Shortly after it came out on video, I saw Dreamworks‘ Prince of Egypt.
I knew the basic story intimately, though of course the film took some
liberties with the Biblical account of Moses. It featured an A-list
cast, though I’m not sure I was aware of that at the time. I remember
gorgeous animation, reverent music and, most of all, a very oppressive
mood. It’s been a decade since I saw it, but my main impression of the
movie was that it was extremely dark, a generally dispiriting movie with
little humor to lighten the mood. One of these days I should watch it
again and see whether I still feel the same way; after all, it’s not
every day you get to see Sunday school hit the big screen. But after I
watched Prince of Egypt, I felt depressed, and that made me a little leery of The Road to El Dorado, which was released in 2000. I finally decided it was time for me to give that movie a chance, if only because Elton John and Tim Rice, the musical team behind The Lion King, had collaborated on the songs.
The Road to El Dorado is a sweeping cinematic tale that, like Prince of Egypt,
takes us to a very different time and place. On this occasion, it’s
1500s Spain, soon to be followed by the fabled city of El Dorado. Our
heroes are a pair of spunky young scam artists. Black-haired Tulio (Kevin Kline) is motivated primarily by material gain, while blonde Miguel (Kenneth Branagh)
longs for rousing adventure. They make a pretty great team, but their
personalities and goals are different enough that quarrels are
inevitable. It doesn’t take long to see that Miguel has an idealistic
streak that the more self-serving Tulio lacks; much of the film is about
bringing a balance back to their relationship as Tulio matures and
finds a way to help the people who have come to accept him with such
adulation.
While the animation style constantly reminded me
that this was a Dreamworks film, the characters and basic story arc
reminded me more of Disney’s Aladdin and Don Bluth’s Anastasia.
All three films are buddy comedies with two guys, an alluring girl, a
couple of amusing animal sidekicks and a corrupt, sorcerous advisor.
They also involve a major scam: street rat posing as prince, orphan
posing as princess, pair of Spaniards (with an American and British
accent, naturally) posing as gods. The almost-opening scene in this film
is strikingly similar to Aladdin’s One Jump Ahead, while the nightmarish visions induced by the creepy Tzekel-Kan (Armand Assante) recall Rasputin’s In the Dark of the Night.
But this is very much its own movie. And, much to my relief, it’s funny.
Kline and Branagh, who recorded their lines together, a rarity for
animated films, have wonderful chemistry that the animators capture.
Their characters are well written, and they perform them perfectly,
verbally jousting with one another at every opportunity. There’s quite a
bit of physical comedy too, especially involving Miguel’s horse Altivo
(Frank Welker), who doesn’t speak but is remarkably attuned to the needs
of his human companions. I do think that the movie occasionally moves
in a bit more of an adult direction than is called for. I don’t see that
anything is added by having Tulio swear or canoodle with the very
shapely Chel (Rosie Perez).
I was surprised but unoffended by the brief shot of the men’s bare
backsides in a comedic scene in which they go for a dip in a watering
hole; Mulan
had a similar scene, and there really wasn’t anything titillating about
it. But the profanity and overt sensuality seemed a little out of
place, and I‘m not crazy about having a villain (corpulent conquistador
Cortes) referencing the Bible as he justifies cruelty. Additionally,
some of the scenes involving Tzekel-Kan might well unsettle a sensitive
young child.
Villainous Tzekel-Kan is deplorable, not to
mention downright unpleasant to look at, with his enormous gums and
sneering expression. He seems friendly enough initially, but it
eventually becomes clear that these strangers who he initially took to
be gods are not behaving in the expected manner, and he decides to take
matters into his own hands. Meanwhile, the chief is an enormous man with
large, almost feminine, lips. Portrayed by Edward James Olmos,
he is soft-spoken and wise, and everyone else in town seems to be cut
out of the same mold, except perhaps the wily Chel. One thing that
bothered me (aside from the rather expected inconsistency in the main
characters’ accents) was the fact that there is no language barrier
between the explorers and these indigenous people. Are we supposed to
think that because this is a magical, golden city that they have some
sort of universal translator? There is never any indication that another
language is spoken in this city, and that seems very suspect to me.
For the most part, though, the story works. First and foremost, this is
a bromance, to the extent that Chel feels almost intrusive much of the
time. Then again, I’m not that crazy about the character, in part
because I find Perez so annoying, and also because Chel seems more
suited to a PG-13 world. That said, I’m a little unsure of what to make
of the movie’s one big end-credits hit, Someday Out of the Blue; I had initially taken it to be a Perfect Moment-style
love song, but the lyrics, for the most part, seem much more suited to
Miguel and Tulio’s complex friendship. Certain lines, however, make more
sense in the context of Tulio and Chel’s blossoming romance. I can’t
help wondering if Tim Rice and Sir Elton wanted us to see these
relationships in a different light, and even if the largely superfluous
character of Chel was added just to quell such speculations.
While I heard that song on the radio many times, the others in the film
were new to me. Elton performed all but one, the entertaining,
plot-advancing It’s Good to Be a God, sung by Branagh and Kline.
I’ve read complaints about the music, but I really enjoyed both Hans
Zimmer’s score and the new songs, poppish as they were. Phil Collins did
a beautiful job with the music in Tarzan, and I think Elton
fares similarly here. I found the songs catchy and effective for
capturing the mood of the moment without actually having the characters
break into song. Not that I would have complained about that.
Nonetheless, I thought it was a stylistic choice that worked, especially
with the introspective Friends Never Say Goodbye.
Now that I’ve watched Road to El Dorado,
I’m happy to report that I don’t feel depressed. I didn’t expect the
movie to be so funny, nor did I realize that Elton John would be
performing most of the songs in the movie himself. While I don’t know
how highly I would rank this on a list of animated favorites, I do think
it’s a shame that plans for a sequel were scrapped after the movie
failed to dazzle at the box office. This is definitely a duo that seems
destined for more adventures.
Showing posts with label Elton John. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elton John. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Alvin and the Chipmunks Look to the Skies in The A-Files: Alien Songs
Alvin and the Chipmunks is one of the first bands I ever fell in love
with. Sure, the trio of rodents is fictional and, by all accounts,
rather ridiculous. But I’ve never lost my fondness for the high-voiced
fellas: timid Theodore, brainy Simon and trouble-making frontman Alvin.
Every once in a while I find an album of theirs that I haven’t heard
before. This week, the library led me to The A-Files: Alien Songs.
This very thematic album came out in 1998, at a time when Men In Black was a recent blockbuster, The X-Files was still on prime time and The Phantom Menace was looming as one of the ultimate pop culture events of the decade. Extraterrestrial life was a hot topic, as well as one that could easily be exploited for the purposes of silliness, so the Chipmunks went to work. At times, they stretch the theme a bit, but I would say that all ten tracks fit the album well.
1. Purple People Eater - The track begins with a narrator introducing Simon, who gleefully announces that he has made contact with an alien. He then launches into this song, which I’ve always found entertaining. The Chipmunks’ rendition is fun, though it’s odd to hear them singing in voices so similar to the one adopted by the alien in the original version. This time, the purple people eater sounds more robotic, with a metallic voice somewhat reminiscent of Short Circuit’s Johnny Five, though considerably higher. Also, the whole thing is extremely techno-fied, which grates on me after a while.
2. Men in Black - Strange spacey sound effects abound in this fairly faithful rendition of the theme song to the Will Smith / Tommy Lee Jones blockbuster. Alvin does a lot of rapping, to the accompaniment of regular human back-up singers, who sound a little odd behind him.
3. X-Files Theme - This is more of a skit than a song, with just Alvin and head Chipette Brittany talking over top of the X-Files theme music. Alvin is Moldy, who firmly believes in his irrational hunches, while Brittany is Scuzzy, his practical, scientifically-minded pal. The two most overbearing characters in the Chipmunks franchise bicker throughout the track, with one claiming the right of “I Told You So” by the end. I love the Chipmunks more for their comedy than their harmony, so I like this track quite a bit.
4. Rocket Man - At first, my Elton John-loving sensibilities were rather shocked by this techno-ish rendition of his classic, complete with very strange-sounding mechanical noises, but toward the end of the first verse, the familiar exasperated voice of Chipmunk guardian Dave Seville pipes up with an irritated, “Alvin, the guys at NASA are very upset...” At which point I realized that Alvin has somehow managed to snag a rocket and head off for an intergalactic adventure. While Alvin and his brothers croon away, seemingly oblivious, Dave interrupts with ever-more-agitated transmissions. A very fun track.
5. Venus - I never much liked this hard-rocking song, and it’s even more grating than usual when the Chipettes sing it. A skipper for me.
6. The Time Warp - Not too crazy about this one either. The Chipmunks and Chipettes join forces on this one, which is even weirder than the original version.
7. People Are Strange - This one picks up where the first track left off, with the alien bemoaning the fact that most people on Earth don’t seem very friendly. Though the song certainly wasn’t originally written to be literally about extra-terrestrials, the lyrics work very well in this context, especially with the added dialogue.
8. Star Wars - Cantina Band - Another skit with familiar music as the background. The Chipmunks stop by the Cantina for a bit of R & R, and Alvin can’t stop bragging about how he and “Hans” Solo are best buddies. Alvin receives no response to his attempts to prove his claims are true, but that doesn’t stop him from going on about his tight friendships with George Lucas and Luke Skywalker...
9. Mr. Spaceman - I wasn’t previously familiar with this song, but it fits the album very well. Probably my favorite of the dialogue-free tracks.
10. Destination Unknown - The Chipettes are back again for this album ender. I think it might have made more sense to end the album with People Are Strange, since it feels like a bookend to Purple People Eater, but as Chipettes songs go, this song, one of the more thematically tenuous tracks, isn’t bad, and the concluding bit is fun.
This is one of several Chipmunks albums that feels like they might be trying a little too hard to be hip. My favorite of their releases features their take on a series of traditional songs like She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain and Home on the Range, with a few originals thrown in. Most of these songs, by contrast, are fairly contemporary pop hits. I could also definitely do with a bit less techno. Nonetheless, several of the tracks are entertaining, especially the ones focusing primarily on comedy. The A-Files is a strange album, but if you have a high tolerance for Dave Seville’s squeaky trio, I recommend it.
