REVEAL - Homer J. Fong's "Difficult Second Walrus"...now with added HEEPS!

[Homer J. Fong]

In 16th place with 2 points:

The Vaccines - Norgaard

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Barna77

Have I listened to the artist before? No

Have I listened to the song before? No

Comments:

Oof, the lyrics here are a little....dodgy! Comparing a 17 year old to a Great Dane, singing about her tits and lamenting that she won’t be in a serious relationship...now tbf it appears he was 20 at the time, so we’re not quite in R Kelly territory thank fúck! Anyway this is an ok, jangly number. Goes by quickly. Doesn’t leave a whole of impact. Not bad but not in a rush to listen again.

[Homer J. Fong]

In 2nd place with 16 points:

Audrey Hepburn - Moon River

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Kol

Have I listened to the artist before? Kinda

Have I listened to the song before? Also kinda

Comments:
Now this one really took me by surprise! When I saw it come in I said to myself "oh yeah, that’s quite nice isn’t it? Might be a mid-table finisher". Then I realised I’d never actually heard the whole thing before; I only knew the first couple of lines (it was used in an ad, wasn’t it? Can’t remember what for....chocolate, maybe?) Anyway this was like a moment of Zen calm among the other entries. Only two minutes but very beautiful and soothing. I like the understated, whispery vocal; I probably wouldn’t like this anywhere near as much if a more “technically” gifted singer did it, as I think they’d probably oversing it. This was really lovely, thanks for this choice. 


Now I might actually go watch Breakfast at Tiffany's some time...

[Homer J. Fong]

In 17th place with 1 point:

The Motors - Forget About You

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Declan A Walsh

Have I listened to the artist before? No

Have I listened to the song before? No


Comments:
Unfortunately something had to come last, and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is that didn’t work for me here. I just wasn’t really a fan. It’s less than three minutes long but feels longer somehow, it chugs along relentlessly with a catchy (but slightly annoying) chorus. I feel like I’m being harsh because I didn’t hate it, but I just can’t really rank it any higher I’m afraid. Sorry.

[Homer J. Fong]

And last but certainly not least:

In 1st place with 17 points:

Hole - Celebrity Skin

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Zaph

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes

Have I listened to the song before? Yes


Comments:

Say what you want about Courtney Love, she wrote some damn good songs. She may not have had the most accomplished voice but she had power in her lungs, and her ferocious snarl was enough to suit their music. This was the first Hole song I knew and the one that got me into them, so will always be very fond of it. It's also a song that, when I haven't heard it for a while, makes me wonder "why don't I listen to this more often?" Which is that mark of a great song. Excellent choice.

[Homer J. Fong]

So here's how our leaderboard looks after Round 1.
Plenty of Walrussing yet to come, so don't despair if this round didn't serve you well




Will aim to do the next Reveal on Wednesday night, if that suits everyone? 
Thanks to anyone who's tuned in tonight, and sorry it's taken so long to get here. 

[E.N.]

Nice one Homer, cheers for that. Good commentary

Congrats Zaph, that is a tune!

Intrigued to see how you mark the next round, as it implicitly states that every other song has to be crap, will you be judging their entire back catalogue too?

[jp liz v1]

Sign ups were on boards

I am trying to find my entries @Homer J. Fong but new boards.ie still isn't easy

[jp liz v1]

@Kol is that Audrey singing herself or dubbed?

Love the song and film

[Homer J. Fong]

Sign ups were on boards

I am trying to find my entries @Homer J. Fong but new boards.ie still isn't easy

Don't worry liz, I'd say boards might have wiped that away. If you can remember what you submitted for the final category (Grass, Fire or Water themed songs) then send me a PM, if not I'll give you multiple choice based on what's left and hopefully that will jog your memory.

[Homer J. Fong]

Nice one Homer, cheers for that. Good commentary

Congrats Zaph, that is a tune!

Intrigued to see how you mark the next round, as it implicitly states that every other song has to be crap, will you be judging their entire back catalogue too?

My scoring system isn't as rigourous as yours, I'm afraid!   I'll try to be objective as possible in just ranking the songs rather than how I feel about the artists...though a song I'm not keen on by an artist I otherwise love will struggle, and a song I really like by an artist I either dislike or am not too familiar with will probably do better than a "safe" bet.

But who knows? I might also just put it all into the random number generator and make up comments accordingly. 

