If this sounds apocryphal...

[schmerica]

Don’t make me drive that truck, don’t make me feed that rottweiler
I’m clean out of luck, take me to the bedroom and tie my body down

...You guys, remind me not to listen to the LYRICS when I put on Paul Gross's songs, okay? OKAY.

(I stick with what I said the first time brooklinegirl showed me the Voodoo video: I actually do really like his voice. DON'T JUDGE ME.)

Now is the time of the day when I have to choose between continuing what I am doing -- that is, listening to PG and read all the archives at I Can Has Cheezburger? -- or watching the new Doctor Who episode I have downloaded. Decisions are hard!

Note that this is not a cue for fox1013 to comment to tell me that my lack of a clear decision means I should be writing her fic. That's not how it works!

Comments

[kerrypolka.livejournal.com]

The answer is clearly "wait like an hour and then watch Doctor Who" so you and I can watch it at the same time and talk about it afterward!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

That is an AWESOME solution! Yay Roz!

(PS: 32 DOWN ON THE ROBERT MACKENZIE!)

[kerrypolka.livejournal.com]

STEEL BOATS! IRON MEN! \o/

[fox1013.livejournal.com]

*opens mouth*

*closes it*

*sad*

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

...I love you!

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

Paul has a nice voice. (Nearly all the time.) And "Voodoo" is a good song; if he'd sold it to one of the big name country singers, I think it would been well-received.

"Blame It All On Nashville" is a VERY sexy song. Any time Paul is begging me his wife to take him to the bedroom -- or (given the Hamlet theme) take him to the country -- and tie his body down... I am SO there.

I love that song a lot. It's Paul meets Hamlet meets H2O and ultimately it's all about how he needs to get laid. \o/

Okay, I'll shut up and go away now.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

You don't have to shut up and go away! I admire how much thought you have put into the subject, actually.

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

I have put frightening amounts of thought into it. *g*

[omphale]

Okay, you win *all* the cookies for agreeing with me about this.

See? We need careful exegesis of his lyrics. So that everyone understands why that song is actually kind of brilliant and certainly better than everyone assumes.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

We need careful exegesis of his lyrics.

I approve of this idea! I think you should have a whole project! The fandom can only benefit.

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

SISTER! *high-fives you*

We do. We really, really do.

[omphale]

...You guys, remind me not to listen to the LYRICS when I put on Paul Gross's songs, okay? OKAY.

No, but that is the BEST Paul Gross song EVER. With the Stan Rogers reference, and the bondage, and the Hamlet quotations. That's the song that makes me think he's actually pretty damn smart about his lyrics. It makes up for the unfortunate videos.

I love Paul Gross a lot because of that song.

My download isn't finished yet! *cries*

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

I just don't understaaaaaaaaaand! What do Hamlet and bondage and country music have to do with each other? What does it all meeeeeeeeean? I am so confused.

[omphale]

Okay, but look. The Stan Rogers reference is to "Woodbridge Dog Disaster" (I think. I may be imagining this bit) in which a guy has one of those days that gets sung about in country songs.

It involves listening to women, and being wrong no matter what. And also tennis balls.

And "Nashville" takes off from that, and gets into the ways that people give up control, and the ways that they need an excuse to do what they want, and a whole bunch of other stuff that I *swear* makes sense when I try to lay it all out. Plus, the image of PG asking to be tied down is hot.

Only it doesn't make sense tonight for some reason. I think I used up all my linear thinking for the day.

Short version: Nashville = crazy.

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that (if I've got the timeline figured correctly) he wrote that while working on writing H2O and after doing Hamlet. So I'm convinced that he worked some parallels in. For instance: "I live in country, one that should be dead, gonna shoot it with a long gun, gonna put that boy to bed" -- that just screams H2O to me.

And "take me to the country" is an obvious(-to-me) homage to the (filthydirty) Hamlet line about "country matters".

[omphale]

Yeah, that timing sounds right--and it works neatly with the lyrics, which I find convincing. I do like the idea of picking it all apart, because the "I live in a country" lyric also works well with the themes in Hamlet--just as the "could not, would not, kill the king..." set of lyrics parallels H2O as much as it does Claudius.

(And not for nothing, but this is my favorite use of the word 'apocryphal' in a song lyric. Especially when combined with growling.)

And "take me to the country" is an obvious(-to-me) homage to the (filthydirty) Hamlet line about "country matters".

Absolutely. What else could it be, given the source and the context? And the fact that it's an alteration to the "take me to the bedroom" line in the first verse? *g*

[melpemone.livejournal.com]

You won't get any judgment from me - I think he's got a gorgeous voice. It's just, um... misapplied? I actually really adore Family Matters, and I can listen to much of Love & Carnage happily, but I think the genre's all wrong for his voice. Um. Don't hurt me?

[omphale]

It's not so much the genre as it is that he won't just *pick* a genre, isn't it? He tries to do too much, and he and David Keeley need to find a better way to pick their lead vocals than a coin flip or whatever they're using.

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

It's not so much the genre as it is that he won't just *pick* a genre, isn't it?

Very true. His stuff is all over the map, isn't it? Listen to it and you can hear Willie Nelson and Gordon Lightfoot and Leonard Cohen and and and... I want him to find his own musical voice.

he and David Keeley need to find a better way to pick their lead vocals

From what I understand, most of the time they each sing lead on their own compositions (though at least some songs, including "Two Houses", are joint compositions). But occasionally they swap, or at least we know of two songs of Paul's on which David has sung lead.

Paul has said that he doesn't think he has a particularly good voice and that his voice limits the sort of songs he can perform to those with a limited range ("no high arching ballads") and "just kind of grumbly songs" -- those are direct quotes. Which, I believe, is why David sings "Cherry Beach" and "The Other Side of Life" even though both were written by Paul.

[kristiinthedark.livejournal.com]

I like his voice, too. :D *clings*

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

THERE IS NO SHAME IN THIS.

Really.

Honest.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

My very favorite form of his voice is the very deep growly Shakespeare recitations in S+A? But singing is a close second.

[omphale]

He has a *good* voice, and he's well aware of his range. Both things which a lot of singers lack. Including, for all that I love him, David Keeley.

And I think he'd be better off singing actual folk music, but I can understand why he's drawn to rock/country instead.

I would absolutely *kill* for a copy of his early stuff.

[brooklinegirl.livejournal.com]

...oh, baby. NEVER listen real close to paul gross lyrics. that leads down the dark path of "I was feeling kinda lucky and was sporting heavy wood," and that is just good FOR NO ONE. I'm just - yeah. I'm sorry. ♥

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

*sniffles* Where were you instead of WARNING me?