Post by queensgirl on Jan 27, 2006 6:28:00 GMT -5
We know music is always very important in this series, expressing characters’ thoughts and emotions, as well as giving us a lot of background on their personal taste and style. In this, the most dramatic sequence of the entire run, it becomes even more important than ever.
We open “Blonde on Blonde” with the song “Nasty” by Janet Jackson. This is a perfect indicator of the opposite compulsions that are about to take effect: with its wickedly snappy beat and lively flourishes, it appears to be about sexual allure. While that is one level, if you pay attention to the lyrics, you’ll see the female narrator is in fact warning men out there that they’d better not misinterpret her free spirit for permission to cross the line.
You couldn’t pick a better song to express Maddie’s growing urge to get out there and be free, but also her repulsion at the way people actually behave once she’s met a few of the princes on the scene.
www.inlyrics.com/lyrics/J/Janet-Jackson/27113.html
“Sittin' in the movie show, thinkin' nasty thoughts, huh
Better be a gentleman, or you turn me off…
I don't like no nasty car, I don't like nasty food
The only nasty thing I like is a nasty groove
I'm not a prude (No)
I just want some respect (That's right)
So close the door if you want me to respond
'Cause privacy is my middle name
My last name is Control
No my first name ain't baby
It's Janet
Miss Jackson if you're nasty.”
On target.
Although nothing from Bob Dylan’s album which gave the episode its title is actually played in this show, quite a few of its songs could have fit, including “I Want You,” which perfectly captures the desperation and longing our Mr. Addison will come to know well:
www.inlyrics.com/lyrics/B/BOB-DYLAN/41291.html
“The guilty undertaker sighs
The lonesome organ grinder cries
The silver saxophones say I should refuse you
The cracked bells and washed-out horns
Blow into my face with scorn
But it's not that way
I wasn't born to lose you
I want you, I want you
I want you so bad
Honey, I want you.”
Later, when David is walking away from Maddie's door, in the shock of his defeat, we all know it’s not a coincidence they play another version of the song, “Since I Fell For You,” to which he and Maddie first danced in the pilot.
“I can’t get you out of my heart.” Indeed. He certainly won’t be able to let the feelings go.
From the start, he has acted the way a young boy might when he doesn’t want to admit he likes a girl: he’ll pretend he hates her, teasing and picking fights. Deep down inside he is frightened by the fact that he always wants to be around her. Here, “the child is the father of the man.” Our Dave is all grown up now, although he doesn’t always act like it, but this new situation competing with Sam pushes him to say and do things he may not have wanted to think about before. As much as David argues and jokes with Maddie, you know that really is how much he wishes they could be together.
Once again, in “Sam and Dave,” we see that no actual songs from the namesake artist appear in the show, but several would have fit. “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby,” and “You Don't Know What You Mean To Me,” (!) among others, would have perfectly matched the theme of yearning to be able to tell someone what you felt about them and have a chance to be with them.
In “Maddie’s Turn to Cry,” it of course borrows from “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” Leslie Gore’s charming tale of a young woman’s regret that the boy she liked was stolen by somebody else, and then her joy when she gets him back.
www.go2lyrics.com/L/Lesley+Gore/222688.html
First verse:
“Oh when Judy left with Johnny at my party,
And came back wearing his ring.
I sat down and cried my eyes out,
Now that was a foolish thing…
Last:
Oh one night I saw them kissing at a party,
So I kissed some other guy.
Johnny jumped up and he hit him,
Cause he still loved me, that's why.”
It’s not quite the same plotline as we see in the episode, but there are a few similarities: Maddie is the one who gets to worry about wearing a ring ;D, she has the unique opportunity to watch these men fight it out over her, while later feeling the victim of Sam’s possessiveness. Then the men actually go duke it out (a show later).