This very thematic album came out in 1998, at a time when Men In Black was a recent blockbuster, The X-Files was still on prime time and The Phantom Menace was looming as one of the ultimate pop culture events of the decade. Extraterrestrial life was a hot topic, as well as one that could easily be exploited for the purposes of silliness, so the Chipmunks went to work. At times, they stretch the theme a bit, but I would say that all ten tracks fit the album well.
1. Purple People Eater - The track begins with a narrator introducing Simon, who gleefully announces that he has made contact with an alien. He then launches into this song, which I’ve always found entertaining. The Chipmunks’ rendition is fun, though it’s odd to hear them singing in voices so similar to the one adopted by the alien in the original version. This time, the purple people eater sounds more robotic, with a metallic voice somewhat reminiscent of Short Circuit’s Johnny Five, though considerably higher. Also, the whole thing is extremely techno-fied, which grates on me after a while.
2. Men in Black - Strange spacey sound effects abound in this fairly faithful rendition of the theme song to the Will Smith / Tommy Lee Jones blockbuster. Alvin does a lot of rapping, to the accompaniment of regular human back-up singers, who sound a little odd behind him.
3. X-Files Theme - This is more of a skit than a song, with just Alvin and head Chipette Brittany talking over top of the X-Files theme music. Alvin is Moldy, who firmly believes in his irrational hunches, while Brittany is Scuzzy, his practical, scientifically-minded pal. The two most overbearing characters in the Chipmunks franchise bicker throughout the track, with one claiming the right of “I Told You So” by the end. I love the Chipmunks more for their comedy than their harmony, so I like this track quite a bit.
4. Rocket Man - At first, my Elton John-loving sensibilities were rather shocked by this techno-ish rendition of his classic, complete with very strange-sounding mechanical noises, but toward the end of the first verse, the familiar exasperated voice of Chipmunk guardian Dave Seville pipes up with an irritated, “Alvin, the guys at NASA are very upset...” At which point I realized that Alvin has somehow managed to snag a rocket and head off for an intergalactic adventure. While Alvin and his brothers croon away, seemingly oblivious, Dave interrupts with ever-more-agitated transmissions. A very fun track.
5. Venus - I never much liked this hard-rocking song, and it’s even more grating than usual when the Chipettes sing it. A skipper for me.
6. The Time Warp - Not too crazy about this one either. The Chipmunks and Chipettes join forces on this one, which is even weirder than the original version.
7. People Are Strange - This one picks up where the first track left off, with the alien bemoaning the fact that most people on Earth don’t seem very friendly. Though the song certainly wasn’t originally written to be literally about extra-terrestrials, the lyrics work very well in this context, especially with the added dialogue.
8. Star Wars - Cantina Band - Another skit with familiar music as the background. The Chipmunks stop by the Cantina for a bit of R & R, and Alvin can’t stop bragging about how he and “Hans” Solo are best buddies. Alvin receives no response to his attempts to prove his claims are true, but that doesn’t stop him from going on about his tight friendships with George Lucas and Luke Skywalker...
9. Mr. Spaceman - I wasn’t previously familiar with this song, but it fits the album very well. Probably my favorite of the dialogue-free tracks.
10. Destination Unknown - The Chipettes are back again for this album ender. I think it might have made more sense to end the album with People Are Strange, since it feels like a bookend to Purple People Eater, but as Chipettes songs go, this song, one of the more thematically tenuous tracks, isn’t bad, and the concluding bit is fun.
This is one of several Chipmunks albums that feels like they might be trying a little too hard to be hip. My favorite of their releases features their take on a series of traditional songs like She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain and Home on the Range, with a few originals thrown in. Most of these songs, by contrast, are fairly contemporary pop hits. I could also definitely do with a bit less techno. Nonetheless, several of the tracks are entertaining, especially the ones focusing primarily on comedy. The A-Files is a strange album, but if you have a high tolerance for Dave Seville’s squeaky trio, I recommend it.
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Spotlight Is On Other Entertainers at Elton John's Christmas Party
I’m a big Elton John fan, but I wasn’t sure what to think when I borrowed Elton John’s Christmas Party
from the library. This is a compilation album, which to me feels a bit
like just turning on the radio and seeing what comes up. Of course, more
thought went into it than that; each of the 15 songs on this album were
chosen for a particular reason, which Elton helpfully goes into in the
liner notes. And there’s something appealingly humble about the project;
while Elton does include two of his own songs (one of which is a duet),
the spotlight is primarily on other artists, and it’s nice to see a pop
superstar showing such sincere appreciation for his peers. I suspected
that I would find one or two songs on the album I liked and give a shrug
to the rest. But I really enjoy most what Elton terms his “Christmas
favorites,” leaving me with several other musicians to investigate.
Ultimately, this album surprised me. In a good way.
Step Into Christmas - It makes sense that Elton would kick off his “Christmas Party” with a song of his own. It’s one of the few songs on the album I was actually previously familiar with. It’s got a groovy guitar riff and sleigh bells, a nice combo of contemporary-sounding pop and traditional Christmassy sounds. The lyrics are rather frivolous and there‘s something really trippy going on with one of the instruments, but the song is enthusiastic and inviting, and it always gets me boppin’ when I hear it on the radio. “Step into Christmas / Let's join together / We can watch the snow fall forever and ever...”
Feliz Navidad - I never even heard of El Vez before, but he’s the man behind this hard-rockin’ version of the peppy song written by Jose Feliciano. The kids singing backup help keep a childlike sense of joy and wonder at the forefront. “Feliz navidad / Feliz navidad / Feliz navidad, prospero ano y felicidad.”
The Man With All the Toys - This isn’t my favorite of the Beach Boys’ Christmas songs, especially now that I’ve heard their Christmas collection, but it’s a fun little ditty. This vision of Santa is much simpler than the typical North Pole toy factory depicted in Christmas specials. I like it, but all the “bop!”s in the background annoy me a bit. “Someone found a lighted house late one night / And he saw through the window a sight: / A big man in a chair / And little tiny men everywhere. / He's the man with all the toys.”
A Change at Christmas (Say It Isn’t So) - I don’t know anything about the Flaming Lips, and I never heard this song before. I like the chimes, bells and shakers that turn up here, and the slightly rough quality of the lead singer’s voice fits with his rambling, yearning discourse, with each verse almost sounding like one long run-on sentence. There’s something very interesting and unconventional about this one, and I love the sentiments it espouses. “Oh, if I could stop time / It would be a frozen moment just around Christmas / When all of mankind reveals its truest potential / And there is sympathy for the suffering...”
It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas - This Pet Shop Boys song is backed by pounding percussion and takes a cynical view throughout the verses, but the choruses ends on a cheerier note. I‘m not familiar with this band, so I don‘t know if this track is typical of their sound; their voices sound high and forlorn, often approaching falsetto range, and the song is very techno-ish, particularly toward the end. “It doesn’t often snow at Christmas the way it ought to do / But I’ll still have a ball at Christmas because I’ll be with you.”
Spotlight on Christmas - I have a passing familiarity with Rufus Wainwright, but I’d never encountered this song before. A guitar-driven, folksy sort of song augmented by bells, it’s a sort of ragged-voiced protest anthem against crass commercialism and turning a cold shoulder to those in need. A really nice song. “But, don't forget Jesus, Mary, and Joseph / Once were a family poor but rich in hope, yeah / Don't forget Jesus, Mary, and Joseph / Running from the law King Herod had imposeth.”
Jingle Bell Rock - I’ve heard the song, of course, but never this instrumental version by the Ventures, which is one of the most jammin’ renditions I’ve heard, definitely putting the emphasis on the “rock”.
Run Rudolph Run - I’ve always found this Chuck Berry song rather odd; I don’t mind when the Muppets cover it, but the original just gets on my nerves. The word “reindeers” bugs me, as does the word “wet” as a verb and the fact that all of the verses end in such a way that they sound like there should be more to come. It’s a perfectly innocuous song along the lines of Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, but it’s never been one I’ve particularly liked.
Merry Christmas Baby - The Muppets have done this song as well, and I dislike their version, featuring Pepe the prawn, heartily. This rendition, by Otis Redding, comes complete with sleigh bells and background instrumentals that occasionally hint at Jingle Bells. Oddly, while I’ve heard this song several times before, I’d never come across Otis‘s; it’s the least campy version I’ve heard, and I almost like it coming from him. “Merry Christmas baby, you sure did treat me nice...”
Christmas Island - This fun cover by Jimmy Buffett is along the lines of Melekalikimaka, imagining a very different setting for Christmas than the one presented in most seasonal songs. I love the instruments, which all evoke tropical beaches; the percussion is especially bouncy. Given Jimmy Buffett’s association with sunny beaches, this seems like the perfect Christmassy representation of him. “How’d you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island? / Howdja like to spend the holiday away across the sea?”
Christmas Must Be Tonight - A humble Christmas song in extravagant electronic trappings. Other than knowing they were associated with Bob Dylan, The Band is another group I’m not familiar with, but I was entirely charmed by this reverent song about the Nativity from the perspective of a shepherd. “I saw it with my own eyes, written up in the skies / But why a simple herdsmen such as I / And then it came to pass, he was born at last / Right below the star that shines on high.”
2000 Miles - I think I may have heard this song by the Pretenders before, though not this version. Chrissie Hynde has an unusual voice that suits the despondent lyrics. “The snows falling down, / It's colder day by day. / I miss you. / I can hear people singing, / It must be Christmas time.”
December Will Be Magic Again - The second song on the album to mention Bing Crosby by name. Kate Bush is an artist entirely unfamiliar to me; I was so discombobulated by her high voice that it took half the song before I could properly concentrate on the track at hand. There’s a very creepy quality to her voice; she sounds crystalline, which is fitting since in this song, she is the personification of snow. “Ooh, dropping down in my parachute, / The white city, she is so beautiful / Upon the black-soot icicled roofs, / Ooh, and see how I fall.”
