...and i don't feel right
Something has been bothering me.When I bumped into Tom Chaplin off of Keane at Glastonbury the other week, my opening gambit (after the "sorry to bother you, I appreciate you're here with your mates" politeness) was to thank him for writing and recording my favourite record of all time. I figured that people would probably like to hear that sort of thing and, let's face it, it's true.
We chatted for a few moments before he took my notebook to write a message, and asked me to which song I was referred him. I told him, "Everybody's Changing".
I remember what happened next, vividly. There was a pause and an almost imperceptible sigh, and then he continued to write his message for me.
I got the distinct impression that he wasn't terribly impressed. It felt a bit like I imagine meeting Paul McCartney and telling him that your favourite record of all time was the one he did with the Frog Chorus would.
I love lots of Keane records, and one or two others ("Somewhere Only We Know", "Snowed Under", "Something In Me Is Dying") are in my top 30 records ever. I felt immediately that I should have picked a less obvious or commercial song, but then it wouldn't have been my favourite record of all time, would it?
I was reminded of this reading a newspaper review of the new Elbow album yesterday. The critic praised the record (it is a fine album) all apart from one song where "they set their sights firmly on the stadiums" and make "a grand gesture that doesn't really suit them". That song is the majestically brilliant "One Day Like This" - a song which is amongst the most beautiful I have heard in a long time. Again, I appear to have picked the supposed rough amongst a pile of diamonds.
Clearly I like what I like but as pleasant and delightful as Mr Chaplin was, I can't shake the crushing disappointment that I have felt since for loving what appears to be the very wrongest one of their records.
posted by LB @ 11:20 AM
9 Comments:
Don't feel badly. Obviously, even though some reviewers may disagree, a hit song is a hit for good reason.
So what you're saying is that not even Keane like Keane songs? :) Heroes should be kept at a distance, as the reality will often disappoint.
And the frog chorus is the best song that McCartney's done in the last 25 years, so ner!
Bom, bom bom, I-e-ah!
No, I wouldn't feel too bad about it. When an artist has finished writing, recording and releasing a track it ceases to belong to them. What does Tom Chaplin know?
Paul Weller wrote "That's Entertainment" in 15 minutes after coming back from the pub. How many people do you think go up to him and tell him that it is their favourite Weller song? Quite a few, I would have thought.
If it is any comfort, I once told the great Simon Callow that he was brilliant in a pretty obscure sitcom called "Chance In A Million" that aired in the very early days of Channel 4. He seemed geniunely shocked and suprised that anybody even remembered it.
Nothing wrong with "The Frog Chorus" by the way. Magnificent kids tune.
You know this Chaplin character has no clue what you've been through or why you appreciated that particular song over the others. And quite frankly, he shouldn't have written it if he didn't want it to speak to people.
I don't think you should feel badly. I think he should.
hmm. remember that if you'd said the same thing to Tim Rice-Oxley, then you may have got a completely different reaction... after all Chaplain only sings it, doesn't he? He sings it well, it's true, but his reaction to the song may be coloured by the fact that he's had to sing it at every single gig he's ever played and that he doesn't even personally like it. It might even be *about* him (as some of the other Keane songs clearly are).
Rice-Oxley wrote the words that moved you, so when you meet him, say the same to him and see how he reacts. Don't let it get to you. He was probably hoping against hope that you'd pick one of the ones he wrote!
ST
....and the artist's reaction to a song and what it was originally intended to be about etc. is entirely irrelevant to the audience's reaction. As soon as a book, poem, song or whatever is in the public domain, the interpretation is entirely in your hands. Chaplain is no better qualified to say what the song is about or what it means than you are.
I think it was probably the sheer obviousness of it. Which isn't your fault, you like what you like. A better comparison would be to meet Macca and say your favourite song is Hey Jude. Secretly, he wanted you to say some obscure B Side that he thinks is far better than the rest of their canon, but which he considers to have been overlooked.
The fragile little flower that he is, I'm sure he'll recover.
You;ll find it's normally one of the more obscure songs that the musicians like, rather than the ones that everybody knows because it was a hit record. After all, it's the hit single that they'll be remembered for.
An interesting post. I found "he shouldn't have written it if he didn't want it to speak to people." a load of nonsense. Whomever wrote it, they didn't write it to speak to people, or to make money (if they did, they'd be creating the kind of generic, bland, no.1 art typified by McFly or whoever). Artists create for themselves, and I'm sure there are dozens of songs they've done nobodies ever heard. Ultimately, they may choose the songs they release, but this doesn't affect the fact that when they wrote it, it was a sincere reflection of an idea or a feeling, and not designed to 'reach' people.
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