Sixpence None The Richer's 'Kiss Me' - who else loves it?

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it's on the easy listening comp that plays on repeat in the newsagents, and it is always a pleasure to hear it come on. can u name a more gorgeous song? thought not. who agrees?

also, do you think it sounds like belle and sebastien?

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Saturday, 11 January 2003 17:42 (twenty-three years ago)

also, do you think it sounds like belle and sebastien?

Ah, THAT'S why I hate them.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 11 January 2003 17:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Fuck the Cheeky Girls, this thread is the utter dire proof that no matter how low or base or unworthy a song is, SOMEONE on ILX will step forward and defend it. What's next, Cranberries: Classic or Dud?

kate, Saturday, 11 January 2003 17:45 (twenty-three years ago)

I think that one was already done.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 11 January 2003 17:46 (twenty-three years ago)

but it's a genuinely gorgeous pop song, kate. i doubt i'm the only one who loves it. irresistibly catchy pop music is "base and unworthy"? not in my book...

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Saturday, 11 January 2003 17:48 (twenty-three years ago)

its alright...unoffensive...maybe a bit too twee/cute i dunno. it certainly doesnt annoy me like something like The Calling but then female vocalists always go down better (hur hur) with me doing songs like that

stevem (blueski), Saturday, 11 January 2003 17:52 (twenty-three years ago)

I *HATE* inoffensive music. It is like drinking vanilla flavour straight out of the bottle. IT IS SO BLAND IT ACTUALLY HURTS!!!

kate, Saturday, 11 January 2003 17:52 (twenty-three years ago)

but that melody, and lovely vocals, overcome any tweeness, or bland production problems. i loved it when it came out, and it was a pleasure to hear it again. i spend the working day anticipating it's next appearance...

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Saturday, 11 January 2003 17:56 (twenty-three years ago)

You do realize they put in backward-masked messages telling you to go to church and say your prayers, right? ;-)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 11 January 2003 18:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I think its sweet. But its the kind of thing that makes me feel like a romantic dork enough that I'll forgive anybody else for hating it, though I'll be happier if they didn't.

I think of it more as a less obnoxious Cranberries, but I like the idea of it as a sell-out B&S song too.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 11 January 2003 18:02 (twenty-three years ago)

i think fellow god-fearing types low could do a good cover of it. so good, it might elevate it to the status of "best song ever." ;-)

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Saturday, 11 January 2003 18:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Astounding! Thank god Low cover the Smiths, Joy Division and Meddle-era Floyd instead, ;-)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 11 January 2003 18:07 (twenty-three years ago)

heh heh! i was joking about the "best song ever" thing, obv, but it's still a gorgeous track, in my view.

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Saturday, 11 January 2003 18:09 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't understand how anyone could call it a gorgeous song; I just find it grating.

Curtis Stephens, Saturday, 11 January 2003 18:51 (twenty-three years ago)

I *HATE* inoffensive music. It is like drinking vanilla flavour straight out of the bottle. IT IS SO BLAND IT ACTUALLY HURTS!!!

this is how i feel about most dronerock! the kiss me song is aweful. too many colors. i hate that jangley style of guitar. sounds like the poormans Sundays. they play it all the time in my local Cost Plus World Market.

chaki (chaki), Saturday, 11 January 2003 19:19 (twenty-three years ago)

I find that it's one of the songs that girls are very impressed by when you play on the guitar or piano or whatever. They're not impressed that I can pound out a fairly accurate piano version of Highway to Hell, including the solo, but the first few bars of "Kiss Me" and I'm the greatest musician they've ever known.

My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Saturday, 11 January 2003 19:47 (twenty-three years ago)

It's okay as a example of commerical tw33.

jel -- (jel), Saturday, 11 January 2003 19:51 (twenty-three years ago)

an example even, I am listening to Kiss, they are hurting my brain.

jel -- (jel), Saturday, 11 January 2003 19:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Aren't they creepy zealous Christians? I know that has nothing necessarily to do with the song, but it certainly hampers my capacity to enjoy it.

