Interesting choice. I am curious who submitted this.
My guess was you! So now I’m thinking maybe VFS?
It wasn’t me.
I think this song may be my best submission. I’ve peaked. But yeah, I always liked the upbeat melody juxtaposed with the mostly depressing lyrics.
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It ends on a pretty hopeful note, at least! And we also know that his side won in the end. I felt pretty positive about it overall.
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Just missing out on the podium is a song strongly contrasting from the previous two. Namely, it’s exactly the sort of song I was expecting to get. The theme practically begs for this sort of song. It’s a hip hop song frustrated and angry about the state of American racism. My hip hop tastes are kinda stuck in the 90s, so I was hoping to learn some newer tracks and artists to help branch out a bit. I like this one, and it delivers. It doesn’t resonate with me on a personal level as much for reasons that are hard to put to words. Maybe the distorted vocals? The hook just doesn’t get me? I’m not sure exactly what it is about it that doesn’t make me want to rank it as high as our podium songs, but I was happy to receive the submission.
Adam Tensta - Same Face
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Podium!
The first member of the podium is a song I didn’t expect to like much. Mostly in Spanish? The hook and intro music is kinda dissonant and grating? Not sure what this entrant saw of me in this song, but let’s see? Well, dare I say … it’s a … it’s a… BANGER? Fun party track, perhaps only held back in this category by using the minority locale as a setting rather than a subject. Enjoy:
J. Balvin, Skrillex - In Da Getto
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Top 2!
Oh? I thought it pretty likely you’d submitted the previous one. After being pretty sure Goofy had submitted our Round 1 winner and nailing it, I guess I’m not as good at guessing who sent what as I might have thought.
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The runner up is from a group I’ve liked for about as long as when own musical taste broke away from my parents’. This song isn’t an easy one to get, though. It’s easy to listen to it and conclude it’s an overly long mishmash of disjointed themes as it is to hear it as a collection of distinct perspectives, especially when divorced from the album. I think I had this song 7th on my first pass through these songs, but as I mulled on them all a bit and re-listened to things, this one kept bubbling up. It’s sort of a punk take on A Day in the Life, complete with the strongly resonant conclusion that ties it all together, and it’s not as far off that level as you might want to think.
Green Day - Homecoming
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Damn so close!
Our winner had my curiosity from the first note, and my undivided attention from the first line of the hook. It’s perfectly on theme, and the hook, music, and lyrics had me hook, line, and sinker. The lazy, dreamy guitar theme that gets sampled here seems like an odd choice to slap a hip hop track onto, but it totally works. The lyrics paint a vivid picture using the language of food, something we can all understand. Wonderful track I wish I had heard sooner.
RZA - Grits
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After going with the obvious choice in the first category, I immediately thought to zag here and go against the obvious submissions for category 2. I thought this would have polarized outcomes and would definitely depend on whether or not the host “got it”, so I’m glad you did!
Side note: when American Idiot first came out and everyone loved the more mainstream songs, I was raving early on that Jesus of Suburbia and Homecoming were actually the two best songs on the album, and called that the album would eventually be turned into a musical.
NGL with a listen or two fewer, you don’t make the podium. It’s a song you gotta mull on.
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This one’s mine:
One of the things I like about this song is that it’s actually from a Swedish guy singing about his own life and upbringing; there’s a couple hints (he shouts out the assassination of Olof Palme, and mentions phone numbers that start with +46) but otherwise it could totally pass for American. I feel like that makes his music about a more universal truth than just being about America.
I had a hard time choosing between RZA and rage against the machine - Township rebellion - YouTube
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lol, one thing I forgot to mention about this song is that it seemed like they hadn’t let anyone publish the lyrics online, so I wasn’t sure if I’d missed something. Turns out I did!
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You made the right choice, but your alternative would have been really strong, too.
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Alright, we need some more claims ITT so we can tally up the points.