Blackalicious – “Swan Lake” ["Melodica", Solesides, 1994; producer: Chief Xcel, DJ Shadow]

samples

The Stylistics – “People Make The World Go Round” ["The Stylistics", Avco Records, 1971]

fabio

New Joint off of Gift of Gab’s new album Escape 2 Mars, the Blackalicious frontman recruits Del the Funky Homosapien & Brother Ali for Dreamin.Dreamin – Gift of Gab Feat. Del The Funky Homosapien & Brother Ali

Good G.O.D. damn, “Dreamin’” is ILL son. Escape to Mars is out this week!

Tracklisting
1. E2MTRO
2. El Gifto Magnifico
3. Lightyears
4. Dreamin’ (feat. Del the Funky Homosapien / Brother Ali)
5. In Las Vegas
6. Escape 2 Mars
7. Electric Waterfalls
8. Richman, Poorman
9. Someofthepeople
10. Spotlight
11. Rhyme Travel

http://www.accesshiphop.com/store/?itemid=16063

I am a music lover. While I have not been especially blessed musically as far as talent goes- I have a huge passion for it. Lyrics are a part of a song that really make a big impact on me. I’ve had experiences where I cannot stand a song- until I’ve paid some attention to the lyrics- and then had my mind changed completely [for example the song Paralyzer by Finger Eleven.. the lyrics in question: "Well I’m not paralyzed/But, I seem to be struck by you/I want to make you move/Because you’re standing still/If your body matches/What your eyes can do/You’ll probably move right through/Me on my way to you"]

Don’t get me wrong, the way a song sounds is vitally important as well… songs are indeed a package deal. But for a comparative study, I’m just going to focus on lyrics. 

I am a huge Beatles fan, and a huge admirer of their song’s lyrics. So I have decided to take a look at some of the songs that topped the charts back in the year 1967, while they were consistently topping the charts, and compare those songs to the songs dwelling on the top of the charts today in an attempt to see if there is any difference in the quality of music that is ‘popular’ and being produced now. Here is a link to the website I found to help me out in finding top songs of the year 1967: http://tsort.info/music/yr1967.htm

And for the top 100 as of today (10/20/09): 

http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/charts/hot-100?begin=1&order=position

And now without further ado, I present to you

Lyrics: A Comparative Study

*I would like to mention quickly that I made these selections for the most part randomly.

1967 #1: A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum

“If music be the food of love/Then laughter is its queen/And likewise if behind is in front/Then dirt in truth is clean/My mouth by then like cardboard/Seemed to slip straight through my head/So we crash-dived straightway quickly/And attacked the ocean bed”

Today #1: 3 by Britney Spears

“Babe, pick a night/To come out and play/If it’s alright/What do you say?/Merrier the more/Triple fun that way/Twister on the floor/What do you say?/Are – you in/Livin’ in sin is the new thing (yeah)/Are – you in/I am countin’!/1, 2, 3″

1967 #3 All You Need Is Love by The Beatles

“There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done./Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung./Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game./It’s easy.
/Nothing you can make that can’t be made./No one you can save that can’t be saved./Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time./It’s easy./All you need is love”

Today #3: Party in the U.S.A by Miley Cyrus

“So I put my hands up, they’re playin’ my song/The butterflies fly away, I’m noddin’ my head like “Yeah!”/Movin’ my hips like “Yeah!”/Got my hands up, they’re playin’ my song/I know i’m gonna be ok/Yeah! It’s a party in the USA!/Yeah! It’s a party in the USA!/Get to the club in my taxi cab, everybody’s lookin’ at me now/Like “Who’s that chick that’s rockin’ kicks, she’s gotta be from outta town”/So hard with my girls not around me/It’s definitely not a Nashville party/cause all I see is stilettos/I guess I never got the memo”

1967 #7 Penny Lane by The Beatles

“Penny Lane is in my ears and in my ears /Full of fish and finger pies /in summer meanwhile back /Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout /A pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray /And though she feels as if she’s in a play /She is anyway /Penny Lane, the barber shaves another customer /We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim /And then the fireman rushes in from the pouring rain /very strange.”

