Some Songs Considered - Posts Tagged 'lost in translation'

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Written by Brian Wall

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March 3, 2010

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

“Brass in Pocket” – The Pretenders
(Words/music: James Honeyman-Scott/Chrissie Hynde, available on Pretenders, Warner Brothers 1980)

It’s worth getting this out of the way: every time I hear “Brass in Pocket” I think of the karaoke scene in Lost in Translation. In particular, Chrissie Hynde’s promise to use her “side step” makes me think of a pink-wigged Scarlet Johansson dipping her shoulders to the side in succession. It’s appropriate, I suppose, that I associate this song with this moment of indirect flirting, as “Brass in Pocket” details the quest to catch someone’s eye. The thing that separates “Brass in Pocket” from other seductive songs is its focus; rather than dwell on the object of her affection, Hynde’s narrator goes through her arsenal of charms. This isn’t the sort of attention-grabbing behavior that reality TV thrives cultivates. Instead, the narrator prepares her usual tricks and steps up to battle.

Of course, the song isn’t wonderful simply because the narrator promises to prove that she’s “special” (and, if we believe the video, her charms aren’t enough to win over the restaurant patrons). It’s the song’s relaxed groove and just enough of a bounce to keep Hynde’s list of preparations moving forward. She’s not the only one with an arsenal of tricks, as the rest of the Pretenders came prepared to battle with ringing guitars and a small choir of “specials’” to back up Hynde. My favorite part of her vocal performance comes right at the end – after an entire song of confident singing, Hynde slides into a more relaxed and less pronounced tone for the “I wonder where you are” line. It fits the change from militant confidence to slight hesitation, but most importantly it casts the narrator in a different light for a brief moment, suggesting that we haven’t seen her entire bag of tricks just yet.

More on The Pretenders: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

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August 15, 2009

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

“More Than This” – Roxy Music
(Words/music: Bryan Ferry, available on Avalon, Virgin Records 1982)

“More Than This” will always remind me of the karaoke scene from Lost in Translation. At the end of the sequence, a subdued, slightly uncomfortable Bill Murray sings the song in a mix of deadpan and exhaustion. Coming from his character, Murray makes the song sound reluctant, in particular when he delivers the chorus while looking at Scarlett Johansson. In the context of the movie, “More Than This” underscores the fleeting nature of their connection – a pair of lonely insomniacs who met halfway across the world and grow close enough only to make their separation uncomfortable. Even in his overtly fatigued voice, Murray’s character recognizes his situation yet falls short of embracing the uncertainty.

Buoyed by beautifully shimmering synthesizers, Bryan Ferry sings “More Than This” sweetly, contrasting with the acceptance of nothingness. It creates a sense of cognitive dissonance – a beautifully sung and arranged song that laments the impermanent nature of the human existence. The common interpretation (at least that I’ve come across) reads “More Than This” as a sort of “live in the moment” song, but lyrically it seems more focused on endings and nothingness than opportunity. This makes me think that its Ferry’s vocal performance (and the arrangement) that turn the song from nothingness to carpe diem. It raises a couple questions. First, can the meaning of the song bend based on the performance. This seems obvious with sarcasm and irony factored in, and even with “stripped down” arrangements that often make a sad song seem a little darker, but can a song shift significantly just from a single vocal performance? If so, doesn’t that render the music (and/or personality) more important than the words in a “it’s not what you say but how it’s said” sense? I’m even willing to suspend this thought for the sake of covers and re-interpretations; however, in a case like this where Ferry sings his words differently than they’re read off the page, I’m torn by it. Ferry knows the motivation behind the song better than anyone else, so I’m inclined to think that his bittersweet interpretation brings out a silver lining I can’t see in the lyrics alone.

More on Roxy Music: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

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