Saturday, April 19, 2008

James Blunt is a lyrical marauder

OK, so it's been a long while since my last post, and I'm sure not many people noticed. But here's something that has been bothering me lately:

Traveling from Idaho to Oklahoma recently, my wife and I listened to XM Radio and endured many a James Blunt song.

I have concurred that James Blunt is fooling us all. He's a singer, but certainly not a songwriter. Allow me to illustrate.

In his song "You're Beautiful". By the way, I hate this song--and mostly for its inconsistencies.

Here's the first verse of that atrocity:

My life is brilliant.
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I'm sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.


OK, he says he has a plan. I'm curious now. I want to know what exactly his plan is. But I'm not quite sure why he mentions that his life is brilliant and his love is pure. Aside from that tangent, let's proceed to the next verse--the verse that logically ought to enlighten us with what Mr. Blunt's plan is.

Yeah, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
Flying high, [ - video/radio edited version]
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last till the end.


Did I miss something, or does this verse just not make sense in relation to the previous? Basically, it's the same introductory verse as the first--just with different lyrics. And he still doesn't go back to his plan. So now I have to be left wondering, "Is he going to stalk her? Beat up her other man? Imagine she's with him while at the petting zoo?"

I'm getting sick thinking about it.

And if I search the chorus of the song, I still can't find anything. Look for yourself.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.


OK, really. How has this "love" song become popular? Is society just drawn to guys that play guitars and sing falsetto?

Let me know what you think.

12 comments:

Katie said...

:) This post made me giggle a little bit. I do not care for James Blunt or his music. And you are correct; his lyrics don't quite make any sense. You know though, sometimes I am quite surprised at how often the lyrics to songs don't make any sense at all. My brother's are a little bizarre if you listen to them...

Liz said...

Yeah, he isn't the most brilliant lyricist. I don't really mind James Blunt on a "background-music level," but if I stop to think about it, its a little irksome.

The romantic in me kinda likes the idea of the song...seeing a stranger somewhere that you feel some weird connection to. But Mr. Blunt's little diddy doesn't come close to fully realizing this poetic concept.

Actually, now that I think about it, I'm not even sure that's what the song is really about...

Stupid.

Jess Mac said...

Hey first of all, thanks for my new link! Second of all-- I feel like a fool for not having noticed the idiocy of the song. I knew I hated it but I thought that might just be because I feel like James Blunt always looks as if he's just kidnapped a child for the first time and it was more of a personal thing. But now I realize my resons are founded! So I guess what I'm trying to say it first of all, thanks, and second of all, thanks.

Steven and Natasha Hopkins said...

Hey, It looks like we are going to Stillwater. Cool, huh?

JayB said...

are you kidding, blunt is a lyrical genius. i can't believe you couldn't figure out the plan john. the PLAN is to create the most annoying song in the world and then to get ellen to think you are the coolest. i don't see how you didn't recognize that in jamie boys lyrics.

Amy said...

I hate James Blunt, too! All my roomies loved that song and I hate it with a passion. Another song where they forgot about what they wrote about: the Friends theme song they extended for radio. "So no one told you life was gonna be this way..." and then in the second verse says: "Your mother told you there'd be days like these." Huh?

John Gagnon said...

Everyone's made a good point, and I especially enjoy Amy's comment.

I hate Friends.

Unknown said...

I loved the blog. I read the comments. And then I saw it. You hate friends? What did we ever do to you? I don't like my friends all the time, but I don't hate them! What has Oklahoma done to you?


PS Work on your grammar. Friends doesn't need to be capitalized...

Unknown said...

Jesse brought up a good point, and now that I know that he's in the blogosphere, I'm a happy man.

My grammar in my last comment was correct, but he is right to question my use (or lack thereof) of punctuation. Because I can't underline the television show Friends, I should have put it in quotation marks like this "Friends".

I formally change my comment to:

I hate "Friends" -- as in the television show.

Welcome, Jesse, to communication 2.0.

Unknown said...

John,

I try to live in a world of music snobbery where I don't have to experience musical crapfests. I only trust certain people's music tastes. Those people outside my circle of trust have to go through a heavy screening process. This involves a technique I like to call "questions".

So I've never heard James Blunt and after reading that lyrical diarrhea, I am glad.

This is James Best, not to be confused with the other. You're a gem, John. A real gem.

Allison Harris said...

Will you write entries for my blog?

Allison Harris said...

Oh, and I hate his hair. James' that is.