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So curiosity got the better of me and I downloaded it (legally for the benefit of those DH download police out there)a cheaper option than purchasing a Darkness single.
Well I love it, his voice is so beautiful and powerful and certainly not overshadowed by the music (my main gripe with most of TTATS *cringing* as I'm listening to Feel atm and those odd noises are so damn distracting).
I love it too Barb - I thought if anything it's the closest he's come to reproducing the SG sound himself for the first time. It seems to be a lot more keyboard/piano based, although I don't particularly like the distorted vocals part. That voice doesn't need to be distorted!
I still would love to hear an acoustic version of the whole of TTATS - especially Love and Attraction, which I skip just because I can't stand the awful space invaders type noises...it's Crush part 2! It's a shame, because I think the lyrics of that one especially are very clever and thought provoking, but I have to be in the right mood to put up with the noise. And I know that a lot of people feel the same about Void because of all the sound effects.
When I first heard TTATS I never imagined that the melody would sound any good without all of the electronics, because they seemed so entwined together. That was until the acoustic set, especially Dublin Sky, where the combination of the plaintive piano and Darren's wavering voice had me crying buckets! I doubt he really needs any instrument to make his songs emotive.
Sharon
I still can't make up my mind about this song. Some days I like it and some days I don't. I guess it all depends on what mood I'm in at the time. [img]wink.gif[/img]
And re the background noises on TTATS, I never realised that there was a chorus of frog's croaking on 'Darkness' until I heard it through my new earphones. [img]confused.gif[/img] Most disconcerting.
<font color="#000000" size="1">[ April 04, 2005 06:26 AM: Message edited by: twizzle ]</font>
Makes mental note to never listen to Darkness via earphones!
Sharon I've never listened to all of Void, I still can't get past that first horrendous racket. In the second half of the album I'm still straining to really hear his voice clearly, but those damn odd noises just keep getting in the way *sigh* and I get annoyed and move on.
<font size="3" face="Tempus sans ITC, Papyrus,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That is such a shame Barb because the song itself is so heartbreaking...I can see why the decision was made not to make it the opening track because it is so uncomfortable on different levels. Imagine not listening any of the other songs because you hated the opener. My favourite part of the song is actually when the music stops for a moment when he sings the words 'the spark still tries'. I've always loved what he did with the music on most of this album, but I can see why you say it's not easy to hear his words. Feel live was beautifully done - just Darren and a keyboard.Quote:
Originally posted by BarbT:
Makes mental note to never listen to Darkness via earphones!
Sharon I've never listened to all of Void, I still can't get past that first horrendous racket. In the second half of the album I'm still straining to really hear his voice clearly, but those damn odd noises just keep getting in the way *sigh* and I get annoyed and move on.
LOL i must be one of the few people who enjoys the dirty guitar at the start of Void XD Must be the Bush (the band) fan in me *g*
<font size="3" face="Tempus sans ITC, Papyrus,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Definitely not the only one [img]smile.gif[/img] I love Void. And I have a greater appreciation for it after the tour [img]smile.gif[/img]Quote:
Originally posted by sunhawk:
LOL i must be one of the few people who enjoys the dirty guitar at the start of Void XD Must be the Bush (the band) fan in me *g*
[img]confused.gif[/img] I really wish that I could bring myself to listen to 'Void' all the way through but alas, I cannot. In fact, I still can't manage to get past the opening bar.
*didn't like it live either*
LOL Steen from the forums you certainly are not alone in liking Void!
For some other useless info my stumbling block on Spin was Heart Attack - I still skip that song and I'm not that keen on Good Enough either.
I didn't like Heart Attack for the longest of times, nor Dirty. I didn't think HA fitted very well on Spin, but since the release of TTATS I do think that perhaps it's the most honest track of all on that album, the one where he was letting off a bit off steam. Dirty I still don't like, and Crush...is Spin's popular! Argh! WHY? Do like the cheesy vid for it though. I never understood why that was a single when Spin would have been a better choice. But then I guess I'm a little clueless in general a lot of the time.
I think Spin would have been a much better choice as a single rather than Crush and the remixes to that one would have been fantastic!
I think Void worked very well as the opening song on the Dark Light tour because it's actually the darkest song on the album. I think the set list was much more in the vein of a chronological order of ranging from Dark to Light, ending with Feel. I always associate Light and Feel together, although Darren didn't perform Light on the tour.
Janie xx
Shame he didn't do Light Janie because that song has really grown on me and become one I play often.
