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Post by raliverpool on Sept 15, 2016 19:36:38 GMT 1
Private Eye had a funny thing about Blackstar, comparing the reviews when it came out, with the same reviewers after Bowie died - all had changed their opinion from it being about ISIS or capitalism or something to "it's a farewell". That came from Blackstar saxophonist Donny McCaslin who said that Bowie had told him the video's "solitary candle" referred to ISIS, but a spokesperson for Bowie denied that the song was about the Middle East situation a day later (November 24th 2015). Bowie built his career on cryptic lyrics that frequently had two or more meanings. But whilst I'm certainly not going to lift an excellent researched piece contains 50 album references in which Bowie was clearly referring to his imminent death, I'll do one for each track on the album. 1. Blackstar - the name given to a terminal cancerous lesion which appears on the lung & heart, as well as the term for the transitional state between a collapsed star and a singularity. It is also the name of a little-known song about death by one of Bowie's musical idols, Elvis Presley, which features the lyrics "When a man sees his black star, he knows his time has come ..." 2. 'Tis Pity She's a Whore - Shares its title with a tragedy play written by John Ford, and published in 1633. Near the end of the play female protaganist Annabella gets murdered by the priest Giovanni with him uttering the title words. 3. Lazarus - A self explanatory self-epitaph. Producer Tony Visconti has since said it was written about his fans reaction in the aftermath of his imminent death, in the hope that he had faked his own demise. 4. Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) - A straightforward (by Bowie's standards) murder ballad. 5. Girl Loves Me - The second to last song he ever recorded, notable for its usage of Polari and Nadsat in its lyrics, its eerie "Where the f*** did Monday go" was written by Bowie (according to his son Duncan Jones) about the shock of receiving the terminal diagnosis of the reoccurence of his cancer (on a Monday, which 10 weeks later was matched with that of his fans), and the support of his wife (Iman) & daughter (Alexia). 6. Dollar Days - The last completed song Bowie recorded, done without a demo, and completed on the same day late October 2015. The lyrics are incredibly literal, and therefore by Bowie's standards incredibly heart breaking. Obviously the lyrics on the album "I'm dying to" were deliberately misspelt missing the extra "o". According to producer Tony Visconti "Bowie treated the English evergreens like Clive James does the tree in his garden, and Dennis Potter did with his “loveliest, whitest blossoms” and that heartbreaking descending chord run was a deliberate tragic Nick Drake jazz motif" 7. I Can't Give Everything Away - Uses samples of his own "A New Career In Town" (The phrase used by surrealist Spanish painter Pablo Picasso used to announce in a newspaper his death in 1973, whom Bowie had a number of his paintings and wrote a song about) & "Life On Mars?" (Bowie's two fingers to Sinatra's My Way, also about a dying man looking back on his life), the drum pattern is that of a regular heartbeat, and the drum pattern stops after he stops singing, a good 30 seconds before the end of the tune, as the rest of the instruments shut down bit by bit just like a human body does in death. Oh and the track has the same chords as his 1964 debut single "Liza Jane" which was intentional according to Tony Visconti. Anyway, whilst Blackstar should win it, and any other result is a travesty. I reckon this mob: /photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw will see Kano or Skepta win the 2016 Mercury Music Award tonight.
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TheThorne
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*Hillside, slip and slide, feel the pain, it's no surprise!*
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Post by TheThorne on Sept 15, 2016 21:08:20 GMT 1
Hearing all 12 so close together, the first 6 all blend into 6 music wallpaper music. Only life on the list is The 1975, Kano and Skepta the rest snore.....and thats from someone who doesnt even like grime much.
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TheThorne
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*Hillside, slip and slide, feel the pain, it's no surprise!*
Posts: 27,528
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Post by TheThorne on Sept 15, 2016 21:44:12 GMT 1
I'm calling it now think Michael Kuninaka is going to take it
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Post by ManicKangaroo on Sept 15, 2016 22:01:12 GMT 1
Skepta wins
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TheThorne
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*Hillside, slip and slide, feel the pain, it's no surprise!*
Posts: 27,528
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Post by TheThorne on Sept 15, 2016 22:03:32 GMT 1
Quite happy about that, they claim that Mercury is zeitgeist but 9 of that list wasnt imo so it went to the sound of 2016 which is right.
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Post by suedehead on Sept 15, 2016 22:10:23 GMT 1
Quite happy about that, they claim that Mercury is zeitgeist but 9 of that list wasnt imo so it went to the sound of 2016 which is right. It didn't, but thankfully Drake doesn't qualify.
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borneoman
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love is tough, when enough is not enough
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Post by borneoman on Sept 16, 2016 8:28:35 GMT 1
seriously skepta? personally worst winner since M People :/ boh I actually prefer M People
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Post by raliverpool on Sept 16, 2016 9:05:59 GMT 1
So my instinct that one of the two Grime albums nominated would win was proved correct.
A pity Jarvis Cocker had to use the faintly patronising "it’s-what-Bowie-would-have-wanted line" at the award ceremony.
How does he know exactly, did the Mercury Awards voting committee use an Ouija Board backstage to contact him, instead of discussing the merits of the 12 shortlisted albums?
Still it has to be said compared to most years (& certainly last year) there was little to argue with the 12 albums nominated, as there was not many glaring omissions.
And kudos to anyone with the self awareness to call their debut uncommercial 2007 album "Greatest Hits". Whilst him & his mum on stage receiving the award was genuinely adorable to see, as it clearly meant a hell of a lot more to him, than it would have done to the family of David Bowie; or the six times nominated without winning Radiohead.
And at least it is a much more welcome Robyn inspired influence in the last 12 months than f***ing Calum Scott:
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TheThorne
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*Hillside, slip and slide, feel the pain, it's no surprise!*
Posts: 27,528
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Post by TheThorne on Sept 16, 2016 12:21:25 GMT 1
seriously skepta? personally worst winner since M People :/ boh I actually prefer M People For me there hasn't be a decent winner since The XX and not a great one since Elbow or Klaxons
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2016 14:35:32 GMT 1
Never understand this award. In the most years they did very strange choices.
How such disgusting singer as Dizzee Rascal could win ? Who is that Talvin Singh guy with album peaked at # 41 ?
Nothing for Oasis, Radiohead, Divine Comedy, Adele, Coldplay, Muse, Dido, Blur, Amy Winehouse (even if I hate her music), Catatonia e.t.c. but they gave the awards for M People and Ms. Dynamite.
Even if I'm not a fan of Bowie, but he should be the only one deserved winner from those nominations.
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