Land of the inappropriate song.. or What NOT to put in the background of your news report
26/07/07 02:30 Filed in: Personal
I know, 2.30am is a seriously odd time to suddenly decide to put keyboard to blog. But I've had inspiration from a (I'll leave it anonymous) podcast I had on soothingly in the background.
Today's (or is that tonight's) subject is the use of inappropriate music in the background of news items and/or tv programs.
Now to be honest, I'm not sure if it's UK only phenomenon or whether or not other nations have the same issue. But the theory goes in the head of TV executives that a news item about a particular subject or a feature in a TV show can be transcended to the audience by the use of a tenuously linked piece of popular music.
Most famous of which is the BBC music promo.
Perfect day was meant to represent all that was good about BBC music to the UK listening audience. Moving lyrics like
What a perfect day
You made me forget myself
I thought I was someone
Some good
Yeah
Help convey the idea of a life enhancing experience provided by the BBC.
Only one problem. Lou Reed's song is actually a homage to heroin. Which is a fact that couldn't have escaped the BBC given he sings the opening lines in person and I'm sure might have mentioned it to them. It also didn't miss the attention of rival ITV; "Satirical comedians on standby."
Actually, smack connection or not, "Perfect Day" remains one of the BBC's most successful self publicity campaigns and sold several million copies when released on CD. I link to the YouTube video for your delight.
A spate of news reports carried out by my local BBC news channel BBC North West on China re-introduced the world to Suzi and Banshees seminal 1983 hit "Hong Kong Garden".
This catchy little ditty from the age of punk mixes Suzi Sue's hard fast singing voice with distinctly oriental in nature musical background. The major force behind it's very choice.
However, I'm not sure how impressed the local Chinese community would be if they had realised the background music to their;
Was actually a stark and rather disturbing critic of child prostitution within the Asian sub-continent. The subtle give away being the line regarding;
"Sell your daughter"
Or the suggestion that you could pick up the girls (I presume) with just a few Yen.
So... a person is retiring after a very long time in a job. They make the local news and... from the speakers come Hue and Cry's top hit "I ain't gonna work (for you no more)". Which is fine... very nice. So long as the person is actually leaving the service of Margaret Thatcher. Because the song is specifically about her... and famously so.
Now it is true that for some part the lyrics or meanings behind a song can be misleading. "Perfect Day" 'could' be about a person (come on.. this is Lou 'What decade are we in' Reed we are talking about).
But when the meaning is clear or the chorus CLEARLY has another meaning... I give you
Do I need say it. Have you already guessed?
You know it already. "Turning Japanese" by XXXXX is background fodder for so many stories about Japan it's untrue.
But if the production staff would just spend 20 seconds listening to the lyrics they would clearly see the lyrics don't even suggest Japan.
No wine, no fun, no sin, no women
No you no wonder it's dark
Everyone around me is a total stranger
Everyone around me is a pycho-ranger
Everyone
What are they about? Well... at the risk of giving my blog an adult rating. The lyrics are about the 'loneliness' of being in a prison cell. The 'turning Japanese' phrase relates to a facial expression during a given moment of happy distraction.
Which, in a similar way to "Hong Kong Garden" can only go to further divide links between world cultures.
Beaches? Sun tans? Dusky maidens. No. None of the above. The Stranglers were singing about heroine. Raw heroine.
Ooops.
Today's (or is that tonight's) subject is the use of inappropriate music in the background of news items and/or tv programs.
Now to be honest, I'm not sure if it's UK only phenomenon or whether or not other nations have the same issue. But the theory goes in the head of TV executives that a news item about a particular subject or a feature in a TV show can be transcended to the audience by the use of a tenuously linked piece of popular music.
Most famous of which is the BBC music promo.
Perfect day
Perfect day was meant to represent all that was good about BBC music to the UK listening audience. Moving lyrics like
What a perfect day
You made me forget myself
I thought I was someone
Some good
Yeah
Help convey the idea of a life enhancing experience provided by the BBC.
Only one problem. Lou Reed's song is actually a homage to heroin. Which is a fact that couldn't have escaped the BBC given he sings the opening lines in person and I'm sure might have mentioned it to them. It also didn't miss the attention of rival ITV; "Satirical comedians on standby."
Actually, smack connection or not, "Perfect Day" remains one of the BBC's most successful self publicity campaigns and sold several million copies when released on CD. I link to the YouTube video for your delight.
..And the background music for nearly ALL reports of China is....
A spate of news reports carried out by my local BBC news channel BBC North West on China re-introduced the world to Suzi and Banshees seminal 1983 hit "Hong Kong Garden".
This catchy little ditty from the age of punk mixes Suzi Sue's hard fast singing voice with distinctly oriental in nature musical background. The major force behind it's very choice.
However, I'm not sure how impressed the local Chinese community would be if they had realised the background music to their;
- Chinese New Year celebrations
- Anniversary of the establishment of Manchester's / Liverpool's "China Town"
- Opening of a major new Chinese theme event
Was actually a stark and rather disturbing critic of child prostitution within the Asian sub-continent. The subtle give away being the line regarding;
"Sell your daughter"
Or the suggestion that you could pick up the girls (I presume) with just a few Yen.
Ain't gonna work....
So... a person is retiring after a very long time in a job. They make the local news and... from the speakers come Hue and Cry's top hit "I ain't gonna work (for you no more)". Which is fine... very nice. So long as the person is actually leaving the service of Margaret Thatcher. Because the song is specifically about her... and famously so.
Now it is true that for some part the lyrics or meanings behind a song can be misleading. "Perfect Day" 'could' be about a person (come on.. this is Lou 'What decade are we in' Reed we are talking about).
But when the meaning is clear or the chorus CLEARLY has another meaning... I give you
.. if the subject is about Japan
Do I need say it. Have you already guessed?
You know it already. "Turning Japanese" by XXXXX is background fodder for so many stories about Japan it's untrue.
But if the production staff would just spend 20 seconds listening to the lyrics they would clearly see the lyrics don't even suggest Japan.
No wine, no fun, no sin, no women
No you no wonder it's dark
Everyone around me is a total stranger
Everyone around me is a pycho-ranger
Everyone
What are they about? Well... at the risk of giving my blog an adult rating. The lyrics are about the 'loneliness' of being in a prison cell. The 'turning Japanese' phrase relates to a facial expression during a given moment of happy distraction.
Which, in a similar way to "Hong Kong Garden" can only go to further divide links between world cultures.
Golden Brown
Beaches? Sun tans? Dusky maidens. No. None of the above. The Stranglers were singing about heroine. Raw heroine.
Ooops.