A bit too twee for my tastes anyway. Oh, and they should also be ex-communicated for butchering "There She Goes" by the wholly superior (if slightly insane) La's.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 11 January 2003 19:57 (twenty-three years ago)

What jel said. At the time it came out, I worked jobs where we heard Top 40 or adult contemporary radio all the time. I liked this song more than most of what we heard but I think that's as far as it goes. I might prefer it to Low though;)

sundar subramanian (sundar), Saturday, 11 January 2003 19:59 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm with kate, it's just sickly. This song is the definition of twee, in its most negative sense. Ugh!

(true that Sundays thing - but then I didn't mind them for some reason)

Kim (Kim), Saturday, 11 January 2003 20:51 (twenty-three years ago)

there's nothing to like about this song.

michael wells (michael w.), Saturday, 11 January 2003 20:59 (twenty-three years ago)

That beginning part sounds like MBV's "Don't Ask Why" (off "Glider")

donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 11 January 2003 20:59 (twenty-three years ago)

romantic? i suppose, if your idea of romance is unspecific, prim and submissive. not that generality is always a sin. some people can pull it off by feeling it thoroughly enough, or at least having the talent to sell their simulation. but these guys aren't randy newman or madonna (for instance).

and as far as sound goes, aren't they just ripping off The Sundays? they were nothing special but far less offensive.

gabbneb, Saturday, 11 January 2003 21:07 (twenty-three years ago)

shit. forgot about the Sundays. Doesn't she say "barley" in it? Are their any other cases of a pop singer referencing barley aside from this and Sting's "Field Of Good."

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 11 January 2003 21:19 (twenty-three years ago)

Dead Can Dance also love barley, though perhaps not "bearded" or whatever. But those are "traditional songs" that are beyond reproach, at least in most eyes.

Oh, and no, "Kiss Me" is not a pleasure. Nor is it gorgeous. It's toilet fodder. That cover of the "There She Goes" is pure f*cking blasphemy, and of course wholly f*cking hilarious. Fake Christians covering a song about heroin... a joyless laugh, to be sure.

Tim D (Tim D), Sunday, 12 January 2003 02:29 (twenty-three years ago)

"Kiss Me" is lovely. "There She Goes" is awful but only because "There She Goes" is also awful - I really can't take anyone seriously who claims this is 'blasphemy' or anything other than a prettified version of a tiresome song (Ooh ooh it's about heroin - what is yr actual opinion of heroin, addiction etc. naysayers?). The Sundays are on the whole better than Sixpence NTR, but "Kiss Me" is the great Sundays song they didn't write.

Tom (Groke), Sunday, 12 January 2003 02:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Any cunt can make ugly music. I like something pretty every now and then. This more than suffices.

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 12 January 2003 03:04 (twenty-three years ago)

I liked it quite a bit, then my Jim O'Rourke / Low / Fugazi / Company Flow liking friends started hatin' on me and it...

...so I made a hip-hop/breaks bootleg of it.

Do people feel the same way about "1000 Miles" by Vanessa Carlton, 'cos I dig that muchly also.

Nik (Nik), Sunday, 12 January 2003 03:07 (twenty-three years ago)

The Vanessa C record is GREBT!

Tom (Groke), Sunday, 12 January 2003 03:11 (twenty-three years ago)

I hate "Kiss Me." I love 1000 Miles. But I've long had a weakness for overproduced adolescent-romantic folk with rock aspirations.

gabbneb, Sunday, 12 January 2003 03:17 (twenty-three years ago)

But it's not pretty, or romantic. It's gamine perhaps, but it's so.. forced.

Kim (Kim), Sunday, 12 January 2003 03:17 (twenty-three years ago)

I hate "1000 Miles" because, as I've stated before, it sounds like someone trying to learn "Walking In Memphis" at the behest of their overbearing parents.

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 12 January 2003 03:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Vanessa Carlton = the Kate Bush that never ever once threatens Billy Joel.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 12 January 2003 03:27 (twenty-three years ago)

I never thought of "Kiss Me" as a commercial version of Belle & Sebastian before, but it makes sense the more I think about it.

Off-topic: Air Supply's "Lost In Love" sounds like a commercialized outtake from _The Boy With The Arab Strap_. My wife refuses to accept this, but can't you imagine Stevie Jackson singing those verses?

mike a (mike a), Sunday, 12 January 2003 04:55 (twenty-three years ago)

Vanessa Carlton is great! She rules!

jel -- (jel), Sunday, 12 January 2003 10:49 (twenty-three years ago)

yes, its a nice track but I wouldn't buy it.