Today #7 Paparazzi by Lady GaGa

“I’m your biggest fan, I’ll follow you until you love me/Papa, paparazzi/Baby, there’s no other superstar, you know that I’ll be/Your papa, paparazzi/Promise I’ll be kind/But I won’t stop until that boy is mine/Baby, you’ll be famous, chase you down until you love me/Papa, paparazzi”

1967 #32 Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin

“Every chain has got a weak link /I might be weak child, but I’ll give you strength /You told me to leave you alone /My father said come on home /My doctor said take it easy /Whole bunch of lovin is much too strong /I’m added to your chain, chain, chain /Chain, chain, chain, chain, /Chain, chain of fools “

Today #32 Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship

“I know your type/Boy you’re dangerous/And you’re that guy/I’d be stupid to trust/But just one night couldn’t be so wrong/You make me wanna lose control/She was so shy/‘Til I drove her wild/I make them good girls go bad/I make them good girls go bad/I was hanging in the corner/With my five best friends/I heard that you were trouble but I couldn’t resist/I make them good girls go bad/I make them good girls go/Good girls go bad”

1967 #50 Baby, Now That I’ve Found You by The Foundations

“Baby, baby, since first we met (doot-doot)/I knew in this heart of mine (I wanna tell you, doot-doot)/The love we had could not be bad (doot-doot)/Play it right and bide my time/Spent a lifetime looking for somebody/To give me love like you/Now you’ve told me that you wanna leave me/Darling, I just can’t let you.”

Today #50 Please Don’t Leave Me by Pink

“Can’t you tell that this is all just a contest?/The one that wins will be the one that hits the hardest/But baby I don’t mean it/I mean it, I promise/Da da da, da da/Please don’t leave me/Oh please don’t leave me/I always say how I don’t need you/But it’s always gonna come right back to this/Please, don’t leave me
I forgot to say out loud how beautiful you really are to me/I cannot be without, you’re my perfect little punching bag/And I need you, I’m sorry/Da da da, da da”

1967 #60 It Must Be Him by Vikki Carr

“After a while, I’m myself again/I take the pieces off the floor/Put my heart on the shelf again/You’ll never hurt me anymore
I’m not a puppet on a string/I’ll find somebody else someday/That’s when the phone rings, and once again/I start to pray
Let it please be him, oh dear God/It must be him , it must be him
or I shall die, Or I shall die/Oh hello, hello my dear God/It must be him but it’s not him/And then I die/That’s when I die”

Today #60 Ice Cream Paint Job by Dorrough

“Be around tint no window light/Car ride smooth so the rims all white/That right there see see I like /Got the top notch slab for da dirt cheap price/Press one button car automatic start (start)/Stand too close car alarm might bark (like what)/Arff Arff like a Q dog/Prime time click make you move like uhaul
Cream on the inside clean on the outside/Cream on the inside clean on the outside/Cream on the inside clean on the outside/Cream on the inside clean on the outside/Ice cream paint job”

1967 #70 Standing in the Shadows of Love by The Four Tops

“All alone I’m destined to be With misery my only company./It may come today, or it may come tomorrow/But it’s for sure I’ve got nothing but sorrow./I thought your conscience would kinda bother you/How can you watch me cry after all I’ve done for you?/Hold on a minute!/I gave you all the love I had, Now didn’t I,
When you needed me I was always there/Now wasn’t I, wasn’t I?”

Today #70 Uprising by Muse

“They will not force us,/They will stop degrading us,/They will not control us,/And we will be victorious/So come on
Interchanging mind-control,/Come, let the revolution take its toll,/If you could flick a switch and open your third eye,/You’d see that we should never be afraid to die,/So come on”

1967 #87 I Second That Emotion by Smokey Robinson

“Maybe you think that love would tie you down/You ain’t got the time to hang around/Maybe you think that love was made for fools/So it makes you wise to break the rules
Oh little girl, in that case I don’t want no part/That would only break my heart/Oh, but if you feel like loving me/If you got the notion/I second that emotion/Said, if you feel like giving me/A lifetime of devotion/I second that emotion”

Today #87 Bonfire by Craig Morgan

“at the bonfire, out in the sticks/country backwoods, homegrown hicks/bonfire, dance a little jig,/hold up your cup and take another swig/won’t sleep til dawn, party right down to the wire/at the bonfire
everybody sees the headlights/when old Sheriff John pulled up/we all got a little nervous/it’s too late to hide our cups/he pops a top and hollers real loud/dont worry yall i came to hang out”

The End!

[Well... maybe not quite...]

I’d like to add that I am in no way trying to say that there is no good music being released anymore (I’m quite fond of a few of these songs actually)- or that talent has somehow dwindled over the years. That was not the point of this comparison. However, I do think for the most part the Billboard 100 is not necessarily the best selection of music to showcase lyrical talent of today in general. 

Which brings me to my own personal agenda… The following are lyrics from a few of my favorite songs/bands who are making music today (I’m going to try to give a few genre selections, I might fail at this however). If you havent heard of them I highly suggest you give them a listen. 

