This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Funny thing, what he says doesn't matter. He rants, he raves and we both can do it really. I agree with tarnok, here. I just saw the video on the GNN website, it is a slick infusion of rhymes and animation but it only goes so far. This imagery of young people donning black hoodies and rampaging a state building to sign up to vote is completely and wholly unrealistic. Gore Vidal said it best, he voiced that Democrats and Republicans are really two wings of the same party. If the above scenarios were realistic, every black-hooded person would write Eminem in on the ballot and neither candidate would be elected. Even if you crowd up all the young people to vote in Eminem, you could never amass the popular voting power of their elders (parents and grandparents) because they outnumber my generation twofold. Bush and Kerry would still win the presidency. The ones who are truly in charge, the ones who are truly threatened, would make sure every bit zealotry that is taken as truth by the masses would be vanquished before its taken on as an axiom in the arena of common sense. It's common sense that anybody who is elevated to a position of popularity will surely turn out like their successors. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and with human nature being what it is (social for survival unless egged on into conflict), I guarantee you Eminem would make a fabulous addition to that long list of political failures much like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Jesse Ventura, Harry Truman, Elizabeth I, etc. I foresee Schwarzenegger and Affleck becoming additions to that list.
The point is this: songs like this bring out false hope and this is another song that falls on that false hope list. They are unrealistic and only for the moment. They don't offer a method for curing human nature. If you want a truthful song about politics, "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who is maybe the best example that comes to mind about the perpetual state of politics and human nature. That's true mood music if you want my opinion on the subject. Eminem's deceiving himself, there is no way around the power-hungry aspect of human nature. I am liberal in my heart but I'm both a realist and a liberal in my head, I'm torn like that.
If this essay is removed from the boards, I sincerely apologize for torquing anybody off but I think it had to be said.