New Year’s Day - Elton couldn’t let the album conclude without a contribution from U2. Bono, after all, is the epitome of cool. This is what I have gathered, though I must confess that I’m familiar with very little of U2’s music, and this song was new to me. Definitely a rock song. Not so much in my style, but I like the hints of activism running through the lyrics. “Under a blood red sky / A crowd has gathered in black and white / Arms entwined, the chosen few...”
Calling It Christmas - Elton teams up with Joss Stone for this lovely song that ends the album on a surprisingly reverent note. It’s strange to hear Elton sing something so hymnlike, but he sounds sincere, and Joss’s vocals are glorious; she sounds like a soloist in a church choir, especially when a chorus swells behind her and Elton. A piano solo toward the end of the song morphs into a guitar solo before we return to the singers, now belting the lyrics out with all the enthusiasm they can muster. I don’t know how this song, written by Elton and his longtime songwriter partner, Bernie Taupin, eluded me for so long, but I’m very glad I found it. “We've been calling it Christmas / Keeping the faith / Knowing the reason / We're saving the day. / We've been calling it Christmas / Down through the years / Spreading joy to the world / When Christmas is here.”
This last track alone makes the album a major discovery for me, with Spotlight on Christmas and Christmas Must Be Tonight competing to be my second-favorite track. The one downside I stumbled upon is the fact that this is a re-release, pared down from the Starbucks exclusive CD from the year before. Six tracks are absent. I don’t really mind missing out on the Ronettes’ Frosty the Snowman, which I find annoying. Bruce Springsteen’s Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town plays on the radio about ten times a day, as does the Eagles’ Please Come Home For Christmas. I don’t know if I’ve heard the Crystals’ version of Rudolph or not, but I doubt it’s earth-shatteringly unique. Nonetheless, that leaves Outkast’s Playa’s Ball and the much more intriguing St. Patrick’s Day by John Mayer. So even if I just whittle it down to those two, I’m feeling a little left out. So if you can find the 2005 version of this CD, you might want to give that a shot instead. But those types of issues aside, kudos to Elton John for such a terrific compilation.
Step Into Christmas - It makes sense that Elton would kick off his “Christmas Party” with a song of his own. It’s one of the few songs on the album I was actually previously familiar with. It’s got a groovy guitar riff and sleigh bells, a nice combo of contemporary-sounding pop and traditional Christmassy sounds. The lyrics are rather frivolous and there‘s something really trippy going on with one of the instruments, but the song is enthusiastic and inviting, and it always gets me boppin’ when I hear it on the radio. “Step into Christmas / Let's join together / We can watch the snow fall forever and ever...”
Feliz Navidad - I never even heard of El Vez before, but he’s the man behind this hard-rockin’ version of the peppy song written by Jose Feliciano. The kids singing backup help keep a childlike sense of joy and wonder at the forefront. “Feliz navidad / Feliz navidad / Feliz navidad, prospero ano y felicidad.”
The Man With All the Toys - This isn’t my favorite of the Beach Boys’ Christmas songs, especially now that I’ve heard their Christmas collection, but it’s a fun little ditty. This vision of Santa is much simpler than the typical North Pole toy factory depicted in Christmas specials. I like it, but all the “bop!”s in the background annoy me a bit. “Someone found a lighted house late one night / And he saw through the window a sight: / A big man in a chair / And little tiny men everywhere. / He's the man with all the toys.”
A Change at Christmas (Say It Isn’t So) - I don’t know anything about the Flaming Lips, and I never heard this song before. I like the chimes, bells and shakers that turn up here, and the slightly rough quality of the lead singer’s voice fits with his rambling, yearning discourse, with each verse almost sounding like one long run-on sentence. There’s something very interesting and unconventional about this one, and I love the sentiments it espouses. “Oh, if I could stop time / It would be a frozen moment just around Christmas / When all of mankind reveals its truest potential / And there is sympathy for the suffering...”
It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas - This Pet Shop Boys song is backed by pounding percussion and takes a cynical view throughout the verses, but the choruses ends on a cheerier note. I‘m not familiar with this band, so I don‘t know if this track is typical of their sound; their voices sound high and forlorn, often approaching falsetto range, and the song is very techno-ish, particularly toward the end. “It doesn’t often snow at Christmas the way it ought to do / But I’ll still have a ball at Christmas because I’ll be with you.”
Spotlight on Christmas - I have a passing familiarity with Rufus Wainwright, but I’d never encountered this song before. A guitar-driven, folksy sort of song augmented by bells, it’s a sort of ragged-voiced protest anthem against crass commercialism and turning a cold shoulder to those in need. A really nice song. “But, don't forget Jesus, Mary, and Joseph / Once were a family poor but rich in hope, yeah / Don't forget Jesus, Mary, and Joseph / Running from the law King Herod had imposeth.”
Jingle Bell Rock - I’ve heard the song, of course, but never this instrumental version by the Ventures, which is one of the most jammin’ renditions I’ve heard, definitely putting the emphasis on the “rock”.
Run Rudolph Run - I’ve always found this Chuck Berry song rather odd; I don’t mind when the Muppets cover it, but the original just gets on my nerves. The word “reindeers” bugs me, as does the word “wet” as a verb and the fact that all of the verses end in such a way that they sound like there should be more to come. It’s a perfectly innocuous song along the lines of Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, but it’s never been one I’ve particularly liked.
Merry Christmas Baby - The Muppets have done this song as well, and I dislike their version, featuring Pepe the prawn, heartily. This rendition, by Otis Redding, comes complete with sleigh bells and background instrumentals that occasionally hint at Jingle Bells. Oddly, while I’ve heard this song several times before, I’d never come across Otis‘s; it’s the least campy version I’ve heard, and I almost like it coming from him. “Merry Christmas baby, you sure did treat me nice...”
Christmas Island - This fun cover by Jimmy Buffett is along the lines of Melekalikimaka, imagining a very different setting for Christmas than the one presented in most seasonal songs. I love the instruments, which all evoke tropical beaches; the percussion is especially bouncy. Given Jimmy Buffett’s association with sunny beaches, this seems like the perfect Christmassy representation of him. “How’d you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island? / Howdja like to spend the holiday away across the sea?”
Christmas Must Be Tonight - A humble Christmas song in extravagant electronic trappings. Other than knowing they were associated with Bob Dylan, The Band is another group I’m not familiar with, but I was entirely charmed by this reverent song about the Nativity from the perspective of a shepherd. “I saw it with my own eyes, written up in the skies / But why a simple herdsmen such as I / And then it came to pass, he was born at last / Right below the star that shines on high.”
2000 Miles - I think I may have heard this song by the Pretenders before, though not this version. Chrissie Hynde has an unusual voice that suits the despondent lyrics. “The snows falling down, / It's colder day by day. / I miss you. / I can hear people singing, / It must be Christmas time.”
December Will Be Magic Again - The second song on the album to mention Bing Crosby by name. Kate Bush is an artist entirely unfamiliar to me; I was so discombobulated by her high voice that it took half the song before I could properly concentrate on the track at hand. There’s a very creepy quality to her voice; she sounds crystalline, which is fitting since in this song, she is the personification of snow. “Ooh, dropping down in my parachute, / The white city, she is so beautiful / Upon the black-soot icicled roofs, / Ooh, and see how I fall.”
New Year’s Day - Elton couldn’t let the album conclude without a contribution from U2. Bono, after all, is the epitome of cool. This is what I have gathered, though I must confess that I’m familiar with very little of U2’s music, and this song was new to me. Definitely a rock song. Not so much in my style, but I like the hints of activism running through the lyrics. “Under a blood red sky / A crowd has gathered in black and white / Arms entwined, the chosen few...”
Calling It Christmas - Elton teams up with Joss Stone for this lovely song that ends the album on a surprisingly reverent note. It’s strange to hear Elton sing something so hymnlike, but he sounds sincere, and Joss’s vocals are glorious; she sounds like a soloist in a church choir, especially when a chorus swells behind her and Elton. A piano solo toward the end of the song morphs into a guitar solo before we return to the singers, now belting the lyrics out with all the enthusiasm they can muster. I don’t know how this song, written by Elton and his longtime songwriter partner, Bernie Taupin, eluded me for so long, but I’m very glad I found it. “We've been calling it Christmas / Keeping the faith / Knowing the reason / We're saving the day. / We've been calling it Christmas / Down through the years / Spreading joy to the world / When Christmas is here.”
This last track alone makes the album a major discovery for me, with Spotlight on Christmas and Christmas Must Be Tonight competing to be my second-favorite track. The one downside I stumbled upon is the fact that this is a re-release, pared down from the Starbucks exclusive CD from the year before. Six tracks are absent. I don’t really mind missing out on the Ronettes’ Frosty the Snowman, which I find annoying. Bruce Springsteen’s Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town plays on the radio about ten times a day, as does the Eagles’ Please Come Home For Christmas. I don’t know if I’ve heard the Crystals’ version of Rudolph or not, but I doubt it’s earth-shatteringly unique. Nonetheless, that leaves Outkast’s Playa’s Ball and the much more intriguing St. Patrick’s Day by John Mayer. So even if I just whittle it down to those two, I’m feeling a little left out. So if you can find the 2005 version of this CD, you might want to give that a shot instead. But those types of issues aside, kudos to Elton John for such a terrific compilation.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Heavy-Handed FernGully Gets Its Message Across
When he was little, my brother Benjamin loved the movie FernGully. I suspect that now he'd disavow this cartoon that's the tree-hugging-est film since the animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax,
but at the time he was quite taken with the teeming wildlife, the
fish-out-of-water surfer dude, the sibilantly toxic villain and, most
especially, the wacky winged sidekick.
My strongest memory of the movie was also Robin Williams' manic performance as Batty Koda, a bat who has been subjected to experimentation at a lab and is consequently deeply mistrustful of humans and has a habit of making random outbursts. Re-watching it recently, I recalled how much more I enjoyed his role as Genie in Aladdin, which hit theaters about half a year after FernGully. While Batty is certainly good for a laugh, his neurotic nature grates after a while, and his truncated rap doesn't hold up nearly as well as Friend Like Me.
