Music thread

It’s a shame that if it wasn’t for the “allegations” that he physically abused his second wife Daryl Hannah, Jackson Browne would be a more famous and respected artist today, like a lite Bruce Springsteen

@Myoozik
I didn’t know about the allegations. I thought he just wasn’t as popular because life isn’t fair. Although I still hear songs of his on the radio, like “Running on Empty” and “Somebody’s Baby.”

@TheHappySpaceman
Yeah, his second wife Daryl Hannah accused him of abusing her in the late 80’s and it did a number to his career even though we don’t know if these allegations are true or not. Maybe he did or maybe she faked it but regardless, his time as a musician was up. It’s a shame cause I could’ve seen him surviving into the 90’s since Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Eddie Money and Bruce Springsteen all had hits in that decade so I could’ve seen Jackson Browne joining them and lasting for another couple of years.

Are there any songs that you have a… complicated relationship with?

One example for me is “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits. The guitar playing in the song is great and the synth and drums buildup in the intro is god-tier, plus I do love the song’s overall message, making fun of the idiots who think that music isn’t real work or a “real job” and think that being a musician is all fun and no struggle. But the bigoted lyrics from the narrator, dropping the F-slur in the second verse and racist lines in the third, make it a complicated one to listen to. (The bigotry is all intentional, of course, since again, the song is making fun of those types of schmucks who think that way, but it’s not one I’d play around other people, you know?)

@TheHappySpaceman
“Dazed and Confused” by Led Zeppelin.

I found evidence on the family computer that my mom was having an affair. So I biked down to where my dad worked to talk to him about it. My iPod was on shuffle, and I was partway through “Dazed and Confused” when I got there. I still have a hard time listening to it.

But as I was laying on the grass, wondering what the future had in store, “Hey Jude” came on, as if to say that everything was going to be okay.

@DerpyFast
Damn, that’s quite a personal story. Sorry to hear about your family. :(

@TheHappySpaceman
Life’s a Highway. When I worked at a grocery store for three years I would hear that song nearly every day. Sometimes up to three or four times a day.
It’s ruined now. I used to like it. It was never a favorite or anything, but it was okay, and I liked Cars just fine. Now I can’t stand to listen to it. I can’t watch Cars.
Also Shinedown’s cover of Simple Man makes me want to commit violence. I was so sick of having to hear that terrible cover every day.

Whoever is responsible for that goddamn playlist,

´+´+,

@TheHappySpaceman
Thanks. It was almost 13 years ago; a pretty dark time all around. Things have gotten much better since.

@Dex Stewart
Which version of “Life Is a Highway”? The (superior IMO) original by Tom Cochrane, or the Rascal Flatts cover?

@DerpyFast
hug

Now that Running Up That Hill is back in the Top 10 on Billboard thanks to Stranger Things reviving it, I predict that Todd’s next One Hit Wonderland is “Do You Love Me” by The Contours cause that song was released in 1962 but it got revived in 1988 thanks to it being on Dirty Dancing

@Myoozik
That would be an interesting one to talk about. I wonder if there are any other one-hit wonders that are like that, old but revived thanks to being featured in a popular piece of media.

@TheHappySpaceman
I don’t know if complicated is the right word, but I do have some feelings towards Every Breath You Take by The Police.

It’s a song that’s widely considered not just an 80’s classic, but one of the greatest hit songs of all time that’s still beloved to this day, and I just don’t get it. I think it’s one of the worst number one hits ever and the worst out of The Police’s entire discography, I really don’t understand the song’s appeal. It’s too lowkey to be fun and catchy, it’s too uptempo to be romantic, the lyrics are creepy as all where unlike other similar songs like Right Here Waiting, it doesn’t sound like it’s trying to be romantic and Sting just sounds bored out of his mind singing it. The lyrics to Don’t Stand So Close To Me are also questionable, but at least they’re straightforward with its message. It’s also telling that even Sting himself doesn’t like the song that much nowadays. It’s a damn shame that this is their only number one hit and their most well known when they have much better hits beforehand and from that same album like King Of Pain. I’d go as far and say that Puff Daddy’s sampling of it in I’ll Be Missing You is better.

Don’t know if this answers that question but I just thought I’d share it

I know you weren’t responding to me but I’d like to say aren’t most hits terrible? This is pretty much how I feel about a lot of hit songs. I’ve seen lots of music videos from songs that were big in the 80s, some of which are still remembered today and others which are pretty much forgotten, and just about all of them are shit. I don’t understand today’s music (I stopped understanding it when I was a young teenager), but the music from the 70s and 80s, particularly the popular music, was not much better. Every Breath you Take isn’t a great song but it’s not one of the best songs of all time.

Usually when I listen to an artist after hearing their biggest hits, I tend to forget about those hits since they usually aren’t the best songs. Take Kansas for example. Carry on Wayward Son is a decent but overrated song, but if I told all of you my top 10 Kansas songs, it wouldn’t be on the list. I remember listening to Rosanna and Africa by Toto for the first time and thought those songs were okay, but almost every song off Toto’s debut album is better than those two.

@TheHappySpaceman
Bohemian Rhapsody, for all the same reasons except it’s actually a good song, but it’s not the greatest song ever and I always found it overrated and some parts of the song are cringe, but a lot of Queen songs have terrible lyrics.

@angryprogrockbrony
As someone who does listen to hit music, both old and new, my answer to that question is no

I don’t think so - although i find some occasions where a album cut was better than the hits from the same album, that doesn’t mean the hits are exactly wack.

But it’s all a matter of taste. Some might prefer the hits better.

@Mildgyth
I appreciate hits, but I’m also a “deeper cut” kind of person. There’s beauty and enjoyment in just about any track on an album!

What a surprise a new In Flames song dropped this morning

@Mellow Rhythm
What about the hits?

Yeah I’ve been a deep cuts kind of person for many years. Not all hits are terrible (though like I said a lot of them, particularly pop hits, are bad) but they usually aren’t my favorites. I like to listen to entire albums (studio albums, not live albums or compilation albums) and a lot of times my favorite song on an album will usually be a deep cut (though there are a few exceptions).

I tried listening to new, popular music in the past but could never get into it, probably because I’ve heard too much good music. How popular an artist is or how they look does not matter to me. Only their music does.

@Myoozik
Them too, obviously

@Mellow Rhythm
Alright good

@Myoozik
I think Sting has even said it wasn’t supposed to be romantic and was in fact intended to be creepy, but with the major chord progression you wouldn’t know it.

@angryprogrockbrony
From your recent messages, it seems as though you find a lot of things people like overrated.

@TheHappySpaceman
True. But that doesn’t mean it’s all bad (though some of it is). It just gets more praise and credit than it deserves.

@TheHappySpaceman
Eh, still doesn’t make the song any less terrible