[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 112: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead ¤ milky moon ¤ • View topic - Joanna Newsom Song Tournament II
Hi and thank you to those who've voted so far. I really enjoy reading the little comments such as Jordan~'s ... don't necessarily agree with them all, of course, but I think that adds to the interest of the whole thing. I have my own favourites and not-so-favourites among the 12 (and of course a few that didn't even make it this far) but you might think I'm canvassing for votes if I mentioned it again, and I'm being careful not to post anything that might favour one or other song.
In answer to LawnsOfDawns ... there will be 11 sets in all (12 songs will eacg be paired once with each of the others). I thought 11 distinct sets of voting was a bit too much, so I am presenting them two sets at a time. Since there is an odd number of sets, the last set will be presented on its own, which means that there will be a total of six rounds of voting, of which we are midway through the third. Sorry if it's getting boring for anyone.
Set 6 - Pairings 31 to 36 Pairing 31 - Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie Pairing 32 - Easy Pairing 33 - Soft As Chalk Pairing 34 - Go Long Pairing 35 - Swansea Pairing 36 - Kingfisher
I just couldn't ever pick between Easy and Kingfisher, I love both far too much. And re:Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie - I think it has one of the best tunes ever, "just see me serenaded hourly! celebrate sourly! dedicated dourly! waltzing with the open sea"... always brings me to quiet sobbing and the like
And he used to make me pray, wearing a mask like a death's head. When he put me there in the back seat, and he said, "Jesus save me, Jesus save me."
Set 5 - Pairings 25 to 30 Pairing 25 - Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie Pairing 26 - Sadie Pairing 27 - Monkey & Bear Pairing 28 - Go Long Pairing 29 - Colleen Pairing 30 - Kingfisher
Set 6 - Pairings 31 to 36 Pairing 31 - Colleen Pairing 32 - Baby Birch Pairing 33 - Monkey & Bear Pairing 34 - Go Long Pairing 35 - Swansea Pairing 36 - Kingfisher
This set of pairings presented the most difficult choices for me so far. Pitting my favourites from MEM against other favourites from HOOM. I agree with Andrew that Swansea vs. Colleen was particularly torturous. I almost settled on a tie before re-listening to both and then forcing myself to choose.
While Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie isn't my top MEM pick it has a very natural seeming simplicity. It just sounds like one of those songs you've always known, an immediate classic. MEM in general has a certain spontaneous feeling to it that keeps the melodies sounding fresh no matter how many times I hear them.
Great comments re Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie. I agree with Andrew, Rainbowdash, and Headless_Caboose - it has a lovely tune and is delivered perfectly on MEM. I suppose it's one of the songs that helps define some of her charm in that few people would regard it as one of their out-and-out favourites, but when you listen to it, it' just a top-quality song. I liken it to a football manager praising the "strength in depth" of his squad, or an investor with a varied portfolio!
The three songs in Division 2 that present different problems for me are Sadie, Swansea, and Colleen. All of them - to my mind - conjure up somewhat grating effects when I think of them, although when I actually listen, I very much enjoy Sadie and Swansea. Somehow the recollection of them does not match the experience, and in fact I do rather like them both! Colleen is different in that I don't much care for it - one of the very few JN songs I would say that about. However, to me it was a major surprise that it's here in Division 2, ahead of, for example, What We Have Known, Bridges & Balloon, Sprout & The Bean, On A Good Day, Ribbon Bows, or (have to suggest this as I am 'inkboy') Flying A Kite.