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 12 January 2003 12:22 (twenty-three years ago)

I love "Kiss Me".

I like "a thousand miles". 2003 - the year of the pianist? (cf. last couple of regular TOTPs)

Jeff W, Sunday, 12 January 2003 13:53 (twenty-three years ago)

That 'Kiss Me' song always reminded me of Throwing Muses rather than 'Belle and Sebastion'

Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Sunday, 12 January 2003 14:02 (twenty-three years ago)

What Throwing Muses songs have YOU heard? Feh!

kate, Sunday, 12 January 2003 14:05 (twenty-three years ago)

"beneath the milky twilight" rubs me the wrong way, I think because it reminds of poems I wrote in jr.high. The offer to wear that dress if fellow in question wears those shoes is a strange trade-off - he's getting a lot more promised clothing out of the deal, if the dress is the one I'm imagining, a pillowing pink floofy one. What pleasure does she take in those shoes? in short, the song reminds me of midnight swingsets.

1 1 2 3 5, Sunday, 12 January 2003 20:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Fellow? I always thought it was more likely a song about two girls because of the bring your flowered hat line. I realise that proves nothing INCONTROVERTIBLY, but it does imply it I think. Which is most shocking! /sar

Kim (Kim), Sunday, 12 January 2003 22:19 (twenty-three years ago)

I like Kiss Me but I like the cover of There She Goes even more than the original. Was it really about Heroin?

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Sunday, 12 January 2003 22:40 (twenty-three years ago)

yikes, I've never read the lyrics before! it is rahter sapphic isn't it? and they're xtians too...maybe it's time to reconsider my defiant anti-xtian stance. (actually, maybe it's just a defiant anti-xtian-rock stance...not that SNTR rock in any way, shape or form).

So yeah, always liked the song, Sundays yeah, B&S not so sure, didn't half go off them when I found out about the...oh never mind.

Charlie (Charlie), Sunday, 12 January 2003 22:56 (twenty-three years ago)

"I really can't take anyone seriously who claims this is 'blasphemy' or anything other than a prettified version of a tiresome song"

Ah, go buy a Corrs disc, Tom....the La's were great.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 13 January 2003 00:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Sixpence None The Richer's album was packaged BACKWARDS, so that the back of the jewel case was the cover, the bastards. This makes them cunts and worth killing.

Lovefool by The Cardigans was much better, Kiss Me is just kind of wimpy, forgettable sacharine.

Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Monday, 13 January 2003 11:43 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm agreeing with Tom on damn near every thread today. Umm: "Kiss Me" sounds like the Sundays relocating to Dawson's Creek, which comes off as a fine thing, not to mention which the musette on it is great. Their version of "There She Goes" was just there and functional and not particularly good, which was mostly a bad thing because the song itself is in no need of extra covers (they're out there and there will be more): the only contribution Sixpence made to it was the vocal swoop and flutter on the second "goes," which was quite nice.

nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Ooh I missed the boat with the Vanessa Carlton love, but she's fab as well. Seconded Nitsuh's Dawsons Creek mention!

Lovefool was RUB and certainly not in the same league as the above songs. Can you imagine Joey Potter walking along deserted Boston st/deserted Capeside pier whilst this plays? Obv ans = NO. However, My Favourite Game is something that could easily be played at a frat party hahaha Jack is frat boy hahaha.

I did larff on Jens radio show where she talks about REAL ROCK music and then goes on to play Tenacious D.

Sarah (starry), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:10 (twenty-three years ago)

never heard this song...but...sounds like the Sundays relocating to Dawson's Creek...is certainly enough to ensure i will dl it tonite

gareth (gareth), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:10 (twenty-three years ago)

I like Vanessa Carlton more, but I would due to it having BRILLIANT piano, whereas Sixpence None the Richer are more strum strum rather than biddly biddly bong.

Sarah (starry), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:21 (twenty-three years ago)

A Thousand Miles
Vanessa Carlton

(piano)
biddly biddly bong--
biddle biddle
biddly biddly bong--
boodle diddle daddle
biddly biddly bong--
biddle biddle
boodly diddly ding--

nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:25 (twenty-three years ago)

(This = new Starry Sarah musical notation.)

nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Vanessa Carlton in surprising link with dancehall shocka!!!

