Todd In The Shadows Thread

I haven't been able to listen past the intro of that one, TBH.

Looking for some stories?

I'm in the middle on that song. I just see it as a silly love song that's pleasant enough to leave alone if it comes on the radio, but not really anything of substance.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

'Rude'? I find the chorus of that one so damn catchy. It would be on the radio where I was going work experience rotations, and then I'd find myself singing it for the rest of the day.

edited 3rd Jul '14 9:13:04 PM by LoniJay

Be not afraid...

Can't stand Rude. The lyrics are just… ugh. Terrible.

Which is a shame because parts of it are catchy.

edited 6th Jul '14 12:55:32 PM by kalel94

The last hurrah? Nah, I'd do it again.

I hate that I think "Rude" is catchy, because the lyrics and the video make me want to punch the frontman in the face. According to Wikipedia, he came up with the first two lines of the chorus while in a fight with a previous girlfriend who was being verbally abusive. Why not just keep that concept? Would've been a much more interesting song.

Catchy tune, annoying video, awful lyrics? Does that make it this year's "Blurred Lines" or something?

Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.

It would have to be a little more #rapey to be this years "Blurred Lines".

Put me in motion, drink the potion, use the lotion, drain the ocean, cause commotion, fake devotion, entertain a notion, be Nova Scotian

Point taken. *cringe*

For me, one major problem I have with the lyrics is that they don't tell us anything. All we know is that "boy wants to marry girl but father disapproves". What does she see in him? We don't know. What does the father find objectionable? We don't know, just that the father is "an old-fashioned man". What's his defence? "I'm human too-" Dude, I wouldn't let my hypothetical daughter marry a horse either, but you've got to agree that that's bare-minimum criteria.

You want "I'm human too" as an excuse, "I Believe" by Blessid Union of Souls covers it better in its last verse and covers very realistic concerns (racism and possibly a class divide). That's a concern I'd find believable when dealing with an "old-fashioned man".

edited 7th Jul '14 6:21:11 PM by Pyrite

Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.

I don't think you're supposed to think that hard about it.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Considering that we're in a thread for a music reviewer who's criticised songs for their lyrical content or lack thereof ("Girl On Fire" and anything by Train come to mind), I don't see why one shouldn't be thinking at least a little about it. The lyrics don't make me sympathise or empathise with the singer's situation at all.

Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.

When I first heard the song I didn't listen very closely and assumed it WAS about a fight with his girlfriend, and the singer was saying his girlfriend was verbally abusive but he was going to marry her anyway.

Be not afraid...

Adding to the "lyrics don't tell us much" idea, here's what we're told:

>Singer is human

>Girl and singer are in love, and would leave each other's entire worlds for each other.

>Girl's father is "old-fashioned" and disapproves of singer.

>Singer is mocking girl's father's beliefs, only asking him permission as a formality (I'm gonna marry her anyway)

Honestly, I sympathize more with the girl's father than with the singer.

edited 8th Jul '14 10:11:51 AM by akillesheels17

I guess we all saw this coming: "Rude", by Magic. Love the title card.

• "...The douchiest-looking singer this side of Robin Thicke." *looks up* Hmmm.
• I guess guilt by association can be really damming when said associates are Pitbull, Chris Brown and Justin Bieber. There's no defending that.
• The "old-fashioned gay wedding proposal" part cracks me up.
• Lyrical analysis: ...Well, it looks like we didn't think enough. Sorry, 0dd.

Oh well, might as well stick to something that actually counts as "rude":

edited 10th Jul '14 9:53:34 AM by Pyrite

Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.

Rude is so much less douchey when you're imagining it's really about The Little Mermaid. King Triton's being a dick to Eric, and Eric's gonna marry Ariel anyway. I'm surprised Todd never picked up on the plot similarities myself.

Hell Hasn't Earned My Tears

...You know, if what you described had actually happened in the movie (and I haven't seen that scene in any synopsis I've found, nor do I remember it from when I actually watched the movie), and if "boy courts girl, father disapproves" had actually only come into being with The Little Mermaid and wasn't a trope that's existed ever since stories were being told, and if the lyrics of the song had actually gone beyond, "I'm marrying your daughter and rubbing it in your face", I might actually be inclined to agree with you.

In other words, I don't get what you're talking about.

edited 10th Jul '14 8:55:36 AM by Pyrite

Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.

Even shorter: He didn't pick up on the similarities because the similarities don't exist.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Tv Tropes

"Everything ever is a reference to that thing you like."

Put me in motion, drink the potion, use the lotion, drain the ocean, cause commotion, fake devotion, entertain a notion, be Nova Scotian

Here's something I wonder about Todd:

He claims to love pop music, but he seems to loathe every single current pop star there is. If he really loves pop music, why doesn't he do more "positive" videos? There have been a few, yes, but it's his "negative" reviews that are the bulk of his output.

Or is it that Todd actually has a love-hate relationship with pop music that he can't really articulate?

Please help out our The History Of Video Games page.

...he doesn't like UB40.

I just noticed that since the beginning of the year, Todd's had one of the most consistent inconsistent review schedules imaginable. You can never know what day a review's going to come out, but it is always going to be somewhere between seven and fourteen days after the prior one. (Except two that were a day or two early and one that was one day late. Gasp.)

Considering how much he has complained about not enough new fodder in the past, he hasn't let it affect his work. Maybe this new slew of top 10 artists is some kind of karmic reward for surviving 2013...

Todd said the sole deciding factor over whether he reviews a song is the amount of comedy material he can get out of it.

It's a lot easier to make jokes about a bad song than one that's genuinely good.

Put me in motion, drink the potion, use the lotion, drain the ocean, cause commotion, fake devotion, entertain a notion, be Nova Scotian

Negativity, Sarcasm and humor go hand in hand, and Todd picks songs that he can make jokes about for his pop reviews.

Maybe the current Crop hasn't impressed him or more likely he doesn't know what to think of the current big names.

You use the term 'loathe' IE a Deep hate for... What makes you say that.

edited 10th Jul '14 11:02:06 AM by FrozenWolf2

Yeah, I don't think Todd hates most artists.

When he reviewed "All Of Me", for example, he said he respected John Legend a lot, he just thought song was really boring.

edited 10th Jul '14 11:08:26 AM by DrStarky

Put me in motion, drink the potion, use the lotion, drain the ocean, cause commotion, fake devotion, entertain a notion, be Nova Scotian

He hates:

Katy Perry, Robin Thicke, Chris Brown (a LOT), Jason De Rulo, Lady Gaga, One Direction, Kesha, Justin Bieber, Pitbull, Drake, and Rihanna among others.

That's a pretty limited crop of artists he can possibly like he does like considering he claims to love pop music.

Please help out our The History Of Video Games page.

Really the worse thing he says about Rude is , its a poor Narrative song that doesn't really try to work for the emotional response... Its just Emotions over Thoughts.

Which is a valid criticism.

I mean beat wise it is nice and unoffensive, and atleast sounds like Reggae

I mean he liked Pompeii... if not being confused by it

Kesha not quite, actually. Lady Gaga is a bit of a love-hate thing, too.