Excellent Bob thank you
Gabriel Wiernik
_______________________________
Agreed, Bob! I'm an indie/ rock artist and typically don't care all that much for top pop songs but this one got me.
Definitely something very special to it! Thanks for this!
Alex
_______________________________
You've got to be kidding. I take it you meant to send this email out on April 1st.
John Gaulke
_______________________________
Truth!
Jeanne Buckley Peloso
_______________________________
Many music loving fans rejected JB for many years, as did I, but this album has successfully pulled "the rest of us" into his world (that his teen demographic was already squarely in) and likely hundreds of thousands of new listeners will be looking forward to hearing from him again.
Brandon Sharp
_______________________________
The men don't know but the little girls do ... Or the majority of girls do.
We're just kickin back while the men try to figure out what we already know.
Brittany McDonald
_______________________________
Great piece Bob. You nailed it. This is a great song, and it makes you reconsider him entirely.
And the fact that this kid's career was rebuilt over the past year even adds to the story.
Steve Jones
_______________________________
First time I heard it I thought it was Ed till the Ch kicked in
Kim Bullard
_______________________________
You know what we love about you?
1. You educate us (my sister and I sit around and devour every sentence the minute it hits our inbox; learning, discussing, taking what resonates with us, and forwarding many of your blogs to our musician friends), it's free and that rocks! We are taking our time, trying to do it right, learning from other's mistakes, and you are helping us do that.
2. That you get our generation; our music, our style, our need to to jump from one genre to another at lightening speed, without completely ridiculing it. It's super cool when a baby boomer is smart enough to be open-minded about the new music and doesn't get stuck into thinking only their generation had the best music. Good music is good music. Sort of grown-up-Bieber, has figured it out (team or not - collabs or not).
3. Sure, pop is known for its collabs but what that can mean is, 'great song - I want a piece or you pay more'. Or as they say in Nashville 'Got a hit? Then you get a writ'. It's how it works these days. Especially in LA and NYC. No equal thirds or fourths. Getting paid for production isn't enough anymore. You built the track and that means you get songwriting credit, upfront $ AND production points. It's how it's done now. And if you came in the room and gave hi-fives, even you will get a piece, because you 'encouraged them'.
4. That you have the courage (would like to insert another word here, but we are good girls), to call TSwift... Twizzle Stick!!!
Keep rocking the free world!
Char & Sar
The Command Sisters
_______________________________
Thanks for mentioning Baby Bash. He's a great songwriter plus his voice is mellow and chill. Listen to Baby I'm Back!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Bash
Dina
c/o LaPolt Law, P.C.
_______________________________
Thank goodness someone else is saying it!
Very interested to see if 'the team' can maintain this new level of quality control now.
Thanks for writing what you write!
Josh Brent
_______________________________
Dear Bob,
Couldn't agree more.
Bieber's latest record, Purpose, has 3 or 4 songs that are just... Great songs. My sister (the other singer/songwriter and bassist in our duo) gives me a HUGE amount of flack for listening, but they are such undeniably catchy songs, and they are sung with this almost slightly diffident, yet captivatingly soulful voice. And they just work. For me. So many levels. Part of me wonders what it is that makes the bare arrangement of Love Yourself work so well. Worked at The Grammy's when Bay accompanied.
The quality of he song writing is just very good. You can only strip a song back so far to guitar and vocal if it is.
Oh well.
More work to be done!!
Cheers
Max Luck
_______________________________
Bob,
Agreed...on everything you said except you have in fact heard love yourself...you made a stab at his guitar playing...like he was in a living room playing for his parents or something like? On some award show.
Anyway agreed with that also.
Paul Harris
_______________________________
No drums whatsoever in that track. Totally unheard of + One of the huge reasons why it stands out sonically
Michael G. Simpson
_______________________________
Bout time you got on board, mate. I preferred "Purpose" to "25" all day, every day. I still haven't bought "25", because I already pay for streaming and I don't wanna buy an album I can't access the way I access music.
I am more than 10 years older than the age Adele's album is named for and I'm nearly old enough to be Beiber's mum. It's hard to believe he and Adele are only 5 years apart in age. Bieber endeared himself to me through my 16 month old who loves "Sorry". He made us all #Beliebers.
His Comedy Central roast did its job: level him back down to us, and make us rise up from bashing and dismissing a spoilt kid to remembering when WE egged a house or got arrested for street racing our first car or breaking up with our first love. He's had to do it in front of the world after all.