She Is Not a Hottie Hotty by Select Start

“Another Messed up melody /Just locked and loaded in my mind/I can’t decide which one I’ll use on you/And I’ll do it in the right time
Don’t be alarmed by what I say/You’re not excited anyway/And everyone is here to have a good time/So rest assured you’re still my friend til’ the end/And all I have to do is rest with you my dear”

Rollerskates by Treaty of Paris

“We’ll spike the soda cans with booze /The weather on the news says /We should expect /The sun to make it’s long /Awaited return /On the big blue screen /Now this I gotta /See for myself /To all my friends I hope /That every word I wrote /Finds you well you know /I loved you all along /To all my enemies /unwelcome memories /I hope these words connect /Like a swift kick to the head”

Reanimation by Blackalicious

“Like this, into me, it is a secret/Emcees pretend to be kin to the Gift/I’m mentally shitting the wisdom of centuries/Wit, go on like a centipede’s length/Rappers want flames, man, I injure these shrimps/Skew em on the barb’ with some hickory chips/I’m a level higher than the intermediate/Rappers, I don’t care about your gender, descent/Background, police records, history, rent/Unpaid evictions, charge penalties sent/Merciless in battle leaving enemies bent, it’s the Gift”

Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked by Cage The Elephant

“Now a couple hours past, /And I was sitting in my house, /The day was winding down and coming to an end, /So I turned on the TV, /And flipped it over to the news, /And what I saw I almost couldn’t comprehend, /I saw a preacher man in cuffs /Taking money from the church, /He stuffed his bank account with righteous dollar bills /But even still I can’t say much /Because I know were all the same/Oh yes we all seek out to satisfy those thrills.
You know there ain’t no rest for the wicked/Money don’t grow on trees, /We got bills to pay /We got mouths to feed /Ain’t nothing in this world for free./Oh no/We can’t slow down, /We can’t hold back /Though you know we wish we could. /You know there ain’t no rest for the wicked, /Until we close our eyes for good.”

Hot Knives by Bright Eyes

“She went to see a Mystic who made medicine from rain/And gave up her existence to feel everything, dream others’ dreams/Bid farewell to her family with one ecstatic wave (Please take care I love you all)/Out the window as the car rolled away/She just vanished into a thick mist of change/So let us rejoice (Let’s Rejoice!)/In all this Pink Noise (Out Pink Noise!)/An oscillation that we can pin point (We’re right here!)”

Everything Is Alright by Motion City Soundtrack

“I’m sick of the things I do when I’m nervous/Like cleaning the oven or checking my tires/Or counting the number of tiles in the ceiling../Head for the hills, the kitchen’s on fire!
I used to rely on self-medication,/I guess I still do that from time to time./But I’m getting better at fighting the future,/”Someday you’ll be fine..”/Yes, I’ll be just fine.”

Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

“True, it may seem like a stretch, but/Its thoughts like this that catch my troubled/Head when you’re away when I am missing you to death/When you are out there on the road for/Several weeks of shows and when you scan/The radio, I hope this song will guide you home
They will see us waving from such great/Heights, ‘come down now,’ they’ll say/But everything looks perfect from far away,/’come down now,’ but we’ll stay…”

Just Because by Cavashawn

“I remember when we laughed and said/”I really want my life to matter
But I don’t know what I’m chasing after”/Now I finally see/I’m not who I hoped I’d be/
Just because/We never called it love/Doesn’t make it right to leave/Does it hurt you /The way it hurts me/To have to tell you this is goodbye?/And all the time spent wondering “would we make it?”/Now we know, we know, we know”

White Lines and Red Lights by Between the Trees

“Me and you together/This is getting better /Just butterflies won’t do/I don’t want just red lights/I want more of these nights/Baby I love you
Cause you are the brightest star/I’m in love with who you are
And you are the brightest star/I’m lost without your love 
You and me is what matters most/It’s not the intimacy that brings me/Closer to you…”

Woe by Say Anything

“Please take me out of my body /Up through the palm trees /To smell California in sweet hypocrisy./Floating my senses surround my body. /I wake my nose to smell that ocean burn./So now I’m forging ahead /Past all the plutocrats who sold me out./Go sob in your bed. /If life is twice as pretty once your dead /Then send me a card./I’m still the optimist though it is hard /When all you want to be /Is in a dream./(A dream)”

