Some Songs Considered - Posts Tagged 'David Bowie'

February 4, 2010

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“Across the Universe” – David Bowie
(Words/music: John Lennon & Paul McCartney, available on Young Americans, Virgin 1975)

The Beatles’ recording of “Across the Universe,” recorded primarily on February 4, 1968, gradually unfolds itself and lets subtle layers of strings and harmonies roll out as the song progresses. It’s appropriate, given both the song’s famous opening line and the way John Lennon described the song “flowing” into him one night in bed. With its Sanskrit mantra mixed in, “Across the Universe” thrives on this circular interconnectivity on both the lyrical and musical level.

All this makes David Bowie’s version a little stranger. Where Lennon’s performance flows effortlessly, Bowie’s version lags. Anchored by a strong backbeat, the rest of the song feels like it’s moving in slow motion – the harmonies are strained and stretched out and the guitar melodies expand past their original length. This isn’t a bad thing, either. In fact, a straight-ahead cover from Bowie would be boring and out of character. Instead, as it appears with the rest of the “plastic soul” Young Americans, Bowie’s universe feels slightly melted and warped and just slightly more irregular than Lennon’s perfect circle. However, even with slightly disjointed parts, Bowie’s version reaches a moment of connectivity as well when Lennon shows up and trades off vocals at the end. If Lennon’s original is a meditation, Bowie and Lennon’s trade off feels like resolution in the face of hardship. With disjointed pieces and all, it’s a reminder that sometimes inner peace comes from ourselves rather than our surroundings.

More on David Bowie: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

November 3, 2009

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“Smiley Faces” – Gnarls Barkley
(Words/music: Brian Burton & Thomas Callaway, available on St. Elsewhere, Atlantic 2006)

In 1976, David Bowie affectionately referred to his Young Americans album as “plastic soul.” It seems that Bowie used the term (originally used as a critique of Mick Jagger singing soul music) somewhat tongue-in-cheek, yet it seems an apt description. If soul often centers itself on the groove, Bowie took it as something pliable. His take stretches parts and bends other to his liking, creating a weirder version of the genre.

Regardless, I wouldn’t call Gnarls Barkley “plastic soul,” but rather “cartoon soul.” It seems almost too obvious of a label with Danger Mouse getting his name from a cartoon, the series of costumes the band wore during promo appearances, and the general Technicolor quality to the band’s albums and videos. Rather, I’m drawn to the larger-than-life qualities of cartoons and the abundance of wonder and imagination. Even “Smiley Faces,” one of the tracks on St. Elsewhere that isn’t crammed to the brim musically, feels elastic. Where some songs use a “walking” bassline, this one feels like the way a cartoon character struts down the street with long, bouncing strides. Cee-Lo’s voice fits this type of track perfectly, as he’s able to manipulate his voice without sacrificing its power or soul. For example, he can hold a note and bend it to his liking. It’s not that these notes feel unnatural nor is Cee-Lo the only vocalist with this skill. In this setting, it feels like a cartoon character fluidly shifting forms. His voice has the same freedom to move unconventionally rather than stay tied down to genre conventions. Even if the end result sounds like a snappy, soul-inspired piece of rock music, parts of it make it feel like it’s hand drawn, inked-over, and colored in to achieve something brighter and snappier than average.

More on Gnarls Barkley: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

October 24, 2009

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“Life on Mars?” – Seu Jorge
(Words/music: David Bowie, available on The Life Aquatic Sessions, Hollywood 2005)

The marriage of David Bowie’s songs and a Wes Anderson makes sense if only because of the shared weirdness between the two. So it’s appropriate that The Life Aquatic, probably Anderson’s strangest movie, featured a character that played David Bowie songs in Portuguese throughout the whole film. It was an interesting way to incorporate the soundtrack into the film’s plot (although there are a few excellent songs used traditionally, especially the Zombies’ “The Way I Feel Inside” among others). Still, these performances share the same critique as the film in general. To quote Moe Syzslak, much of the movie was “weird for the sake of being weird,” and having a character who spends most of his entire time on screen singing Bowie songs ~~without a single line of dialogue (it’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie, so correct me if I’m wrong~~ He does have a few lines of dialogue. Thanks for the tip, Andrew) feels excessively odd.

That being said, Seu Jorge’s performances are compelling, even on their own. Not knowing a word of Portuguese, I find that I’m shifting my attention away from the words and to the music itself, whether it’s Jorge’s distinctive vocal style (which often mimics Bowie’s fast delivery) or the beautifully replicated songs. It also strikes me how a lot of the songs still have the same emotional resonance without having words to understand. “Life on Mars” in particular feels bittersweet, suggesting the same feelings of loneliness without words to tell the story. Jorge’s interpretations stand as tributes to Bowie’s versatile songwriting, showing how his songs still stand up (and, on occasion, take on a new life) even with the narrative power of the lyrics stripped away.