Angela Randall
_______________________________
Awesome. Simply awesome. My friends an I have been listening to this album in darkened rooms- almost ashamed to be enjoying it. It's catchy and fun with enough depth to keep us coming back. Will we find the meaning of life through listening to Biebs? Probably not, but we'll sure enjoy the the trip.
Love your letters- even when I disagree- but this time you hit the nail on the head.
And to those who don't enjoy this? Soup grapes indeed!
Cheers,
Hannah Van Winkle
_______________________________
Yikes Bob,Yikes.
Bob Kalill
_______________________________
I'm 47 with a 7 year old son, and you give me a window into what he will face, experience, and choose. I thank you for that, as I am that whining (nearly "old") cunt still listening to Zeppelin and the Dead while my subconscious yells "what the fuck is wrong with the world".
The answer is nothing, the world is just fine and as you say, maybe this is the right direction.
Only you could take me on a two day journey from feeling like, "yeah this is it, things won't get better" (scary old sex) to "I think things are getting better, I feel young again, and I am happy with the future my son has in front of him."
Thanks buddy.
Paul Pertusi
_______________________________
1). The lyrics are so vapid and inane. I suppose that's the first thing that drives me up the wall. But, then again, so were the lyrics to "Gloria" and "I Want Candy" and thousands of other songs teens adored in the mid-60s so perhaps this criticism does not stand.
This social put down stuff stuff seems like an obsession, however. "...he's kissing her off but only because he needs to separate himself, pull himself up to higher ground, survive." Is it just me or does it seem like 50+% of all contemporary songs lyrics explore this "I must say 'Fuck you' so I can survive" theme? Yuk. Yeah, yeah, I know, when you're in high school this is important stuff. Still.
When does the Bob Dylan of contemporary pop arrive and elevate song lyrics into decent poetry??? Can't come soon enough IMHO.
2). "Bobby! Should I take 'em to the bridge?" Apparently the answer is "No" and "Never." Doesn't anyone know how to write a bridge anymore? You have the high energy verses, then you have the obligatory quiet verse interlude 3/4 of the way in, then you go out on a high energy verse. Boom, done. Every time. Blech.
Trace Ordiway
_______________________________
Hi Bob-
Not sure if you saw this better version of "Love Yourself"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhfdmZ4Csb0
Kristy Carruba
_______________________________
Yeah, it's a great track. The verses get a little stagnant and unexceptional by the second go around, to me, but that hook is indelibly fantastic. I didn't realize that Ed Sheeran had co-written it before reading this, but makes perfect sense!
-Dan Diaz
_______________________________
I like it too! First heard it in January, in Australia, while I was visiting my son. He's 26, playing in a band down under, living the dream. Ya he's broke. He likes it too. He's always sorta stood up for Justin. Has empathy for his having to grow up as a spectacle.
Thanks
Sent from Julie Christian's iphone
_______________________________
Just last week, my wife and I were going to do a presentation at a North Philadelphia elementary school...a school with no music program and not a lot of hope in the environment. We were there to talk about the magical qualities of music, and all the different careers that go into what the kids hear on the radio and online. For the performance part of the program, I was looking for a current song that actually had a melody with some simple instrumentation (and wasn't degrading to anyone). I stumbled upon "Love Yourself" and instantly knew this was the track I had to learn...great haunting melody that quickly pulls you in, a positive message and a song I knew the kids would really be drawn to. And that line "My mama don't like you, and she likes every one"...o boy that was the clincher..my favorite lyric in the whole song because it says it all no matter that generation you from. Thanks Bob for spotlighting this tune which has helped earn Bieber a little respect in my book.
Vincent James
_______________________________
Beiber.. Best shit really.. This is a fucking joke Bob. Your working for the man..
All these songs are garbage..
Evan Bautista
_______________________________
Hi Bob
I never thought I'd see the day that I would say this; But Justin's, "Love YourSelf" is the best song in the world of Top 50 songs. Radio, Spotify or otherwise.
I'm a fifty seven year old guy who loves music from all over the world. Of course my cultural taste has grown up beyond pop music. So, why do I like, "Love Yourself"?
The lyrics are a bit serious for those of us who lived with verbal abuse and an unusual amount of control. Verses that include, "... You tried to make me forget where I came from" say a lot for people like me who have lived Or, are living in the abusive situation I found my self in.
