BlueBus Presents: Dissect-A-Song (WINNERS ANNOUNCED!)

[BlueBus]

BLUEBUS PRESENTS:
DISSECT-A-SONG

No time for small talk, soldier. I'll get right into it!

WHAT DO I DO?
First off, this is a non-fiction contest. No, wait, don't click the Back button just yet! I know, you're thinking "Eeeew, boring", right? Not necessarily. You could have alot more fun with this then you'd think.

Your mission in this contest is to write an analysis of an already-existing song. The instrumentals, the vocals, and especially the lyrics...write me a partly philosophical, partly critical examination of any song you desire. Essentially, you must tell me what the song is trying to say, and the way it goes about saying it.

SO, HOW MUCH?
50g

WHAT ARE THE RULES?
-No plagiarizing. Thanks to my good friend Google and his sidekick, Yahoo!, I'll know if you ripped off some internet article. This will result in instant disqualification and an enormous payload from my patented Scorn Cannon fired in your general vacinity.
-Once someone else has submitted the dissection for a certain song, no other dissections for the afforementioned song will be accepted.
-You may submit as many entries as you like. Provided that you use a different song each time, and pay a new entry fee.

WHEN'S THIS THING END?
When I have 15 entries.
UPDATE: Due to a lack of interest, I'm setting a contest deadline for two weeks from now - August 23rd.

WHAT ARE THE PRIZES?
The best overall analysis wins 2,000g. Honorable Mentions will recieve 500g apiece. There will be at least one of these, and hopefully more.

GOT ANY TIPS FOR ME?
-I reccomend you give me something organized, literate, and relatively long. If you can say all you have to say in a single paragraph, there's something wrong with you, the song, or both.

-Be sure to look at ALL aspects of the song, from the words to the choice of instruments to the tempo to anything else you can think of. If you've chosen your song wisely, each one of these aspects play a part in the Big Picture.

-I think a good half of your chances for victory hinge upon what sort of song you choose. CHALLENGE YOURSELF; pick a song that actually requires a bit of skill to define. If you choose some schmaltzy love song or whine-ridden emo track without a shred of subtlety, you decrease your chances of winning. Meanwhile, if you select something well-written, something that could have different meanings for different people, you'll fare better. This is not an "I like this song because...." contest. This is for serious music-lovers who aren't afraid to listen to music that takes multiple listens to "get".

-Don't be afraid to do yours on a song you don't think I've heard before! One way or another, I'll find a way to at least look at the lyrics.

-To help you guys out, here's a list of artists who tend to write the kind of music I'm talking about. If nothing else, perhaps it'll inspire you to check out some stuff that's both entertaining, moving, and musically profound.Whether or not you choose a song by these guys will in no way affect your chances of winning - I'm just as interested in reading about songs I haven't yet heard as I am in hearing about songs I already know. This is just to give you guys an idea of the kind of musical quality that I'm looking for.

1. Radiohead
2. The Flaming Lips
3. David Bowie
4. Death Cab For Cutie
5. Modest Mouse
6. Iron and Wine
7. Leonard Cohen
8. Pink Floyd
9. The Arcade Fire
10. The Velvet Underground


Is that everything? I think so. You got any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

So...get to it!

_ _BlueBus Owt

WINNER
LongTimeListener - Wave of Mutilation by The Pixies

RUNNERS-UP
1. Demagoguery- Stars and Boulevards by Augustana
2. Silver_moonbeam- In This World by Good Charlotte

[[ .days. ]]

Oh, my. I'm loving this already. Can I link you to lyrics of a song so you can tell me if it's what you're looking for?

[BlueBus]

[ .days. ]

Oh, my. I'm loving this already. Can I link you to lyrics of a song so you can tell me if it's what you're looking for?

Go right ahead. Although... *turns to everyone else* Don't forget that you can choose whatever song you like. You don't need to stick to my tastes alone. 3nodding

[Penelopiad]

Oh! Pick me!

My brother is practically a music phiospopher(haha,yeah,that's right) so all he ever talks to me about is stuff like this. Now I can finally put are pointless conversations to use!

I even have a song in mind. A few even. So,should we post the lyrics,or a link to the lyrics, with our dissection here? Or Pm you? Both? Does it matter?

[BlueBus]

Penelopiad

Oh! Pick me!

My brother is practically a music phiospopher(haha,yeah,that's right) so all he ever talks to me about is stuff like this. Now I can finally put are pointless conversations to use!

I even have a song in mind. A few even. So,should we post the lyrics,or a link to the lyrics, with our dissection here? Or Pm you? Both? Does it matter?

Post your analysis/dissection/whatever right here. Posting the lyrics or link to the lyrics would help me quite a bit, so go ahead and do that too. 3nodding

[Airgeadach]

I'm really liking the sound of this. Now to pick a song...

[BlueBus]

Good to see interest! ^_^

[Mahayr]

You need to apply for a Grant, your prizes are too low.

[Airgeadach]

Now that I'm looking at what I'm writting, is a fairly detailed analysis of my interpretation of the lyrics and instrumentals what you're looking for?

[BlueBus]

Mahayr

You need to apply for a Grant, your prizes are too low.

*looks embarrased*

@ Airgeadach - Yep, that's about right.

[Airgeadach]

Cool, I'm just about done then.

