I thought maybe I should listen to these songs before saying anything.
I played some Beck and thought it was pretty good and went for the next one.
Then I gave Beyonce a try. Fast forward. Fast forward. Fast forward. Quit. I should know by now that Beyonce is unlistenable.
If he hadn’t been so bitter in his interview it may have passed off as a joke this time, but he’s just a bad loser. For all his success I wouldn’t have thought him a loser but he really works to be one.
He could probably make up his own awards show if he wanted. Unfortunately people would probably watch The Kanye Awards and then they’d gain actual respect. Which would be irritating.
Jay-Z should start talking up Kim Kardashian all the time (unfortunately, Jay-Z’s got manners, so he can’t get quite the true Kanye effect). Just confuse the hell out of Kanye.
Keep in mind that I would include the rather dapper Leonard Cohen in that category, along with the relatively clean-cut Bob Dylan, Richard Thompson, Kathleen Edwards, and Natalie Merchant. Also, Rush!
So I take it you won’t feel empowered by The Dreaming’s “Alone”, a powerful song of solidarity that I wish Leelah Alcorn could have heard?
Some would say that the ALL-TIME greats are chaps with names like Mozart, Beethoven and Bach. If you want to get snooty about it.
:dubious:
Agree. Next time he leaves his seat at an awards show, have a security guard cap his worthless ass.
It’s not that exactly. It’s more that people who don’t write their own songs, and instead have them written by mercenaries, ought to be far more disreputable.
Hey, some people are just blessed with beautiful voices. That doesn’t require that they then also be great songwriters. Yes, such combinations do exist but to say that someone should be held in disrepute simply for being talented in one area alone is ridiculous.
That’s true, but my point is that it must be taken into account more often. Too many people just don’t care about authenticity.
So Elton John is mostly a no talent hack? 
I mean he can play instruments, but he doesn’t write his songs.
I’ve seen some who think he’s literally speaking out against “oppressive systems” like those behind the Grammys and that the media is just stereotyping him as an “angry black man” just because he’s speaking out (not against Beck himself) and belittling his protest as a “celebrity feud.”
Just goes to show how perspectives differ.
It’s kind of revealing that you equate “songwriter” with “lyricist”.
Professional songwriters can be employed to write either the lyrics or music or present fully done songs to A&R. So I should have said, John doesn’t write his lyrics, but that doesn’t change the charge of in authenticity, does it?
His beef is pretty much what ISiddiqui said:
Yes, they win a lot of awards, but they’re mostly confined to the ‘black’ awards. Don’t know if the statistics back that up or not, but his antics are about something more than just his ego.
I do agree that you can be a legitimate performer by interpreting the work of others. The question really is, how integral is your performance to the overall piece? Can you be replaced with another comparable starlet and have the same result?
Someone like Beck cannot be separated from his work, and the same is true for Elton John, even though he’s not a lyricist. Beyonce could be argued for either way. Boy Band #3829? Not so much.
I guess I just don’t see how folks think that Beyonce can be replaced with any ‘comparable starlet’. There is a reason that she is as famous and popular as she is, and that someone who can sing just as good, like Rihanna, hasn’t reached her rarefied heights. I also think that all the laud her album received for being different than any other major R&B album out there was under the direct influence of the artist herself.
Next time he charges the stage when he is not specifically invited up there, he should be arrested, dragged away in handcuffed, and charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, and anything else that may be appropriate.
Not so. He composes a great deal of music, if not many or any lyrics. I should mention that I once read that musicians can follow either the Elton John path (start off challenging, but then go wholeheartedly into making pop product) or the Bob Dylan path (never go “pop”, always follow your own muse).
Does anybody gain coolness points by being an Elton John fan? Now, when somebody appreciates Nick Drake, that’s a different story!