Great songs with a terrible section

Along similar lines Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" alternates between a fantastic verse and a really perfunctory chorus/bridge. It's as if he wrote the opening lines and then didn't know what to do next, so he just half-assed the rest and recorded it. It's frustrating because it feels like an imposter. It's taking the place of a better song.

I'm amazed at this assessment.

Yes to Paul Simon. He often manages to pull it off and rarely reaches the full-on flopitude of say, The Capeman but still.

Can't agree with this take on Paul Simon at all! (Then again, you won't ever hear me say anything negative about The Capeman either.) If there might be anything of his which I might bring up in this thread, it's his son's backing vocals in 'Father and Daughter'.

I was thinking of Genesis' 'Anything She Does' here. I do think the vocals and overall melody of the verses and choruses are pretty alright, but I quite dislike the in-your-face main brass & bass riff.
I also have no idea why Phil Collins always did whatever he did before and after 'Throwing it All Away' whenever they performed it live.

Jarring live renditions of songs might be another topic altogether. I'm a huge Echo & the Bunnymen fan, but after having seen time live multiple times over the past 25 years I almost can't hear them do 'Nothing Lasts Forever' anymore as Ian McCulloch always makes it transition into a Walk On The Wild Side cover and back again, and it was fine for one time but otherwise it really doesn't add anything to the song other than taking time.

But of course the classic answer is Tangerine Dream's "Birth of Liquid Plejades"

I won't argue with your taste, but have you really encountered this opinion elsewhere? The microtonal cello quartet is a brilliant opening, but I think that all the sections of this music are beautifully proportioned.

Altrockchick otm

Um Girassol Da Cor De Seu Cabelo” (“A Sunflower the Color of Your Hair”): I have mixed feelings about this piece, though I think the song itself is quite lovely, both melodically and lyrically. Here’s what lyricist Mârcio Borges had to say about the song’s origins:

(the song is) the fanciful narrative of a bus trip I made with my girlfriend, whom I would one day marry. It was the first time we traveled together. I rested my head on her lap, looking closely at the details of her blue jeans dress. Through the window the radiant sun filled the bright blue sky. And I lay there declaring eternal love. Sunflower was my favorite flower, and it all made sense.

Grasse, Jonathon. Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges’s The Corner Club (33 1/3 Brazil) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

What he is describing is a sweet and gentle moment between two lovers in the nascent stages of a relationship. The music captures that loveliness through the first verse and chorus with Lô Borges singing the simple melody in a soft voice as he plays piano with a light touch. When his supporting cast enters (Rubinho on drums, Beto on bass, Tavito and Nelson Angelo on guitar), they do so subtly and quietly, so as not to disturb the tender moment.

The first sign of trouble comes at the start of the next verse when arranger Eumir Deodato introduces “silvery strings” that create a sound that is either a high-pitched violin filled with air or an extremely poor example of flute technique. The sound is terribly grating, so much so that I lose all connection to the flow. My suspicions concerning Deodato’s questionable choices are confirmed by the jarring appearance of what Grasse calls “an orchestral interlude of expressionistic, cinematic proportions, smearing those silvery background strings into an angst-ridden cloud dissonantly answering the lover’s question, ‘ou será que é tarde demais?’ (‘or will it be too late?’).” Talk about an overreaction to a simple question! Grasse goes gaga over the arrangement (he has a tendency to go gaga with annoying frequency); I would describe it as a classic example of the arranger absconding with the song. The up-tempo coda that follows might have worked had it not been for the orchestral intrusion; as it is, it feels like a failed rescue attempt. Deodato arranged some of the other pieces on the album but none are as obviously out of sync with a song’s content as this one.

yeah you didn't play my link apparently

― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, September 5, 2022 12:11 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah, sorry. your joke was better but in truth i hate the whole fuckin song, even the curtis amy part

"Our Lips Are Sealed" – the bridge is a total whiff!

Faust - Jennifer; the old timey saloon piano at the end.

I did a song when I was 19 where I ripped that bit off under the auspices of an Andy Partridge 'gear change'

I mean there's almost nothing it can do that won't be an anticlimax after the song proper, so why not, it has bathos at least

It's fantastic, weirdly poignant

Captain Sensible - Glad It's All Over. Absolutely gorgeous sounding but on some listens the stupid lyrics get in the way a bit too much

That too xp

Bee Gees "I Close My Eyes", a perfectly lovely piece of 1967 pop-psych with a bizarre piercingly-annoying wordless vocal hook at the end of each chorus

Faust - Jennifer; the old timey saloon piano at the end.

― Chris L, Thursday, September 8, 2022 7:45 PM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

awww I like that bit. though I don't really consider it part of the proper tune

the Faust one that comes to mind for me is that squeaky backwards organ feedback at the end of "Miss Fortune" - always have to turn it down because it really does hurt my ears

Elvis Costello once wrote that at one time, any song of his that had any potential for sweetness needed to be given the harshest possible treatment. I think he was talking about "Deportee."