Certainly makes sense starting with the darkest song, perhaps that along with the 'music' is why I'm not at all receptive towards hearing it.
He didn't perform Light? That's the best song of the album!
I read the thread where Darren's words about the songs on TTATS were posted and everything he says abot Void makes sense, why the music is the way it is. But most people won't bother with the song b/c of the music. It would be such a good song if the noise wasn't so unpleasant and if the attention was more on Darren's voice.
Terry, a frog? [img]rolleyes.gif[/img] I've listened to it through headphones countless times and I've never noticed that. Why would he put that in the song? I'm so confused. [img]confused.gif[/img]
btw, I adore Darkness, next to Light, it's my favourite song on the album.
<font color="#000000" size="1">[ April 08, 2005 07:12 AM: Message edited by: Ivana ]</font>
Yep, it's a shame about the opening noise of Void b/c it's a lyrically fine song. Perhaps one day I'll be able to get over that hideous intro and really listen to it. [img]wink.gif[/img]
As for the frogs in Darkness, well they're definitely in there! Honest! *lol* Here's a snippet from a review that Ema posted on the new bbs: "The change of direction is already apparent in the haunting opening track, 'Darkness'. It enchants you with an electronic, melodic beat, and frogs croaking in the distance. I know, I was surprised as well when I heard the frogs, but they're there."
(review in full here: http://www.darrenhayes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=177)
I love Random Blinking Lights.. it mesmorises me!
Void is one of my all time faves off the TTATS album, I love the lyrics of the song. Yeah the music is a bit [img]eek.gif[/img] but the rest is just so great. I really relate to the song.
As for Darkness and the frogs. Yes it most definately has a swamp of frogs croaking in the background in that one lol
Kat
I agree Kat [img]smile.gif[/img] If you can manage to get past the intro bars of Void, it's actually a very fine song indeed. I think it's meant to be musically uncomfortable to reflect the pain in the lyrics. It makes more of an impact that way, it pricks at the conscience.
Janie xx
It's a shame really that the music does put people off that particular song because for me I think it's actually a far more uncomfortable song than Unlovable. I must admit I am a big fan of all of the noise that surrounds it - I feel like it echoes the mass of conflicting emotions in Darren's head, those horrid thoughts that swirl around in your head and drive you to distraction and yet you can't escape them. I especially love the reverberating 'vocals' if you can call them that, during the 'I let a stranger love me' part.
Here we have the man who wrote Truly Madly Deeply - a song about being totally committed to someone 100%, a man who values monogamy and the spiritual depth of a loving relationship. To hear how he's tried to block out the void that such a relationship has left in his life by filling it with empty, meaningless encounters is heartbreaking. And there, always at the back of his mind is the person he has loved and lost, the spark that he still feels also being the impetus that drives him to seek that in the comfort of strangers. He's looked for it with other lovers with whom he doesn't share the same depth of bond. He knows that in doing that he's lied to himself and to other people, and it only adds to his emptiness and feelings of guilt and loss of pride. And add to regret that, "they don't know you like I do, they don't see the good inside you, they don't lie with you in bed and join you when you're dreaming", as if he alone can see the love inside them and understands why the end of the relationship cut so deep. Perhaps it was killing him to be in the relationship, and yet it kills him just as much to be out of it.
I felt like a lot of the sentiments in Void particularly were used during the song Insatiable on the DL tour. For anyone not lucky enough to be there (and I do hope you still get that chance), projected onto the screen behind Darren were images of him coming out of late-night cinemas and the like. It was breath-taking, moreso for being the 'video' to a song about Darren's ideals of true love, and such a stark contrast to the original vid. Has anyone out there got pictures of those backdrops at all as I would have loved to capture some of them (damn camera!)
Sorry....I have no idea where that just came from! [img]redface.gif[/img]
Sharon X
Ooohh Sharon I love what you have said. Imagine you could play those two songs to someone and say these are about the same person. The complete contrast of them. It really does help to illustrate the depth and range of human emotions people go through in life and love.
Kat
<font size="3" face="Tempus sans ITC, Papyrus,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thanks...stupid song got to me, I think! I do still wonder how he manages to put so many of those emotions into words because it's not easy, and how the way in which he says them get so far under my skin. To me, in a lot of ways, TTATS is a very unusual love story about someone coming to accept and appreciate all parts of themself, something I can identify with very strongly.Quote:
Originally posted by Kattitude:
Ooohh Sharon I love what you have said. Imagine you could play those two songs to someone and say these are about the same person. The complete contrast of them. It really does help to illustrate the depth and range of human emotions people go through in life and love.
