Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Great songs about terrible subjects.

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Great songs about terrible subjects.

    Was out shopping yesterday in the supermarket, and I heard "Robert de Niro's waiting" for the first time since i was about 5. Two things struck me about it. The build up to the chorus is amazing. The second thing is that the whole song is obviously about dealing with the trauma of date rape. Did anyone notice this at the time?


    [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H87yGvoCNHU

    #2
    The theme was disguised somewhat because they toned down the lyrics and made the chorus stand out more with some great harmonies. I wouldn't have detected the theme had I not read the interviews where the group discussed it, although you can can see it in the lyrics once you know what you're looking for.

    Other examples might be:

    The Smiths - The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (child abuse)
    Martha and the Vandellas - Dancing In The Street (riots)
    Stranglers - Golden Brown (heroin)

    On Bananarama generally, I'm not sure why they are seen today as some kind of prototype Spice Girls. To me they were the British Go-Gos, most obviously in the Terry Hall connection, and were female student songwriters. The tabloids and record company might have had different ideas which they partly colluded with but they always controlled far more of the work than the archetypal "girl group" did.
    Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 08-08-2020, 18:29.

    Comment


      #3
      I was 14 or so when Robert De Niro's Waiting came out. I got that the subject matter was sinister, as was the video, but wouldn't have picked up exactly what it was about either.

      With The Smiths, Suffer Little Children is also an obvious one.

      I've always been intrigued by the Walkabouts.

      Firstly, Rebecca Wild - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuMcsXuHQgw Does anyone know if this was inspired by a real-life case? It feels like it must be somehow.

      And Slow Red Dawn - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_rIlbtb-j0 The interesting lyric in this one - 'I don't care to know all the details, how you left him to shout down the stairs' - has always reminded me of Roald Dahl's comic but very macabre story The Way Up to Heaven.

      Comment


        #4
        The Boiler (rape)

        Comment


          #5
          Madness are always thought of as the "let's all have a party " fun band, but there's always been a more serious thread running through there career.

          Grey Day- Depression

          Embarrassment- Racism *

          One Better Day- Homelessness

          Johnny the Horse- Abusive childhood, alcoholism, murder

          On the Town- marriage break up and infidelity

          * most people think Embarrassment is about teenage pregnancy, but the band have said that it's inspired by a friend of theirs who started dating a black girl, and his family's reaction.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
            On Bananarama generally, I'm not sure why they are seen today as some kind of prototype Spice Girls. To me they were the British Go-Gos, most obviously in the Terry Hall connection, and were female student songwriters. The tabloids and record company might have had different ideas which they partly colluded with but they always controlled far more of the work than the archetypal "girl group" did.
            They seem more like young women in a band, rather than a girl group, like the Spice Girls. They don't seem to be pretending to be overgrown teenagers. Also the spice Girls were targeted at 11-12 year olds. You don't get that sense from looking at bananarama videos. Certainly not this one. erm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnMlYM0V-uU This video on the other hand is a bit Problematic with a capital P.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Sporting View Post
              The Boiler (rape)
              Great song? Dammers says it was designed to only be listened to once due to it being so harrowing.

              Comment


                #8
                "Great" is maybe over the top, but the song is (maybe unfortunately) very well produced and narrated.

                Comment


                  #9
                  On 'Embarrassment', the title is spelled wrong in the opening joke. I'm not sure if this was deliberate:

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Eric Bogle - And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda
                    Redgum - I was Only 19
                    John Schumann - Safe behind the wire

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Strange Fruit - Billie Holliday
                      A Change is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
                      Green Fields of France* - The Men They Couldn't Hang
                      Shipbuilding - Robert Wyatt

                      Indeed, any number of protest songs.

                      (*As suggested above by UE, under its alternate title.)

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Different songs - GFoF is "No Man's Land", not AtBPWM

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Correct, my bad. (Just saw the name and edited my post a bit rashly.)

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Sinead O'Connor - Black Boys on Mopeds - the death of Colin Roach (with Tiananmen Square thrown in as well).

                            On the OP there is division in the Bananarama camp over the subject of that song, although it does seem clear from the lyrics.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town and Coward of the County are both pretty awful narratives, although I don't think they are about real events. Similarly Delilah is about someone murdering an ex.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Basket Case by Green Day is about depression.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                                  Indeed, any number of protest songs.
                                  Most of Midnight Oil's output would come under that category.

                                  Maralinga
                                  Short Memory
                                  Warakurna
                                  Truganini
                                  My Country
                                  Ships of Freedom
                                  Blue Sky Mine
                                  Forgotten Years

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Bonnie and Clyde

                                    Rasputin

                                    World in motion

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Have we got as far as the "Land of Make Believe" as critique of Thatcherism theory yet? (I realise calling that a great song is a stretch, but it was a favourite when I was young.)
                                      Last edited by Jimski; 10-08-2020, 14:40.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        UB40 did a few early on - Food For Thought, King, The Earth Dies Screaming, One In Ten. They still stand up, despite the group's later MOR status

                                        Junior Murvin - Police and Thieves (there will obviously be tons of roots reggae about Armageddon, Babylon, etc; e.g. Concrete Jungle by The Wailers)

                                        Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddam

                                        Neil Young - Alabama

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by laverte View Post
                                          Rasputin
                                          I introduced this one to Mrs dglh last year. It found its way onto the A list.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            A Thousand Trees - community shock at the actions of an alleged paedophile
                                            Local Boy in the Photograph - suicide

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by The Awesome Berbaslug!!! View Post
                                              Did anyone notice this at the time?

                                              [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H87yGvoCNHU
                                              Hasn't this been mentioned loads of times on here? Maybe TAB has me on ignore as I know I've mentioned it many times. Good to see the Ramas getting credit, anyway.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by Walt Flanagans Dog View Post
                                                Sinead O'Connor - Black Boys on Mopeds - the death of Colin Roach (with Tiananmen Square thrown in as well).
                                                Sinead has several gut-wrenching songs, Three Babies for one.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  9 to 5 is a song about the ongoing subjugation of women in the workplace by the patriarchy.

                                                  Comment

                                                  Working...
                                                  X