“Nowhere to Run,” by Martha and the Vandellas, also in this episode, could be either about the culprits in the case, whom they run after in the bowling alley, or about, you guessed it, what the two detectives are really thinking about each other. I didn’t catch the double meaning until much after, and I think it makes sense:
www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/martha_and_the_vandellas/nowhere_to_run.html
“It's not love
I'm running from
It's the heartaches
That I know will come
'Cause I know
You're no good for me
But you`ve become
A part of me
Everywhere I go
Your face I see
Every step I take
You take with me, yeah…
I know you're
No good for me
But free of you
I'll never be, no
Each night as I sleep
Into my heart you creep
I wake up feeling sorry I met you
Hoping soon that I'll forget you
When I look in the mirror
And comb my hair
I see your face
Just a-smiling there…
How can I fight a lover
That's sugar sweet
When it's so deep, so deep
Deep inside of me
My love reaches so high
I can't get over it
It's so wide
I can't get around it, no
Nowhere to run
Nowhere to hide
From you, baby
Just can't get away
No matter how I try
I know you're no good for me
But free of you I'll never be”
Especially that first verse, remind you of anybody?
In “I Am Curious,” the opening record is key: “When A Man Loves A Woman,” by Percy Sledge.
www.go2lyrics.com/P/Percy+Sledge/200304.html
“When a man loves a woman,
Can't keep his mind on nothin' else,
He'd change the world for the good thing he's found.
If she is bad, he can't see it,
She can do no wrong,
Turn his back on his best friend if he put her down.
When a man loves a woman,
He'll spend his very last dime
Tryin' to hold on to what he needs.
He'd give up all his comforts
And sleep out in the rain,
If she said that's the way
It ought to be.
Well, this man loves you, woman.
I gave you everything I have,
Tryin' to hold on to your heartless love.
Baby, please don't treat me bad.
When a man loves a woman,
Down deep in his soul,
She can bring him such misery.
If she is playin' him for a fool,
He's the last one to know.
Lovin' eyes can never see.
When a man loves a woman
he can do her no wrong,
he can never want
some other girl.
Yes, when a man loves a woman
I know exactly how he feels,
'Cause baby, baby, you're my world
When a man loves a woman...”
“If she is bad, he can’t see it…” David is not about to give in now that Maddie’s interested in another man, although it’s cost him almost all his strength to keep up the fight. He is finally ready to make his stand, despite all their differences. He certainly has started to change his ways at least somewhat, in order to make himself more appealing to Maddie and fend off the threat from Mr. Crawford. He is bold and direct, instead of making fun of everything; goes right to the source of the problem, scared that he’s wasted too much time playing around; and is expressive and caring, trying so hard, in most of the episodes, to show Maddie that he can be the kind of man she wants.
“Your heartless love” and “such misery” fit perfectly the suffering David experiences, as he’s having such a rough time getting Maddie to break away from the other man’s spell; he can’t seem to get her to have mercy on him and see what’s “right under your noses.”
Strange moment, go ahead and laugh if you want—for the first few seconds, watching Maddie fumble to get in the door, I was thinking the whole thing was about Sam and his desire to get married. In truth, it’s a premonition of David’s feelings. It expresses from far away what he is not there to be able to tell her, and about all the troubles he’s going through.
“Stormy Weather,” originally by Billie Holiday, introduces the scene where Agnes and Bert fret over the dangers of romance and whether it’s worse to do without it. Their dilemma reflects that of their bosses.
www.lyricsfreak.com/b/billie-holiday/18077.html
“Since my man and I ain’t together,
Keeps rainin’ all the time /
Life is bare, gloom and mis’ry everywhere…”
Just can’t get my poor self together,
I’m weary all the time…
When he went away the blues walked in and met me.
If he stays away old rockin’ chair will get me.
All I do is pray the lord above will let me walk in the sun once more.
Can’t go on, ev’ry thing I had is gone.”
Do tell.
Then of course, there’s that other tune, at the end.
I had always thought it was from David’s point of view, because he’s into 60s pop and Maddie is more a jazz and classical fan, but now I’m sure it’s for both of them. They had each spent years drawn to and trying to get away from this one central truth.