Ugh i'm really annoyed - i just wrote a good 6 paragraphs on just why i love colleen so much and then on clicking sumbit was asked to log in again. i've lost everything. much like colleen in fact. i'll do a summary
after ys, how traditional and simple this song is narratively really appeals. the folk-style instrumentation makes it feel like a fable, which i think it very much is. even the opening lines 'i'll tell it as i best know how / and that's the way it was told to me' shows that it's a parable, a story with a clear moral that physicalises an extreme of a problem in our contemporary society
what this problem appears to be to me is losing sight of your self, of sacrificing your true self and original values in order to 'fit in' and function with the curious conventions and norms of our society (well it's true that i came to know suhc things as the laws which govern property and herbs to feed the babes that wean). after the knotty and complex ys, she had 'overwatered everything', lost sight of herself (the reference to water is especially telling, it's such a huge theme of ys) and following that found herself creatively blocked.
but the message runs deeper than that. aside from the fact that it's a beautiful story, beautifully told (some of that language is so evocative; 'like stepping for a missing stair', 'i dive for my child with a wildness in me', 'the light is in your eyes colleen', 'the wind - i swear - would rise, to tear you clean from me without a trace', 'our bodies start to seem like artifacts of some strange dream') it shows how she willingly 'corsetted' and got herself into that situation, she 'caught the dread disease by which one comes to know such peace' - but the protagonist rejects those values, ending with an invitation to dive down, 'will you come down there with me', to where our true selves are, and the message to not get so buried in work, art, relationships (especially relationships) as to lose yourself.
i went on to talk about how wonderfully she expresses the idea of forgetting, and the treatment of women - 'i was blessed among all women to have forgotten everything' is an extraordinary line. but unfortunately i've got to head out now.
i hope someone can expand / continue / share my love of colleen. what a tour de force!
Weirdelves - I really enjoyed & valued your appraisal of Colleen: it's enlightening to read a well-reasoned appreciation of something I have so far failed to appreciate, and it helps to see the things I have missed in that song. I totally agree that the wording and the concept are expertly crafted in this song. I only wish that I was as eloquent in arguing the case for [title withheld] in the hope that it might garner a few more votes! But that would be prejudicial. I also agree that it's incredibly frustrating when this (or any other) forum or website eats your input on a time-out failure: what a shame there isn't a way of getting them back. When I remember, I hit Ctrl+A Ctrl+C before sending, that way it should live on in the clipboard if it fails ... but only if I remember
Very well put, Weirdelves! I'm very glad you attempted to summarize your ideas after losing them because you've expressed a number of reasons why I love the song myself.
Set 7 - Pairings 37 to 42 Pairing 37 - Colleen Pairing 38 - Kingfisher Pairing 39 - Soft As Chalk Pairing 40 - En Gallop Pairing 41 - Baby Birch Pairing 42 - Go Long
Set 8 - Pairings 43 to 48 Pairing 43 - Swansea Pairing 44 - Baby Birch Pairing 45 - Monkey & Bear Pairing 46 - Go Long Pairing 47 - Easy Pairing 48 - Colleen
I do like a lot of the MEM stuff but I find it hard to vote for when it's pitted up against a HOOM tune. The tracks from HOOM are just so much more complex and meaningful for me that I find it hard to even vote for one of my favourite MEM tracks when it's pitted against a solid HOOM number. Only Swansea or CCCC could do it for me I think.
Set 7 - Pairings 37 to 42 Pairing 37 - Easy Pairing 38 - Kingfisher Pairing 39 - Soft As Chalk Pairing 40 - Sadie Pairing 41 - Swansea Pairing 42 - Go Long
Set 8 - Pairings 43 to 48 Pairing 43 - Sadie and Swansea TIE Pairing 44 - Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie Pairing 45 - Kingfisher Pairing 46 - Soft As Chalk Pairing 47 - Easy Pairing 48 - Peach, Plum, Pear
I agree with Claire, I couldn't imagine Colleen being beaten by Swansea (but I'm pretty neutral on Collenn, crazy about Swansea)
I also have issues really being able to compare something like Kingfisher with something like CCCC... Not even counting the relative subject matter and stuff, one's just 5 minutes longer than the other, and I'll almost always choose the longer one because there's more to love about it
Swansea and Sadie is a really, really, really tough choice, though
And he used to make me pray, wearing a mask like a death's head. When he put me there in the back seat, and he said, "Jesus save me, Jesus save me."