Sarah (starry), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:32 (twenty-three years ago)

I am hating everyone who is comparing "Kiss Me" to B & S because I really like it, largely because of the Sundays connection.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Death to Dawson's Creek rock. OF ANY SORT.

And any one Sundays song renders Sixpence irrelevant, but I am biased.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:44 (twenty-three years ago)

''Ah, go buy a Corrs disc, Tom....the La's were great.''

no they weren't. look its what richard ashcroft prob based his career on.

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:55 (twenty-three years ago)

I miss Lee Mavers.

Classic Doom-e action on this old La's thread!

Tom (Groke), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:58 (twenty-three years ago)

b-b-b-but... ;-)

zebedee, Monday, 13 January 2003 18:06 (twenty-three years ago)

I hate it when they use 10 seconds of it on TV or in a movie (or on the She's All That DVD menus grrrr). But otherwise I really like it.

Vanessa Carlton "A Thousand Miles"

Graham (graham), Monday, 13 January 2003 18:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Sure, it's twee, but sweet. Like it, not love it. If more of their songs were played on the radio, I'd probably dislike the band a lot more (already been said enough times, but their version "There She Goes" adds extremely little).

Vinnie (vprabhu), Monday, 13 January 2003 19:46 (twenty-three years ago)

More Dawson's Rock Now!

jel -- (jel), Monday, 13 January 2003 19:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Vanessa Carlton's moustache c or d?

chaki (chaki), Monday, 13 January 2003 20:48 (twenty-three years ago)

''Classic Doom-e action on this old La's thread!''

the horror! the horror!

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 13 January 2003 20:53 (twenty-three years ago)

What Throwing Muses songs have YOU heard? Feh!

Well I was thinking of more of a Thowing Muses lite, a sort of relation ship OMC's 'How Bizarre' had with Beck.
My mind works in mysterious ways but I think the track it most reminds me of is 'Dizzy', but I don't have it to hand to confirm and I haven't heard it for years, probably before 'Kiss Me' came out.

Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 05:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Well I was thinking of more of a Thowing Muses lite, a sort of relation ship OMC's 'How Bizarre' had with Beck.

No, because that relationship was "tons better than".

(Actually this is a good qn - which bands benefit from a 'lite' approach? Which don't?)

Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 08:38 (twenty-three years ago)

I like "Kiss Me" because it's bittersweet and nostalgic because it reminds me of 'She's All That' which reminds of Rachel Leigh Cook which reminds me of this girl I was friends with around the time of 'She's All That' who looked alot like Rachel Leigh Cook but then she moved away and after she moved I thoughy 'I wanted to fuck her but I never got the chance' so when I hear "Kiss Me" at Publix (which is like every time I'm there, they've got "Kiss Me" and Air's "All I Need" on a loop or something) I'll sigh. Her name was Kerry.

James Blount, Tuesday, 14 January 2003 08:44 (twenty-three years ago)

(what's with all the OMC hataz? I mean in NZ they were around for ages & "How Bizarre" wasn't really typical - early stuff like "We Are The OMC" or, say, "Land of Plenty" from the album are U&K, but um everyone overseas seems to refer to OMC as some sort of dilution of something unspecified (um even Tom in yr 90s singles I think?). . .)

(& "Kiss Me" is v.nice but I haven't listened to it in ages)

(but seriouslly, OMC as Beck-lite?!?!?!)

Ess Kay (esskay), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 09:10 (twenty-three years ago)

OMC weren't in my 90s singles though they were very good.

I'm saying Beck-lite is a good thing in this case Reclaim! "lite" from the hataz!

Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 09:11 (twenty-three years ago)

"How Bizarre" is as good a single as Beck ever released and I like Beck

James Blount, Tuesday, 14 January 2003 09:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Both my uses of 'lite' were positive here, I love that 'How Bizarre' track, and it had a great drawling quality which reminds me of about what I liked about Beck (I felt he went pants with Odelay bar a couple of great singles)

Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 19:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Listening to it right now: "Destination un-noooowe-unn", great stuff.

Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 19:39 (twenty-three years ago)

OMC vs. The Streets

James Blount, Tuesday, 14 January 2003 19:41 (twenty-three years ago)

two weeks pass...
I just saw the ad for "How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days" and it features a cover of "Don't Dream It's Over" by Sixpence! Covers for movie soundtracks might be where this band is heading.

