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Inspired by the tail-end of the tail-end of the Bad Lyric Planet thread, and to head off such threadrot as was occurring, I thought it might be an idea to open up a debate about Sandi Thom.
I know that there's a great deal of dislike for her. I think I understand why, more than the simple question of "what the hell does she think she's banging on about?"
So, as a preamble, I offer the fact that I get captured by bad songs. Really. They take hold of my brain for whiles at a time; whenever I meet some friends we still reminisce about Middlerow's "Right Proper Charlie", proto-cockney-rap of the worst order, and if we're badly drunk, then the talk may turn to "Me Julie", by Ali G featuring Shaggy. But I shudder to recall that particular effort.
With my background in being captured and captivated by Really Bad Songs, it came as no surprise that Ms Thom's effort occupied my head for about a week before I could shake it off. Still, however, I'm stuck with the problematic statement; "It wasn't that bad, surely?"
To be fair, it's mainly what Legba Rex said at the current end of the thread that intrigued me;
"Songs like this one just occupy negative space. It's not a good song about good things, it's a song about how someone thinks there aren't good things.
And, fortunately or unfortunately depending on your viewpoint, I was then spurred on to contemplating this further. But I didn't want to derail or threadrot the previous Bad Lyrics thread, so, here we are...
On the face of it, Sandi Thom's story does have some mild interest to it. She's a graduate of LIPA, and the story goes that she was signed to "Viking Legacy" by an "Orkney-Based Multi-Millionaire", and also signed up with "Windswept Records", who have some interesting talent on their books.
So far, so Wikipedia. The problem may be that this song stayed in the background from July 2005, when it was apparently played by Johnny Walker and many emailed in to ask for it to be played again. That means that instead of being an interesting new release, it is in fact a fairly normal release/re-release pattern. This in turn throws the entire "Small-time girl makes it big via webcast" relatively into a cocked hat.
See, that's why I wanted to like her. I genuinely love supporting underdogs; for instance, a year ago Tamara Schlesinger self-released an album that was perfectly poppy from her own record label. Since then, not so much going on at Tantrum Records. But with Sandi Thom, there's this element of doubt regarding the veracity of her credentials, and when the boss of RCA steps in you have to wonder about the staged nature of the entire thing. I've been cynical about the Music Industry ever since I stopped reading NME, but there's always a little part of me that wants to believe in the idea of the non-manufactured underdog doing good, and that part might now be irrevocably dashed.
Anyway. Thanks to Legba for the inspiration; I would like to have a go at deconstructing the lyrics, just of the chorus for now, as they stand.
"Oh I wish I was a punk rocker, with flowers in my hair"
Do you really, Sandi? Or is it just a longing to be something different, and this latching onto the idea that punks and hippies and the late sixties/early seventies were somehow cooler than the Noughties?
"In 77 and 69 revolution was in the air"
Well now.
1969; selected events include;
-Open University founded by Jennie Lee
-Maritime Trust "Historic Ship Collection" established on the Thames
-Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle
-British troops sent to Northern Ireland to keep the peace
-and London gangsters the Kray twins sentenced to life.
The Who released Tommy and Led Zeppelin released their self-titled debut album.
Selected news of 1977 includes:
-The Launching of Soyuz 24
-EMI sacking the Sex Pistols
-Hay-on-Wye declaring independence
-The United States Senate hearing on MKULTRA
-Talking Heads release their debut album
-and Nintendo creating Color TV Game 6.
Not greatly or massively revolutionary, even if that's not the greatest sampling of two entire years. But, I'll let you off, Ms Thom, for trying to half-heartedly and ham-fistedly evoke a different, more innocent era, where you could leave your doors unlocked and everyone knew each other.
"I was born too late into a world that doesn't care"
Now, this is the even more half-hearted invocation. It's not that the world doesn't care any more. The eighties, for all the cocaine-and-braces, didn't suddenly make people's hearts hard. The nineties didn't turn us all into automatons, unfeeling and uncaring toiling machines in the state's cogs. People are still people the world over; some are full of love and the desire to help, and some are not. It's not that they don't care, it's just that... Lord, stop me before I descend any further.
"Oh, I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair"
Be fair now. This is the line that people hate the most, in my experience. Some say, very simply, that Punk Rockers didn't wear flowers in their hair, and this is a very valid criticism. Or maybe a slapdash attempt at a koan. Again, with the half-hearted invocation; if you'd just written a song called "I wish it was twenty years ago / before music became boring like it is now / and the world was different somehow / but I'm too young to know about this romanticised age" then it might not have sold, but at least it would have been more true.
I'm not sure I've articulated quite why Sandi Thom has the potential to annoy me so greatly. I think this might have come off more as a Reader's Submission to Melody Maker, but my question is; without going too far into expletives, and with a little more definition than "well, she's just ballacks, isn't she?", what is it precisely that people find so, so, truly irritating about "Oh, I wish I was a punk rocker..."?
In closing - if this was a genuine 'underdog makes good with a little bit of ingenuity and pluck' story, then I personally would have a bit more sympathy. But it's not - or if it is, the record company have seriously ballsed the PR. So I don't hate the song, or the artist, for the lyrics; I just don't like the falseness of it, the disingenuity behind persuading the entire listening public that if you hold concerts in your cellar, then people will come to listen... Anyone else have any thoughts? |
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