Kat
I was thinking about this a lot earlier, and I realised it's probably one of the reasons I am so gutted that TTATS hasn't got the recognition it's deserved. Truly Madly Deeply, although equally loved and hated, was a very heartfelt song, but it's a song of it's time, where Darren was at in the early days of his career. TTATS is so much about his personal evolution and moving forwards from the things that were holding him back in his life, and I think its a shame that a guy with such amazing lyrical talent is best-remembered for singing a love ballad.
I keep thinking if only one of the hard-hitting songs could get out there and make an impression, show the world what we as fans have been long appreciating and discussing. I suppose it's not exactly a new thing - thinking of Affirmation, which has IKILY as probably it's main single (thinking about the US success) - which is a poor indication of the quality of music both guys were producing. The first time I heard that album, I was absolutely blown away by the power of TLAM right through to IDKYAM, and listening to YCSBF in the car today, I remembered just how that song moves me in much the same way as Void and Darkness and some of the others do.
The advantage Affirmation obviously had over TTATS was that it made it big, and therefore people got to see the other side to the music, far beyond the trademark ballads. I wish there were some way for it to happen again, as I feel very much like TTATS is the echo of Affirmation, with the emotion and similar themes, though a million miles away in styles at times. My first thought about TTATS was that something of it reminded me of GDR, but still I can't put my finger on what. I don't think now I could choose between these two stunning pieces of work.
It's like - how can Darren break away from his reputation when he can't get the music he so loves out there?
Sharon
<font size="3" face="Tempus sans ITC, Papyrus,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">LOL then that explains it, I rarely listen to GDR. My faves on Affirmation are IDKYAM and HM. I've been listening to Affirmation a fair bit lately along with my latest addiction - Sense of Humour, strangely enough I find that particular song rather relaxing atm.Quote:
Originally posted by sharonlk:
My first thought about TTATS was that something of it reminded me of GDR, but still I can't put my finger on what. Sharon
Wow, another reply I hear you all say!
Just wanted to say that I agree with what has been said already. I do love Void though. If you can get past the grating sound, which for me sums up the emotions of the song, and listen to the lyrics, which I have to say Sharon summed up beautifully. Who knows what pain Darren must have endured to write lyrics as he has in Void, Unlovable and I Forgive You (brilliant live track). I, too think it’s a shame that most people who do not own the Affa album or TTATS, just know Darren from IKILY and TMD. Nothing wrong with either track in my mind but they pale into insignificance next to TLAM, IDKYAM and TBAACM.
From TTATS, I am still so sorry that it was someone’s decision to release Pop!ular as the first single. To me it is just not strong enough, although I loved it live but for a first single from the album, it was wrong. For me a far better choice would have been ILTW, because not only does it contain the title of the album, it is a great song. I just don’t think the majority of people ‘got’ Pop!ular and if they didn’t get the irony of the song, they would just think ‘what an arrogant git’.
By the way, Darren did perform Light on the tour. Unfortunately he only performed it in Manchester, which is a shame because it was just Darren standing at a keyboard and it was lovely. Very pure and very simple. I got the opportunity to ask Rob outside the Bristol venue why it had only been performed at Manchester and then dropped and was told that ‘someone’ said there were too many slow songs. A real shame I feel because it was beautiful.
Like Sharon, I thought the images shown on the screen during Insatiable on the DL tour were very poignant.
Joyce
xx
Sharon I completely agree. Its annoying to me that he is mostly recognised for what I feel are the weaker tracks of the albums. The fact that interviewers always seem to start off their articles saying things like .. "he is known for his romantic schmultzy ballads of Savage Garden like TMD and IKILY...."
To me so many better songs that completely blow those ones out of the water. TLAM and GDR are ones I adore. Mine is probably my all time fave SG song. These songs show why I love TTATS.It is such a shame these songs never get recognised. Its even more of a shame when he does an album of gems that the one they choose is Popular to release. Now I know this would be that gutless record company. But the whole point of it was missed anyways and they probably missed it as well and just thought it was the most poppy and boppy and thus released it.
