Ah the innocence of childhood. Mine might have been less complex than yours: the first 45 record I ever owned was “The Purple People Eater.” But I also thought I’d grow up to fly in outer space. Thanks for a sweet walk on a Sunday morning and return refreshed. It will be a different world in 3 weeks.
D2 was my absolute favorite! I had to pause reading to listen to Save A Prayer. After not hearing it for 25+ years, it’s amazing the words are still all stored in my 51 year old brain. 👍🏼 Thanks for the junior high dance memories! Enjoy your break!
Great comparison as always, Greg! Duran Duran fan here since back in the day when I was almost a teen. ❤️ As for "Save a prayer 'til the morning after," I strive to live my life in constant prayer. It is essential for the soul to believe in something, to ask for it, yearn for it, and to be grateful for it. Great things did happen this week, and I'm glad you are taking a break on a much better note. Thank you for everything you do. Enjoy!
“Cryptic song lyrics are not necessarily bad—it’s better to string together interesting phrases in the style of Beck than go the Steve Miller route and badly rhyme cliché with cliché.”
As a songwriter, sometimes I can’t arrest exactly what I want to say. But I never want to “cheap out” with the expected. It seems disrespectful to my listeners, in a way.
In some ways, I like it better. My hope is that someone will feel seen when they hear it, since it’s more “to a person.” And I can always try again with another song if I want to be more pointedly political.
I’ve been meaning to upgrade to paid for awhile. Your work is so good, both here and in your podcast. You treat it like ART, which it is. You are such an evocative writer.
“Save a Prayer” is what finally compelled me. It continues to do the work. My wife cries at the third verse, every time, after all these years. And yes, John Taylor should be mentioned alongside all the greats. He drives the whole thing forward, never asking to be noticed.
Thank you for this. I worked in jr high in the 80’s and knew kids who were obsessed with Duran Duran. Since my daughter was that age, I learned something about the music of the 80’s. But I was stuck in the 60’s and 70’s. Needed to have a refresher, always an interesting take on so much…
Proud GenXer & New Wave UK pop dabbler here! I too have an all time favorite that happens to be a Duran Duran song ~ Ordinary World. It was released a bit later in their career (1993) but the lyrics have stayed with me for years.
I came of age during the MTV era when they actually played music videos. Duran Duran was one of my favorite groups because I loved their music but I also loved the videos that accompanied their songs. They were so colorful and fun. Little vignettes that paid tribute to the music they created. My favorite video, and one that is burned into my mind, was their video for their song “Rio”. On a sailboat in colorful suits! Such a contrast to our everyday lives. Interestingly, my youngest daughter (who’s a huge fan of “Glee”), also loves Duran Duran. Every time their name pops up on our SiriusXM menu, she presses it and we both sing the words of whatever song is on. And then I bore her with my memory of what was going on in the world when the song first started playing on the radio.
As a former friend and colleague, Mary Kazmierski, used to say, "Save yourself...don't worry about me!" and we all laughed as we gathered around to save her.
Not to worry, Greg. We'll be here when you return. Count on it!
Because I love you, I’m going to share my music crush secret.
Check out Ari Hest, a singer-songwriter from New York who moved to my state a few years ago and makes it better just by being here.
A NYC public school math teacher, he changed vocations about 20 years ago. A voice that can soothe, cajole or incite. A heart that gets it.
Start with his early music, “Aberdeen”, “Less”, and “Strangers again.” My favorite is from 2016, “Heart of a lion.”
He often shares the stage with another favorite, Judy Collins, and has found his way to writing protest songs. “My God” and “I remember when” are recent signs of the times.
Like your favorite, all of these are present and timeless, ageless classics.
Thanks for reminding me about Duran Duran. Beautiful souls that never got their due…
I stopped listening to popular music in the late 70's, with only a tidbit coming through from time to time. I have never heard a Duran Duran song... ever! Looking them up on Wikipedia tells me that they were one of the bands with the best record sales.
And then I listened to them... Other than being cute with messy hair and having a good lead singer, I totally don't get it. Since I missed the MTV generation (never once saw it), I guess I'm missing the context. From a purely musical perspective, I hear too many layers, bass mixed too prominent, overproduced, and a lot of cuteness. No adventure, no leap, no trying hard to be anything other than a boy band. And it's funny to read about how their first music video was banned in the UK just because there were good looking models modeling undergarments. Compare that to today's WAP and the overreaction also doesn't make any sense. The only thing that fits into the 'making sense' category is that the industry heads got the BBC to ban their first video just to create a buzz. I wouldn't put it past them.
Anyway, I do listen to quite a bit of contemporary music these days, and the 80's and 90's continue to be a real head scratcher for me. With the obvious exceptions like Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, U2, The English Beat, etc., I don't hear much 'music' in most of the rest.
Ah the innocence of childhood. Mine might have been less complex than yours: the first 45 record I ever owned was “The Purple People Eater.” But I also thought I’d grow up to fly in outer space. Thanks for a sweet walk on a Sunday morning and return refreshed. It will be a different world in 3 weeks.
D2 was my absolute favorite! I had to pause reading to listen to Save A Prayer. After not hearing it for 25+ years, it’s amazing the words are still all stored in my 51 year old brain. 👍🏼 Thanks for the junior high dance memories! Enjoy your break!