Anyway I have never felt that it was necessary to have "Man Out of Time" begin and end with the double-time distorted outtake spliced in. Your opinion may differ. The song would have been fine.

"Captain Sensible - Glad It's All Over. Absolutely gorgeous sounding but on some listens the stupid lyrics get in the way a bit too much"

Literally every single King Crimson song with lyrics would be much better without lyrics. I would love that band if they had never had a singer ever. Or if the lyrics were sung in Sigur Ros' Hopelandic. Or Magma's kobaian. Or if they were whistled.

For that matter ELP's oeuvre is ruined for me by Keith Emerson's keyboard playing and Greg Lake's singing and guitar and whatever other instruments he played e.g. harmonica or banjo or whatever. If someone remastered their albums so that they were just Calm Palmer drumming and nothing else they would be fantastic.

check out "Tank" on the 1st ELP album, might be your jam

I’m not…. super crazy about the slow spooky horror music of “children of the grave”, but I accept I’m wrong

horror music SECTION I mean, with the organ or whatever

Half-inclined to add the “Wot’s ‘e like?” in “Buffalo Stance.”

Outro to Queen's "Seven Seas of Rhye" where they go into a rendition of "Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside". I know it's a segue into the intro of the first track on the following album, which is a pretty good trick, but it's still crap.

Literally every single King Crimson song with lyrics would be much better without lyrics.

Agree with this 100% (and I really like Greg Lake's voice, but KC's lyrics were jabbering nonsense at best, jabbering sexist, homophobic nonsense at worst).

Runnin Blue by the Doors would maybe be my favorite Doors tune if weren't for Krieger's cod hillbilly chorus break down barf

Great example

I think Jimmy Buffett's "Come Monday" is a great song, except for the "I can't help it honey..." bridge which is so completely nails on a chalkboard to me that I'll pull my earbuds out and just skip that part of the song altogether.

I could really do without the spoken word poetry break in the Doors' "Peace Frog." Way to kill a groove. Only 16 seconds long but I want to snip it out so bad.

"Ducks On a Pond" by the Incredible String Band is actually three songs in a row: one great, one fine, one terrible. I understand the thematic relation between the parts, but most of their "good-timey" stuff falls flat for me.

I almost mentioned that song earlier. I also hate the "Keep the home fires burning" part of their song "Darling Belle" which, otherwise, is one of the best and most affecting things they ever did.

I opened this thread and immediate hit ctrl+F to search for "Eyes Without A Face". The 'rocking out' is less of an issue than the rapping.

Lol it’s not great but neither that nor the rapping ruins the song for me.

Not terrible but the 'Leeeeee...eeeeeeisure' in XTC's Le(eeeeee...eeeeee)isure would benefit from only appearing once

Half-inclined to add the “Wot’s ‘e like?” in “Buffalo Stance.”

― The self-titled drags (Eazy), Tuesday, September 13, 2022 8:30 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

WOT?!

I've never come to terms with the drum break in 'like a motorway' that interrupts the sleek night driving synths at least two too many times.

_Half-inclined to add the “Wot’s ‘e like?” in “Buffalo Stance.”

― The self-titled drags (Eazy), Tuesday, September 13, 2022 8:30 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink_


WOT?!

"Going to California"

(Was only half-inclined with “Buffalo Stance” — maybe I’ll come around!)

BREATHE DEEP
THE GATHERING GLOOM
(*click*)

i wouldn't say it's "terrible" per se but the extremely jaunty intro to "girlfriend in a coma" always cracks me up. my wife and i couldn't agree if it's riffing on disco or country but it does feel out of place, even with the rest of the upbeat instrumentation of the song.

whenever i see this thread title my brain parses "terrible section" as meaning like a part of an orchestra like string section or woodwind section

that sounds like a Zappa thing

Hahaha!

The Beach Boys - It's Getting Late is a lumpen Huey Lewis type chorus mixed with gorgeous rising-and-falling verses

It might just be me but I’ve always found the middle “Father, forgive me” bit of Pet Shop Boys’ “It’s a Sin” a bit of a slog. It seems musically and lyrically ordinary in an otherwise fantastic record.

The original album version of "Moonchild" by King Crimson. Every time I listen to it, I am tempted to create my own edit.

Could really do without the “meow meow meow meow” bit in Luna’s “Moon Palace”

Feel the need to defend many examples brought up in this thread, but I have the exact opposite opinion of the "father, forgive me" section in "It's a Sin" - beautiful musically and lyrically, crucial to the song, even

But you did remind me of a PSB bridge I really don't like in an otherwise good song: the "everybody's got to live together" section in "So Hard"

ok if we're gonna talk about bridges how about "Orinoco Flow". its such a cool New Age single because it's so brisk and catchy, unlike what you would expect from the genre. there's nothing else like it. so why not just stick a slow tuneless part in the middle just to ruin the flow

ruin the orinoco flow you could say!

no I agree actually. The best thing about it is that when the chorus returns it sounds even better

...but it's great because it blurs out like that then comes back even better! You're like, "oh, is that all the candy I get?" Then you get some more.