Saturday, August 15, 2015

Battle of the Bands ~ Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma

First of all... yes, I'm home again. Alive and in one piece. Not exactly migraine-free, but you can't have everything. I'm really glad I pre-wrote everything that posted in July and early August before I left. Otherwise, the posting would've been very slim around here (as in nearly nil). I kinda wish I'd decided on my Battle of the Bands for the 15th back in June, too. Yep. It's been that sort of insane here.

So... I spent some time wandering around on YouTube just to see what I'd find. There's always tons to find. Doesn't mean it's all useful for Battle of the Bands, but still it's interesting. Turns out I thought I was going in one direction and ended up somewhere else. I'd tell you that's shocking, but it really isn't.


I ended up (quite by accident) in these backyard sessions that Miley Cyrus recorded in 2012. For those of you not familiar, this was before the MTV awards in which she cut her hair (not attractive, but not over-the-top ridiculous) and stepped onto the profanity gesture wagon that many people, myself included, found extremely offensive (not attractive AND over-the-top ridiculous). This foray into offensiveness landed much media attention (which was surely the intention), but begs the question of talent versus antics. Is it possible to achieve superstardom in this day and age without going beserker? It also begs another question: how helpful are the people behind the scenes in trying to help a singer achieve success? Are these string pullers really helpful? In the end, what do they do to the song (by completely messing up the singer)? Miley isn't the first performer to ask this question. Rather ironically, she recorded her cover of Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma before her "song" was irrevocably pushed into the insane corner. It makes me wonder if people have a sixth sense of what's coming before it arrives. (I kinda think they do.)

If you haven't guessed, the song for today is Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma. This song was new to me. I'm fairly certain that the original performer of this song was Melanie Safka. So, let's give her version a listen. Yep, this is contender number one.




Pretty catchy, no? Now, here is Miley singing the same song back in 2012... before they took her song and twisted it all up.




Is that good? Is that good for everybody?


We've got so many new Battle of the Bands players that I'm having difficulty keeping up. (We post a new battle on the 1st and 15th of each month.) For those who've been following this feature/blog for a while now, can you believe that once upon a time -- for a long time-- there were only five of us??? Well, now the list grows each battle. So, if your name is not on here and you're participating, please leave me a message in the comments. Thanks for your patience!

 Also, please vote for the version of this song you prefer. If you want to get into the Ins and Outs of why you like one better than the other... I LOVE long comments!

For more Battle of the Bands fun, check out the other BOTB bloggers to vote on their battles:




Posted by at 28 comments:
Labels: , , ,

Friday, August 7, 2015

The Soundtrack of My Life, The Old College Try

So, how did the battle turn out between Justin Timberlake and David Fanning? Who did you think created a better version of Drink You Away? Not counting my vote...

Justin Timberlake: 7
David Fanning: 18

I was really torn. I really like both versions. In fact, when I wrote up this battle (and this post) back in June I was still undecided. I figured that some time to ferment couldn't hurt... In the end, I vote for Justin Timberlake. Yeah, I know my vote doesn't change anything. Ah well, such is life.


I bet you're wondering what happened after J1's grand pronouncement.

Turns out, he showed up at my door the next day. I don't think he did ten rounds with Southern Comfort, but I feel safe in saying that he also had a really crappy night.

However, he did spend his time introspectively (which was better than my choice of "working it out") and came to the conclusion that his problem was rooted in the fact that his sister had been his best friend. They were only a year apart and very close. He'd had several girlfriends over the years, but none came close to feeling like a best friend. I think I told you that we were good friends the previous year (before he left), so this was new territory for him... merging a close/best friend with a girlfriend.

Ergo, it felt too close to the relationship he had with his sister.

However, after giving it a try, he decided that kissing me was nothing like kissing his sister. What a relief!





Were you best friends with your SO before you became an item? Did you make the transition easily? Or was it more like a ride on this crazy train?

If you're enjoying these posts, feel free to share your own Soundtrack. This isn't a hop. No requirements at all, but a suggestion to do it one song at a time. (If you participated in the hop several years ago, you can still do this. Just post them one song at a time, with the freedom to add more songs if you'd like.) I'll link to all participants at the bottom of each of these posts:

StMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Cherdo on the Flipside 

Holli's Hoots and Hollers 

THE DOGLADY'S DEN 

Mean Who You Are
Posted by at 12 comments:
Labels: , ,

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Battle of the Bands ~ Drink You Away

For those of you keeping up, today is the last day of camp. Obviously, I wrote this before I left, but I'm telling you with certainty that I had a blast. (I really hope I don't contradict myself later!)

Today is the 1st and Battle of the Bands. I'm still on vacation, but will now have limited Internet time. I promise to do my best to visit all of your battles. I'll be back to "normal" on the 12th. Well, as normal as it ever gets around here!

Once again, my Soundtrack story has run right into Battle of the Bands in what I consider a marvelous and spectacular way. The story and song go together and are actually chronologically correct!


So, if you'll recall J1 returned my junior year. Well, after a couple of weeks it was obvious we were headed toward the big Something. As in a relationship something versus a friend something. And then J1 hit the "break pedal" hard.

He sits me down for a serious conversation (that I think is going one place and it turns out it's going in the opposite place), so I was blindsided. He says to me that we can't move into that boyfriend-girlfriend space because... wait for it... "Kissing you would be like kissing my sister."

Yep. Those exact words. (For the record, I look NOTHING like his sister. In case you thought that this was a variation on Stephen T. McCarthy's story, which is a fantastic story, and you can read it HERE.)

This was devastating. I think he left immediately after his grand pronouncement. I started crying. My friends broke out the alcohol, at which point we all started drinking. I was drinking and crying. Worse, I can never be friends with Southern Comfort after this horrible evening. Southern Comfort was anything but comforting.

So, what song goes with this awful story? Drink You Away.

Drink You Away was originally recorded by Justin Timberlake on his album The 20/20 Experience. Timberlake is one of the writers. However, the song was never released. David Fanning recorded the song and it reached 58 on the country charts. Let's take a listen and then vote for your favorite.

First up, Justin Timberlake:


Next up, David Fanning:



DON'T THEY MAKE A MEDICINE FOR HEARTBREAK????

We've got so many new Battle of the Bands players that I'm having difficulty keeping up. (We post a new battle on the 1st and 15th of each month.) For those who've been following this feature/blog for a while now, can you believe that once upon a time -- for a long time-- there were only five of us??? Well, now the list grows each battle. So, if your name is not on here and you're participating, please leave me a message in the comments. Thanks for your patience!

 Also, please vote for the version of this song you prefer. If you want to get into the Ins and Outs of why you like one better than the other... I LOVE long comments!

For more Battle of the Bands fun, check out the other BOTB bloggers to vote on their battles:

Posted by at 27 comments:
Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)