TS: "Everybody Hurts" vs "Rock'n'Roll Suicide"

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REM's anti-suicide epic or Bowie's existential, uh, epic?

(nb they're essentially the same song, so I guess it comes down to lyrics, delivery, resonance ectect)

― CharlieNo4, Thursday, 29 March 2007 12:29 (nineteen years ago)

Except they have absolutely nothing in common. Now if you'd said TS: Jacques Brel "Jef" vs. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"

― Tom D., Thursday, 29 March 2007 12:32 (nineteen years ago)

(plus almost any song is better than "Everybody Hurts")

― Tom D., Thursday, 29 March 2007 12:32 (nineteen years ago)

now that you mention it, michael stipe does have some of that anthony newley thing going on "EH"

― m coleman, Thursday, 29 March 2007 12:34 (nineteen years ago)

ziggy stardust is one of the few albums i can legitimately say "changed my life," but even as a kid i had a hard time connecting emotionally to "rock & roll suicide" (or the other side closer, "it ain't easy"), and 35 yrs later it sounds pretty embarrrassing. "everybody hurts" offended me the first couple times i heard it, but it's a pretty gorgeous power ballad, and until the last minute or so (the orchestral buildup, which lays it on a bit thick for my liking), it's fantastic.

― sw00ds, Thursday, 29 March 2007 13:05 (nineteen years ago)

by the way--what IS the connection between these two songs? Anthony Newley? I confess I don't really hear that in Stipe. There are some similarities in the orchestration, I suppose. And is R.E.M.'s song (or video) about death?

― sw00ds, Thursday, 29 March 2007 13:08 (nineteen years ago)

But what about Ronno's guitar solo at the end!?!??!

― Tom D., Thursday, 29 March 2007 13:08 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, i dunno, the whole thing just kind of drags along for me. everything mick ronson does on that album is great, but i just don't know that anything can save that thing.

― sw00ds, Thursday, 29 March 2007 13:12 (nineteen years ago)

Except they have absolutely nothing in common.

Oh come on. "No, no, no, you're not alone" / strings swirl / dead stop... It's a clear homage. Every time I saw R.E.M. do EH live, I half-expected Stipe to segue into the "You're won-der-ful!" section of RNRS.

― Erroneous Botch, Thursday, 29 March 2007 14:21 (nineteen years ago)

Fair enough, I don't think I've ever listened to "Everybody Hurts" all the way through

― Tom D., Thursday, 29 March 2007 14:23 (nineteen years ago)

You're watching yourself, but you're too unfair.

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 29 March 2007 14:36 (nineteen years ago)

I'm not as big a fan of Ziggy Stardust as I am of Aladdin Sane, whose music is often powerful enough to forget the awful lyrics. "Everybody Hurts" has the advantage of clarity. Even at eighteen "Time takes a cigarette, puts it in your mouth"seemed abstruse and faux poetic.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:13 (nineteen years ago)

― Tom D., Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:16 (nineteen years ago)

So the conclusion? We need gauze to stop the bleeding when both songs are played.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:23 (nineteen years ago)

I like Shirley Bassey showstoppers

― Tom D., Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:24 (nineteen years ago)

Shirley Bassey imitators can generally sing.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

I'm not a Shirley Bassey fan at all, so that could explain my indifference. "Lady Stardust" is a thousand times more earnest than "RnRS," and also a thousand times more listenable.

― sw00ds, Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:35 (nineteen years ago)

Lady Stardust" is a thousand times more earnest than "RnRS," and also a thousand times more listenable.

That's how I feel about "Starman" and "Five Years."

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:37 (nineteen years ago)

especially the Frank Sidebottom version (five years)

― Mark G, Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:39 (nineteen years ago)

You mean "starman" is a thousand times more earnest than "five years" (and more listenable), or you ALSO feel that way about those in relation to "RnRS"?

― sw00ds, Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:39 (nineteen years ago)

I love everything on that album except "It Ain't Easy"

― Tom D., Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:40 (nineteen years ago)

I'm not convinced Bowie meant "RNRS" to be taken that seriously, it seems like an campy attempt at Jacques Brel crossed with a silly Shirley Bassey/Dorothy Squires type showstopper. Whereas "Everybody Hurts" is so earnest it makes your eyeballs bleed.

Tom D. on Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:16 (22 minutes ago)

so bowie gets the benefit of the doubt, cuz, he's like a cool dude and only lame-o's like REM?

fuck, i ain't frontin', i like both these songs! they're so overblown! i can't hate.

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:40 (nineteen years ago)

The former, Scott.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:42 (nineteen years ago)

Bowie's camp and showbiz, whereas REM are rockists, could it be?

― Tom D., Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:44 (nineteen years ago)

Ha ha, I used the "r" word

― Tom D., Thursday, 29 March 2007 15:44 (nineteen years ago)

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