Some of his cultural references are painfully dated, as is nearly every word out of the mouth of Zak Young (Jonathan Ward), the clueless tree-marker whom Crysta (Samantha Mathis), the headstrong leader-in-training of the community of fairies in FernGully, accidentally shrinks. Zak rocks out to his walkman, rhapsodizes about "bodacious babes" and makes us suffer through the old "only fools are positive" shtick with Batty. He's straight out of the late '80s, but the laughable is balanced by the lovable. You can't help but like the guy and embrace the wondrous journey he must undertake.
As integral as Zak is to the plot - he is, after all, the representative of humanity, and in a sense the future rests on his shoulders - the main character is Crysta, who is youthful and spunky but possesses the latent potential for an extra-special bond with the world around her. Wizened mystic Magi Lune (Grace Zabriskie) mentors her as best she can, but naive Crysta is not prepared for the horrors of the outside world and the grim knowledge that the fanciful "human tales" painting people as protectors of the forest are not reflected in reality.
It's obvious just from the pessimistic subtitle - "the last rainforest" - that FernGully has a message to get across: Don't clear-cut rainforests! I love trees just about as much as J. R. R. Tolkien and John Denver ever did, so I can't complain about the moral, though its method of delivery is rather heavy-handed, and the simplistic animation accompanying the retelling of legends teeters between dull and slightly creepy. Really creepy is Hexxus, a big brown glob who propels himself along by feeding on poisonous fumes and occasionally morphs into a skeleton. This entity is seriously vile, and Tim Curry seems to relish every moment of it.
On the whole, the tunes sung by characters, which I usually much prefer to generic background songs in these sorts of movies, aren't particularly noteworthy. Batty's solo is annoying, while Hexxus belts out a disgusting diatribe peppered with strange culinary comparisons like acid rain to egg chow mein and a lizard bursts in with a jarringly random ditty about his ravenous hunger. But I love the gorgeous, idealistic A Dream Worth Keeping, written by dream team Alan Silvestri and Jimmy Webb and performed by Sheena Easton, and Raffi's gently peppy Raining Like Magic wonderfully captures the vitality of the ecosystem. Stick around for the credits and you'll be rewarded with Some Other World, an overlooked Elton John gem.
The setting for FernGully seems to be Australia, as we see kangaroos, platypuses and emus, but most of the characters have American accents, with a few British accents thrown in for good measure. I suspect director Bill Croyer and writers Jim Cox and Diana Young were going for more of a mythical last refuge not corresponding to any particular location. Dedicated "to our children and our children's children," the movie aims to make a difference, one tree at a time. For that, I can forgive a lot of retro corniness.
My strongest memory of the movie was also Robin Williams' manic performance as Batty Koda, a bat who has been subjected to experimentation at a lab and is consequently deeply mistrustful of humans and has a habit of making random outbursts. Re-watching it recently, I recalled how much more I enjoyed his role as Genie in Aladdin, which hit theaters about half a year after FernGully. While Batty is certainly good for a laugh, his neurotic nature grates after a while, and his truncated rap doesn't hold up nearly as well as Friend Like Me.
Some of his cultural references are painfully dated, as is nearly every word out of the mouth of Zak Young (Jonathan Ward), the clueless tree-marker whom Crysta (Samantha Mathis), the headstrong leader-in-training of the community of fairies in FernGully, accidentally shrinks. Zak rocks out to his walkman, rhapsodizes about "bodacious babes" and makes us suffer through the old "only fools are positive" shtick with Batty. He's straight out of the late '80s, but the laughable is balanced by the lovable. You can't help but like the guy and embrace the wondrous journey he must undertake.
As integral as Zak is to the plot - he is, after all, the representative of humanity, and in a sense the future rests on his shoulders - the main character is Crysta, who is youthful and spunky but possesses the latent potential for an extra-special bond with the world around her. Wizened mystic Magi Lune (Grace Zabriskie) mentors her as best she can, but naive Crysta is not prepared for the horrors of the outside world and the grim knowledge that the fanciful "human tales" painting people as protectors of the forest are not reflected in reality.
It's obvious just from the pessimistic subtitle - "the last rainforest" - that FernGully has a message to get across: Don't clear-cut rainforests! I love trees just about as much as J. R. R. Tolkien and John Denver ever did, so I can't complain about the moral, though its method of delivery is rather heavy-handed, and the simplistic animation accompanying the retelling of legends teeters between dull and slightly creepy. Really creepy is Hexxus, a big brown glob who propels himself along by feeding on poisonous fumes and occasionally morphs into a skeleton. This entity is seriously vile, and Tim Curry seems to relish every moment of it.
On the whole, the tunes sung by characters, which I usually much prefer to generic background songs in these sorts of movies, aren't particularly noteworthy. Batty's solo is annoying, while Hexxus belts out a disgusting diatribe peppered with strange culinary comparisons like acid rain to egg chow mein and a lizard bursts in with a jarringly random ditty about his ravenous hunger. But I love the gorgeous, idealistic A Dream Worth Keeping, written by dream team Alan Silvestri and Jimmy Webb and performed by Sheena Easton, and Raffi's gently peppy Raining Like Magic wonderfully captures the vitality of the ecosystem. Stick around for the credits and you'll be rewarded with Some Other World, an overlooked Elton John gem.
The setting for FernGully seems to be Australia, as we see kangaroos, platypuses and emus, but most of the characters have American accents, with a few British accents thrown in for good measure. I suspect director Bill Croyer and writers Jim Cox and Diana Young were going for more of a mythical last refuge not corresponding to any particular location. Dedicated "to our children and our children's children," the movie aims to make a difference, one tree at a time. For that, I can forgive a lot of retro corniness.
Monday, July 26, 2004
Kidman and McGregor Make Magic in Moulin Rouge
I am a great fan of musicals, so when I heard about the movie Moulin Rouge,
I was intrigued, particularly since the musical has gone out of fashion
even where it is most expected; Disney’s recent lack of musical
numbers, particularly sung by a film’s characters, has been most
disheartening. But Moulin Rouge went on my long list of
films-to-see-in-the-theater whose contents generally are shifted to
films-to-see-on-video, the latter of which has grown to an unwieldy
length, and defiant loyalty compelled me to be annoyed with the movie
when it swiped two Oscars from Fellowship of the Ring. But a
hearty recommendation from a couple friends of mine and an assurance
that I would finally get to hear Ewan McGregor’s fabled brogue renewed
my interest, so when my brother fell in love with the soundtrack last
week, I was happy – until I discovered a hearty dislike for the songs he
chose to play in mass repetition, particularly Because We Can. So when his infatuation with the soundtrack naturally led to a movie rental, I was a bit leery.
I have come to the conclusion that generally speaking, I am a Bear of Very Little Brain who prefers her movies straightforward and able to be taken at face value. An overarching sense of serenity doesn’t hurt either. So I perceived the first twenty or so minutes of Moulin Rouge as an assault on my senses, complete with wildly flashing images and a series of frantically energetic songs equally conducive to epileptic shock. The headache these opening scenes gave me was not encouraging, but I noted with some satisfaction that Christian’s (Ewan McGregor) face during this portion of the movie registered a series of contortions alternating among bewilderment, awe and nausea. Ultimately, it was this idealistic young writer who allowed me to fall in love with the movie despite my reservations. Moulin Rouge is his story, one which we understand by the broken state in which we find him at the beginning has taken a great toll on him. My brother commented that it’s never good when a movie starts out depressing and then goes into a flashback. But this movie careens so madly between quiet, gut-wrenching tragedy and joyfully choreographed chaos that the audience often forgets the haunting, inversely prophetic image of Christian, a year after the main events of the film, sitting at his typewriter in obvious anguish. Though he remains throughout the movie as a device to move along the narration, he is easy to overlook once another flashy dance number begins.
McGregor’s earnest performance as the lovestruck naif charmed me immediately. His face is marvelously expressive, but I most enjoyed the glorious smiles he so generously bestowed upon the audience. With the all too serious Obi-Wan Kenobi as my primary McGregor reference point, I was startled by his dashing exuberance. While his gleaming teeth and boyish dimples brilliantly conveyed his joy, it was the task of his eyes to carry the weight of his most grueling scenes. Add to that the worth-the-wait Scottish accent and a smoothly satisfying singing voice, and you have a most laudable lead in Ewan McGregor.
But before I get accused of dissolving into fangirlishness – an embarrassment I only intend to allow myself when referring to Clay Aiken and Billy Boyd – let me hastily add that Nicole Kidman is equally impressive. I tend to get far less excited about actresses than actors, but I am perfectly willing to concede that Kidman is one of the loveliest and most talented actresses in films today. My first impression of her in the much-maligned Far and Away has been confirmed with each new role I see her in. As Satine, a performer at the Moulin Rouge who dreams of true stardom, she exudes cool confidence on the stage but lapses into vulnerability when Christian allows her to experience love for the first time. Her overly sensual antics towards the beginning of the film were a bit of a turn-off for me - though I had to admit her double-entendre-laced Tevye-and-Lazar Wolf-style scene with Christian was pretty entertaining - but when she displayed her true feelings she was a very appealing and sympathetic character. I was also impressed by her singing voice, especially during her wispy inner monologues and spirited duets with Christian. Its tone was very pleasing and seemed a bit of a throwback to a WWII-era singing style. It also reminded me a lot of Helen Reddy's voice in Pete's Dragon.
The acting all around was solid, with particularly noteworthy performances by Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh and John Leguizamo. Broadbent portrays Harold Zidler, the nightclub owner who is by turns jolly and sinister but consistently over-the-top. His is a broadly comic role, and we get the impression he is constantly trying to keep things under control but never quite succeeding. His absurd performance of Like a Virgin with the Duke (Roxburgh) is a comedic highlight. Zidler comes across as a decent if slightly unscrupulous fellow. The Duke, meanwhile, is the most villainous character in the film, yet his ridiculous false teeth, pointy mustache, bad comb-over and irritating accent make him as laughable as he is creepy. And though we never want Satine to wind up with him, it’s hard not to feel a little sorry for this scorned wooer. The petrified facial expressions he offers in response to a number of musical assaults are hilarious. Leguizamo takes on the role of the Bohemian Henri Toulouse Lautrec with great gusto. He’s a wacky character whose cheeriness and romanticism make him especially likable. The role proved an unusual challenge for Leguizamo, as he had to present the appearance of being less than five feet tall.
