"Call Me" vs. "Call Me Maybe"

Oh I guess. I just like imaging some Canadian boy being all like, "She gave me her NUMBER. What the hell? Where are the months of discreet, lightly perfumed letters followed by a formal interview with her father?"

Imagining

before you came into my life
i missed you so bad

is this really what she says?? i mean, it's such a paradox i'm willing to believe i'm mishearing it, but come on people, that is genius.

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, June 25, 2012 6:51 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm, i love that line

I do think the lyrics to "Call Me Maybe" are great

still picking Blondie

^yeah

Ah, imagine todays world where everyone is still talking about ELP and have forgotten the Sex Pistols.

Neither band is forgotten, surely. ELP gets plenty of classic rock airplay.

Exactly.

Oft heard quote from 35 years ago "People will still be talking about ELP long after the Sex Pistols have been forgotten"

Whereas even the people who said that are glad that's not what happened.

While we're talking lyrics, "Call Me" was my introduction to the concept of "designer sheets." I didn't know what it meant, but it sounded sexy.

tipsy that's the genius of call me maybe - it captures the ways that "normal dating behavior" feels reckless and exciting and a little nuts

This + I think the narrator is not used to being the pursuer. The boys usually chase her.

(Cool, Mark G. I see what you're saying now.

I've heard an indie rock guy tell me that Peter Frampton is completely forgotten now!)

'Call Me'.

You CMM fans are coming up with some interesting readings of the song/lyrics, especially in regards to the singer being 26yo. But for me it ultimately comes down to the emotional/physical content of a song, how I react to it. And to these ears it simply doesn't have these complexities you all are ascribing to the lyrics and context. It's emotionally one-dimensional, something you hum while shopping at the mall (and not much more); hence the accusation that it is only aimed at tween girls.

Blondie's song isn't terribly layered either, especially compared to some of their other hits. But it has a (simultaneous) slick & grimy sleaze that appeals to me. Plus 70s/80s Debbie Harry was a master performer, making it all look so effortless.

Well the lyrics are def original & sophisticated; their complexity isn't merely 'ascribed' to them. But I feel like CMM just doesn't have the hooks, and Call Me just wrings so many hooks out of the sabbth-meets-moroder arrangemnt. The Rembrandts ripped off the big hook off their most successful (I think) non-sitcom-related single "Just the Way It is, Baby" from the pre-chorus. Plus, as others have pointed, Debbie's lyrics aint too shabby either.

Glad someone posted the Jimmy Fallon/Roots clip. I played that for three different classes today--love it.

it's so good.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

faith in ilx = restored

...for now

Pleasing numbers to anybody who likes math. Actually, "Call Me Maybe" didn't do too badly.

You CMM fans are coming up with some interesting readings of the song/lyrics, especially in regards to the singer being 26yo. But for me it ultimately comes down to the emotional/physical content of a song, how I react to it. And to these ears it simply doesn't have these complexities you all are ascribing to the lyrics and context. It's emotionally one-dimensional, something you hum while shopping at the mall (and not much more); hence the accusation that it is only aimed at tween girls.

I feel like this is a point that's been made here too many times before to merit repeating but: your argument jumps way too quickly from what you hear emotionally/physically in the tune ---> the tune as "emotionally one dimensional" ---> the tune is "aimed at tween girls".

There's no link between emotional complexity (which itself would be one of the most individually variably perceived qualities in music) and the age of the target audience. "Call Me" isn't emotionally complex at all, and is less so than "Call Me Maybe". It codes as "older" than "Call Me Maybe" (though not by that much) for stylistic reasons.

Anyway there's nothing wrong, and a lot that's right, with emotional simplicity (as a form of "purity" for some people I guess, though I'm suspicious of that term) which is why it is so often heavily prized not just in pop, but in most genres.

honestly, they both strike me as rather simple songs, emotionally and lyrically. each describes the sense of a romantic moment fairly well, but i think "call me" does a better job of capturing that moment musically, the headlong rush of erotic power and inevitability. it feels intoxicating, sexy and dangerous while "call me maybe" doesn't evoke much but excited good cheer. that's appropriate, i suppose, but not terribly compelling, imo.

there's nothing wrong with simple songs. you don't need much idea-wise to fill 3 minutes if it's a good idea.

33 people are lacking the most important thing of all: CONFIDENCE

Tim F otm

part of the choice here may come down to whether you fantasize about imperious blondes addressing you as someone who has designer sheets or whether you fantasize about nervous giggly girls

or whether you imagine yourself as one or the other

part of the choice here may come down to whether you fantasize about imperious blondes addressing you as someone who has designer sheets or whether you fantasize about nervous giggly girls

this makes me feel kinda gross

buy the ticket, take the ride

part of the choice here may come down to whether you fantasize about imperious blondes addressing you as someone who has designer sheets or whether you fantasize about nervous giggly girls

imagine CRJ covering "Sunday Girl."

