This is a funky question: Have you ever known you knew something but, forgot you knew it?
Well that happened to me. I stumbled upon this looking for something else. Can't even remember what I was looking for, something hip hop related though. Anywayz, this is a 90's joint. The track samples Janet Jackson's 1986 "Control" single "Funny How Time Flies (When Your Having Fun)". Just something to vibe out to, something mellow.
Scream has to undoubtedly go down as one of the most iconic music videos of our time. Let me also say that I have loved this this piece of work since the first time I saw it, which for me was about 9 or 10 years ago. I don't care to dive into extreme detail regarding the primary influence and/or basis of this project. Anyone who payed attention and remained aware knows what lit the flames, negative media attention, controversy etc, so I need not go there. However the culmination of events, pent up feelings, anger, and the need for both these artists to express what was on their minds ultimately resulted in an explosive performance from this brother sister duet that will not soon be forgotten.
The choreography imparts a crucial dimension to the theme. I've feel that the movement has to not only interpret the beat but the lyrics just the same. Every single grunt, clash, spin and captured gesture contributed more and more value and substance. For example, the slow motion clip of Michael slamming that black electric guitar and Janet punching and slashing at the camera. Then towards the end you have them dancing side by side, really demonstrating their unity and saying, "I gotcha back". Funny, it was because of this video that I was determined to jump form my knees to my feet, I still can. Both of them are wearing all black for the majority of the video. I love the setting and environment. So much symbolism. The black and white intensifies everything. Here they are, in this big white spaceship somewhere out in space, becoming alien to earth in a way. Inside are long halls, multiple windows, some panels that say "STRESS CAP" and gigantic screens. The glass on the capsules they're in exploding kinda represents the zenith of frustration for them. The interaction they have with each-other is the best though. Everything is morphing and transforming into something else. At about 2:45-2:46, this funky symbol transforms into the word: OBSERVATION and there's this one-way mirror type deal where it's like they're conducting experiments on one another. A notible part in this video is the lyrics just before they dance. The news reporter on the screen , is saying something very notable. They go:
Oh my God, can't believe what I saw as I turned on the TV this evening I was disgusted by all the injustice, all the injustice
I know I probably have her listed more that any other artist right now but I don't care. I love this video. I love that it's just her doin her thing, expressing herself solo. So I figured I gotta break this one down, tell ya why its my highest regarded among many.
Control (1986)
"Pleasure Principle" was one of the big singles spawned from Control, one of the most significant breakthrough albums to date. The record as a whole solidified, vigorously established and authenticated her identity with herself and among her peers, musically and otherwise. Each song boldly and yet rhythmically makes a strong statement. The record title sums up everything in one word. Looks like a purple exclamation point on the cover, her posture isn't wild though, kind of a calm assertiveness.
The video.
To begin with, she's wearing Adidas, and that always gets a plus with me. The choreography was great, nothing felt uptight. Well, I don't know if ALL of it was choreographed per-say, you could argue that she free-styled much of it. Anyway, she lands that chair move nicely, and I'm sure that took many tries. I like when she's jammin' between the line of throwback automobiles. That's not really a big deal, I just think it looks cool and at 2:47, I like the way she walks off the screen. Probably, the simplest part of the video,and more than any reason why I like it so much, is where she walks up the stairs of the warehouse building during the bridge of the song. I don't know. Something about the way the lighting is at that moment. All the bold shadows and the way the light streams between some of the cracks and different objects, it creates a natural visual effect for the camera. The video as a whole continuously goes uphill for me. I don't think there are any slow, stagnant points to it.
There comes a time when you want to listen to something that seemingly never gets old. You know the ones I'm talking about. The songs that no matter how many times you listen to them, they just get better and better with time. Why is that? How can you listen to the same sounds, same beats, same rhythms countless times and never get tired of them? Of course you take a break, but only for a short period of time. You never forget these songs either. How do we remember what makes us feel good? How does that part of our brain remind us, "Hey, you know you like this. Go ahead and put it on." For me, one of the funniest things to do is try and figure out that part of the lyrics you haven't quite gotten down yet. I have a few selections here of my favorites I'd like to share with you.
"Silver Springs" Live - Fleetwood Mac
I remember I first heard this song when I was around maybe 12 or 13 years old. My mom burned the live performance of this to a CD for the car. I didn't know who the group was at the time and honestly, up until then I'd never heard of them. All I knew was I liked the song and still do.
"Respect" - Aretha Franklin
I don't this song gets old for anyone. Come on, it's about R-E-S-P-E-C-T who wouldn't want to hear about that. This remains as one of the most relevant songs of our time.
I like the original studio version and the more acoustic heard on Design Of A Decade. The acoustic version may be my favorite mainly because the guitar solo in the middle has a little extra added to it. Not to mention it sounds more in your face. As I said, I like both of them regardless.
"I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" - Aerosmith
I never knew much about Aerosmith from the beginning. Thats not to say that I knew nothing from them. It's that I never knew too much about their personal history or how they came about rather. This song was written for the soundtrack to Armageddon (1998) which also featured Steven Tyler's daughter Liz.