Moulin Rouge is a musical, but it is unusual in that most of its music is derived from other sources. The film pays tribute to dozens of films with both the music used and the way certain scenes are staged. I must admit to not being crazy about most of the louder, flashier numbers, though they are very well done. Generally, the more elaborate the choreography and the more people are involved, the sillier the song is. The number in which Christian, Zidler, Satine and the Bohemians pitch their play to the Duke is incredibly complex and quite amusing. I enjoyed hearing the film’s take on Your Song and several other classics, but I found the most powerful performance to be the final reprise of Come What May, the song Christian and Satine create to pledge their love to one another. The scene that accompanies it heightens all of the emotions that have been building throughout the rest of the film, ending in a sublime moment of triumph.
I’m all for happy endings, so there’s a part of me that says I would have preferred that Moulin Rouge drop the “tragi” in tragi-comic. As bright and boisterous as the film gets, it cannot escape the other half of its description. However, it’s the quieter, more honest scenes, many of which are associated with the darker side of the film, that I usually enjoyed the most, so I won’t complain that the film went on just a bit longer than was needed to give me the finale I was hoping for. Moulin Rouge is a unique film, and it takes some getting used to. I wouldn’t even necessarily trust your first viewing to give you your final opinion of it. Stick with it, and if you’re spending an inordinate amount of time scratching your head, watch it once again, with the commentary if you’ve got it. It’s worth the extra effort.
I have come to the conclusion that generally speaking, I am a Bear of Very Little Brain who prefers her movies straightforward and able to be taken at face value. An overarching sense of serenity doesn’t hurt either. So I perceived the first twenty or so minutes of Moulin Rouge as an assault on my senses, complete with wildly flashing images and a series of frantically energetic songs equally conducive to epileptic shock. The headache these opening scenes gave me was not encouraging, but I noted with some satisfaction that Christian’s (Ewan McGregor) face during this portion of the movie registered a series of contortions alternating among bewilderment, awe and nausea. Ultimately, it was this idealistic young writer who allowed me to fall in love with the movie despite my reservations. Moulin Rouge is his story, one which we understand by the broken state in which we find him at the beginning has taken a great toll on him. My brother commented that it’s never good when a movie starts out depressing and then goes into a flashback. But this movie careens so madly between quiet, gut-wrenching tragedy and joyfully choreographed chaos that the audience often forgets the haunting, inversely prophetic image of Christian, a year after the main events of the film, sitting at his typewriter in obvious anguish. Though he remains throughout the movie as a device to move along the narration, he is easy to overlook once another flashy dance number begins.
McGregor’s earnest performance as the lovestruck naif charmed me immediately. His face is marvelously expressive, but I most enjoyed the glorious smiles he so generously bestowed upon the audience. With the all too serious Obi-Wan Kenobi as my primary McGregor reference point, I was startled by his dashing exuberance. While his gleaming teeth and boyish dimples brilliantly conveyed his joy, it was the task of his eyes to carry the weight of his most grueling scenes. Add to that the worth-the-wait Scottish accent and a smoothly satisfying singing voice, and you have a most laudable lead in Ewan McGregor.
But before I get accused of dissolving into fangirlishness – an embarrassment I only intend to allow myself when referring to Clay Aiken and Billy Boyd – let me hastily add that Nicole Kidman is equally impressive. I tend to get far less excited about actresses than actors, but I am perfectly willing to concede that Kidman is one of the loveliest and most talented actresses in films today. My first impression of her in the much-maligned Far and Away has been confirmed with each new role I see her in. As Satine, a performer at the Moulin Rouge who dreams of true stardom, she exudes cool confidence on the stage but lapses into vulnerability when Christian allows her to experience love for the first time. Her overly sensual antics towards the beginning of the film were a bit of a turn-off for me - though I had to admit her double-entendre-laced Tevye-and-Lazar Wolf-style scene with Christian was pretty entertaining - but when she displayed her true feelings she was a very appealing and sympathetic character. I was also impressed by her singing voice, especially during her wispy inner monologues and spirited duets with Christian. Its tone was very pleasing and seemed a bit of a throwback to a WWII-era singing style. It also reminded me a lot of Helen Reddy's voice in Pete's Dragon.
The acting all around was solid, with particularly noteworthy performances by Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh and John Leguizamo. Broadbent portrays Harold Zidler, the nightclub owner who is by turns jolly and sinister but consistently over-the-top. His is a broadly comic role, and we get the impression he is constantly trying to keep things under control but never quite succeeding. His absurd performance of Like a Virgin with the Duke (Roxburgh) is a comedic highlight. Zidler comes across as a decent if slightly unscrupulous fellow. The Duke, meanwhile, is the most villainous character in the film, yet his ridiculous false teeth, pointy mustache, bad comb-over and irritating accent make him as laughable as he is creepy. And though we never want Satine to wind up with him, it’s hard not to feel a little sorry for this scorned wooer. The petrified facial expressions he offers in response to a number of musical assaults are hilarious. Leguizamo takes on the role of the Bohemian Henri Toulouse Lautrec with great gusto. He’s a wacky character whose cheeriness and romanticism make him especially likable. The role proved an unusual challenge for Leguizamo, as he had to present the appearance of being less than five feet tall.
Moulin Rouge is a musical, but it is unusual in that most of its music is derived from other sources. The film pays tribute to dozens of films with both the music used and the way certain scenes are staged. I must admit to not being crazy about most of the louder, flashier numbers, though they are very well done. Generally, the more elaborate the choreography and the more people are involved, the sillier the song is. The number in which Christian, Zidler, Satine and the Bohemians pitch their play to the Duke is incredibly complex and quite amusing. I enjoyed hearing the film’s take on Your Song and several other classics, but I found the most powerful performance to be the final reprise of Come What May, the song Christian and Satine create to pledge their love to one another. The scene that accompanies it heightens all of the emotions that have been building throughout the rest of the film, ending in a sublime moment of triumph.
I’m all for happy endings, so there’s a part of me that says I would have preferred that Moulin Rouge drop the “tragi” in tragi-comic. As bright and boisterous as the film gets, it cannot escape the other half of its description. However, it’s the quieter, more honest scenes, many of which are associated with the darker side of the film, that I usually enjoyed the most, so I won’t complain that the film went on just a bit longer than was needed to give me the finale I was hoping for. Moulin Rouge is a unique film, and it takes some getting used to. I wouldn’t even necessarily trust your first viewing to give you your final opinion of it. Stick with it, and if you’re spending an inordinate amount of time scratching your head, watch it once again, with the commentary if you’ve got it. It’s worth the extra effort.
Sunday, August 24, 2003
Look What Clay Has Done Before American Idol Redefined Him
When I first saw Clay Aiken on American Idol, I knew he was
someone to keep an eye on. So I did, as much as I could, but he didn’t
get a lot of air time between the initial auditions and the Top 32. So
it wasn’t until his knock-out performance of Open Arms in the
second week of semi-finals that I really fell for him. In the next three
weeks, I tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to find as much out about him as
I could. But after his Wild Card performance, the list of websites
dedicated to him began to steadily grow. Perhaps the most valuable
discovery I made was a list of songs he had recorded for two demo
albums. At this time, I have had no success in acquiring those albums,
entitled Redefined and Look What Love Has Done. They had
very limited availability, and I do not know whether there are any plans
to re-release them. It is possible to purchase copies from E-Bay, but
they run as high as $200. However, all of the songs from the demos are
widely available on the Internet and well worth checking out. What
follows is a list of Clay’s pre-American Idol recording efforts.
Redefined
1. Still the One
2. I Know How the River Feels
3. Go the Distance*
4. Love of My Life*
5. Open Arms*
6. More to This Life
7. In Not Of*
8. Not Supposed to Love You Anymore
9. I Will Be Here
10. Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me
* Does not appear on Look What Love Has Done
Look What Love Has Done
1. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
2. Look What Love Has Done
3. Still The One
4. More To This Life
5. Dream Lover
6. I Know How The River Feels
7. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me
8. She Said Yes
9. I Will Be Here
10. My Girl
11. Not Supposed To Love You Anymore
12. Unchained Melody
13. Blood Will Never Lose Its Power
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me - I like this song to begin with, so that doesn’t hurt. This was the song that turned Clay from Underdog to Teen Idol when he blew America away with it on the Wild Card round. His performance on that show was so terrific, I think he even outdid his studio version. Just a perfect rendition. Nonetheless, his studio version is very nice, extremely smooth and dynamic. His perfect enunciation came in handy for me here as there were a few lines I could never quite get listening to Elton John, but with Clay every word was unmistakable. I’m not crazy about the instrumentation on this track. I love the piano, but it sounds rather hollow, as though something is missing. Nonetheless, Clay does a great job with an old favorite of mine, and it’s one of my favorite of his demo recordings. “But you misread my meaning when I met you, closed the door and left me blinded by the light. Oh, don’t let the sun go down on me. Although I search myself, there’s always someone else I see. I just allow a fragment of your life to wander free.”
Look What Love Has Done - This is a nice song with which I was unfamiliar prior to hearing Clay’s version. Clay’s specialty seems to be romantic ballads, and this one fits that mold pretty well. A guy singing about how love has changed his outlook on life: “Was that lightning striking where I stand, or did you just reach out and take my hand?”
Still the One - This is one of the most upbeat songs in Clay’s catalogue. He shows that he is just as comfortable with an uptempo number as with a slow and pretty song. It’s one of his most fun tracks, and I imagine that as he was singing it he was grooving a bit to the beat. He sounds like he’s having a great time. “You’re still the one that turns my head. We’re still havin’ fun, and you’re still the one.”