Vinnie (vprabhu), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 15:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Good grief.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 16:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Kim (Kim), Thursday, 30 January 2003 02:10 (twenty-three years ago)

re: Starry Sarah, last night I tried to look for the Vanessa Carlton song by typing biddley biddley boo into iTunes. Obviously it didn't find it cos I got the spelling wrong.

Graham (graham), Friday, 7 February 2003 14:29 (twenty-three years ago)

two years pass...
i adore this song. it sounds like something from loveless without all the noise!

J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Thursday, 26 January 2006 18:03 (twenty years ago)

so a really weak song, then?

cancer prone fat guy (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 26 January 2006 18:05 (twenty years ago)

sounds like the Sundays relocating to Dawson's Creek

still the most apt description

Sororah T Massacre (blueski), Thursday, 26 January 2006 18:07 (twenty years ago)

heard this song the other day in the store. i have to say, i dont mind it, it's an ok pop song.

AaronK (AaronK), Thursday, 26 January 2006 18:07 (twenty years ago)

always thought it was lovely…

veronica moser (veronica moser), Thursday, 26 January 2006 18:26 (twenty years ago)

I'll defend this one. Lovely song.

Cracks (Crackity), Thursday, 26 January 2006 18:57 (twenty years ago)

I liked it the first time I heard it. Now...not so much. I liked the Sundays better, althought they haven't aged that well either. There's tons of twee that's much better that this.

daavid (daavid), Thursday, 26 January 2006 23:25 (twenty years ago)

Haha, just the other night my friends were looking at using this song for their wedding reception dance and I mocked them so viciously they decided not to use it (though they're likely to pick something equally vile).

Bn1 (Bn1), Thursday, 26 January 2006 23:40 (twenty years ago)

I like it when it comes on, but I've never suddenly wanted to hear it.

1000 Miles rules. Lyrics are WTF, but so many lyrics are.

Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:31 (twenty years ago)

like it

RJG (RJG), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:32 (twenty years ago)

Love this song. Shamelessly.

someteenpartying (someteenpartying), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:33 (twenty years ago)

It's catchy, I'll give it that. For this kind of sound, I still like Innocence Mission's 'Glow' best of all.

M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:40 (twenty years ago)

I liked it at one time but 2003 is way too late not to be tired of this song, to say nothing of 2006. Subject yourself to one 'soft hits' radio station, people.

tremendoid (tremendoid), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:50 (twenty years ago)

Oh, for heaven's sake. It's a pretty frothy pop song. If you hate pretty frothy pop songs, news flash: you'll hate it. And you don't get any astuteness points, or whatever, from saying so, or noting that it isn't fecking "Anarchy in the UK."

Evaluate it please in comparison to other hate pretty frothy pop songs--in which case it holds its own against anything Amy Grant or Sarah McLachlan ever did, so there.

The Mad Puffin, Friday, 27 January 2006 23:38 (twenty years ago)

I dislike 'Kiss Me' for the simple reason that I don't like the melodic formula at the beginning of several phrases within each verse -- the single note, repeated, and isolated from the rest of the melody, and the annoying way she sings it all swoopy. For me that detail becomes a marker for how over-repetitive the song as a whole is (although I'll grant that 'There She Goes' is a much worse offender when it comes to over-repetition).

Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Saturday, 28 January 2006 01:12 (twenty years ago)

everything i've ever heard by this band has been gorgeous. this sort of pop is a total guilty pleasure for me.

stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 28 January 2006 01:16 (twenty years ago)

my favorite is the "don't dream it's over" cover.

stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 28 January 2006 01:18 (twenty years ago)

(although I'll grant that 'There She Goes' is a much worse offender when it comes to over-repetition).

Structure in mirroring lyrics shockah

Jimmy Mod (I myself am lethal at 100 -110dB) (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Saturday, 28 January 2006 01:26 (twenty years ago)

i adore this song. it sounds like something from loveless without all the noise!

"Don't Ask Why"!!

Despite the Dawson's Creekization of these type of songs, I still like "Kiss Me".

NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 28 January 2006 01:35 (twenty years ago)

can someone do a rough guide to songs that sound like this? not dawson's pop as a whole, just this kinda english-major/quasi-pastoral strain of it. obv 10,000 maniacs would be on there.

stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 28 January 2006 02:30 (twenty years ago)

The Sundays to thread

Jimmy Mod (I myself am lethal at 100 -110dB) (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Saturday, 28 January 2006 03:04 (twenty years ago)

yeah, that's another obvious one. cocteau twins too?

stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 28 January 2006 03:05 (twenty years ago)

Oh, for heaven's sake. It's a pretty frothy pop song. If you hate pretty frothy pop songs, news flash: you'll hate it. And you don't get any astuteness points, or whatever, from saying so, or noting that it isn't fecking "Anarchy in the UK."

is this re: my post? if it is, it missed my point.

tremendoid (tremendoid), Saturday, 28 January 2006 04:02 (twenty years ago)

tremendoid: no. More to stuff upthread along the lines of "I hate inoffensive music." Okay, well then, fine for you, but not much help in talking about songs that people are trying to make sound pretty rather than nonpretty.

"Poor man's Sundays," though, is dead on.

The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Saturday, 28 January 2006 21:19 (twenty years ago)

eleven months pass...
Umm: "Kiss Me" sounds like the Sundays relocating to Dawson's Creek

Love that! Her voice is grating at times (and the lyrics are a bit too saccharine) but the song is still really good overall. Also, as previously mentioned, nostalgia.

*Although if nostalgia were a valid excuse for taste than we may as well close the site down and call all music a draw.

Cunga (Cunga), Tuesday, 9 January 2007 06:29 (nineteen years ago)

six years pass...

heard this in the grocery store today. kinda a forgotten jam of late 90s/early 00s pop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwo-xezj7Ts

how's life, Sunday, 12 May 2013 15:58 (twelve years ago)

sounds like the Sundays relocating to Dawson's Creek

still the most apt description

― Sororah T Massacre (blueski), donderdag 26 januari 2006 19:07 (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^ and still

Le Bateau Ivre, Sunday, 12 May 2013 17:06 (twelve years ago)

yeah i love breathe your name. i literally only hear it in grocery stores too.

the white queen and her caustic judgments (difficult listening hour), Sunday, 12 May 2013 17:09 (twelve years ago)

The intro caught my ear because it sounded like "Carry the Zero" by Built to Spill.

how's life, Sunday, 12 May 2013 17:47 (twelve years ago)

i'm not sure if i'd ever heard that one before. the only ones i really remembered were "kiss me" and "there she goes"

dyl, Sunday, 12 May 2013 18:07 (twelve years ago)

^^their version of "Don't Dream It's Over" still gets decent airplay on AC stations 'round here as well.

"Breathe Your Name" is indeed the supermarket/restaurant jam.

Sheela-Tubb-Mann, You Real Know-It-All (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 13 May 2013 02:05 (twelve years ago)

i just heard this in a department store yesterday. I looked it up and it said they were Christian. I did not know that.

Poliopolice, Monday, 13 May 2013 20:27 (twelve years ago)

I did not realize until just now that this thread was started by the villain from the latest Iron Man film, somewhere early in the timeline of his transformation from wounded, rejected, geeky scientist to fiery, immoral uberman.

how's life, Monday, 13 May 2013 20:33 (twelve years ago)

five years pass...

Thanks to this song, I love Freddie Prinze, Jr..

morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 18 June 2018 01:26 (seven years ago)

it's a lovely song

niels, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 06:36 (seven years ago)

Gorgeous song

sunburst N snowblind (Ross), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 07:54 (seven years ago)

good chord progression for beginner guitarists too.

Ludo, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 11:02 (seven years ago)

I think a more charitable read of that one line would be “Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance. Silver moon's sparkling.” Like, these are separate ideas. The fireflies are not "dancing silver moon's sparkling". Save that shit for Owl City.

I really only know this song and Breathe Your Name, which I really love, and then several covers like Don't Dream It's Over and Dancing Queen, which are so unnecessary. Is anyone familiar enough with their albums to recommend anything further?

how's life, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 11:22 (seven years ago)

good chord progression for beginner guitarists too.
idd

niels, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 12:01 (seven years ago)

this song is great, it imagines a slow coronal world in which the sundays got big enough in the us to score teen movies (fear excepted)

flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 13:59 (seven years ago)

I was living in Sydney when this came out. It's inextricably linked with me being skint and locked out of the weightless preening narcissism of the city. I hate it.

