m aware I might just think that because it’s one of the cheesiest dance tunes that I’ve heard this side of 2004.
Tom: I’ll agree that there are much worse entries in Eurovision, but it seems to have brought the style of 2004 without all of the energy that went with it. It’s not bad, I guess, but the build never seems to turn into a proper chorus. That might be the fact it’s a kid singing it, and not someone with a more powerful voice.
Tim: Well, who cares? It’s a great dance track, and it has a key change, so who needs more than that?
If you’re wondering about our place in the JESC (I’m not typing it all out), well, we competed in 2003, when Tom Morley came third; in 2004, when Cory Spedding came second; and in 2005, when Joni Fuller came fourteenth. We didn’t return after that.
Tom: I’m guessing the viewing figures didn’t justify the expense. I’m not surprised.
Tim: I’ll stop you and your immediate predictability there, and inform you that no, it’s not a George Michael cover. A Swedish lady instead, with a song all of her own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuONKC4NWpo
Tom: That’s one of the best introductions I’ve heard in a while.
Tim: It is yes – it just starts and never stops, does it? A nice example of a track where the lyrics and music go together perfectly – it’s a declaration of self, a confident and powerful statement of YES.
Tom: It works so well: this is a damn good track.
Tim: Everything WILL be great, because we have FAITH. Which I suppose is alright, really. You might want to doubt the reality of it, because if faith is all you need then judging by the number of X Factor hopefuls that say “I really really know I can do this” we’d be able to do a track every hour.
Tom: It could be worse: it could be the nauseating (sometimes literally) No Matter What, the ultimate expression of denying reality.
Tim: Yes, that’s true. Either way, let’s not go down that route because it would spoil the essence of the song, and I don’t want to do that because it’s such a great track.
Tom: And as for the music: listen to that drumbeat. No four-on-the-floor here: that’s sometimes disastrous, but here it just works so well. It’s a testament to her voice that she’s able to compete with instrumentation that compelling.
Tim: That production underneath is just excellent – I genuinely don’t think I can fault it, so good work to everyone involved.
Tom: I’m quite happy that 90s-esque synth pads seem to be back in fashion, too, even if they’re buried deep in the mix.
Tim: — but we’re told that they’re “about how we humans love to gossip but still have a very hard time delivering it to the person in context,” so feel free to bear that in mind. (Oh, and ‘Skvaller’ = ‘gossip’.)
Tom: I’m not sure what I think of this. The verses are a bit dull, and as for the rest…
Tim: I think that, by far and away, the choruses are the high point of this. They’re big and loud, with a sense of “we’re talking, I don’t care who knows it”, so I suppose in gossip terms that’s a bit dull because it’s either plainly true or they’ll say “no it isn’t” and then it’s all over.
Tom: There are Standard Chord Progressions in those choruses, which means that they seem comforting and familiar — but there’s nothing more than that to back them up. I’m just not sold on this.
Tim: The verses have a subversive quality to them, which I suppose translates more to stuff that gets passed around but never directly addressed. I’ll be honest, I don’t really know where I’m going with this, and I think it’s a good example of why every song should have lyrics published online so I don’t end up overanalysing and spouting all sorts of bollocks like this. Back to the beginning, and: music good, especially the chorus which is fun, and the song’s great. End of.
Tom: Mm. Not so much “end of” as “sputtering out in a half-arsed fashion” if you ask me.