Sing Blue Silver!!!!
Enjoy that vacation Greg!
JenX forever 😁♥️
Great comparison as always, Greg! Duran Duran fan here since back in the day when I was almost a teen. ❤️ As for "Save a prayer 'til the morning after," I strive to live my life in constant prayer. It is essential for the soul to believe in something, to ask for it, yearn for it, and to be grateful for it. Great things did happen this week, and I'm glad you are taking a break on a much better note. Thank you for everything you do. Enjoy!
Thank you Greg, I could not agree more:
“Cryptic song lyrics are not necessarily bad—it’s better to string together interesting phrases in the style of Beck than go the Steve Miller route and badly rhyme cliché with cliché.”
As a songwriter, sometimes I can’t arrest exactly what I want to say. But I never want to “cheap out” with the expected. It seems disrespectful to my listeners, in a way.
This song is an example: It’s a LETTER OF CONCERN, addressed to the culture. I set out to make this a more direct statement, but this is what resulted: https://mboezi.bandcamp.com/track/disconsolate-eyes
In some ways, I like it better. My hope is that someone will feel seen when they hear it, since it’s more “to a person.” And I can always try again with another song if I want to be more pointedly political.
I’ve been meaning to upgrade to paid for awhile. Your work is so good, both here and in your podcast. You treat it like ART, which it is. You are such an evocative writer.
“Save a Prayer” is what finally compelled me. It continues to do the work. My wife cries at the third verse, every time, after all these years. And yes, John Taylor should be mentioned alongside all the greats. He drives the whole thing forward, never asking to be noticed.
Thank you for this. I worked in jr high in the 80’s and knew kids who were obsessed with Duran Duran. Since my daughter was that age, I learned something about the music of the 80’s. But I was stuck in the 60’s and 70’s. Needed to have a refresher, always an interesting take on so much…
Proud GenXer & New Wave UK pop dabbler here! I too have an all time favorite that happens to be a Duran Duran song ~ Ordinary World. It was released a bit later in their career (1993) but the lyrics have stayed with me for years.
"Papers in the roadside
Tell of suffering and greed
Fear today, forgot tomorrow
Ooh, here besides the news
Of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk.
And I don't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive."
Cheers Greg!
I came of age during the MTV era when they actually played music videos. Duran Duran was one of my favorite groups because I loved their music but I also loved the videos that accompanied their songs. They were so colorful and fun. Little vignettes that paid tribute to the music they created. My favorite video, and one that is burned into my mind, was their video for their song “Rio”. On a sailboat in colorful suits! Such a contrast to our everyday lives. Interestingly, my youngest daughter (who’s a huge fan of “Glee”), also loves Duran Duran. Every time their name pops up on our SiriusXM menu, she presses it and we both sing the words of whatever song is on. And then I bore her with my memory of what was going on in the world when the song first started playing on the radio.
As a former friend and colleague, Mary Kazmierski, used to say, "Save yourself...don't worry about me!" and we all laughed as we gathered around to save her.
Not to worry, Greg. We'll be here when you return. Count on it!
Enjoy your holiday! Rest and refresh!
Because I love you, I’m going to share my music crush secret.
Check out Ari Hest, a singer-songwriter from New York who moved to my state a few years ago and makes it better just by being here.
A NYC public school math teacher, he changed vocations about 20 years ago. A voice that can soothe, cajole or incite. A heart that gets it.
Start with his early music, “Aberdeen”, “Less”, and “Strangers again.” My favorite is from 2016, “Heart of a lion.”
He often shares the stage with another favorite, Judy Collins, and has found his way to writing protest songs. “My God” and “I remember when” are recent signs of the times.
Like your favorite, all of these are present and timeless, ageless classics.
Thanks for reminding me about Duran Duran. Beautiful souls that never got their due…
I left music when i left home and god at 14.
However on occassion when hanging out at the Diner i would drop a coin into the table connection to the Jukebox and punch the numbers for,
RING OF FIRE.
A very sexual song.
A couple of years ago while reading the Biography of Sugarman i ran across a song i thought was worth listening to more than once,
"A most Disgusting Song."
I stopped listening to popular music in the late 70's, with only a tidbit coming through from time to time. I have never heard a Duran Duran song... ever! Looking them up on Wikipedia tells me that they were one of the bands with the best record sales.
And then I listened to them... Other than being cute with messy hair and having a good lead singer, I totally don't get it. Since I missed the MTV generation (never once saw it), I guess I'm missing the context. From a purely musical perspective, I hear too many layers, bass mixed too prominent, overproduced, and a lot of cuteness. No adventure, no leap, no trying hard to be anything other than a boy band. And it's funny to read about how their first music video was banned in the UK just because there were good looking models modeling undergarments. Compare that to today's WAP and the overreaction also doesn't make any sense. The only thing that fits into the 'making sense' category is that the industry heads got the BBC to ban their first video just to create a buzz. I wouldn't put it past them.
Anyway, I do listen to quite a bit of contemporary music these days, and the 80's and 90's continue to be a real head scratcher for me. With the obvious exceptions like Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, U2, The English Beat, etc., I don't hear much 'music' in most of the rest.
❤️
A beautiful ode to a beautiful song. Thank you, Greg.