This Is, Indeed, a Disco

[steelbrassnwood]

This ain't no disco? Oh really? That Talking Heads lyric was always misquoted (as David Byrne complains in his new book) but from the look of the charts, this is, indeed, a disco. The two biggest hits of the summer (certainly my two favorites) are straight-up, unashamed, and wonderful disco songs.

Daft Punk already has my vote for album of the

Comments

[queencallipygos]

I'd be more comfortable if "Blurred Lines"' lyrics weren't so....skeezy.

Although, I first heard it back in May when I was in Rome and couldn't sleep and the only thing on Italian TV that wasn't entirely in Italian with no subtitles was MTV, and that was showing the same four or five videos nearly continuously - something by Pink, some weird Italian song that I think was about door-to-door book salesmen, "Blurred Lines", and Macklemore's Thrift Shop, which just blew them all out of the water; so fortunately every time I hear "Blurred Lines" it reminds me of "Thrift Shop" and I get all happy.

[steelbrassnwood]

Yes, it's definitely a creepy song lyrically. But so are many great hit singles, from "Every Breath You Take" to Tina Turner singing "I'm Yours (Use Me Anyway You Wanna)" with Ike. For me, if the hook can't get to me before I know what the lyrics are saying, it's probably not a hit single.

Oh and maybe the creepiest single all time? "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)," which was co-written by Carole King for Phil Spector in the 1960s.

[queencallipygos]

Yeah, but Sting meant for "Every Breath You Take" to be creepy, and actually thinks it's completely bizarre so many people don't get that. Whereas Robin Thicke, when challenged about how "Blurred Lines" is kind of objectifying, pretty much said, "well, yeah, of course it is" and didn't really think anything was wrong with that. He even joked that he and Pharrell were happily married men and thus they "deserved" to objectify women because they'd been such good boys up to this point.

I do tend to focus on the words more anyway, so this may just be me. And I did find that clip where Jimmy Fallon and the Roots playing "blurred Lines" on kids' toy instruments to be strangely adorable (maybe it's because Jimmy covers up Robin Thicke's mouth on the line "you're the hottest [blank] in this place".

[steelbrassnwood]

Well, yeah, that's not OK. I don't like that attitude, or that line. If lyrical quality (or even lyrical non-piggishness) were a criterion for enjoying pop music, we'd have to get rid of a lot of great songs, but yes, I do have to agree that the song would be more enjoyable with less "skeezy" lyrics.

[harrietbrown]

I never heard "Blurred Lines" until Stephen Colbert did the send-up of the song on his show. Then I followed the link to the Vimeo video, and I was ... disappointed. The song is cute, but I'm not comfortable with the message, or the way it's conveyed. Yeah, I know, I'm a crusty old stick-in-the-mud feminist.

I'm not alone, though. A number of feminist bloggers have been writing articles about it. Some are in favor of it, some aren't. One thing's for sure, it doesn't matter if the song has staying power or not; everyone's going to remember the video.

Me, I have a weakness for Macklemore & Lewis.

[steelbrassnwood]

See above -- definitely a creepy song lyrically. I haven't seen the video, or the Colbert thing, but I've seen the Roots doing the cute acoustic version with some other tv personality, which was fun.

[harrietbrown]

This one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOZjaqHioro

I agree, it's cute. I have a feeling I'm going to end up liking this song against my better judgment. I had a college professor (Royal Brown, actually, now a noted cinema historian) who said that one shouldn't apply moral judgments to art.

[steelbrassnwood]

I judge artists morally, but art can't be judged morally because it has no volition. In any case, pop music doesn't hold up under too much thinking.