The Atlantic - Latest Comments in So, Yeah...

Re: So, Yeah...

Faivel — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:27:47 -0000

How strange: the same day you posted this I came across the first single from her new record -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRtydnIycCY&feature=related, and mailed it to some friends in astonishment. Her new record is really, really good and this song is a killer. I mean, it's nothing but pop, but it's perfect pop.

Re: the video. I don't know why there's fan writing all over it. That part's annoying.

Re: So, Yeah...

aleks — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:58:14 -0000

Ja.

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aleks — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:57:04 -0000

Springsteen did Jersey Girl pretty well, and the Eagles' Ol'55 wasn't a crime.

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Randall — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:07:12 -0000

I can take or leave Scarlett - the production is top notch. Banjo riffs and soaring strings, hollow reverby vocals. You could get anyone to sing the words and the rest of the song would carry it through.

Re: So, Yeah...

cperry1848 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:24:58 -0000

I'm with you on this. I got this shortly after it came out because I like Tom Waits so much and because he was involved in it. At first I was into it, but it's not very memorable. There's no song on the album that really grabs me. I feel the same way about it as I do about "The World Still Won't Listen" which is a cover album of Smiths songs done by punk and hardcore bands. Its aight and there's only a few songs that overtly suck, but I never reach for anything in leiu of the real thing. That said, it sure is a hell of alot better than Rod Steward doing "Downtown Train".

Re: So, Yeah...

Stacy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:15:52 -0000

Again though, Sam is a singer. I don't doubt that other actors resent it. I'm talking more about people like us. People that comment on blogs.

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mpbruss — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:04:23 -0000

Yeah, which is why I think the Karen O comparison is a bit unfair. Karen O may or may not be a great technical singer, but her voice comes through great in the studio and live. Scarlett doesn't need to compete with Karen O, but she couldn't if she had to (and I wouldn't be surprised if Scarlett would own up to that).

Re: So, Yeah...

farmgirl — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:31:34 -0000

Lady Gaga is a talented singer of dance/club music who has a penchant for performance art in the costume department.

Does that help?

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OG — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:41:49 -0000

But people forget (or don't know) that Jamie was singing (and flopped) first. He has an album that dropped before his In Living Color Days (hard to find).

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OG — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:37:50 -0000

Sam made a HUGE fuss over having to validate "some rapper" who couldn't act and got the part largely because of their success as a rapper (think 50 Cent). He complained that they didn't take time to master the craft and were taking the job of some more deserving actor busting his/her anus paying their dues. I think the RZA could be argued an exception. He's been surprisingly good in his roles.

Re: So, Yeah...

thebitterfig — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:39:36 -0000

I'm going to disagree somewhat about the coverability of Tom Waits. As anyone who's watched The Wire will probably agree, The Blind Boys of Alabama do "Way Down in the Hole" a lot better than Tom himself (granted, he kind of punts that song on Franks Wild Years if you ask me. He does it in this oddly monotone way which seems almost like someone imitating Tom Waits rather than the man himself.). Almost anything off of Mule Variations can be done well by the right group - I heard a version of "Come on up to the House" on Prairie Home Companion a while ago and it was great. "Hold On" practically begs to be covered by Bruce Springsteen.

Compare the record of Tom Waits covers to, say, Bob Dylan or Cat Stevens. Just about every cover I hear of their songs is terrible, because whoever covers them seems to have no clue about what the lyrics mean and thus can't get the stresses on the syllables right. Sheryl Crow's "First Cut is the Deepest" is pure pain to listen to. There is some wretched cover of "Tuesday's Dead" out now, too.* I have no idea how it even got released (The flip side to the problem of bad Cat Steven's covers is that when he sings a lot of them now as Yusuf Islam, they are better than ever. "Peace Train" is as if he understands how the song should be sung is more clearly then when he wrote it. His new songs aren't great, his re-recordings of old stuff are largely fantastic). Or listen to most Joni Mitchell cover, for that matter. With Waits, a pretty fair number of the songs can be understood well enough for a musician of at least average skill to do well.

That said, I emphatically agree that Scarlett Johansson is the wrong person to do it. I find her singing and acting very flat. I just don't think she's very good.

