I'm going to sound old here, being 29 and all.
There's a newer song getting a lot of air time on Edge 102 that really got my hopes up when it first started playing. That's because it samples "Straight to Hell", a lesser-known song from The Clash, but a good one none the less. Unfortunately, this new debased song was done by what sounds like a version of the Spice Girls that is trying very hard to establish street cred.
I looked up the title. It's called "Paper Planes", done by some artist named M.I.A., and is supposedly about immigrants facing hostility when they're really harmless. I can get behind that message, but this isn't how the song sounds at all.
The refrain is the title of this post. It uses gunfire and cash register sound effects while a chorus of Brixton kids sing. You know, because they're so tough and jaded.
Now, this may be fine with the surviving members of The Clash, but somehow it doesn't feel that way. It's as if a bunch of dim high school drop-outs went wandering and found this great old abandoned mansion. So they desecrated it and started throwing parties there, completely oblivious to the history of the place. I hope Joe Strummer haunts the shit out of the little chavette.
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4 comments:
"Straight To Hell" is my favourite Clash track. I have to admit that I don't mind this song. (I just youtube'd it.) I like the flow, but I think mostly I like the sample. I am sorry to dissapoint you Greg, but sadly we're old enough now that this is only going to start happening more and more. At least someone intelligent enough to know the Clash is behind the production of this track.
Now, I'm as old and curmudgeonly as they get, but I actually like what little I know of MIA (who I think is just one woman. no? yes?)
Paper Planes was ALL OVER Sirius when it first came out, like the inde-cred, hipster djs were touting the Second Coming. (The tune even became popular enough to make it onto the Pineapple Express soundtrack.)
Anyway, that's a long way to get to my point which is that I cannot stand the song. It's dull, repetitive, and the refrain is too abrasive for these old man ears.
I'm with you, Garv. It is droning and awful. I always feel robbed when she starts yammering instead of Joe.
I too know little about M.I.A. other than that song. If you Wiki Paper Planes, you'll see the remix list is essentially a who's who of the current R&B/hip hop scene. Everyone seems to be on her bandwagon. I think it's the accent.
Dude - I love that song!
And we are old....that song was hot, like five months ago...or so my hip, happening brother tells me. He does have a rap going with the younger set, given that he's teaching now.
Doesn't diminish the glory and power of the Clash at all, for me
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