29.5.08

One Round Of Bitching, This Way Please.



I'm not exactly sure what is up with the current rash of actresses attempting to sing, singers attempting to act, and all and sundry launching clothing/perfume/jewellery lines (ok, that one's been happening for a while now), but I really wonder what on earth convinced Scarlett Johansson she can sing (I've only seen her karaoke bar turn in Lost In Translation, and that worked because she wasn't supposed to sound like an actual singer). As far as I can tell, the video above resembles a Lost In Translation tribute (Scarlett in hotel room? Check. Scarlett staring out of train windows? Check. Video seemingly set in Japan (going by the crew around her, and anyway it's the first thing that comes to mind)? Check. Older man*? Check. Now I know nothing about Tom Waits, the artist she's covering, but unless you're a huge fan of either him or her, I recommend not watching (this despite the fact that I embedded the video on top- it's four minutes of your life that are never coming back), the girl can't sing for toffee. And WTF is she doing on the cover of Nylon this month, anyway? From Poesy to this...blah.
* in this case Salman Rushdie- author of two of my favourite books- at 3.10. It still doesn't cover for the fact that the video is a waste of time though.

15 comments:

Elisabeth said...

So wrong. So, so wrong.

Selina (Flying Saucer) said...

omg is this real? it sounds awful!

woenvu said...

indeed, the horror. and, a hundred KQA quizmasters start churning out iterations thereof.

more than her (oh, so vain), david bowie should really be ashamed of himself for being involved.

Unknown said...

i JUST blogged about this the other day- i can't even laugh that's how bad this is.

Rebecca, A Clothes Horse said...

Nylon started going down hill when they put the GG girls on the cover (I thought Nylon was supposed to be arty/different not mainstream...). As much as I love Scarlett (and yes I do love her) I wish people would just stick to one career and try to be really good at that, rather than mediocre in everything!

Anonymous said...

While I couldn't do any better, this truly is absurd. She doesn't even 'sing' at any point. You're right about the similarities between this and Lost in Translation, yet it lacks anything special.

Linda said...

My ears... D:

WendyB said...

You forgot to mention every idiot and her sister starting a jewelry line for about two seconds.

N said...

Am I the only one who doesn't mind it?... I like it actually. She doesn't sing in it really, but I like the way it sounds... I completely agree with everything everyone is saying about actors/singers trying to be both, they usually just shouldn't go there, but I dont mind Scarlett's album...

Blue Floppy Hat said...

Elisabeth: I listened to it all the way through, and I can't help but agree!
Selina: she's apparently releasing an entire album of Tom Waits covers..
Bobo: David Bowie? Ye gods..
Peeping Mode: It's bad all right..
The Clothes Horse: Nylon honestly shocked me. I mean, I thought that magazine should have more sense than to actually pretend to believe Scarjo's a musician! She's capable of being a really good actress, and I loved her in Lost in Translation and Girl With The Pearl Earring, and I agree with you- she should stick to acting, at least she knows that well enough.
Cupcakes and Cashmere: Either way, this is such a ridiculous vanity project...let's see if her other songs are any better.
Linda: Sorry about that :)
Wendy: yeah, I forgot to mention that- will go amend the post now..but jewellery?
N: You really are the exception to the rule :)- good for you if you like it (is the rest of the album any better than this?).

wisp of a girl said...

horrible. and the fact that salman rushdie is in the video almost makes it worse - can an author sell out by being in a horrible actress/singer's music video? how are his novels so lovely but his judgement in terms of pop culture so off?

Disneyrollergirl.net said...

I really don't get the video. What's it meant to be about? Just Scarlet being famous? Weird.

Anonymous said...

My boyfriend is a huge Tom Waits fan & couldn't even sit through five seconds of this. Even though I'm not a huge fan & don't have the indignation of seeing his songs massacred (given that I'm not familiar with them) she still sounds *terrible.*

Bad vanity project all around.

That book's in the mail, btw. You should get it within a week or so barring post office issues.

Anonymous said...

Scarlett wouldn't be doing Tom Waits justice if she actually sung well on this track. None of Waits' songs are meant to be pretty or melodic. She's supposed to sound like she can't sing, because that's exactly how Tom Waits sounds.

I actually didn't like this track at first, but it has grown on me a bit. It's a tad bit surreal-sounding if you listen to it without looking at the video.

I do agree about the Nylon cover, though. Scarlett should just keep her side project a side project, without any fanfare or promotion. Neither her or the magazine should have promoted her album.

Blue Floppy Hat said...

wisp of a girl: dunno, it beats me too. I prefer to read Midnight's Children and ignore its author entirely.

Rollergirl: I'm not sure what it's about, not that it matters really...

Ambika: I'd have cut her some slack if she wasn't all over the press demanding to be taken seriously as a musician just because she chose to cover Tom Waits and didn't put out a hip-hop or pop album. Interesting to know the reaction of an actual Waits fan, too.
Thanks for the book- I'll email you as soon as I get it!

Annie: I'm not sure, really. That's the thorny issue with covers- does one judge them on their own merits, or only against the original? AThr trouble with Scarlett's version is that the excessive use of backing sound effects (sorry, I don't know the technical words for those) and distortion makes it sound like there's more backing effects than voice- which isn't really a good thing for any song, especially a covering artiste. It makes it sound like they're trying to cover up a lack of singing ability- and if Tom Waits's songs are as you say, they shouldn't have done that.

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