"No Sugar Tonight"
Jun. 30th, 2006 10:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoutfellowAs far as content goes, the songs of the Guess Who are unremarkable. (When they try for significance - "Guns, Guns, Guns" - they generally achieve pretension, and lose their actual merits.) As far as I can make out, in "No Sugar Tonight" the singer is upset because the girl he likes, and who likes him, won't break up with her jock boyfriend. This is not exactly the stuff of tragedy. Still, I enjoy the song a great deal; I think it's my favorite song from the "Greatest Hits" album I bought back in January.
I've mentioned before that, listening to some Spanish-language singers (notably Shakira), I simply treat the singer's voice as a musical instrument, paying little attention to the meanings of the words. (The fact that my Spanish is too rusty to follow fast-paced lyrics makes this easier...) Something like that applies to this song as well. There is a passage towards the end of the song in which the voices of the two singers separate in an interesting way. The lead singer stays within a narrow melodic range, and his words are heavily and regularly stressed; the second voice soars and circles around the lead, with greater melodic range but less variation in stress. The best way I can describe it is to say that it's the vocal equivalent of, say, a drum-and-sax duet, and, so interpreted, it's quite enjoyable to listen to:
Similar comments apply to quite a few of GW's songs: "Hand Me Down World", "No Time", "Share the Land", "These Eyes", "Laughing"... "Star Baby" and "Follow Your Daughter Home" are also fun, but rather disturbing when you think about them. ("Star Baby" is about a celebrity, and sounds rather stalkerish; "Follow Your Daughter Home" takes the form of advice to a father and seems to be satiric, but attitudes have changed enough that it could be half-serious...)
I can enjoy a song, or an album, for its form (if the content isn't completely dull) or for its content (if the form is adequate); the best music scores well on both counts. (Some groups, like Wilson Phillips, score badly on both counts, and Michael Bolton's inability to do anything but wail poisons everything he touches.) This album falls into the first category; not great, but generally enjoyable listening.
I've mentioned before that, listening to some Spanish-language singers (notably Shakira), I simply treat the singer's voice as a musical instrument, paying little attention to the meanings of the words. (The fact that my Spanish is too rusty to follow fast-paced lyrics makes this easier...) Something like that applies to this song as well. There is a passage towards the end of the song in which the voices of the two singers separate in an interesting way. The lead singer stays within a narrow melodic range, and his words are heavily and regularly stressed; the second voice soars and circles around the lead, with greater melodic range but less variation in stress. The best way I can describe it is to say that it's the vocal equivalent of, say, a drum-and-sax duet, and, so interpreted, it's quite enjoyable to listen to:
Lonely feeling(The second voice is italicized.)
Jock says yes and I believe him
Deep inside
When we talk about the things I say
Find a corner
She hasn't got the faith or the guts to leave him
Where I can hide
When they're standing in each other's way
Silent footsteps
You're driven back now to places you've been to
Crowding me
You wonder what you're gonna find
Sudden darkness
You know you've been wrong and it won't be long
But I can see
Before you leave 'em all far behind
Similar comments apply to quite a few of GW's songs: "Hand Me Down World", "No Time", "Share the Land", "These Eyes", "Laughing"... "Star Baby" and "Follow Your Daughter Home" are also fun, but rather disturbing when you think about them. ("Star Baby" is about a celebrity, and sounds rather stalkerish; "Follow Your Daughter Home" takes the form of advice to a father and seems to be satiric, but attitudes have changed enough that it could be half-serious...)
I can enjoy a song, or an album, for its form (if the content isn't completely dull) or for its content (if the form is adequate); the best music scores well on both counts. (Some groups, like Wilson Phillips, score badly on both counts, and Michael Bolton's inability to do anything but wail poisons everything he touches.) This album falls into the first category; not great, but generally enjoyable listening.