[Airgeadach]

Well, here goes nothing.

The song I have ended up picking is 25 Years by Blackmore’s Night, the lyrics for which can be found here.

I’m a sucker for good lyrics, and that would be what originally drew me to this song. The instrumentals in this song are nothing spectacular although there is a good combination of everything inside. One of the main selling points behind this song’s instrumentals would be the guitar, which is done by Deep Purple’s former guitarist Ritchie Blackmore.

One odd thing about this song is that it starts out with the chorus, instead of the normal verse – chorus – verse – chorus x 3. Anyways this aside, the lyrics; my first thoughts regarding these lyrics was someone looking back on the apocalypse, as strange as it sounds. I pictured someone sitting in a void, reflecting on the events that lead to the end of the world and in particular, their life prior to this event. What made me think of this? First off would be my overactive imagination I would imagine but that’s beside the point. The lyrics “Tried to run but my feet were frozen, tried to scream but there was no sound,” made me picture the world ending, just all of a sudden it phasing out of existence, no foreplay just there one second, gone the next.

As per the looking back and reflecting on their years: The song isn’t a slow song by any means, but the beat isn’t a fast one either, and that coupled with the second verse give it a pretty melancholy feel to me. “All those years, wasted wishes, drowning in the wishing well…” The lines sound like the person is thinking back to all these things that they wanted to do but never actually did, leaving them floundering among the million “I should, maybe later, I want…”

Random other (much less interesting) interpretation: Someone simply looking back and realizing that their life in not going in the direction they’re looking for and seeks to change it.

Anyways the moral of this song, carpe diem.

[Master_Marquise]

Sounds like fun XDD

Umm... I've already written an analysis on a piece by nightwish. Can I submit that? (it's kinda long, made my english teacher kinda angry... >.< wink

[BlueBus]

Airgeadach

Well, here goes nothing.

The song I have ended up picking is 25 Years by Blackmore’s Night, the lyrics for which can be found here.

I’m a sucker for good lyrics, and that would be what originally drew me to this song. The instrumentals in this song are nothing spectacular although there is a good combination of everything inside. One of the main selling points behind this song’s instrumentals would be the guitar, which is done by Deep Purple’s former guitarist Ritchie Blackmore.

One odd thing about this song is that it starts out with the chorus, instead of the normal verse – chorus – verse – chorus x 3. Anyways this aside, the lyrics; my first thoughts regarding these lyrics was someone looking back on the apocalypse, as strange as it sounds. I pictured someone sitting in a void, reflecting on the events that lead to the end of the world and in particular, their life prior to this event. What made me think of this? First off would be my overactive imagination I would imagine but that’s beside the point. The lyrics “Tried to run but my feet were frozen, tried to scream but there was no sound,” made me picture the world ending, just all of a sudden it phasing out of existence, no foreplay just there one second, gone the next.

As per the looking back and reflecting on their years: The song isn’t a slow song by any means, but the beat isn’t a fast one either, and that coupled with the second verse give it a pretty melancholy feel to me. “All those years, wasted wishes, drowning in the wishing well…” The lines sound like the person is thinking back to all these things that they wanted to do but never actually did, leaving them floundering among the million “I should, maybe later, I want…”

Random other (much less interesting) interpretation: Someone simply looking back and realizing that their life in not going in the direction they’re looking for and seeks to change it.

Anyways the moral of this song, carpe diem.

Thank you for your entry! A bit short, but it's fine. 3nodding

@ Master_Marquise - Sure, go ahead!

[Airgeadach]

BlueBus

Airgeadach

Well, here goes nothing.

The song I have ended up picking is 25 Years by Blackmore’s Night, the lyrics for which can be found here.

I’m a sucker for good lyrics, and that would be what originally drew me to this song. The instrumentals in this song are nothing spectacular although there is a good combination of everything inside. One of the main selling points behind this song’s instrumentals would be the guitar, which is done by Deep Purple’s former guitarist Ritchie Blackmore.

One odd thing about this song is that it starts out with the chorus, instead of the normal verse – chorus – verse – chorus x 3. Anyways this aside, the lyrics; my first thoughts regarding these lyrics was someone looking back on the apocalypse, as strange as it sounds. I pictured someone sitting in a void, reflecting on the events that lead to the end of the world and in particular, their life prior to this event. What made me think of this? First off would be my overactive imagination I would imagine but that’s beside the point. The lyrics “Tried to run but my feet were frozen, tried to scream but there was no sound,” made me picture the world ending, just all of a sudden it phasing out of existence, no foreplay just there one second, gone the next.

As per the looking back and reflecting on their years: The song isn’t a slow song by any means, but the beat isn’t a fast one either, and that coupled with the second verse give it a pretty melancholy feel to me. “All those years, wasted wishes, drowning in the wishing well…” The lines sound like the person is thinking back to all these things that they wanted to do but never actually did, leaving them floundering among the million “I should, maybe later, I want…”

Random other (much less interesting) interpretation: Someone simply looking back and realizing that their life in not going in the direction they’re looking for and seeks to change it.

Anyways the moral of this song, carpe diem.

Thank you for your entry! A bit short, but it's fine. 3nodding

@ Master_Marquise - Sure, go ahead!

*grins* Yeah, it is pretty short, but it's better than I expected it to be considering I should be asleep by now.