Greatest Song Evah 3/29/24

Greetings! Briefer than usual newsletter today; writing up the MLB preview took a lot of time so I could use the breather. Back to normal on Monday.

Ready To Start

This is a good one, because it doesn’t just start off with a terrific drum kick/guitar riff. The intensity of the song increases very subtly until it reaches an explosive climax. This is the keynote track from Arcade Fire’s Grammy winning The Suburbs, and it’s an ideal demonstration of the characteristics that made them such a big deal.

There is a lot going on in the track, but it all meshes well. You never get the sense that any one element is drowning out any of the others. At the time there were a lot of jokes surrounding the sheer size of the band and the wide variety of instruments that each member played, but this song makes clear how valuable that aspect of their image was. It’s fortunate that the video for this song is a live performance; it puts the spotlight on how exciting they were as a live band.

I also love the song’s structure. It’s more than simple verse-chorus-verse; as part of the slow build, Win Butler doesn’t add the song’s title to the chorus until the third time through. It adds a “this is what you’ve been waiting for” element to the song.

I’m not sure what to say at this point about Arcade Fire’s future or legacy. The band has shed several members in the last few years; and we have learned a lot of disturbing things about Win Butler. Sadly, they are in such “separate the art from the artist” territory that it makes it difficult to feel entirely comfortable enjoying his music. As is the case with too many creative people: terrible human being, great musician.

The Oscar Mulligan - 1981

Best Picture: Chariots Of Fire

Other Nominees: Atlantic City, On Golden Pond, Raiders Of the Lost Ark, Reds

This hypothetical revote would come down to a 3-way race. The actual winner, Chariots Of Fire, has some elements of the traditional Oscar movie. If this makes sense, it’s not an epic movie, but it tells a fairly simple story in an epic manner. Its the tale of 2 British sprinters competing in the 1924 Olympics, each motivated by a greater purpose. (One historical liberty the film took for dramatic purposes was the implication that devout Christian Eric Liddell had to run a different distance from his specialty upon learning at the last minute that his event was scheduled to be run on a Sunday. In reality, he knew full well of the schedule months earlier.) In addition, the movie looks wonderful. The production design and costume design establish the setting and historical time frame to create the appropriate atmosphere; it feels important.

One of my big litmus tests for this project is a simple one - has the film’s impact lasted? Does it still have a cultural footprint? I think Chariots passes the test. The slow motion scene of the runners training on the beach is iconic, as is Vangelis’s famous score. And more than 40 years later Liddell’s “I believe God made me for a purpose. He also made me fast” quote still resonates.

This year was an instance in which there was a split in the Best Picture/Best Director votes, with Warren Beatty winning the latter for directing Reds. This one is a bit difficult for me to judge; I saw Reds soon after it came out and I was probably too young to properly appreciate it. Having said that, my suspicion is that it falls more in the “admired, but not loved” file. Probably not enough to win a revote.

Raiders Of the Lost Ark, in comparison, remains as popular today as it was when it was first released. (Let me pause for a minor peeve. Nowadays it’s usually listed as Indiana Jones & the Raiders Of the Lost Ark. I understand the impulse to match the titling protocol of the later movies in the series, but I refuse to do that. It was released in theaters as Raiders, it will always be Raiders to me. And Han shot first.)

Maybe it doesn’t have the gravitas that Oscar voters prefer, but it has everything else. Some of the most famous set pieces in movie history? Check. One of the most recognizable scores ever heard? Check. Memorable quotes? Check. A strong rewatchability factor? Check. It’s a rousing adventure, with a perfectly structured pace, and it also serves as a wonderful tribute to the moviegoing experience. Raiders Of the Lost Ark is the hindsight choice for the 1981 Best Picture award.

The Prodigal Children Return To Spotify

Within the past couple of weeks the catalogs of both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have been placed back on Spotify. They had been the two most prominent artists who had pulled their music from the service in protest of Spotify’s exclusive deal with Joe Rogan’s podcast, and they were also the last two to go back. Mitchell’s return came quietly, but Young included a statement of explanation upon his return. Rogan’s exclusive deal expired and is now available on multiple services. Young is still disgusted with the platform that Rogan provides to liars and hoaxers, but if his show is available everywhere then it’s not feasible to extend that protest to every streaming service. It’s a reality that sometimes you have to hold your nose, bite the bullet, whichever metaphor you choose to use.

When this initially went down, I cancelled my Spotify subscription and went with Apple Music. It was only partially a Rogan protest; it’s not possible to demand ideological purity from every corporation that I patronize. The best I can do is at least try to avoid those that are particularly deplorable. My chief reason for leaving Spotify is that if I’m paying for a streaming service it’s a big negative if it doesn’t contain the music of two of my most listened to artists. If I want to listen to Neil Young or Joni Mitchell, and I can do so on one service but not the other, then I will go with the one with whom I can. I’ve been satisfied with Apple - it was very easy to transfer my old iTunes library to a favorites library - so I don’t intend to switch back to Spotify. This isn’t a VHS v. Betamax decision, or perhaps more appropriately an iPod v. Zune decision; I’m not worried that Apple Music will be obsolete any time soon.

SNL Preview

The upcoming trio of new SNL episodes promises to be a good set of shows. It kicks off with Ramy Youssef hosting for the first time, with Travis Scott as musical guest. It probably belittles Youssef to classify him as a host who is Having a Moment; it’s more accurate to say that he’s hosting at a career peak - coming off of an HBO special, a prominent role in the Oscar nominated Poor Things, and with his eponymous TV show airing on Hulu.

He’s a very talented guy - his Hulu show is soooo good - with a nice, easygoing demeanor that should serve him well. He’s a strong enough actor that he should be able to easily slip into whichever roles he is assigned in sketches. Chances are very strong that this will be a good episode.

Closing Laughs

Opening Day - the first Mary Hart sighting of the season & the first round of “player A is on pace for _____” jokes. Nature is healing. Have a great weekend everybody, thanks for reading, and see you good people on Monday.