24 Comments on “On a Lighter Note”

1. I would say “inspired by”. Strongly.

2. Ha! Happened to look at this post while this same song is playing on the radio. I haven’t watched the video yet, though.

3. We’re supposed to laugh at the guys, right? Because they’re reacting emotionally to the women dumping them?

   It’s got a certain level of turn-the-tables humor to it, but.

4. And the drum beat is identical. But there are only so many of those drum rhythms. And the songs are thematically linked.

5. Yup. Straight out. Now I’m listening to that. Then I’ll have to track down my CDs …

6. Not a bad song — not sure I’d go so far as “addictive,” of course these things are very subjective — but I identified too strongly with the guys in the video.

7. Cool side note… if you listen to Heartache Tonight first… and then segue into to The Wire, it gets this apocalypctic, prophetic motif that rocks! *LOL*

8. The entire album is addictive, and they’ve got a great Fleetwood Mac cover to boot…

9. The drum sounds pretty similar but I would be hard pressed to call the guitar flourishes particularly similar, much less “straight out of”.

   There are a lot more rock songs than bits that go into them. I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of rock, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find closer examples. If one were found, it could still be the case that HAIM was more influenced by the Eagles than this theoretical better match, given the enormous popularity of the Eagles.

   I remember buying a Blue Oyster Cult compillation CD, and discovering that three tracks had pretty much the same riff, but with different tempos or a couple tiny variatations, like the one note of difference between the riffs of Under Pressure and Ice Ice Baby. Of course in that case, the band was copying itself, but I still found it interesting that when picking tracks for the compilation, presumably ones deemed popular, that they ended up picking rather similar tracks. It does almost suggest that there are a few perfect ear worms; aural kin to the the hypnotic pattern in Piers Anthony’s Macroscope. The Axis of Awesome’s “Four Chord Song” sort of covers this territory.

10. There are only so many notes and chords to be played, so many drumbeats. Frequently, a musician/band will repeat something that’s been done before for a variety of reasons. I ripped off “Billie’s Bounce” just the other night when I was soloing. Nobody in the audience recognized it, and I’m sure Bird didn’t mind either.

11. I like that the guy is cuddling with a rooster at one point. :)

12. Xopher – really? I hope not; because I could really relate to those guys. If we’re supposed to mock them? I… guess I’m not part of that ‘we’. :(

13. I must be turning into one of those bitter grumpy old dudes, ’cause everyone in that video looked like they were about fifteen to me.

    and they need to stay off my lawn !

14. Well, Andrew Gold claimed the Eagles, who were recording The Long Run in the same studio where he was recording, swiped their beat from this:

15. Well, if you’re gonna rip something off, might as well go for the gold, eh? But I can’t listen to the opening without hearing the original lyrics they filed off.

    I have zero sympathy for anyone in that video except the first woman. I mean, sure she was a patronizing jerk for telling Emo Hipster #1 he’d be fine so she could feel better about dumping him, but at least she told him to his weepy face. What kind of insensitive coward dumps someone by text? And dudes, stiffen up that vertebrae! This is probably why people only come to me for relationship advice before the relationship has ended :)

    @Xopher

    It’s got a certain level of turn-the-tables humor to it, but.

    Ain’t nothin’ new. Boys and girls been too chicken to tell each other how they feel and face the music since evolution produced vocal cords. I say boys and girls ’cause men and women don’t stab each other in the back or refuse to admit they’ve been dumped. And, in case it needs sayin’, it’s all the same when it’s boys and boys or girls and girls.

16. I’d say “ode to” on the intro. Though I always used to get that song and this one confused: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oedrJmPWvTI

17. Haim opened for Mumford & Sons in Camden back in March. They have such crazy energy on stage, really an awesome band to see live.

18. For some reason, I heard more of this tune in the intro. A little more directly derivative of the Eagles…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXWvKDSwvls

19. And since the following song on the album contains the lyrics “my lyin’ eyes,” I’ve become convinced that every song has a hidden Eagles nod in it that I’m obsessively listening for.

    Hey, some people do crossword puzzles…

20. Coincidence?

    On ‘Days Are Gone,’ Three Sisters HAIM It Up (NPR)

    Note the date of the review; it’s from the very same day. One more confirmation that John Scalzi is naught but just one more extruded pseudopod of the liberal-entertainment-complex! ;-)

21. Wow, it’s totally lifted from the Eagles. I didn’t catch it the first time around.

22. Yes, just like potato chips. I listened to it on repeat at the gym today. I’m hooked. Damn you Scalzi!!! *shakes fist*

23. The first chord actually made me think of Motley Crue, and it also kicks off in a men’s room, just like this video:
    http://youtu.be/5oVBvxA0mm0?t=41s

24. All fiction is fan-fiction.

    This is not a bad thing.

    Yes, in this case I’m talking about music.

    The gender reversals are intentional and run counter to the stereotype. That’s also not a bad thing. I don’t think we’re supposed to laugh at them for being emotional.