“If music be the food of love…”
What do you mean, if?
We open “Blonde on Blonde” with the song “Nasty” by Janet Jackson. This is a perfect indicator of the opposite compulsions that are about to take effect: with its wickedly snappy beat and lively flourishes, it appears to be about sexual allure. While that is one level, if you pay attention to the lyrics, you’ll see the female narrator is in fact warning men out there that they’d better not misinterpret her free spirit for permission to cross the line.
You couldn’t pick a better song to express Maddie’s growing urge to get out there and be free, but also her repulsion at the way people actually behave once she’s met a few of the princes on the scene.
www.inlyrics.com/lyrics/J/Janet-Jackson/27113.html
“Sittin' in the movie show, thinkin' nasty thoughts, huh
Better be a gentleman, or you turn me off…
I don't like no nasty car, I don't like nasty food
The only nasty thing I like is a nasty groove
I'm not a prude (No)
I just want some respect (That's right)
So close the door if you want me to respond
'Cause privacy is my middle name
My last name is Control
No my first name ain't baby
It's Janet
Miss Jackson if you're nasty.”
On target.
Although nothing from Bob Dylan’s album which gave the episode its title is actually played in this show, quite a few of its songs could have fit, including “I Want You,” which perfectly captures the desperation and longing our Mr. Addison will come to know well:
www.inlyrics.com/lyrics/B/BOB-DYLAN/41291.html
“The guilty undertaker sighs
The lonesome organ grinder cries
The silver saxophones say I should refuse you
The cracked bells and washed-out horns
Blow into my face with scorn
But it's not that way
I wasn't born to lose you
I want you, I want you
I want you so bad
Honey, I want you.”
Later, when David is walking away from Maddie's door, in the shock of his defeat, we all know it’s not a coincidence they play another version of the song, “Since I Fell For You,” to which he and Maddie first danced in the pilot.
“I can’t get you out of my heart.” Indeed. He certainly won’t be able to let the feelings go.
From the start, he has acted the way a young boy might when he doesn’t want to admit he likes a girl: he’ll pretend he hates her, teasing and picking fights. Deep down inside he is frightened by the fact that he always wants to be around her. Here, “the child is the father of the man.” Our Dave is all grown up now, although he doesn’t always act like it, but this new situation competing with Sam pushes him to say and do things he may not have wanted to think about before. As much as David argues and jokes with Maddie, you know that really is how much he wishes they could be together.
Once again, in “Sam and Dave,” we see that no actual songs from the namesake artist appear in the show, but several would have fit. “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby,” and “You Don't Know What You Mean To Me,” (!) among others, would have perfectly matched the theme of yearning to be able to tell someone what you felt about them and have a chance to be with them.
In “Maddie’s Turn to Cry,” it of course borrows from “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” Leslie Gore’s charming tale of a young woman’s regret that the boy she liked was stolen by somebody else, and then her joy when she gets him back.
www.go2lyrics.com/L/Lesley+Gore/222688.html
First verse:
“Oh when Judy left with Johnny at my party,
And came back wearing his ring.
I sat down and cried my eyes out,
Now that was a foolish thing…
Last:
Oh one night I saw them kissing at a party,
So I kissed some other guy.
Johnny jumped up and he hit him,
Cause he still loved me, that's why.”
It’s not quite the same plotline as we see in the episode, but there are a few similarities: Maddie is the one who gets to worry about wearing a ring ;D, she has the unique opportunity to watch these men fight it out over her, while later feeling the victim of Sam’s possessiveness. Then the men actually go duke it out (a show later).
