That for starters is a line from Busted's famous "Year 3000". I think I would not want one boy band after another, although evidence sometimes points to the contrary (Plus One, BBMak, LMNT, North, need I go on?).
Yes, Busted is the topic of today's discussion. Yes also that it is about "Year 3000". However, this is not about Busted by itself. Similarly to the previous post of comparison between Plus One and Jesse McCartney, this one now is about Busted and the Jonas Brothers (of Meet the Robinsons fame).
I see my sister downloading "Year 3000" on LimeWire. As far as I'm concerned, I am staunchly anti-LimeWire, but when I notice that it was not Busted performing the music, I decided to investigate. This, as far as I'm concerned, is fast-becoming a controversy over the Atlantic.
Let me say though first that this post now reflects a great reverse from the previous post. Whereas in the Plus One-Jesse McCartney case Christian music is being pop-ified, Busted's music is being done the opposite (although with significantly less gusto and with virtually no God references), since according to Wikipedia, the Jonas Brothers are a Christian band. Quite ironic, if you ask me.
However, it is not an excuse for altering a perfectly good song. Let's compare the choruses of both versions:
Busted version:
He said I've been to the year 3000
Not much has changed but they lived underwater
And your great-great-great granddaughter is pretty fine
Jonas Brothers version:
He said I've been to the year 3000
Not much has changed but they lived underwater
And your great-great-great granddaughter is doing fine
"Year 3000" was made more kid- and teen-friendly for the sake of young audiences (...girls there with round hair like Star Wars float above the floor from ...triple-breasted women swim around town totally naked)? Even changed so that a younger demographic can relate (...it had outsold Kelly Clarkson from ...it had outsold Michael Jackson)? Although I have respect for this up-and-coming band, I am quite appalled at how much this song was changed from its original. It was made cleaner! If British teens can live with the original Busted version (and love it, by the way), why does it have to be made cleaner for American teens? It makes no sense at all.
Oh well. What's done is done. However, I remain a staunch supporter of the original, and I hate to admit it, but the original version is possibly still more popular than the newer version (the Jonas Brothers have been, as of this writing, booted from the most recent top 50, but unsure if they are still in the top 100, and Busted's version has reached the top 10 in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland in 2003). Unfortunately, we have to deal with the phenomenon of music gone cleaner.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
For the love of comparisons
First of all, greetings from Los Angeles! I'm in the home of some of my favorite bands, like Thrice and Rooney.
Second, I'm here because of the beautiful word comparison. Yes, we will be comparing two songs that are virtually identical, with different lyrics and completely opposite messages.
Some time ago, I listened to "Let Me Be The One" by Plus One. A few months later, I got to listen to "Come To Me" by Jesse McCartney. I did not notice it then, but sometime much later, I finally noticed that these two seemingly-different songs with two different messages are in fact one and the same. The writer of the original must have also gone for the derivative, I say.
Let's take a comparison at the lyrics. The music is almost exactly the same; the difference being that the version of Jesse McCartney is more polished than that of Plus One. However, their messages are different, as shown in their respective choruses:
Plus One version:
Let me be the one leading you through the night
Sharing the smiles and tears you cried
Let me be the one loving you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need, you can come to me
Jesse McCartney version:
Let me be the one telling you it's alright
Sharing the smiles and tears you cried
Let me be the one loving you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need, you can come to me
Even at the chorus level, the messages are quite different: both are romantic, although this is emphasized with slightly more gusto in the Jesse McCartney version. The differences are even more stark in the rest of the lyrics, although I will not post them here because I don't have the lyrics.
This is an example of the "pop-ification" of Christian music. I understand that Plus One is a boy band-turned-rock band-turned-disbanded band, but then again, since they don't own the copyright to their music (the writer does), we can bear witness to how helpful music can become romanticized and in turn become another bubble gum pop song.
Oh well. What's done is done. Unfortunately, there's nothing good on Denver Harbor except that two members are former members of Fenix*TX. I wonder now what to write next? Try cluing me in.
Second, I'm here because of the beautiful word comparison. Yes, we will be comparing two songs that are virtually identical, with different lyrics and completely opposite messages.
Some time ago, I listened to "Let Me Be The One" by Plus One. A few months later, I got to listen to "Come To Me" by Jesse McCartney. I did not notice it then, but sometime much later, I finally noticed that these two seemingly-different songs with two different messages are in fact one and the same. The writer of the original must have also gone for the derivative, I say.
Let's take a comparison at the lyrics. The music is almost exactly the same; the difference being that the version of Jesse McCartney is more polished than that of Plus One. However, their messages are different, as shown in their respective choruses:
Plus One version:
Let me be the one leading you through the night
Sharing the smiles and tears you cried
Let me be the one loving you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need, you can come to me
Jesse McCartney version:
Let me be the one telling you it's alright
Sharing the smiles and tears you cried
Let me be the one loving you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need, you can come to me
Even at the chorus level, the messages are quite different: both are romantic, although this is emphasized with slightly more gusto in the Jesse McCartney version. The differences are even more stark in the rest of the lyrics, although I will not post them here because I don't have the lyrics.
This is an example of the "pop-ification" of Christian music. I understand that Plus One is a boy band-turned-rock band-turned-disbanded band, but then again, since they don't own the copyright to their music (the writer does), we can bear witness to how helpful music can become romanticized and in turn become another bubble gum pop song.
Oh well. What's done is done. Unfortunately, there's nothing good on Denver Harbor except that two members are former members of Fenix*TX. I wonder now what to write next? Try cluing me in.
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