The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 14:28 (seven years ago)

^ can’t blame you

ya done (Ross), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 14:37 (seven years ago)

“... an all-purpose margarine smeared over the toast of a Clinton-era lust”(!)

i’m still stanning (morrisp), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 14:57 (seven years ago)

this is a good song and I literally cannot imagine disliking it

aloha darkness my old friend (katherine), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 15:02 (seven years ago)

Alfred, here’s what I don’t get: you recently dissed “Don’t Speak” because of what you diagnosed as (I recall) Gwen’s failure to convincingly “sell” the song; and you are similarly harsh on the vocal performance in “Kiss Me” — yet you love Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn,” whose vocal could most charitably be described as “serviceable,” and which is certainly less charismatic or “convincing” than either of these two “Worst Singles Ever.”

i’m still stanning (morrisp), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 16:18 (seven years ago)

as a kid i thought the lyric was ‘sailor moon sparkling’

flopson, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 16:41 (seven years ago)

otm

flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 16:46 (seven years ago)

you love Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn,” whose vocal could most charitably be described as “serviceable,” and which is certainly less charismatic or “convincing” than either of these two “Worst Singles Ever.”

a matter of opinion! I find her winsomeness convincing.

morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 16:53 (seven years ago)

Fair enuff

i’m still stanning (morrisp), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 16:57 (seven years ago)

I like this song but people comparing her vocal to Harriet Wheeler are so crazy, there's nowhere near the expressiveness or frustration or wistfulness in this you can find in any The Sundays song

boxedjoy, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 17:28 (seven years ago)

sorry i'm crazy!

flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 17:36 (seven years ago)

i guess i'll agree with that still, it wasn't a one-to-one comparison

flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 17:36 (seven years ago)

This song is great in its own right, but in my head is like the John the Baptist to the Lord and Saviour that is Bic Runga’s “Sway”.

Tim F, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 17:56 (seven years ago)

oh god i haven't thought about "sway" in forever

flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:06 (seven years ago)

As for The Sundays resemblance, I think with stuff like “Kiss Me” and Natalie’s “Wrong Impression” there’s a certain... satisfying breeziness that comes from the fact that the singers are not on Harriet’s level of emotional nuance and expressiveness. I mean both performances are very pretty and expressive by ordinary standards but they do stop short of Harriet’s ability to capture an entire life in a turn of phrase like a pressed butterfly, and that kind of allows them to be simply affecting in a way that The Sundays’ work is too powerful for.

Perhaps the only Sundays song that comes close to that territory is “Summertime” - interestingly though it’s not at all because Harriet tones things down but that the song is so extremely ebullient that the two forces tend to cancel each other out if you’re not paying attention (and then once you do pay attention it becomes more obviously a deeply layered masterpiece).

So I guess what i’m saying is that the comparison is kind of unfair given the Sundays have made some of the best music of all time and let’s all be allowed to enjoy the lesser but considerable charms of “Kiss Me” and “Wrong Impression”.

Tim F, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:08 (seven years ago)

Harriet’s ability to capture an entire life in a turn of phrase like a pressed butterfly

otm / goddamn

flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:17 (seven years ago)

lol at nabisco's line from 15 years ago: " "Kiss Me" sounds like the Sundays relocating to Dawson's Creek".

I just watched "Sway" again and I think the slight difference is that "Sway" sounds marginally better in my head then on record whereas the reverse is true for "Kiss Me", perhaps because Bic's singing dominates the former (and it's easier to capture the richness of the sound of vocals in memory IME) whereas the number one selling point of "Kiss Me" is the arrangement.

This is leading me down a wormhole of listening to Missy Higgins' "The Special Two" at 4am in the morning, oh no.

Tim F, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:18 (seven years ago)

Huh, "Sway" never charted in the states. That's...odd.

Making Plans For Sturgill (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:19 (seven years ago)

Whut.

Never trust America.

Tim F, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:23 (seven years ago)

I lost interest in the Sundays with "Summertime" – 'ebullience' is the right word but it's too spelled out, didactic? You can see the DNA connecting it and "Kiss Me."

morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:26 (seven years ago)

Your reaction makes sense to me but I think "Summertime" benefits more from close attention - there's much more shade to its light than is first apparent. The way the second verse so closely mirrors the first but entirely reverses the narrative into one of tragedy and disaster, even if slightly winking, recasts the entire rest of the song (and retroactively the earlier stretch of the song) as an elegy to fleeting happiness - hence the final line, "...or have I read too much fiction? Is this how it happens?"

