Monthly Archives: August 2009

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Song of the Day #398: ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ – Tears for Fears

tearsforfears20 Best Songs of the 80s – #8

I have a half-baked theory that it takes three great songs to make a great album. Not three pretty good songs, but three really great ones. The realization goes something like this… “Does [ALBUM NAME] have [SONG A]? Cool. Oh, [SONG B] too? That’s a really good one. Wait… it has [SONG C]? Really? Damn, that’s a great album.” Doesn’t really matter what else is on it.

So by that standard, Tears for Fears’ Songs from the Big Chair (1985) is a great album. ‘Shout,’ ‘Head Over Heels’ and ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ are three truly great songs (‘The Working Hour,’ ‘Mothers Talk’ and ‘I Believe’ ain’t shabby, either). If I were to make a list of the best albums of the 80s, this one would be high on that list.

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Song of the Day #397: ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ – Crowded House

crowdedhouse20 Best Songs of the 80s – #9

If I was organizing this list by quality, this song would most likely occupy the first or second spot. In fact, its quality has pushed it up the list to #9 as it is because I don’t have any specific memories of ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ — it’s just a tune I love that happens to belong very much to the 80s.

I’ve always felt that I should make an effort to better know Crowded House and lead singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Finn was an early pop rock singer-songwriter in the vein of so many artists I like, from Elvis Costello to Josh Rouse. But I’ve managed to never own one of his or their albums… too much music, not enough time.

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Song of the Day #396: ‘Our Lips are Sealed’ – Go-Go’s

go-gos20 Best Songs of the 80s – #10

As Amy mentioned on the first day of this 80s theme month, it’s easy to know some of these songs like the back of your hand without having any idea what they’re about.

I’ve loved this song since it first came out (in 1981) but until five minutes ago when I looked up the lyrics to paste them below, I had no idea what it was about. Belinda Carlisle may as well have been singing in French for all I’ve cared about the lyrical content of this song. Incidentally, this is the same sort of experience that makes some foreign language songs just as appealing as songs sung in English. How is a Shakira song in Spanish any different from a Go-Go’s song in English that I don’t bother to register in any meaningful way?

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Inglourious Basterds

basterds[Note: If you have any intention of seeing Inglourious Basterds, I recommend you do so before reading this review. I will avoid major spoilers but it’s best to go in knowing absolutely nothing about the film.]

Inglourious Basterds is the first Quentin Tarantino movie I’ve gone into with relatively low expectations. And perhaps that is part of the reason I consider it, after my first viewing, to be right up there with his very best work. I was surprised by this film in a way that reminded me of my dizzy, ecstatic reaction after first seeing Pulp Fiction 15 years ago.

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Song of the Day #395: ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ – The Supremes

suphurryIt’s fitting that ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ makes an appearance in the middle of my 80s countdown, as my first experience of the song came through Phil Collins’ 1982 cover version. I was vaguely aware that the tune wasn’t his, but I didn’t know the classic Supremes’ version at all.

It’s funny how many of these old Motown songs (particularly Supremes songs) were covered in the 80s. I think cover versions were to that era what sampling is to the 90s and 00s. These days you don’t see many artists straight up covering old songs, but you hear plenty of beats and melodies of old songs showing up piecemeal in new ones.

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