Friday, December 26, 2008

Pretend This !

Wow, two posts in one day.

You've heard of BOGOFF's (Buy One, Get One For Free) ?  Well this is a BLOGOFF.

Oh suit yourselves !!

Anyway I was talking to Daphne just now and we discussed her blog post about how she cries whenever she hears "2000 Miles" sung by The Pretenders.

I told her I do the same but usually only when it's finally over !  

I've got a thing about singers, usually with excellent voices, who insist on singing up and down to show off their vocal range.  At least I think that's why they do it. Maybe it's simply to mask that they can't sing.

I used to love the music of Mariah Carey until she met up with Boyz II Men and she suddenly felt the need to stop singing songs in one register or key or octave or whatever and would warble up and down like a canary that had spent way too long 'down pit.'

In fact my exact words to Daphne were that Chrissie Hynde sang up and down the scales like a fish on heat.

I've no idea where that simile came from.  I often start typing a sentence in a chat panel with no clue how it's going to end. 

( Yes I'm well aware that I write entire blog posts that way !  There, I said it before someone else did ).

So anyway, as I've never been able to listen to more than a few seconds of the song, I asked her what it was all about and why it's linked to Christmas in the UK charts every year ?  She didn't know !  

And STILL she cries at it !!!

Even from the title, I guessed some loved one was 2000 miles from home at Christmas and she, the singer, was missing him.

Then I used my lyrics site and found...the lyrics.

I'm still not sure though and I think the key words revolve around 'the children.'  If these singing children belonged to them, then it might be a sad story about a husband walking out on his wife and kiddies and she's missing him at Christmas time.  If these singing children are just singing children, then it still could be a sad story about separated lovers at Christmas time.

Did you spot the line about the purple sky ?  Yes I know it was only in a dream but still, I suspect some wacky baccy was being inhaled during the songwriting process. Of course a certain artist formally known as an artist once sang about Purple Rain so maybe he was using the same brand.

But it's all good stuff and even if I don't like the song, plenty do and so it gets released every December along with tunes from Slade, Wham and Wizzard.

But give me "White Christmas".  A simple tune with no strange coloured meteorological occurances to mention and all sung without any fishy goings on either. Like the way old Bing used to sing it - although now and again he was prone to a bit of uppy and downy in a sort of ba-ba-ba-boom-boom way as crooners tended to do.

Then Mariah got her tonsils around that song as well and quite frankly, it, me and Christmas have never been the same since.


3 comments:

Daphne said...

I haven't really a clue what the song's literally about - - but I like it - - it's about loss and separation and it makes me cry, so there! Or used to - - because I'll never be able to listen to it again without thinking of your "fish on heat" line - - but I don't care, it was very funny. As for White Christmas, it may be old but it's probably my favourite Christmas song. But it has to be Bing's version, every time, I love his voice.

Anonymous said...

I quite like 2000 miles, but I prefer the KT Tunstall version to the wibbly Chrissy Hynde, or Coldplay.

On the whole though, I agree. I like the oldies. :)

Kate said...

So sorry to hear about your spotted dick Silverback (Exits laughing hysterically at her own silly joke)

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