Re: So, Yeah...

rickhavoc — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:59:40 -0000

She's no Shatner.

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piffle_dragon — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:58:37 -0000

Her voice is flat and uninteresting. basically, it is teh suxor.

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kerouax — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:08:07 -0000

anyway, just to say...she sounds like sinead o'connor with that bold opening line - confident. and if your gonna do tom waits, confidence sure helps.

Re: So, Yeah...

kerouax — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:05:58 -0000

Dude,

You're into Tom Waits? Gettin cooler day by day.

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ktheintz — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:50:29 -0000

Yeah, there are some ringers: people who were singers first, such as Jim Nabors, TV's Gomer Pyle, who had a concert quality baritone voice, or the Disney performers from Annette Funicello to Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera, who were hired to sing and dance more than for their dramatic skills. Or who had trivial, small-market acting careers (Kylie Minogue, Alanis Morrisette) before they made it big as singers. The acting careers of some of them (Eartha Kitt, Mandy Patinkin, Joel Grey) included musicals.

But surely there's gold on that page nonetheless. Presumably everyone knows about Keanu Reaves, Russell Crowe, Billy Bob Thornton. But Danny Aiello? The dad from Seventh Heaven? Both guys from The Dukes of Hazzard? Then again, those aren't the worst cases, some of those guys would have been not so much cashing in on their acting fame as looking for a 16th minute of fame. That still leaves Jeff Bridges, Kevin Costner, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey, Minnie Driver, Clint Eastwood (!!!), Nicole Kidman, Robert Mitchum, Eddie Murphy, Joe Pesci, and many more with no conceivable excuse.

Re: So, Yeah...

Jennifer D. — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:19:43 -0000

Some are more successful than others, but I always give them the benefit of the doubt and wish them well. I feel like they can't help it - a lot of creative people are creative at more than one thing and want to express that. Lots of actors paint or write, too.

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Guest — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:11:08 -0000

With all due respect, don't you think that list is kind of crap though? It puts well-known actors who made one horrible album out of ego right next to singers who have sold million of albums and won singing awards, just because the singers have done a little acting beforehand.

Re: So, Yeah...

Guest — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:06:17 -0000

Gwyneth Paltrow's duet with Huey Lewis wasn't exactly awe-inspiring but I thought it was okay, if not a little sappy. Still, it got her some recording contract offers.

Re: So, Yeah...

Guest — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:54:11 -0000

I don't know why she picked Tom Waits to cover. Actual real singers like MeatLoaf and Rod Stewart have crashed and burned trying to cover Tom Waits. And Ms. Johansson has never really sung before, has she?

I remember when this project was first announced, I heard someone make a quip saying, "why, it's wasn't like Lindsay Lohan is out there covering Leonard Cohen". I got the comparison, on both ends. But now that I think about it, at least Leonard Cohen has been covered well.

Re: So, Yeah...

Stacy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:34:55 -0000

Have you heard Kyp Malone's solo album, "Rain Machine?" I'd probably recommend it to anyone that loves TVOTR. It's got some really interesting songs.

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Stacy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:32:23 -0000

I'm not sure where indie rock can go, though. It has ceased to be a genre that refers to a band's label for quite some time. And it honestly, but probably incorrectly, has became a term to encompass far too much music. Obviously, there are MANY "indie" rock bands that are on major labels, but it is just easier to label them as such. Maybe I'm just missing your point when you say it's 'done.'

Re: So, Yeah...

rb — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:15:48 -0000

When i first heard the album, i thought, “this is the end of the quirks and chimes and beards indie rock.” Once a vital and interesting genre appears in commercials and actors' vanity projects, it's done. Oh, and the album sounds soullessly nice. It's like a PT Cruiser. You can't manufacture charm, and you can't manufacture quirk.

The only Tom Waits cover worth listening to is Temptation by Nathan. And I think they even have American distribution. Bah!

Re: So, Yeah...

BabylonSista — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:24:02 -0000

I don't think Juliette Lewis really tries to sing--she just wants to rawk. I can respect that--she does it well.

Re: So, Yeah...

jenawesome — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:19:39 -0000

Zooey Deschanel is in She & Him (with M. Ward) and is fantastic. Much better than Scarlett Johanssen doing terrible things to Tom Waits.