Get it - I chose the CD format but, of course you do you :)
Ok, I chose Carly Simon for the main fact that I love her single "You're So Vain".
I'm gonna get southern here and say that Carly did her thang' on this one. As you can see, this song is featured on her album No Secrets. Not trying to sound like a school teacher, but vainmeans lacking in value or irreverent.In this case, you could also add egotistical. I love the arrangement for the intro. I think it's a synthesizer that creates that bubbly, gurgling sound. The first words she says are, "Son of a gun", and then as the beat drops the lyrics go, "You walked into the party, like you were walking onto a yacht. Your hat strategically dipped below one eye your scarf it was apricot. You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte...". I find the intro and those lyrics are a match made in heaven because to me it symbolizes this man having such an underlying yet flashy arrogance that he just can't hide it as it bubbles forth. That line "I had some dreams there were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee and..." has been decoded and left to many an interpretation. I take it to mean that something obstructed her "view" in terms of where she was in her life, but who knows.
Janet Jackson also sampled from this in her single "Son Of A Gun" off her album All For You. As with Carly, there was much speculation as to whom she was speaking of, who knows. There's a lot of symbolism and metaphors in this song. Only Carly Simon knew who she was and wasn't talking about. This song is kind of an anthem for some women, something they can relate to. Regardless of the target this song will always get an A+ from me.
For me there are certain music videos where the music and the video perfectly complement each other. I'm sure there are those of you have your favorites and feel just as I do. With me, the song is typically the first insight I have. I'll to take you on an expedition through the ABC's of a few of my inseparables from Ms. Jackson to show you what makes them my favorites.
JANET JACKSON - ALRIGHT
"Alright" is one of those songs that, for me, gets stronger as the years go by. I love the beat, and I highly doubt that I'll ever take this one off repeat. I don't remember exactly when I heard this song but I know it was quite a few years ago. I immediately fell in love with it. There where certain sections that I anticipated.....Then I watched the video for the first time and that unquestionably sealed the deal for me. The whole nature of it attracted me. The atmosphere, her black and white pinstriped Zoot Suit, the choreography, the Nicholas Brothers, Cab Calloway. All of these components create a nostalgia that makes me want to experience that time period.
JANET JACKSON - RHYTHM NATION (5,4,3,2,1)
There are a million and one things that I could say about this joint right here, but I'll try to keep it at one million. This is a strong case in point. The whole project trumpets a firm militant core that can't be denied. The choreography is so tight and contains so much precision with the crisp movements that it makes me wanna drop down and give'em 50. Janet and her dancers was jammin in this one. With "The Pledge" as the interlude and introduction for the album and video, along with what is delivered in this fine tune package creates for me the pièce de résistance.
JANET JACKSON - IF
I don't necessarily have a single favorite music video of hers, however If is definitely one I watch often. The saying goes that a picture says a thousand words, well I'll let you type If into the video player above and watch those words in action.
Just click the upward arrow in the bottom right corner.
Velvet Rope. This track is after the Interlude - Twisted Elegance. If I recall correctly there was no official video created for this song. In my opinion, however, the song as a whole creates such imagery that each individual listener may visualize a personal video for themselves.
On that interlude, on this jagged, distorted, "twisted", jazzy layer Janet proclaims, "It's my belief that we all have the need to feel special, and it's this need that can bring out the best in us yet the worst in us. This need created The Velvet Rope." A majority of those words are echoed throughout the lyrics of the song. Within the first ten or twelve seconds it sounds like your being taken on some sort of industrial intergalactic voyage towards a forbidden location. As you land and begin to take notice of your surroundings, you discern that you've arrived at the very depth of her realizations, moreover you find that this destination isn't too alien from where your deepest thoughts reside. Throughout the chorus and each verse, she narrates many feelings that in some form or another represent that figurative velvet rope inside all of us. If you listen closely, from 0:15-0:31, in the background sounds like what could be a very slow pulse rate, that's what I imagine it to be anyway. Just a bit before the beat drops, you'll hear some sort of rough, computerized voice begin to say repetitively, "Come on, come on, baby come on, come on, baby, come on, come on", as you dive continuously into this never-ending twilight zone of intense emotion. Within the lyrics, "Put others down to fill us up. Oppressing me, will oppress you..." is the message that so many of us will do what we deem necessary to feel bigger or accepted, only to find that in the end we cause harm to others and ourselves as well. "Outside leave judgment. Outside leave hate. One love's the answer you'll find in you." Analyzing those words, it seems she may be saying that once you leave any hostility, any malice out the door, then that "rope" will be more readily unhooked. Nevertheless, it's easier said than done.
I have to say that my favorite section is towards the end, where the violin travels along its highs and lows of notes. The way in which the sound of that instrument works in conjunction with the bass and this cacophony of abstract sounds in the background leads to an intense zenith that truly gives you an earful. While there are beautiful, recognizable, and awkward sounds on this track, they all unquestionably portray the fact that "The Velvet Rope" isn't always glamorous.