More on Seu Jorge: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

May 15, 2009

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“All the Young Dudes” – Mott the Hoople
(Words/music: David Bowie, available on All the Young Dudes, Columbia 1972)

Mott the Hoople might have made “All the Young Dudes” famous, but David Bowie inhabits every part of the song. Bowie wrote the song and produced their album, so the similarities make sense. Still, every single part of the song, from the majestic guitar opening through the soaring choruses, bears Bowie’s trademark. Sonically, it reminds me of some of Bowie’s other slower paced tracks like “Five Years” or “Life on Mars.” All three songs move at a slow, almost half-time pace, and build to big, anthemic choruses. To his credit, Ian Hunter delivers the song as well as Bowie (he sings it live from time to time), even adding his own stamp to the song. Specifically, I like the way Hunter kind of cheers on the “crowd” during the chorus, addressing them in a series of jubilant spoken fragments. Even if Bowie set him up to succeed, Hunter and his band made the most of their opportunity.

I’ve loved “All the Young Dudes” for years (even before I knew who David Bowie was!), but Juno changed my relationship with the song. (Consider this your spoiler warning if you haven’t seen it). When I hear the opening notes begin, I now immediately think of Jason Bateman’s character making a move on Juno, and the same feelings of anger immediately return. Ironically, a movie I loved took a song I loved and made me associate it with a grown man betraying an emotionally fragile teenager’s trust. It’s not quite what About Today meant by a “curse song,” but it’s a song that I now have a hard time divorcing from its cinematic association. I’m not put into a melancholy, introspective moment by the song, but I’m not sure how long it will take me to have the same relationship I once had with it. Maybe I need to focus my energy elsewhere - away from the anger associated with the scene – and focus it back toward the things that made me love the song in the first place – the soaring arrangement and Hunter’s passionate and weird vocal delivery.

More on Mott the Hoople: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

March 20, 2009

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

“Young Americans” – David Bowie
(Words/music: David Bowie, available on Young Americans, Virgin 1975)

In completely isolated circumstances – never having heard the song before nor knowing that it is a David Bowie song – “Young Americans” requires a slight leap of faith to get into it. Knowing the song, the opening drum notes are enough to guarantee that I will do nothing but listen to this song for the next five minutes. However, I understand how the unfamiliar might be put off by the opening; the cascading piano keys and the absurdly prominent honking saxophone makes the song sound like the type of soft-rock fare heard while shopping in a drug store. Bowie eventually rewards the listener’s patience as slowly all of the different layers come in, starting with the moment the backing vocals enter during the first chorus. Featuring future star Luther Vandross, Bowie’s backing singers push his own vocal performance as he tries to keep up with them. Slowly, he settles into the song and works himself up into a soulful fervor. Maybe it’s his background singers pushing him to compete with them, perhaps Bowie gets more worked up as he goes deeper into his cynical look at life in the 70s, or maybe it’s just a superb arrangement with an excellent bridge leading into the final climax. Regardless, Bowie turns in perhaps his finest vocal performance, especially in the last minute and a half as he sounds like a man possessed, tossing off line after line until his band stops and Bowie puts his cracking falsetto squarely into the spotlight. Bowie’s vocal performance alone makes this an essential song, but it’s the flawless arrangement that catapults “Young Americans” into the stratosphere. I even kind of like that damn saxophone even though it’s a little too loud for my taste.

To me, the most interesting line is the borrowed line from the opening of “A Day in the Life” in that final stretch run. My friend Mike and I discussed it a while back and we agreed that the single line fits only because it’s the perfect length – any more and it would derail the song. I see a few different reasons for the line (“I heard the news today, oh boy”). First, it could be a hat tip to John Lennon, who guests on two other songs on Young Americans. It also fits the thematic content of the song – Bowie fills his song with details of racism, economic depression, and social injustice (among other bummers) and his backing singers offer the line almost like a Greek chorus commenting on the plot. It’s important that the backing singers and not Bowie get this line as well, letting it work as a bit of call-and-response, as the line triggers Bowie’s most impassioned segment of the song. It also creates this sort of dialogue between Bowie’s sketch of American life in the 1970s with Lennon’s depiction of youthful boredom in 1960’s England. Mike summarizes the conversation as “Life in England is full of tedium and repetition… Yeah, well America’s just as bad, it’s just more hedonistic.” I’m inclined to agree with his interpretation.

More on David Bowie: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

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