Sunday, May 13, 2007

Sunday Videoblogging: FOW

Sweet!



I liked Demetri Martin on The Daily Show.

And one for all those mothers out there!



UPDATE: trifecta beat me to it!

12 comments:

steve simels said...

The "Someone to Love" video is just wonderful.

I don't think I've ever seen a better dressed band.

And Beth McKenzie is pretty much my ultimate fantasy girl. Total shiksa goddess.

Is it just me, or does "Seth Shapiro and Beth McKenzie" have a "Terry and Julie"/"Waterloo Sunset" vibe?

I think what I'm trying to say is that Adam Schlesinger is a fricking genius.

Thanks, NYMary!!!!

NYMary said...

I would argue that the Seth/Beth thing is intended to demonstrate the inevitable, but tragically missed, convergence.

I actually think the appropriate pre-text is "Eleanor Rigby."

steve simels said...

I actually think the appropriate pre-text is "Eleanor Rigby."

Hmm. Interesting.

Meanwhile, I just love the way AS is dressed. Also, I heartily approve of drummers wearing skinny striped shirts.

Anonymous said...

Hey Steve—

I don't have the transcript here but I seem to recall A. Schlesinger actually name-checking "Rigby" when I interviewed him.

Glad to see you blogging. It's the wave of the future, you know.

GK

steve simels said...

glennk said...
Hey Steve—

I don't have the transcript here but I seem to recall A. Schlesinger actually name-checking "Rigby" when I interviewed him.

Glad to see you blogging. It's the wave of the future, you know.

GK

5/13/2007 10:29 PM


Dude!

Wave of the future indeed.
:-)

Anonymous said...

Ana Ng.

Anonymous said...

Re "Someone to Love": I don't hear much of "Eleanor Rigby," since that maudlin song explicitly directs you to pity the losers depicted. They never had a chance, especially since the lyricist has stacked the deck. But StL hints that a bit of good fortune might be just around the corner. The music's certainly upbeat enough.

"Waterloo Sunset" doesn't quite fit either, as it's more about the narrator, who reveals more of himself than he seems to realize, than about Terry and Julie. It's first person, and he only knows T&J through observation and speculation. The StL narrator is more 3rd person omniscient. How does he know all these details of Seth's and Beth's very private lives? You have to stretch to read the narrator's personality

I was reminded of They Might be Giants' "Ana Ng." The singer and Ana "haven't walked in the glow of each other's majestic presence." Indeed, the closest he's ever gotten to her was a warm bench he sat on at the '64 World's Fair. He's not even sure she's the one who left it warm. But he seems confident that serendipity might strike at any moment.

Anonymous said...

The 12:40 comment was mine (Didja guess?)

--Space

Anonymous said...

Bizarre--I came here from Eschaton, where Thers had posted about the Eleanor Rigby/Waterloo Sunset blood feud cage match.

I commented before reading any of the other responses, never dreaming that anyone else would drag Ana Ng all the way from Vietnam for the discussion.

Then I see underwhelm right before me, much terser. We're onto something.

--Space

Anonymous said...

I'm glad Space could articulate why Ana Ng is an apt precursor to the song in question. I was about to drift off to sleep as I made the connection, so I couldn't really explain why I thought the relation was better than with Elanor Rigby (and I've never heard Waterloo Sunset).

Besides the thematic similarity, listen for the hard guitar that opens Ana Ng and comes in after 4 bars in Someone to Love.

I also have little doubt FoW and TMBG have influenced one another, being geographical and chronological contemporaries.

Anonymous said...

underwhelm--steve simels might well bust a gasket reading that you've not heard "Waterloo Sunset." If you want a good anthology of their '66 to '70 output, I much recommend "The Kinks Kronikles." But then you'll want all the original albums.

Here are a few you might want to look up, in my personal order of preference:
The Village Green Preservation Society
Something Else
Face to Face
Muswell Hillbillies (not represented on Kronikles)

Happy listening--you won't regret it

--Space

Anonymous said...

For some reason, I have trouble commenting from work, but I will take GlennK's assertion as proof that I am right and simels owes me some sort of present.
--NYMary