More to This Life - Clearly a Christian track, this Steven Curtis Chapman song is fairly upbeat and asks listeners to remember that there is something beyond our realm of everyday mundane experience. Another unfamiliar song to me, it’s a nice gentle reminder to keep God in mind in spite of whatever struggles you may be facing. “There’s more to this life than livin’ and dyin’, more than just tryin’ to make it through the day…more than these eyes alone can see…”
Dream Lover - A classic oldie, often played on our local oldies station. It’s a pretty simple song, kinda snappy, about a guy dreaming his life away about a girlfriend who does not exist. He sounds pretty young in this song; his voice seems like it maybe hasn’t entirely settled itself in yet. Just a quick, fun tune with a couple of distinctive Clay touches, mainly extended notes in certain places. “I want a girl to call my own. I want a dream lover so I don’t have to dream alone.”
I Know How the River Feels - I’m a big fan of folk music, and a good friend of mine likes to tease me about it. Last year, she decided that my favorite musical instrument must be the mandolin; it just sounds like a folkie instrument, I guess. So I was amused when I heard this track and noted the pronounced presence of a mandolin. Also a new tune for me, it’s another slow love song with a very natural sound to it. The chorus includes some nice harmony as well. “Now I know how the river feels when it reaches the sea. It finally finds the place it was always meant to be.”
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me - He sounds young in Dream Lover, but that’s nothing compared to this. Am I just imagining this? I think he sounds about 16; his voice seems higher and even a little squeaky at points. The interesting thing is that both of these songs are on the later CD, not on the first. I presume they were all recorded about the same time, in Clay’s early 20s. So I don’t know why he seems so much younger here; maybe he’s just trying to convey youthful naivety in these two songs. At any rate, I like this track a lot. I always thought the song was much older, perhaps from the 30s, but it apparently was from the late 50s or 60s. It has a sort of overdramatic simplicity to it that is very endearing, and the internal rhyme is pretty nifty. “Kiss me, kiss me, when you do I know that you will miss me, miss me, if we ever say adieu…”
She Said Yes - A very slow and sweet country song, and also a new one for me. It only has two verses, but they parallel one another nicely. First, it’s a shy young man working up the nerve to ask a girl to dance; later, it’s that same man asking, this time with much greater conviction, that same lady to marry him. Clay does a really nice job with country tunes, and this gentle tune shows off his lower range and suits him well. “They won’t let go; it’s beyond their control. They lit a flame with the match God had made when she said yes.”
I Will Be Here - I have a hunch I heard this song before I encountered Clay’s version, because there was something very familiar about it. Also by Steven Curtis Chapman, whom Clay has identified as a favorite artist, it’s a gorgeous love song, one which I believe he has performed at a number of weddings. Very quiet and contemplative, soft enough throughout most of it to be a lullabye, and deeply religious in nature as well. This is definitely one of my favorite of Clay’s demo tracks, and I’m very glad to have discovered it. “You can cry on my shoulder; when the mirror tells us we’re older, I will hold you… I will be true to the promise I have made to you and to the One who gave you to me.”
My Girl - Another very upbeat song, one of the most well-known songs on his demo albums. Again, he’s in his stride, sounding like he is having a grand old time and adding his trademark extended notes to the chorus to add his own flavor to the song. It’s hard to beat the Temptations, but Clay gives them a run for their money! “I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it’s cold outside I’ve got the month of May. I guess you say what can make me feel this way? My girl!”
Not Supposed to Love You Anymore - Another country song I never heard of before. Clay does a great job here of sounding like an anguished fella who has lost the love of his life. He’s going through a divorce, and instead of feeling liberated from a woman who doesn’t appreciate him, he can only feel misery because of what he has lost. “I shouldn’t care or wonder where or how you are, but I can’t hide this hurt inside my broken heart.”
Unchained Melody - Each of the American Idol semi-finalists had to fill out a questionnaire answering a number of questions about themselves. One was their favorite song to sing. When I saw that Clay’s favorite song to sing was Unchained Melody, I swooned along with several hundred other gals and kept my fingers crossed that he’d sing it in one of the last two shows, assuming (as I did) that he would get that far. I figured he was saving it for a big finish, which he basically did; it was his final song on the second-to-the-last night, and he blew everybody (except Simon :( ) away. What’s more, he revealed that this was his mom’s favorite song. Awwww!!! The difficult thing about this song is that the Righteous Brothers produced the definitive version of Unchained Melody, a perfect record. I do not believe it can be improved upon, and that includes Clay. He nonetheless does an admirable job, plowing through the song with gusto. He does perhaps make it a bit too “snappy,” as my brother complains, but it works. I love his version except for one small grumble: almost every time he says the word “to,” it comes out sounding like “tOW,” which is rather grating on the ears. He seems to have worked on this, though, as his live performance of the song is virtually free of this ideosyncracy. This is one of the greatest love songs of all time, and it’s great to hear Clay take a crack at it. “Oh, my love, my darlin’, I’ve hungered for your touch a long, lonely time. And time goes by so slowly, and time can do so much. Are you still mine?”
Blood Will Never Lose Its Power - This song, another I had never heard before, has a definite Gospel feel to it. It’s another clearly Christian song talking about the redemptive power of Christ and how it remains just as strong no matter what. Upbeat and full of conviction, it’s a nice song and has a sound that is unique to his demos. Also accentuates one of his vocal oddities: he has a very odd way of saying words with an “o” in them. In this case, the “ou” in “mountain” sounds more like a long “a,” but only for a split second, producing a very strange vowel indeed. Just one of Clay’s lovable quirks… “It reaches to the highest mountain. It flows to the lowest valley. The blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power.”
Go the Distance - When I first saw that Clay sang this song, I was psyched because I think the theme song from Hercules is one of the prettiest in the recent Disney canon. I was really looking forward to hearing him sing it, so I was disappointed to discover that this was a totally different song that happened to have the same title. I still like the Hercules song better, but this one is also good. It’s a Christian song about how Christ was willing to go the distance for all his people, so we should be too. It encourages Christians to get out there and accept the Great Commission. “Even though I could choose the path of least resistance, Father, I will take the cross. I will go the distance.”
In Not Of - This song is mainly saying the same thing as the last song, but I don’t think it’s as successful. It just doesn’t appeal to me much for some reason, and I would list it as my least favorite Clay track. The instrumentation is heavy on the electric guitar and isn’t terribly melodic, and the message goes against itself and winds up sounding very sanctimonious – at least in my opinion. The idea is that Christians should not shield themselves from the rest of the world but should immerse themselves in it, embracing sinners and bringing them to Christ. I’m not sure why, but it just comes across to me as much too high-and-mighty – we’re too good for the rest of the world but lets try to save them from themselves. Or maybe it’s just me. It’s probably time I listened to it a couple more times… “Come take the Light to darker parts. Share His truth with hardened hearts. We are not like the world, but we can love it.”
Love of My Life - A very romantic Christian love song which Clay sings with passion. It’s hard to believe from all these songs that Clay has never been in a really serious romantic relationship. You wouldn’t know it from how he performs tunes like this. A beautiful number, with lots of poetic lyrics. “Now here we are, midnight closin’ in. Take my hand as our shadows dance with moonlight on your skin.”
Open Arms - I saved the best for last. This is the one that made me a certified Clayniac. And the weird thing is, I missed the beginning of his performance! I was very upset that I had missed part of it, but I came in during the middle of the chorus and my jaw dropped. He just floored me with this song, and I spent the next three weeks trying to get a clip of it. I would up finding the demo before I found the live performance. While I think the live performance of DLTSGDOM is better than the studio version, I think the studio version of Open Arms exceeds the live version, much as that impressed me. I mentioned that the Righteous Brothers had a perfect recording with Unchained Melody, and the same was the case with Simon and Garfunkel and Bridge Over Troubled Water. Bummer for Clay as these were his closing showstoppers of the second-to-last and last Tuesday on the show, but he did as well as he possibly could have. In this case, I believe Clay’s recording is the perfect one, improving upon the original. It sends shivers up my spine. The dynamic variation on this track is impressive; he starts out very quiet and works his way up to the chorus gradually. The first verse is rather quiet and melancholy, the second more pure anguish. It has the sort of dynamics that contributed so much to the success of the original version of Bridge. The instrumentation goes perfectly with his voice and the dynamics of the song, and it all comes together for a stunning performance. I get chills every time I hear him slide from the end of the first verse into the chorus. Absolutely masterful. My only complaint? That darn pronunciation again. I just can’t figure out what he’s doing with the word “nothing” in the chorus. It sounds like “wanting” to me, and I really, try as I might, can’t get it to sound like “nothing.” But it’s only a second long, and easy to overlook given the high quality of this track overall. I play this song more than any other of Clay’s. Well done. “We sailed on together, we drifted apart. Now here you are by my side. So now I come to you with open arms, nothing to hide. Believe what I say.”
Believe what I say, you will be missing out if you don’t give some of these tracks a try. I wish I could purchase his demo albums legitimately, but until that is a viable option (and I’m sorry, I’m not paying $200 for a copy on E-Bay) I am grateful to have access to these recordings. They are worth listening to over and over, and they prove that Clay was a star long before American Idol.
Redefined
1. Still the One
2. I Know How the River Feels
3. Go the Distance*
4. Love of My Life*
5. Open Arms*
6. More to This Life
7. In Not Of*
8. Not Supposed to Love You Anymore
9. I Will Be Here
10. Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me
* Does not appear on Look What Love Has Done
Look What Love Has Done
1. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
2. Look What Love Has Done
3. Still The One
4. More To This Life
5. Dream Lover
6. I Know How The River Feels
7. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me
8. She Said Yes
9. I Will Be Here
10. My Girl
11. Not Supposed To Love You Anymore
12. Unchained Melody
13. Blood Will Never Lose Its Power
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me - I like this song to begin with, so that doesn’t hurt. This was the song that turned Clay from Underdog to Teen Idol when he blew America away with it on the Wild Card round. His performance on that show was so terrific, I think he even outdid his studio version. Just a perfect rendition. Nonetheless, his studio version is very nice, extremely smooth and dynamic. His perfect enunciation came in handy for me here as there were a few lines I could never quite get listening to Elton John, but with Clay every word was unmistakable. I’m not crazy about the instrumentation on this track. I love the piano, but it sounds rather hollow, as though something is missing. Nonetheless, Clay does a great job with an old favorite of mine, and it’s one of my favorite of his demo recordings. “But you misread my meaning when I met you, closed the door and left me blinded by the light. Oh, don’t let the sun go down on me. Although I search myself, there’s always someone else I see. I just allow a fragment of your life to wander free.”