In this regard I wouldn't agree that it's "didactic" - the didactic version of the same song is probably The Future Bible Heroes' "Real Summer" (though that song prospers by its gloomy insistence on spelling things out).

Tim F, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:34 (seven years ago)

I lost interest in the Sundays with "Summertime"

smh

flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:38 (seven years ago)

Your reaction makes sense to me but I think "Summertime" benefits more from close attention - there's much more shade to its light than is first apparent. The way the second verse so closely mirrors the first but entirely reverses the narrative into one of tragedy and disaster, even if slightly winking, recasts the entire rest of the song (and retroactively the earlier stretch of the song) as an elegy to fleeting happiness - hence the final line, "...or have I read too much fiction? Is this how it happens?"

there was a period a few years ago where i was really falling for someone but the entire situation was full of uncertainty and seemed like it could fall apart at any point and i sure did listen to "summertime" a lot then

flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:40 (seven years ago)

Huh, "Sway" never charted in the states. That's...odd.

― Making Plans For Sturgill (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, June 19, 2018 11:19 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh huh i guess i'm only aware of it bc of the american pie soundtrack

flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:45 (seven years ago)

I think that's were most of us here discovered it.

It was a CVS jam for awhile.

Making Plans For Sturgill (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 18:46 (seven years ago)

whereas the number one selling point of "Kiss Me" is the arrangement.

last time i heard ‘kiss me’ i thought the opposite. it’s like those band practices where someone brings a melody and chord progression so killer you know all you have to do is stay out of the way

flopson, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 20:04 (seven years ago)

‘Sway’ is beautiful

flopson, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 20:05 (seven years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4vkasTzVeU

lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 20:10 (seven years ago)

^^ 'Shouei'/Sway of some sorts, and would've fitted Dawsons Creek perfectly.

Also, 'Kiss Me' rules, Alfred (for once) drools.

lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 20:12 (seven years ago)

I am a man with a beer gut, a propane grill, and approximately eleven guitars and I like or love every song mentioned in this thread. I didn't care that "Wrong Impression" felt like a Sundays imitation, because even imitating the Sundays is a way to evoke the joy I get from the actual Sundays. Even if "Summertime" or "Static & Silence" constitute the Sundays imitating the Sundays I am all for it. More please.

I think I even owned the Sixpence CD with "Kiss Me." No regrets, even if I turned up my nose at the Christian stuff ("Waiting Room").

too gashly (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 20:20 (seven years ago)

How about "Breathe Your Name"? The lyrics seem obviously Xtian; but I always thought it was clever how it fit on secular radio b/c it could be (mis-)heard as referring to romantic rather than religious rapture, if you weren't listening closely.

i’m still stanning (morrisp), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 20:25 (seven years ago)

Yeah morrisp, compare the Amy Grant of "Unguarded" - love songs that could easily be read as romantic or religious as the audience required.

too gashly (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 20:37 (seven years ago)

or Michelle Branch's Everywhere.

how's life, Tuesday, 19 June 2018 22:33 (seven years ago)

donna lewis the goat

lost in sublimation (Ross), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 22:35 (seven years ago)

relistening to this properly and realising what a reserved vocal performance it is, I can imagine it makes a more fun song to inhabit as a listener that you can't do with a song by The Sundays in the same way

"Wrong Impression" is a great song but in an entirely different way - giddy and glossy and widescreen in a way "Kiss Me" struggles to reach and The Sundays aren't trying to

boxedjoy, Thursday, 21 June 2018 20:42 (seven years ago)

re: giddy glossiness, compare "Break Out."

~ cows come home (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 21 June 2018 21:28 (seven years ago)

one year passes...

If you were music supervisor on a contemporary remake of She’s All That, which song would you have play when Laney comes down the staircase?

I eat fast foods (morrisp), Sunday, 26 April 2020 00:00 (five years ago)

"All That" by Carly Rae, obvi

winters (josh), Sunday, 26 April 2020 00:44 (five years ago)


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