Oh yeah, this pop song is for the adults. Seriously!
Doug Ruffin
_______________________________
The first time I heard the song I missed all of the nuance you describe. I just heard a payoff that was a veiled way of saying "screw yourself" and getting it on hit radio. More subversive than CeeLo. As clever as JT. Sudden respect for the Beibs and added admiration for Ed.
Keith Brown
_______________________________
song of the year for me
Joe Taylor
_______________________________
Bob, When I can't sleep at night I flip through the local FM dial. every once and a while I come across a gem. This was one of them. The quietness stopped me up and then the line about his Mum made me chuckle. To top it all off, he lip trumpets along to what sounds like a real trumpet playing. I was similarly affected by, Somebody That I used to Know." Your tastes and mine intersect nearly half the time. That's a pretty good average. Thanx for the song and book tip-offs.
O, Clank
_______________________________
Hey Bob,
This one thing you said jumped out at me:
"That's right, the kids are all about the group, which may explain why there are so many writers on all their tracks. We think they need help, but maybe collaboration is inbred."
Nice theory but.... Not in my experience as a professional songwriter and producer for the last 15 years. With perhaps one main exception: It's long been in hip hop culture to pass tracks around and create a collage of sound out of both necessity (don't own or play drums? Sample em) or in some cases by intention... Then, once the sound was made, it was copied and became a genre.
That said, in pop, sadly, most young kids are victims of Millennial Cultural ADD. They don't have time to build on their passion and learn the craft of songwriting by slaving away in the isolation of their bedrooms and garages writing a few hundred songs for the love of it.... For the NEED of it... Writing to express themselves and to find the one special song that somehow really worked and then trying to do it again.... And Again.
Rarely today. No time for that! Their phones are blowing up! The world is rushing by and they're missing out! They want the brass ring at Google like speeds. So, short cuts become the norm. The Merely Amusing makes a select few uber-famous on YouTube and for the rest, entitlement ensues. In the saddest cases it's written all over their faces "What? I don't have to be good, that's what Protools is for. I don't need to know who I am, I'm who I make myself to seem like when I post a photo." And it's back to swiping Instagram while we edit edit edit.
Then, If a budding talent lands a deal... The label assigns the A&R and they call in the older guys and gals to do the heavy lifting.... And if it still ain't right, "send it over to What's His Name, he's got the cool new sounds on his laptop!"... Oh that didn't totally work, but sorta? Keep a couple of the sounds and call in another What's His Name with a different laptop full of different sounds (often designed by a different dude on a different laptop)... And then they cobble together a track that sounds just as ADD as our culture and it feels just about right. Then this A&R guy, sweating but resolute, hands it to his bosses then to the marketing team, and they hope they don't get fired... All the while taking solace in the fact that they've passed the buck enough times that blame can be spread so thin as to almost evaporate.... And not only that, the "art" has been so watered down by sonic marketing and self conscious creating, that it's hard to tell exactly who's fault a
failure is...
And if it's a hit? Well, few of them last these days because the result of the process described above isn't a timeless, heartfelt and honest personal work that resonates decades later. It's hardly any one person's soul on display... It's a group's ambition and sense of sonic fashion carefully blended together into a smoothie, designed to fit THIS EXACT MOMENT, and that's it. A vapor. Or as the warden says in Shawshank Redemption ".... Up and vanished like a fart in the wind".
And then somewhere, someone sits down with a guitar... Or at a piano... and writes an actual song. And it just feels right.... Because it's true.
What a concept:)
And thank God for them.
I'm not as bitter as I may sound. This is just a phase, and I'm doing my part to advocate for true artists whenever and however I can.
Adam Watts
www.WeAreBrokenCity.com
_______________________________
Beibers latest is definitely a guilty pleasure Bob and it's all because of Stern!
https://m.soundcloud.com/howardstern/2015-song-parody-of-year-ill-suck-your-ween-what-do-you-mean-justin-beiber-parody?in=howardstern/sets/2015-in-review-ill-suck-your-ween
Peace and Love,
Dan Millen
_______________________________
Thank you.
I'm proud of him. Ed forwarded me what u wrote. Very cool of you. And as for me...I just like doing cool shit and hanging out with my wife and kid ;) take care.
Scooter Braun
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.