“Nowhere to Run,” by Martha and the Vandellas, also in this episode, could be either about the culprits in the case, whom they run after in the bowling alley, or about, you guessed it, what the two detectives are really thinking about each other. I didn’t catch the double meaning until much after, and I think it makes sense:
www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/martha_and_the_vandellas/nowhere_to_run.html
“It's not love
I'm running from
It's the heartaches
That I know will come
'Cause I know
You're no good for me
But you`ve become
A part of me
Everywhere I go
Your face I see
Every step I take
You take with me, yeah…
I know you're
No good for me
But free of you
I'll never be, no
Each night as I sleep
Into my heart you creep
I wake up feeling sorry I met you
Hoping soon that I'll forget you
When I look in the mirror
And comb my hair
I see your face
Just a-smiling there…
How can I fight a lover
That's sugar sweet
When it's so deep, so deep
Deep inside of me
My love reaches so high
I can't get over it
It's so wide
I can't get around it, no
Nowhere to run
Nowhere to hide
From you, baby
Just can't get away
No matter how I try
I know you're no good for me
But free of you I'll never be”
Especially that first verse, remind you of anybody?
In “I Am Curious,” the opening record is key: “When A Man Loves A Woman,” by Percy Sledge.
www.go2lyrics.com/P/Percy+Sledge/200304.html
“When a man loves a woman,
Can't keep his mind on nothin' else,
He'd change the world for the good thing he's found.
If she is bad, he can't see it,
She can do no wrong,
Turn his back on his best friend if he put her down.
When a man loves a woman,
He'll spend his very last dime
Tryin' to hold on to what he needs.
He'd give up all his comforts
And sleep out in the rain,
If she said that's the way
It ought to be.
Well, this man loves you, woman.
I gave you everything I have,
Tryin' to hold on to your heartless love.
Baby, please don't treat me bad.
When a man loves a woman,
Down deep in his soul,
She can bring him such misery.
If she is playin' him for a fool,
He's the last one to know.
Lovin' eyes can never see.
When a man loves a woman
he can do her no wrong,
he can never want
some other girl.
Yes, when a man loves a woman
I know exactly how he feels,
'Cause baby, baby, you're my world
When a man loves a woman...”
“If she is bad, he can’t see it…” David is not about to give in now that Maddie’s interested in another man, although it’s cost him almost all his strength to keep up the fight. He is finally ready to make his stand, despite all their differences. He certainly has started to change his ways at least somewhat, in order to make himself more appealing to Maddie and fend off the threat from Mr. Crawford. He is bold and direct, instead of making fun of everything; goes right to the source of the problem, scared that he’s wasted too much time playing around; and is expressive and caring, trying so hard, in most of the episodes, to show Maddie that he can be the kind of man she wants.
“Your heartless love” and “such misery” fit perfectly the suffering David experiences, as he’s having such a rough time getting Maddie to break away from the other man’s spell; he can’t seem to get her to have mercy on him and see what’s “right under your noses.”
Strange moment, go ahead and laugh if you want—for the first few seconds, watching Maddie fumble to get in the door, I was thinking the whole thing was about Sam and his desire to get married. In truth, it’s a premonition of David’s feelings. It expresses from far away what he is not there to be able to tell her, and about all the troubles he’s going through.
“Stormy Weather,” originally by Billie Holiday, introduces the scene where Agnes and Bert fret over the dangers of romance and whether it’s worse to do without it. Their dilemma reflects that of their bosses.
www.lyricsfreak.com/b/billie-holiday/18077.html
“Since my man and I ain’t together,
Keeps rainin’ all the time /
Life is bare, gloom and mis’ry everywhere…”
Just can’t get my poor self together,
I’m weary all the time…
When he went away the blues walked in and met me.
If he stays away old rockin’ chair will get me.
All I do is pray the lord above will let me walk in the sun once more.
Can’t go on, ev’ry thing I had is gone.”
Do tell.
Then of course, there’s that other tune, at the end.
I had always thought it was from David’s point of view, because he’s into 60s pop and Maddie is more a jazz and classical fan, but now I’m sure it’s for both of them. They had each spent years drawn to and trying to get away from this one central truth.
“If music be the food of love…”
What do you mean, if?