tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post7582099330312078276..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: May the Best Diva Win?Bryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-79194619509063781082013-11-11T10:52:00.969-06:002013-11-11T10:52:00.969-06:00I don't want to take the time to go into whate...I don't want to take the time to go into whatever other songs the artists may have on their albums. I was doing an apples to apples comparison by simply picking the first song to come up by each artist. When Lady Gaga sings that:<br /><br />I live for the applause, applause, applause <br />I live for the applause-plause, live for the applause-plause <br />Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me <br />The applause, applause, applause<br /><br />I don't think it needs to be marked in some special way, through irony or sarcasm, in order to say something. She lives for the applause. OK, that is itself saying something. Now what do we think of that?<br /><br />On the other hand, Miley Cyrus singing "I will always want you" doesn't provoke any thought.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-67144141894122934622013-11-10T22:52:40.045-06:002013-11-10T22:52:40.045-06:00I do understand, of course, that tastes vary! For ...I do understand, of course, that tastes vary! For me though, this emperor has no clothes. <br /><br />This parody basically says all I want to say haha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoXAGQl9iYMAugustinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-21566674850109900162013-11-10T22:50:02.013-06:002013-11-10T22:50:02.013-06:00I won't go into too much detail, but for examp...I won't go into too much detail, but for example, you say she has 'a lot of stuff to say'. I don't find any evidence of that on the new record. Correct me if I'm wrong, though. Some of her songs are interesting, sure, but so are some of Miley Cyrus', which do not get a lot of airplay. (Bad Romance is pretty good , yeah, but most of her output is more 'Telephone' than 'Bad Romance')<br /><br />Initially, I thought she was being critical of the fame industry. You would think so, but there's no evidence of irony or critical sarcasm in the lyrics themselves, which leads one to wonder.Augustinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-56009255824098754472013-11-10T10:58:50.234-06:002013-11-10T10:58:50.234-06:00Augustine, thanks for the counterpoint! Sure, I li...Augustine, thanks for the counterpoint! Sure, I like Lady Gaga, but only some things by her. But liking someone may or may not be based on something and what I try to do is have reasons for liking certain music and disliking other music. I think I gave some indication of why I liked Lady Gaga more than the other three? Now what you need to do is question, not so much what I like, as why I like it. I would like to know why you dislike Lady Gaga. Sure she has elaborate videos and dresses, but my feeling is that this is simply part of the whole artwork. So why is the music "terrible"?<br /><br />Actually, the fact that she is singing about her fame and the applause it gains is pretty good evidence that she is thinking about it.<br /><br />Plus, these things are relative: if I like Lady Gaga you should understand that it is certainly not in the same way or degree that I like Shostakovich. I would spend very little time listening to Lady Gaga. I just think she is more interesting than the others.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-39631187100330305052013-11-10T10:38:51.940-06:002013-11-10T10:38:51.940-06:00Haha. I think you're being blinded by the fact...Haha. I think you're being blinded by the fact that you like Lady Gaga. Listen to anything on her current album. Truly terrible, and my theory - all the over-the-top videos and dresses serve to distract from the music itself. <br /><br />You claim Gaga is self-aware on the fame thing. I wouldn't be so sure - not for someone who's always drawing attention to herself and (on this album) almost singing about her self all the timeAugustinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-57211817721191744842013-11-10T08:30:32.726-06:002013-11-10T08:30:32.726-06:00Just between you and me, most of what I write abou...Just between you and me, most of what I write about pop music is meant to be amusing...<br /><br />I love that fugue version! Thanks!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-67395781897563007122013-11-10T08:10:08.484-06:002013-11-10T08:10:08.484-06:00I laughed a bit when you wrote:
"Lorde's ...I laughed a bit when you wrote:<br />"Lorde's song is about a state of affairs that for her is fast disappearing. Already in her career she is world famous: 69 million views on YouTube counts as pop star royalty. She says:<br /><br /> And we'll never be royals (royals)<br /> It don't run in our blood<br /> That kind of lux just ain't for us, we crave a different kind of buzz<br /><br />But her check is already in the mail."<br /><br />Anyways, you are probably right, Lady Gaga is probably the best of them. I think that one of the issues with pop music, at least to me, is the presentation. It's usually the same old type of sound (beat heavy, electronic etc.) and annoying singing. The cello version of that Lady Gaga song certainly sounds better than the original (although I don't understand why it is supposed to be epic or the whole "epic music" trend, when it doesn't sound so epic) and so does for example this version of the somewhat comical song "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mocAVEv3vjg<br /><br />Since we are on the topic of Lady Gaga, how about a fugue version by artofcounterpoint?<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bYBJAQ-_24<br /><br />He has also some other contrapuntal versions of pop songs.Rickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.com