Kat
I tried very hard to listed to Void again today so that I could see whether or not it was in fact any good but I still couldn't manage to get past that opening din! [img]graemlins/thumbs_down.gif[/img]
Better luck next time eh? [img]wink.gif[/img]
LMAO Terry with time, therapy and a trying each day to get a little further you may just make it through it hahaha
gaaaaaaaaaah RBL is like in my head day and night. I keep singing random lines over and over. At the moment its "your face is not a cliche"
Kat
I was thinking about this song a bit last night, particularly the way that the verses seem to mirror each other, eg 'you don't care for shiny things' etc. The first time I heard it I thought that it was strange that Darren should do that when lyrically he usually has so much to say. Thinking about it now, I wonder if it is him recognising the similarities between the two of them, that they are both a bit dreamy, a bit fanciful, that they both manage to complicate matters without meaning to do so. It's almost as if he is recognising what makes things good in a relationship, rather than dwelling on the negativity side of it, such as arguments and faults.
I think one of my favourite lines is 'I complicate in disconcerting, heartfelt way, but I have good intentions' because it seems to sum up Darren's character quite well - he'll always dive in and try his best even if sometimes things don't exactly go to plan.
And I do love the way it seems to answer 'Light' with the whole 'you are' part.
<font size="3" face="Tempus sans ITC, Papyrus,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I completely love that line as well. It does indeed sum up Darren I think. I am absolutely having a mini addiction to this song for some reason.Quote:
think one of my favourite lines is 'I complicate in disconcerting, heartfelt way, but I have good intentions' because it seems to sum up Darren's character quite well - he'll always dive in and try his best even if sometimes things don't exactly go to plan.
I love the way it mirrors itself. Its quite simple but its so effective.
Kat
I'm still thinking about this whole mirroring thing (if that is a word) and now I'm wondering if it's Darren finally realising that the good he sees in other people is also present in himself. I always get the impression, through songs such as 'Good Enough' and other things he says that he finds it very hard to see the good in himself, despite everything that is obvious to the outside world. He's striving so hard to be like others who he respects and admires, and loves even, yet until he began this journey of self-awareness, he wasn't aware that he was already that person. Sometimes I think it is far easier to see qualities in other people than to say 'actually, I'm good at that myself'. I think what makes it all the more incredible is that this comes from a person who has achieved so much success and has such a talent and ability to say what others are feeling.
<font size="3" face="Tempus sans ITC, Papyrus,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sharon, I think you just encapsulated exactly what Darren is like and what is about [img]smile.gif[/img] He can be so self deprecating at times. I remember back at the LP, people were eagerly telling him how wonderful they thought TTATS was, what a great talent he has, how much he is loved etc etc and he seemed to almost not want to believe what they were telling him. I think in the past he's believed himself to be unlovable, not good enough, not worthy but only just recently has this journey of self discovery actually made him begin to realise that actually he is none of those things and in fact quite the opposite in quite a humble sort of a way.Quote:
Originally posted by sharonlk:
I'm still thinking about this whole mirroring thing (if that is a word) and now I'm wondering if it's Darren finally realising that the good he sees in other people is also present in himself. I always get the impression, through songs such as 'Good Enough' and other things he says that he finds it very hard to see the good in himself, despite everything that is obvious to the outside world. He's striving so hard to be like others who he respects and admires, and loves even, yet until he began this journey of self-awareness, he wasn't aware that he was already that person. Sometimes I think it is far easier to see qualities in other people than to say 'actually, I'm good at that myself'. I think what makes it all the more incredible is that this comes from a person who has achieved so much success and has such a talent and ability to say what others are feeling.
If you are capable of recognising the good and love in someone else then by default you are also becoming a better person for being able to do so. Through loving someone else you learn to love yourself.
Janie xx
Yep I agree Janie and Sharon with what you guys have said.
He does seem to come across as thinking theres got to be something missing from him. I think we all feel like that at times so he manages to capture that feeling in us all.
It almost seems to me that this song and Light were one song at some stage but he couldnt work out how to join them so they became two songs.
I love that its all mirrored and mixed up like in the first part hes talking about the other person or actually I dont think its a single person but its for everyone in general, but then the light inside part is about him. Then when speaking about himself the light inside part is about us the people.
Kat
yohoooooo everyone scandalous post here analysing RBL...
sheesh and an evil read it was too [img]tongue.gif[/img]
*hums* "this board is not a cliche"
Kat [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img]
scandalous posts here....NEVER!
LOL have I missed something?
LMAO No you havent missed anything Barb. I was just rereading this thread as I had started to hum that damm song again and I though such scandal as these thoughts we have put here about RBL should be at the top [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Kat