Look What Love Has Done - This is a nice song with which I was unfamiliar prior to hearing Clay’s version. Clay’s specialty seems to be romantic ballads, and this one fits that mold pretty well. A guy singing about how love has changed his outlook on life: “Was that lightning striking where I stand, or did you just reach out and take my hand?”
Still the One - This is one of the most upbeat songs in Clay’s catalogue. He shows that he is just as comfortable with an uptempo number as with a slow and pretty song. It’s one of his most fun tracks, and I imagine that as he was singing it he was grooving a bit to the beat. He sounds like he’s having a great time. “You’re still the one that turns my head. We’re still havin’ fun, and you’re still the one.”
More to This Life - Clearly a Christian track, this Steven Curtis Chapman song is fairly upbeat and asks listeners to remember that there is something beyond our realm of everyday mundane experience. Another unfamiliar song to me, it’s a nice gentle reminder to keep God in mind in spite of whatever struggles you may be facing. “There’s more to this life than livin’ and dyin’, more than just tryin’ to make it through the day…more than these eyes alone can see…”
Dream Lover - A classic oldie, often played on our local oldies station. It’s a pretty simple song, kinda snappy, about a guy dreaming his life away about a girlfriend who does not exist. He sounds pretty young in this song; his voice seems like it maybe hasn’t entirely settled itself in yet. Just a quick, fun tune with a couple of distinctive Clay touches, mainly extended notes in certain places. “I want a girl to call my own. I want a dream lover so I don’t have to dream alone.”
I Know How the River Feels - I’m a big fan of folk music, and a good friend of mine likes to tease me about it. Last year, she decided that my favorite musical instrument must be the mandolin; it just sounds like a folkie instrument, I guess. So I was amused when I heard this track and noted the pronounced presence of a mandolin. Also a new tune for me, it’s another slow love song with a very natural sound to it. The chorus includes some nice harmony as well. “Now I know how the river feels when it reaches the sea. It finally finds the place it was always meant to be.”
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me - He sounds young in Dream Lover, but that’s nothing compared to this. Am I just imagining this? I think he sounds about 16; his voice seems higher and even a little squeaky at points. The interesting thing is that both of these songs are on the later CD, not on the first. I presume they were all recorded about the same time, in Clay’s early 20s. So I don’t know why he seems so much younger here; maybe he’s just trying to convey youthful naivety in these two songs. At any rate, I like this track a lot. I always thought the song was much older, perhaps from the 30s, but it apparently was from the late 50s or 60s. It has a sort of overdramatic simplicity to it that is very endearing, and the internal rhyme is pretty nifty. “Kiss me, kiss me, when you do I know that you will miss me, miss me, if we ever say adieu…”
She Said Yes - A very slow and sweet country song, and also a new one for me. It only has two verses, but they parallel one another nicely. First, it’s a shy young man working up the nerve to ask a girl to dance; later, it’s that same man asking, this time with much greater conviction, that same lady to marry him. Clay does a really nice job with country tunes, and this gentle tune shows off his lower range and suits him well. “They won’t let go; it’s beyond their control. They lit a flame with the match God had made when she said yes.”
I Will Be Here - I have a hunch I heard this song before I encountered Clay’s version, because there was something very familiar about it. Also by Steven Curtis Chapman, whom Clay has identified as a favorite artist, it’s a gorgeous love song, one which I believe he has performed at a number of weddings. Very quiet and contemplative, soft enough throughout most of it to be a lullabye, and deeply religious in nature as well. This is definitely one of my favorite of Clay’s demo tracks, and I’m very glad to have discovered it. “You can cry on my shoulder; when the mirror tells us we’re older, I will hold you… I will be true to the promise I have made to you and to the One who gave you to me.”
My Girl - Another very upbeat song, one of the most well-known songs on his demo albums. Again, he’s in his stride, sounding like he is having a grand old time and adding his trademark extended notes to the chorus to add his own flavor to the song. It’s hard to beat the Temptations, but Clay gives them a run for their money! “I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it’s cold outside I’ve got the month of May. I guess you say what can make me feel this way? My girl!”
Not Supposed to Love You Anymore - Another country song I never heard of before. Clay does a great job here of sounding like an anguished fella who has lost the love of his life. He’s going through a divorce, and instead of feeling liberated from a woman who doesn’t appreciate him, he can only feel misery because of what he has lost. “I shouldn’t care or wonder where or how you are, but I can’t hide this hurt inside my broken heart.”
Unchained Melody - Each of the American Idol semi-finalists had to fill out a questionnaire answering a number of questions about themselves. One was their favorite song to sing. When I saw that Clay’s favorite song to sing was Unchained Melody, I swooned along with several hundred other gals and kept my fingers crossed that he’d sing it in one of the last two shows, assuming (as I did) that he would get that far. I figured he was saving it for a big finish, which he basically did; it was his final song on the second-to-the-last night, and he blew everybody (except Simon :( ) away. What’s more, he revealed that this was his mom’s favorite song. Awwww!!! The difficult thing about this song is that the Righteous Brothers produced the definitive version of Unchained Melody, a perfect record. I do not believe it can be improved upon, and that includes Clay. He nonetheless does an admirable job, plowing through the song with gusto. He does perhaps make it a bit too “snappy,” as my brother complains, but it works. I love his version except for one small grumble: almost every time he says the word “to,” it comes out sounding like “tOW,” which is rather grating on the ears. He seems to have worked on this, though, as his live performance of the song is virtually free of this ideosyncracy. This is one of the greatest love songs of all time, and it’s great to hear Clay take a crack at it. “Oh, my love, my darlin’, I’ve hungered for your touch a long, lonely time. And time goes by so slowly, and time can do so much. Are you still mine?”
Blood Will Never Lose Its Power - This song, another I had never heard before, has a definite Gospel feel to it. It’s another clearly Christian song talking about the redemptive power of Christ and how it remains just as strong no matter what. Upbeat and full of conviction, it’s a nice song and has a sound that is unique to his demos. Also accentuates one of his vocal oddities: he has a very odd way of saying words with an “o” in them. In this case, the “ou” in “mountain” sounds more like a long “a,” but only for a split second, producing a very strange vowel indeed. Just one of Clay’s lovable quirks… “It reaches to the highest mountain. It flows to the lowest valley. The blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power.”
Go the Distance - When I first saw that Clay sang this song, I was psyched because I think the theme song from Hercules is one of the prettiest in the recent Disney canon. I was really looking forward to hearing him sing it, so I was disappointed to discover that this was a totally different song that happened to have the same title. I still like the Hercules song better, but this one is also good. It’s a Christian song about how Christ was willing to go the distance for all his people, so we should be too. It encourages Christians to get out there and accept the Great Commission. “Even though I could choose the path of least resistance, Father, I will take the cross. I will go the distance.”
In Not Of - This song is mainly saying the same thing as the last song, but I don’t think it’s as successful. It just doesn’t appeal to me much for some reason, and I would list it as my least favorite Clay track. The instrumentation is heavy on the electric guitar and isn’t terribly melodic, and the message goes against itself and winds up sounding very sanctimonious – at least in my opinion. The idea is that Christians should not shield themselves from the rest of the world but should immerse themselves in it, embracing sinners and bringing them to Christ. I’m not sure why, but it just comes across to me as much too high-and-mighty – we’re too good for the rest of the world but lets try to save them from themselves. Or maybe it’s just me. It’s probably time I listened to it a couple more times… “Come take the Light to darker parts. Share His truth with hardened hearts. We are not like the world, but we can love it.”
Love of My Life - A very romantic Christian love song which Clay sings with passion. It’s hard to believe from all these songs that Clay has never been in a really serious romantic relationship. You wouldn’t know it from how he performs tunes like this. A beautiful number, with lots of poetic lyrics. “Now here we are, midnight closin’ in. Take my hand as our shadows dance with moonlight on your skin.”
Open Arms - I saved the best for last. This is the one that made me a certified Clayniac. And the weird thing is, I missed the beginning of his performance! I was very upset that I had missed part of it, but I came in during the middle of the chorus and my jaw dropped. He just floored me with this song, and I spent the next three weeks trying to get a clip of it. I would up finding the demo before I found the live performance. While I think the live performance of DLTSGDOM is better than the studio version, I think the studio version of Open Arms exceeds the live version, much as that impressed me. I mentioned that the Righteous Brothers had a perfect recording with Unchained Melody, and the same was the case with Simon and Garfunkel and Bridge Over Troubled Water. Bummer for Clay as these were his closing showstoppers of the second-to-last and last Tuesday on the show, but he did as well as he possibly could have. In this case, I believe Clay’s recording is the perfect one, improving upon the original. It sends shivers up my spine. The dynamic variation on this track is impressive; he starts out very quiet and works his way up to the chorus gradually. The first verse is rather quiet and melancholy, the second more pure anguish. It has the sort of dynamics that contributed so much to the success of the original version of Bridge. The instrumentation goes perfectly with his voice and the dynamics of the song, and it all comes together for a stunning performance. I get chills every time I hear him slide from the end of the first verse into the chorus. Absolutely masterful. My only complaint? That darn pronunciation again. I just can’t figure out what he’s doing with the word “nothing” in the chorus. It sounds like “wanting” to me, and I really, try as I might, can’t get it to sound like “nothing.” But it’s only a second long, and easy to overlook given the high quality of this track overall. I play this song more than any other of Clay’s. Well done. “We sailed on together, we drifted apart. Now here you are by my side. So now I come to you with open arms, nothing to hide. Believe what I say.”
Believe what I say, you will be missing out if you don’t give some of these tracks a try. I wish I could purchase his demo albums legitimately, but until that is a viable option (and I’m sorry, I’m not paying $200 for a copy on E-Bay) I am grateful to have access to these recordings. They are worth listening to over and over, and they prove that Clay was a star long before American Idol.