French Kissin in The USA

that'll kill any fantasy dead, surely

Tim, I'm not drawing those links directly. Nobody said emotional simplicity was bad (or that "Call Me" was more complex), but that I disagree with some who are making the leap about the song's complexity via content that I'm just not hearing in the song itself. Of course emotional simplicity is prized in pop. It sounds to me like you're arguing that the song is both emotionally simple and complex; something which I would say somebody like Robyn is far better at achieving in contemporary pop. Not that Robyn has directly figured into this discussion up to this point, but I hesitate to praise CMM for such a feat.

"I like Robyn" = "but I have gay/black friends!"

ugh can we please live in a world where it's okay to like Robyn thx guyz

^ this

not in one where it's reasonable to bring her up in a CRJ discussion, tho

It sounds to me like you're arguing that the song is both emotionally simple and complex

I think with a lot of music and in particular pop music, the song acts like a sponge which soaks up the level of meaning/resonance/nuance/application-to-yr-life-experience that you throw at it. So it's not a special feature of CMM that it works this way, and the more invested a listener is the more their enjoyment will operate on multiple levels. This is why I think that this is a bad metric for determining whether the song has merit, because a hater and a fan are, for good reasons, unlikely to find common ground.

something which I would say somebody like Robyn is far better at achieving in contemporary pop. Not that Robyn has directly figured into this discussion up to this point, but I hesitate to praise CMM for such a feat.

It's hard to compare one song against an entire ouvre, but if you choose one Robyn tune ("Be Mine" or "With Every Heartbeat" or "Dancing On My Own" or "Indestructible" or etc.) then I think they're comparable, and I don't see any strong basis for your distinction except personal preference... and the fact that across multiple albums Robyn has constructed a meta-narrative of pop-as-meaning-sponge.

One of the things Robyn does is build into pop a performed self-awareness w/r/t pop music as a locus of potential meaning, but such meaning (or the co-existence of simplicity and complexity etc.) is not contingent on self-awareness to exist. Though it's always tempting to conflate the presence of meaning with instances of self-awareness of same, which is certainly one reason for Robyn's critical success (not a complaint, I love Robyn).

fucking robyn

how many times have i heard the words "but i do like pop, i like ROBYN!!!1111" out of the lips of some tedious bore otherwise overflowing with disdain for anything they perceive as "manufactured" or "for tween girls" or whatever

i don't know why people are so caught up in "the target age" of a particular song or artist anyway? what, you can't empathise with the perspective of someone outside your own rigidly self-defined identity? that's weird to me. or maybe you're just scared of being taken for a teenage girl? lol.

I do think there's something to be said for "Be Mine" being a little more sophisticated just as poetry, as writing, even if it's not more thematically complex. And "With Every Heartbeat" is more compositionally adventurous and complex. I quite like CMM, though.

how many times have i heard the words "but i do like pop, i like ROBYN!!!1111" out of the lips of some tedious bore otherwise overflowing with disdain for anything they perceive as "manufactured" or "for tween girls" or whatever

― bitch I'm on the 242 (lex pretend), Tuesday, 26 June 2012 6:31 AM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This totally doesn't surprise me at all but I've been super lucky enough to escape this IRL, else I think I'd probably dislike her too by now.

It's a good thing tears never show in the pouring rain
As if a good thing ever could make up for all the pain
There'll be no last chance, I promise to never mess it up again
Just a sweet pain of watching your back as you walk
As I'm watching you walk away
And now you're gone, there's like an echo in my head
And I remember every word you said

It's a cool thing you'll never know all the ways I tried
It's a hard thing faking a smile when I feel like I'm falling apart inside
And now you're gone, there's like an echo in my head
And I remember every word you said

And you never were and you never will be mine
No, you never were and you never will be mine

For the first time, there is no mercy in your eyes
And the cold wind's hitting my face and you're gone
And you're walking away
And I am helpless sometimes, wishing's just no good
'Cause you don't see me like I wish you would

'Cause you never were and you never will be mine
No, you never were and you never will be mine

There's a moment to seize every time that we meet
But you always keep passing me by
No, you never were and you never will be mine

I saw you at the station
You had your arm around what's-her-name
She had on that scarf I gave you
You got down to tie her laces

'Cause you never were and you never will be mine
(You looked happy and that's great)
No, you never were and you never will be mine
(I just miss you, that's all)

'Cause you never were and you never will be mine
No, you never were and you never will be mine

There's a moment to seize every time that we meet
But you have always keep passing me by
No, you never were and you never will be mine
'Cause you never were and you never will be mine
No, you never were and you never will be mine

There's a moment to seize every time that we meet
But you have always keep passing me by
No, you never were and you never will be mine

I do think there's something to be said for "Be Mine" being a little more sophisticated just as poetry, as writing, even if it's not more thematically complex.

