Friday 10 October 2008

And The Tune Currently Trapped at No.1 in Laura's Head This Week is…



The Feeling - Sewn

Normally any song containing the lyrics na na na-aaa na na na na is a definite no no no-oo no no no, notwithstanding this tune has somehow managed to worm its way under the radar and into my brain, being a bit classier than many of its contemporaries of dodgy lyrics. Ok so it was catchy, original and he had a good voice I admit it. If only the lyrics were better how much more immortal a lullaby for youth it could have been, though I do love the chorus 'You got my heart in a headlock'

For the more intellectual among you, still trapped at No. 2 in Laura's brain this week is;



Britney Spear's Toxic. A poptastic piece of original dance kitsch with Indian overtones. Surprisingly the words ain't half bad either. For a mad mare who'll shave her head at the drop of a headline, Britney can still deliver the odd hat trick of a hit. And that sparkly body stocking should grant her all the attention she needs!

But you know when you go to the doctor and plead 'Doctor, doctor, I've got this tune stuck in my head, going round and round all day, can you help me?' And he just looks at you witheringly and says 'Miss King, I have patients in this surgery dying of cancer, so just be a good little hypochondriac and bugger off!'

Or is it just me?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, I can fix that.

For your delight, please pop along here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HE9OQ4FnkQ

This is Aha's "Take on Me" redubbed with lyrics literally describing what's going on in the video. You'll never quite think of the song in the same way again...

Rol said...

I could go to my doctor and say, 'I'm dying' and she'd tell me to bugger off.

I liked that first Feeling album, and Sewn was one of the best tracks. They took the whole POP thing a little too far with their last offering though. There is such a thing as too many hooks, as any fisherman would tell them.

Steve said...

Na-na-na's are the secret to the crafting of wonderful pop songs. Fat Les's "Vindaloo" is a case in point.

Ollie said...

I share your addiction to the Sewn song, but have no empathy with the Britney one.

As for the doctor, he or she is almost certainly a pop star shooting a video, so no harm in sharing the limelight with your so-called medical practitioner who's fooling no one!

Anonymous said...

Well, I think you could have done worse than to get those two stuck in your head. I once had a tune from a children's cartoon stuck in my head for months. I'd catch myself whistling it or humming it. I don't even want to think about it too much right now so it doesn't get stuck there again.

KAZ said...

You're lucky.
With all the fab music in the sixties I had 'My Boy Lollipop' going round in my brain for about 5 years.
OMG - I think it's starting again.

Lucy Fishwife said...

Yes well the problem with ner ner tunes is that some of them have no other lyrics, so the one I currently have in MY head will have to remain nameless until I get home and Shazam it - you know Shazam? Point your mobile phone at the speaker, dial 2580, and play the tune down the phone. It then texts you back the name of the song. Sigh... simple but effective.
The tune in question is a deeply funky late 70s track which just has the lyrics "DA ba da ba.. BA BA da ba da ba". No? Me neither. You have my condolences though, it's a tricky condition to shake. Often it's Freudian, if you examine the lyrics of the unshakeable tune. In your case, maybe. In mine - feh.

garfer said...

I don't go to the Doctor.

If I did they'd smile at me nicely and tell me I have terminal bone cancer.

Which I don't.

Wisewebwoman said...

My week old worm is Great Big Sea's "Walk on the Moon". The worm has two progeny (twins) who do the backup. Their older sister does percussion.
I've tried the common remedies of Mozarting and Verdi-ing to no avail.
Unharmonious sympathies.
XO
WWW

moi said...

Don't feel bad. I'm groovin' on Tears for Fears lately. And Britney? Despite her shaved head trailer park crazy ass antics of the past couple years, girl's got talent. Snap out soon, Britney. The world needs catchy pop now more than ever.

Anonymous said...

The Feeling is OK but that Britney track is not one I would want stuck in my head.

The track that I often find gets stuck in my head is that awful awful awful awful "Bette Davis Eyes". I once heard that just before boarding a plane to HK and it played in a perpectual loop in my head for the whole 16 hours I was travelling.

I also get Itchycoo Park stuck in my head - but I quite like that.

The Sagittarian said...

I'm still stalked by the Galoop went the Little gReen Frog song.

Nota Bene said...

As I have immense difficulty in understanding pop song lyrics...literally, I can't multi-task and can either listen to the music or the words, but not both...it means I am restricted to being amused by songs such as Kylie's 'Can't get you out of my head'...which as a catchy tune, I can't...and it oozes nah, nah nahs. There's an equally excellent Arctic Monkeys song that includes the line about 'you used to get it in your fishnets, now you only get it in your night dress' and contrasts witha Foo Fighters cheery ditty along the lines of 'No one is getting out of here alive'

The Poet Laura-eate said...

Nearside thanks - that IS most amusing! Though sadly I did like the original quite a lot and it was quite original when I was a teenager.

Rol I cannot disagree - I think that is the best track The Feeling have come up with so far.

Steve - and let's not forget the splendid Spitting Image Chicken song 'Hold a chicken in the air, stick a deckchair up your nose' etc etc which had lots of annoying na, na, na-ing in as well.

Oliver I fear you are right, though someone will have to buy my doctor's records should he win the X Factor so he may as well try and flog them to me via my OCD or surreptitiously have them playing in the waiting room background by chance! Re the Britney song, perhaps it strikes a chord with me owing to my late air hostess ancestor (not that she ever wore a uniform quite like THAT of course!)

Teeni very wise - in fact silent iPods may catch on in order to avoid all the ambient noise all around us and thus the risk of getting banal tunes caught in our heads!

Kaz - and I thought you were the Queen of Cool - I'm shocked! My Boy Lollipop indeed!

LucyFishWife - Shazam is a new one on me - do people really use it? If I forget an artiste or song title, I generally just feed in a line I can remember on YouTube and the track comes up, then I have to click on whose version I would rather listen to. 'Baa Baa Bank Robbery' is particularly fatal re annoyingly catchy bad tunes I find!

Garfer, yes correct diagnosis is not generally one of their strong points!

WWW - Verdi's Requium is a fine tune to get stuck in one's head - the finest requium in my humble opinion. I have not heard of 'The Great Big Sea' - I will google it at my peril!

Moi, yes I was prepared to write Britney off, but just when it seems she's headed to hell in a handcart she pops up (literally) with a mind-blowingly original hit, even if she didn't actually write it herself. Tears for Fears bring school nostalgia back! They were huge when I was a teenager I recall.

RB - for some reason every time I board a BMI flight - not often - about twice a year - they are always playing Paul Simon's intensely annoying 'You Can Call Me Al' - one of the dumbest and most meaningless hits ever. If they do it again, I swear I will start an International Incident! Even if it is a domestic flight.

Sagittarian - you POOR thing!

Nota Bene - you can certainly do worse than Kylie, who might be repetitive but is tuneful and charismatic for all that. I think words matter to anyone who writes though, so I would put decent lyrics pretty high on my priority list of what makes a good song, much though I have had the odd conversion here and there to the less lyrical.

Anonymous said...

A friend and I used to go backpacking together and, far from recorded music, would play a sadistic game in which we intentionally start singing bad bad songs to stick them in each other's heads.

As for the Britney video...I'd forgotten that there was music in it...though I certainly remembered the body stocking....