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
The Sun Won't Be Going Down on Elton for a Long Time
I haven’t always been a huge Elton John fan, but I started to develop an appreciation for his music around the time The Lion King
came out. We had several of his records, and I no doubt had listened to
them at some point, but it was really Disney that turned me on to Elton
John. Well, and my brother Benjamin. He was, at one point, just as
obsessed with Elton John as I am with Simon and Garfunkel – though he’ll
deny it heartily now - so we listened to a lot of Elton around out
house. This Greatest Hits album contains most of my favorite songs of his, other than
those from The Lion King, of course.
Your Song - I just learned that this was Elton’s first big hit. It was the first Elton song my dad ever heard (back when it first hit the US airwaves), and it was the first Elton song Benjamin learned to play on his guitar. This beautiful love song features gorgeous piano accompaniment and tender lyrics, showing a man who is deeply in love and struggling for the adequate means to express his affection. “I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do. My gift is my song, and this one’s for you… I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words how wonderful life is while you’re in the world.” I don’t know about her, but I don’t mind at all!
Daniel - This song seems to have a touch of a calypso feel to it. It’s a very nice song, a tribute to the speaker’s older brother who is “travelin’ tonight on a plane,” and he is sorry to see him go. “I miss Daniel, oh I miss him so much.” I’ve also heard Anne Murray do a nice cover of this song.
Honky Cat - This one is upbeat and rather raucous, with Elton really tearing up the keyboard. It’s the tale of a young man from out in the country looking for a new life in the city despite being discouraged from this course of action by everyone he knows. “They said get back honky cat, better get back to the woods. Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways and, oh, the change is gonna do me good.”
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Really great, dynamic song, sorta the opposite of Honky Cat in that this is a guy fed up with the cynicism of big city life and looking for an escape to a simpler way of living. “So goodbye yellow brick road where the dogs of society howl. You can’t plant me in your penthouse. I’m going back to my plough. Back to the howling old owl in the woods, hunting the horny back toad. Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies beyond the yellow brick road.” His wistful, high-pitched “ah-ah-ah”s leading into and out of the chorus add an especially nice touch to the song. His upper register gets a good workout on this song, and he sounds just as great on the high notes as on the lower ones.
Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting - The loudest song on the album, he’s half-screaming throughout. He’s a young guy full of energy looking for a release now that it’s the weekend. He’s going to get himself good and drunk and make as much trouble as possible. “It’s 7:00 and I wanna rock, wanna get a belly full of beer.”
Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long Long Time - Elton goes astronomical with this pensive soliloquy by an astronaut missing his family as he’s hurtling through space. At least I’ve always taken it at face value; I suppose he could be speaking metaphorically. Either way, it’s a nice song. “I think it’s gonna be a long, long time till touch-down brings me ‘round again to find I’m not the man they think I am at home.”
Bennie and the Jets - A slower song, but not pretty; it’s a hip tune where he pounds out the chords with acute articulation. A song about going to see a rock band. For some reason I thought for years that it was about baseball; who knows where I got that idea? “Oh but they're weird and they're wonderful. Oh, Bennie, she's really keen. She's got electric boots a mohair suit. You know I read it in a magazine.”
Candle in the Wind - A really beautiful song, though also with an axe to grind. I actually prefer the tribute to Princess Diana with its gentle lyrics, elegant piano, and swooping violins, not to mention the depth of emotion apparent in Elton’s vocals. But this original hit, a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, is a great song. While he sings of his admiration for her (“I would have liked to have loved you, but I was just a kid. Your candle burned out long before your legend ever did.”), he spends a majority of the time focusing on how she was misunderstood and abused. “Even when you died, oh, the press still hounded you. All the papers had to say was that Marilyn was found in the nude.” The electric guitar adds a harsh tone that underscores the lyrics.
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me - I’ve always liked this song, but since it was the song that won Clay Aiken the popular vote in American Idol’s Wild Card show and turned him from an underdog to a teen idol, it’s become one of my very favorite Elton tunes. In my opinion, Clay’s live version of the song, that segment anyway, exceeds even Elton John’s vocals. Definitely one of his finest moments on the show… but I digress. Elton sounds fantastic on this pleading love song, and I love the piano introduction. It’s a dynamic song, starting off rather quiet and building up to the chorus with increased intensity. Some really nice lyrics too. “I can’t light no more of your darkness. All my pictures seem to fade to black and white. I’m growin’ tired, and time stands still before me, frozen here on the ladder of my life.”
Border Song - A slow, rather mournful-sounding song. The speaker is tired of all the prejudice and injustice in the world and just wants to see some peace. “Holy Moses, I have been deceived. Holy Moses, let us live in peace. Let us strive to find a way to make all hatred cease.”
Crocodile Rock - One of Elton’s most enjoyable songs, it is very upbeat and recalls a time when life and music were both a little simpler. It’s nostalgic and, though there is some mourning the loss of the way things were, it focuses on the joy of those memories rather than the loss. Reminds me a bit of American Pie in its yearning for an earlier time in musical history. Very fun song. “Croc rockin’ was somethin’ shockin’ when your feet just can’t keep still. I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will.” I always get a kick out of singing along with his “la la la”s on the chorus, though I always wind up sounding like Charlie Brown’s teacher, much to the annoyance of my brother…
Well, that’s it for Elton. These are only a few of his big hits, of course, but it’s a very good representation of his best work. Great for long-time fans or those just looking to see what this pop star with the funny glasses is all about.
Your Song - I just learned that this was Elton’s first big hit. It was the first Elton song my dad ever heard (back when it first hit the US airwaves), and it was the first Elton song Benjamin learned to play on his guitar. This beautiful love song features gorgeous piano accompaniment and tender lyrics, showing a man who is deeply in love and struggling for the adequate means to express his affection. “I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do. My gift is my song, and this one’s for you… I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words how wonderful life is while you’re in the world.” I don’t know about her, but I don’t mind at all!
Daniel - This song seems to have a touch of a calypso feel to it. It’s a very nice song, a tribute to the speaker’s older brother who is “travelin’ tonight on a plane,” and he is sorry to see him go. “I miss Daniel, oh I miss him so much.” I’ve also heard Anne Murray do a nice cover of this song.
Honky Cat - This one is upbeat and rather raucous, with Elton really tearing up the keyboard. It’s the tale of a young man from out in the country looking for a new life in the city despite being discouraged from this course of action by everyone he knows. “They said get back honky cat, better get back to the woods. Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways and, oh, the change is gonna do me good.”
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Really great, dynamic song, sorta the opposite of Honky Cat in that this is a guy fed up with the cynicism of big city life and looking for an escape to a simpler way of living. “So goodbye yellow brick road where the dogs of society howl. You can’t plant me in your penthouse. I’m going back to my plough. Back to the howling old owl in the woods, hunting the horny back toad. Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies beyond the yellow brick road.” His wistful, high-pitched “ah-ah-ah”s leading into and out of the chorus add an especially nice touch to the song. His upper register gets a good workout on this song, and he sounds just as great on the high notes as on the lower ones.
Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting - The loudest song on the album, he’s half-screaming throughout. He’s a young guy full of energy looking for a release now that it’s the weekend. He’s going to get himself good and drunk and make as much trouble as possible. “It’s 7:00 and I wanna rock, wanna get a belly full of beer.”
Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long Long Time - Elton goes astronomical with this pensive soliloquy by an astronaut missing his family as he’s hurtling through space. At least I’ve always taken it at face value; I suppose he could be speaking metaphorically. Either way, it’s a nice song. “I think it’s gonna be a long, long time till touch-down brings me ‘round again to find I’m not the man they think I am at home.”
Bennie and the Jets - A slower song, but not pretty; it’s a hip tune where he pounds out the chords with acute articulation. A song about going to see a rock band. For some reason I thought for years that it was about baseball; who knows where I got that idea? “Oh but they're weird and they're wonderful. Oh, Bennie, she's really keen. She's got electric boots a mohair suit. You know I read it in a magazine.”
Candle in the Wind - A really beautiful song, though also with an axe to grind. I actually prefer the tribute to Princess Diana with its gentle lyrics, elegant piano, and swooping violins, not to mention the depth of emotion apparent in Elton’s vocals. But this original hit, a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, is a great song. While he sings of his admiration for her (“I would have liked to have loved you, but I was just a kid. Your candle burned out long before your legend ever did.”), he spends a majority of the time focusing on how she was misunderstood and abused. “Even when you died, oh, the press still hounded you. All the papers had to say was that Marilyn was found in the nude.” The electric guitar adds a harsh tone that underscores the lyrics.
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me - I’ve always liked this song, but since it was the song that won Clay Aiken the popular vote in American Idol’s Wild Card show and turned him from an underdog to a teen idol, it’s become one of my very favorite Elton tunes. In my opinion, Clay’s live version of the song, that segment anyway, exceeds even Elton John’s vocals. Definitely one of his finest moments on the show… but I digress. Elton sounds fantastic on this pleading love song, and I love the piano introduction. It’s a dynamic song, starting off rather quiet and building up to the chorus with increased intensity. Some really nice lyrics too. “I can’t light no more of your darkness. All my pictures seem to fade to black and white. I’m growin’ tired, and time stands still before me, frozen here on the ladder of my life.”
Border Song - A slow, rather mournful-sounding song. The speaker is tired of all the prejudice and injustice in the world and just wants to see some peace. “Holy Moses, I have been deceived. Holy Moses, let us live in peace. Let us strive to find a way to make all hatred cease.”
Crocodile Rock - One of Elton’s most enjoyable songs, it is very upbeat and recalls a time when life and music were both a little simpler. It’s nostalgic and, though there is some mourning the loss of the way things were, it focuses on the joy of those memories rather than the loss. Reminds me a bit of American Pie in its yearning for an earlier time in musical history. Very fun song. “Croc rockin’ was somethin’ shockin’ when your feet just can’t keep still. I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will.” I always get a kick out of singing along with his “la la la”s on the chorus, though I always wind up sounding like Charlie Brown’s teacher, much to the annoyance of my brother…
Well, that’s it for Elton. These are only a few of his big hits, of course, but it’s a very good representation of his best work. Great for long-time fans or those just looking to see what this pop star with the funny glasses is all about.
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