Gordon reviews his 7”s
Aug. 30th, 2011 09:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gordonzolaResidents – “This is a Man’s Man’s Man’s World/Safety is a Cootie Wootie” (1984)
This James Brown cover is one of my favorite Residents songs. Stripped down and desperate, the Residents turn this classic into a sad, pleading period piece of male insecurity in the face of changing gender roles in the ‘70s/’80s.
At least that’s how I read it.
The singer starts out strong and assertive, telling you all the things that men have accomplished (The car, the electric light, the rocket ship, etc.) but there’s something wrong; something wavering in his voice. The singer is trying too hard to convince us. Or to convince himself.
Sure “it wouldn’t mean nothing without a woman or a girl” but that seems like an add-on, perfunctory, like something the singer just knows that he has to say to keep the peace. The singer sings more troubled the longer the song goes on. He seems less than convinced that when he has done everything else, that making “money to buy another man” is really as good a thing as he’s trying to proclaim.
This version of the song becomes more and more sparse as the singer loses his conviction. It seems like he’s run out of accomplishments to list. In the end, “Man is lost in the wilderness. Lost in bitterness. Lost… Lost… “
Sure, it’s a man’s world, but is that really such a good thing?
I never managed to get into the B-side though the lyric “Safety has an open mouth. Safety has an open mouth” often sticks with me for days after I listen to this.
I should probably also note that I listened to this 7” at the wrong speed for years. Perhaps my reading of this song is affected by that hyper-masculine deep voice I heard while listening to it at 33 instead of 45. The Residents, especially in this time period, were all about being anonymous and mysterious so this song – when I heard it as a teen – was a message from some scary but intriguing place I’d never been before.
Rating: Awesome. One of my favorites.
This James Brown cover is one of my favorite Residents songs. Stripped down and desperate, the Residents turn this classic into a sad, pleading period piece of male insecurity in the face of changing gender roles in the ‘70s/’80s.
At least that’s how I read it.
The singer starts out strong and assertive, telling you all the things that men have accomplished (The car, the electric light, the rocket ship, etc.) but there’s something wrong; something wavering in his voice. The singer is trying too hard to convince us. Or to convince himself.
Sure “it wouldn’t mean nothing without a woman or a girl” but that seems like an add-on, perfunctory, like something the singer just knows that he has to say to keep the peace. The singer sings more troubled the longer the song goes on. He seems less than convinced that when he has done everything else, that making “money to buy another man” is really as good a thing as he’s trying to proclaim.
This version of the song becomes more and more sparse as the singer loses his conviction. It seems like he’s run out of accomplishments to list. In the end, “Man is lost in the wilderness. Lost in bitterness. Lost… Lost… “
Sure, it’s a man’s world, but is that really such a good thing?
I never managed to get into the B-side though the lyric “Safety has an open mouth. Safety has an open mouth” often sticks with me for days after I listen to this.
I should probably also note that I listened to this 7” at the wrong speed for years. Perhaps my reading of this song is affected by that hyper-masculine deep voice I heard while listening to it at 33 instead of 45. The Residents, especially in this time period, were all about being anonymous and mysterious so this song – when I heard it as a teen – was a message from some scary but intriguing place I’d never been before.
Rating: Awesome. One of my favorites.
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Date: 2011-08-30 04:50 pm (UTC)i actually sort of love 'safety is the cootie word.'
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Date: 2011-08-31 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-30 05:09 pm (UTC)P.S. April thinks the Residents are "astronauts."
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Date: 2011-08-31 12:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-31 03:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-21 07:06 pm (UTC)