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Dave I just watched this.
Arden was and is an incredible influence on me. But this song. Well, it’s terrible isn’t it? I’ll probably be lambasted as an uneducated fool (especially as there are no comments yet) but I really did not enjoy this. Sorry.
Hi Matt,
I think his voice and guitar are quite raw.
It has a Dylan quality, a lack of slickness, that I liked.
But, of course, that could be because it’s about Paul.
Good stuff.
The right wine in the wrong bottle.
Good ideas don’t save bad executions.
(I actually hate to see good ideas badly implemented. I hate combinations like great lyrics - lame music, great content - horrifying web design, great direction - terrible casting etc. High contrast always makes things worse.)
“80% idea, 80% execution”…
(I’ll always love John Hegarty for this line.)
Do I detect the sound of tumbleweed blowing through a ghost town.
yeah, with Morricone soundtrack and Sergio behind camera
Okay, so here’s what I liked about it.
It’s not a conventional, slick, well sung, well played, well edited video.
The voice is crude and broken, the lyrics are crude and simple, with some bad notes on the guitar.
These things make it confrontational, unsettling, and uncomfortable.
And yet the rawness works well with the emotional nature of a tribute to Paul.
As Nick Sutherland Dodd said at Paul’s tribute, “Paul always said it’s good to feel uncomfortable.”
So I think the fact that it’s not a conventional slick glossy thing that we can all agree is well made is exactly what makes it work for me.
Paul would have liked the very fact that a lot of people don’t like it.
Paul was always fond of Helmut Krones quote, “If you can look at a thing and straight away say “I like it” then it isn’t new.”
Paul sounded like an enigma.
Dave, you know a hell of a lot more than I ever will.
But I can’t judge this on any prior knowledge of Paul Arden’s personality. I can only judge it on face value - which I’m sure everyone else will.
I didn’t like the music, lyrics or performance. Visuals were very interesting though. Sorry.
I think that’s a fair point Matt.
Everything is a combination of what it is, plus what we bring to it.
This will be very evocative for anyone who knew Paul.
For everyone else it’s just a piece of film.
You’re right, I forgot that.
I quite enjoyed it - it’s a bit odd but I happily watched to the end
reminded me of Don Van Vliet and Tom Waits -
“This will be very evocative for anyone who knew Paul.
For everyone else it’s just a piece of film.”
Exactly, Dave.
This makes me rephrase my initial thoughts on it:
it’s not so much a matter of BAD EXECUTION as it is a matter of BAD RECEPTION.
And that’s because some of us have no memories about Paul Arden, so we’re missing EXACTLY the most important part: the fact that this is very representative of Paul Arden.
Hi Dave.
This reminds me a bit of Kevin Rowland’s ‘My Beauty’ album – the one that involved him doing cover versions of classic songs while wearing a dress. Kevin Rowland has been my lifelong hero and to me this album and the promotion around it were (and remain) the ultimate punk rock art statement. I found (and still find) it hugely moving and inspiring. To the rest of the world it was a middle-aged man doing karaoke in a dress. It broke my heart that festival audiences threw bottles of piss at him and the album sold less than 500 copies.
Info and (still remarkable) album cover artwork here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Beauty
Concrete and Clay video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN-vcyNWDjM
this proves how important context is.
I believe.
Well i think its great.
And i tell you why. It’s a song by a man, about a man who followed his path.. As has Tony Kaye. Two men who have followed their destiny and taken on the fear. They’ve done what most of the population on this planet cant do, and that takes fucking courage. The song comes totally from the heart. It has meaning. Its not some manufactured crap that we have been told is good by Simon Cowell. Paul Arden used to say ‘Dont put the brief on the page, put yourself on the page’. And that’s what i encourage my creative department to do. That means putting your neck on the line… right or wrong. standing by your decisions…And if any of you knew Paul or know Tony, you would understand.
Hi Graham,
You, like Dave, have a strong affiliation with Paul Arden. However I still think we’re allowed an opinion on this song.
You say it’s not manufactured crap - true. But just because Simon Cowell hasn’t stuck his oar in doesn’t make it a classic. Tony Kaye is an incredible creative man, as was Arden. Much more talented than I could ever hope to be. And this is a very personal tribute to a great man. But as an outsider I simply didn’t like it. I can’t judge it on any prior knowledge. Putting your neck on the line is brave and encourage creatives to do so is admirable. But Dave put this post up and asked us what we thought. We gave our opinions.
You finish your post with “And if any of you knew Paul or know Tony, you would understand.” Well that’s the point isn’t. Sadly not many of us do. You can’t tell people why art is great, which is the great thing about art.
Few typos in that post sorry about that - but you get my point!
Dave, I think it’s time you wrote a post about Paul Arden. This way you (and anyone else who knew him) can give us more details about what he was like. Both you and Graham talk about him in a way that shows you didn’t only admire his work, you seem to have admired him as a person as well. What we can have an opinion on, by looking at his work, is the output, while the additional things you know about him refer to the input he had into his work. Analysing a result is one thing, analysing an attitude is a totally different story.
We’re discussing two different things here: the quality of the song as a piece of music, and the quality of a piece of music and performance as a tribute to someone.
Would you download this off iTunes if you had never heard of Tony or Paul?
Knowing something of Tony and/or Paul, do you think it’s worthy of either of them?
I guess it’s all subjective.
As I said on my blog, as somebody’s feelings about a man who has passed away, it’s beyond criticism. However, as a song, it’s what you make of it.
The guys who seem to know either/both of them appear to like it. Those who don’t appear to be less enthused. Perhaps this is a question of target markets and horses for courses.
i love it. i have had the distinct pleasure of seeing Tony and his K band play live. his song about his teddy bear is brilliant. he means it.
Couldn’t agree more Ben. And a post on Paul Arden would be a great read.
I think Paul would enjoy the controversy, the more the better.
(But you seem to enjoy it more than anyone else would.
)
saturday morning and just watched for 5th time and still enjoying it - sober
the way he strains and alliterates the words and the sincerity in his face is compelling viewing
I don’t believe you need to know Tony or Paul to appreciate this performance
I probably wouldn’t pay to download the audio on it’s own but that’s not the proposition is it
I might go and see a Tony Kaye show though -
\I’m playing all the right notes - but not necessarily in the right order\
I really am happy to write about Paul, but I can’t think of anything I haven’t written already:
http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2008/04/09/
If you’ve got any questions or ideas I’d be happy to write more.
For me, the expression on Tony’s face at the end of the video said more about his feelings for Paul than the song (or his singing) possibly could. And that poignant moment could not have been reached without the performance that preceded it.
Dave, after reading that post I have only one question:
Do you think there’s anything uninteresting you could tell us about this man?
I have my doubts. But let’s do a test. Write a post on whatever you remember about him and we’ll see if there’s anyone unable to learn anything from that story.
This is something else I wrote about Paul a while ago.
http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2008/12/12/
Dave, wasn’t Paul Arden another good example of always living in the present?
I have a feeling that’s a characteristic of all great ad men.
(Including you.)