Love Me Dead by Ludo

“Love me cancerously, like a salt-sore soaked in the sea./”High maintenance” means your a gluttonous queen,/narcissistic and mean./Kill me romantically, fill my soul with vomit/then ask me for a piece of gum./Bitter and dumb, you’re my sugarplum/you’re awful, I love you…
She moves through moonbeams slowly/She knows just how to hold me
and when her edges soften, her body is my coffin./I know she drains me slowly/She wears me down to bones in bed…/must be the sign on my head, it says,/”Oh love me dead!” Love me dead”

Going Back/ Going Home by Butch Walker

“There’s a lady on my block that has a kid. /As he swims in the above ground pool, she seals up the lid. /And he thinks it’s kinda normal that she hides, 
All the cuts and all the bruises /She says it’s warpaint for the eyes. 
She tells her son she did the best she could as she buries Dad. /Maybe he’ll grow up to be a man, or like his father did. /As they leave the driveway for the northern snow, /They finally know the difference between going back and going home. “

Consequence of Sounds by Regina Spektor

“My rhyme ain’t good just yet,/My brain and tongue just met,/And they ain’t friends, so far,/My words don’t travel far,/They tangle in my hair,/And tend to go nowhere,/They grow right back inside,/Right past my brain and eyes/Into my stomach juice/Where they don’t serve much use,/No healthy calories,/Nutrition values./And I absorb back in/The words right through my skin/They sit there festering inside my bowels/The consonants and vowels/The consequence of sounds”

Ok. That is seriously all for now. I have sososo many more songs that keep popping up into my head that I would love to be able to list, but this blog is much too long already. I suppose at points in the near future I can post more blogs featuring more songs, but for now this is it. Because this is now so long I’m not really going to add much of an original commentary in regards to the comparison, take from it what you will. Hopefully at the very least, you found it interesting. 

If you actually made it through reading this and are here now, I love you. 

I will do my best to never write a blog this long ever again,

Me

Blackalicious – Deception

Radiohead – The National Anthem

welcome to the third installment of our ‘fue sin querer’ series, the second such hip hop mix to bare the name. here we have seven new tracks that speak to our love for quality hip hop music. heady and soulful, these beats and rhymes are smooth and refreshing as a beer with your boys.  nothing sloppy either im talking about a glass of beer. plug this in and go get your friday on.

Make You Feel That Way – Blackalicious
Highs 2 Lows (Feat. Cise Starr from Cyne) – Nujabes
The Deepest Concentration (Innocentboy Fakevinyl Remix) – Lushlife
Always – 9th Wonder & Pete Rock
Flava In Ya Ear [2nd Nature Remix] – Craig Mack
I Got Cha Opin (Remix) – Black Moon
Street Dreams (Remix) – Nas & R. Kelly

Hip Hop. In a very good way.

Part1//Part2

Info

I knew it all along! So me and my sister are learning this big tongue twister actually its a rap. Here it is:

I will try to learn it by the end of this year and then will rap it to some friends . Anyways today was pretty productive.Got up around 6 in the morning, was in the shower for a good 30minutes, ate breakfast and then went to class.After class decided to go to the mall instead of studying at the library. There was actually an island wide power outage. It was pretty cool cause all i could see were the lights pulsating! It was like it was the end of the world or something…ohhhhh mang. What would you do if you knew that the world was going to end? I know what I would do. Just go out and have fun! Be with family. hahaha why am i talking about this? anyways i will have to keep this short. I am going to rest for a bit and then read. I got a lot done already so i was thinking of just sleeping the night in. NO! I have to go somewhere tomorrow and that is the premiere of Guamazing Race 3. They having something at Hooters. So yah I am going to go. I have to go. Maybe for just an hour then I will leave. I mean it is a sunday! Good night!

Classic record right here

What Happened This Week

• Monday I had coffee with Diana.
• Tuesday was rough. Nancy and I have had some disagreements about The Biz, which always seems healthy once they’re resolved, but this time the stress level is a bit higher. She’s stressed. I’m stressed. Once again I had to miss French Tuesdays to work shit out. Trying to keep my chin up.
• I’m dating a vegan. Can you believe?

What We’re Not Doing This Weekend

• Going to Outside Lands. I love M.I.A. and all, but $90 a ticket a day is just not worth it. Suckers.

What We Are Doing This Weekend

• BANG THE DRUM. Free. Blackalicious. “No wack attire”. In.
• Seeing Bryant’s shoegaze band at the Hemlock. For the record, I am not a shoegaze fan, but we gotta support poets. Plus, I think it’s been over a year since I’ve seen that bastard.
• Getting our ass to the beach. Splashing around and whatnot. Our allotted three days of summer in San Francisco are here.

Happy Friday everyone! xx – Holden

Download Gift Of Gab – El Gifto Magnifico

Vezi: Gift Of Gab .