I do love the opening couplet, but honestly if "Be Mine" wasn't a Robyn song but was the next CRJ tune I doubt that many people would be that surprised (throwback fake R&B beats would actually seem like the appropriate next trick for CRJ/her producers). It's a very similar mix of the general and the specific IMO.

as a friend recently pointed out to me, what's ironic is that the fear of pop (as seen in the comments beneath eg my fact piece on garage pop remixes) is itself the most teenage possible trait

Thank you, Gukbe. I don't fault Robyn for covering more ground than the vast majority of pop artists today.

I could compare CMM to, say, "Dancing on My Own"... and I don't think it holds up as "an interesting character telling a compelling story in a direct, efficient manner". Direct and efficient, yes; compelling story, eh, somewhat (?). Interesting character, not so much. I don't know any personal details about her after listening to the song. Ok, fine; so maybe it's not about getting to know a character, but about their worldview? Mmm, nothing terribly memorable there either. Or about how she feels about this boy? Well, I don't get much out of knowing he wears ripped jeans. Ok, so she's crushing hard. Yes, I found it! That's great. In that respect, she hits her mark. But I wouldn't say there's much more to support repeat listening for me.

Yeah, it's hard to pretend personal preference doesn't play into this. But I do think it's a perfectly legitimate way to evaluate a pop song. And I think contenderizer was OTM saying CMM "doesn't evoke much but excited good cheer".

I don't fault Robyn for covering more ground than the vast majority of pop artists today.

Literally a snapshot of me right now

http://www.myfacewhen.net/uploads/923-facepalm.gif

Stick to the topic instead of just finding quotes that you don't like ;)

i just wish we could get away from both "Robyn is better than 'mainstream pop music'" and "Robyn fans don't know anything about 'pop' music coz they're just a bunch of poser indie fuxxors"

I'd put "Call Your Girlfriend" almost up there with "Call Me Maybe" as far as great pop songs go - CMM gets an extra push though because it's popularity/viral aspects make it an exciting example of pop utopianism that is infectious and exciting.

i just wish we could get away from both "Robyn is better than 'mainstream pop music'" and "Robyn fans don't know anything about 'pop' music coz they're just a bunch of poser indie fuxxors"

agreed.

I could compare CMM to, say, "Dancing on My Own"... and I don't think it holds up as "an interesting character telling a compelling story in a direct, efficient manner".

I would concede that "Dancing On My Own" is great and nearly as good as "Call Me Maybe" and possibly a bit better than Ashlee Simpson's "Dancing Alone" even though it steals from the Ashlee tune rather egregiously.

But again I think any notion that Robyn conveys measurably more "personal details" or some greater insight into her "worldview" is pure projection on your part, and stems from the fact that you just happen to like other aspects of the song more - the fact that it's about yearning jilted love perhaps, or Robyn's vocals, or the melody, or the production, or you read the song favourably within the context of the idea of Robyn you already have in your head, or etc. or etc.

Pure projection which is utterly fine and legitimate, it's the stuff of pop fandom after all, but if you're gonna run the emperor has no clothes argument then you've at least gotta admit that you're just as guilty.

the fact that it's about yearning jilted love perhaps

this isn't quite it - it's also about being invisible, feeling alone in the middle of a crowd. I do suspect again this is why some people really like it over and above other pop, again it seems able to speak to a sense of not being able to just lose yourself in slash identify with a kind of pop rush.

I've heard both tunes played on the same dancefloor on the same night though, and they seem less far apart in that setting. Dancing to pop about love/lust in a social setting that occasions the possibility of love/lust always carries a double meaning in any event: the majority of people who lose themselves in "Call Me Maybe" in this context aren't in the midst of a crush in that moment, but they would like to be, and the majority of (the same) people who lose themselves in "Dancing on my Own" aren't in the same literal position as Robyn's character but they identify with its sense of isolation and perhaps at some level wish that their own more prosaic sense of isolation on the dancefloor was more urgently-felt. Both tunes speak to the desire to reach across a social barrier and find communion and validation, it's just that one holds out the tantalising lure of success and the other eulogises failure. But listeners to both tunes measure their own experience against the tune and perform each tune with the kind of self-distanced exaggeration that Robyn then occasionally fetishises. Hence in many senses these tunes are two sides of the same experience, and I don't really think that one is better or worse than the other.

how many times have i heard the words "but i do like pop, i like ROBYN!!!1111" out of the lips of some tedious bore otherwise overflowing with disdain for anything they perceive as "manufactured" or "for tween girls" or whatever

How many times must the rest of us put up with you divebombing Robyn on nearly every thread in which she's mentioned? The pop-hating/indie-loving asshole who makes an exception in her case is her fault how? It's not.

but I've been super lucky enough to escape this IRL

I think most of us have. It's lex's teeter-tottering defense for his Robyn hatred, that's all.