[Zaph]

I genuinely have no clue what I entered for this, so it was a nice surprise to come out on top in round 1. I'll bask in my moment of glory, it's probably downhill all the way from here...

[Homer J. Fong]

So before we get to the next Reveal, here are some songs that I may have submitted myself for the 'Short and Sweet' round:

Fleetwood Mac - The Ledge



The Breeders - I Just Wanna Get Along



Wolf Alice - Beautifully Unconventional



I would have loved it if somebody had the balls to submit this:

Napalm Death - You Suffer



And I'm actually surprised nobody selected this absolute classic:

White Stripes - Fell In Love With a Girl

[RSOAPS]

Pretty sure I almost went with Wolf Alice - Beautifully Unconventional for this round and talked myself out of it for some reason... Should've stuck to my guns...

[Tauriel]

Finally managed to find my way over here! Been way too busy with work

Cannot remember what I submitted for this at all

[jp liz v1]

I am trying to find my entries @Homer J. Fong but new boards.ie still isn't easy

Don't worry liz, I'd say boards might have wiped that away. If you can remember what you submitted for the final category (Grass, Fire or Water themed songs) then send me a PM, if not I'll give you multiple choice based on what's left and hopefully that will jog your memory.

Yes pm what you have left and I will try to guess mine please

[Homer J. Fong]

Second Reveal tonight from 9.30 pm. Once again, the standard in this round was generally very high. Some good songs ending up with low-ish scores as a result.

What would I have chosen for a song I like by an act I'm otherwise not a fan of? Here are some possibilities:

Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds



Keane - Spiralling



Coldplay - The Scientist



Avril Lavigne - I'm With You



Whitney Houston - My Love Is Your Love



And, because 'tis the season,

Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You

[E.N.]

Elvis, Keane, Coldplay, Whitney, Avril... you're not exactly trawling the dregs there!

I aimed a much worse place than that

[Homer J. Fong]

Elvis, Keane, Coldplay, Whitney, Avril... you're not exactly trawling the dregs there!

That's a matter of opinion. 

[osh]

Can see my entry possibly crashing and burning early this round, but who knows.

Good job my other remaining entries are so good anyway 

[Homer J. Fong]

And we are ready for Round Two.

Kicking us off in 14th place and scoring 4 points:

B.o.B. feat Hayley Williams - Airplanes



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Tauriel

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes

Have I listened to the song before? Yes

Comments:
This one takes me back. I remember when it was out I didn’t like it at first, then my mopey depressed early 20-something self decided the chorus was very profound and “OMG IT SPOKE TO ME!”. Now my mopey depressed early 30-something self just thinks it sounds a bit dated, tbh. Not a bad choice, just didn't manage to reach the heights of others in this round.

[Homer J. Fong]

In 13th place and scoring 5 points:

Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight



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Zaph

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes

Have I listened to the song before? Yes

Comments:

I don’t have any particularly strong opinions on Phil Collins but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think of this song as “the one with the gorilla playing drums” and nothing more. Yes, *that* drum bit is iconic but it takes over three and a half (sleepy) minutes to get there. It’s not a bad song, just not very exciting.

[Homer J. Fong]

In 12th place and scoring 6 points:

Arcade Fire - Afterlife



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Barna77

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes

Have I listened to the song before? Yes

Comments:

I feared someone was going to commit the cardinal sin in this round – select an artist that I’m a big fan of, but choose on their songs that I’m not that keen on. To be fair there are some great things about this song, the melody is solid and some of the lyrics in the verses tug at the heartstrings, but I’ve never been able to get over the lazy lyrics in the chorus: “can we work it out? Scream and shout, 'til we work it out” – for a band with some wonderful some wonderful songwriting in their catalogue, this really lets the whole song down for me and it’s enough of a bugbear to stop me from enjoying the song more as a whole. Other Arcade Fire songs could have won this category, unfortunately lower-mid tier is as high as I can place this one.

[Homer J. Fong]

In 11th place and scoring 7 points:

Poppy - Fashion After All



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cee_jay

Have I listened to the artist before? No

Have I listened to the song before? No

Comments:

I’ve never heard of Poppy so can’t really comment on what she’s like as an artist. This song was grand, nice catchy slice of electropop to hum and nod along to. Reminds me a lot of Robyn, actually. Is it enough to make me want to check out the rest of her stuff? Jury is still out on that one. I do enjoy this song but the very high standard in this round prevents it getting a higher score.

[Barna77]

Other Arcade Fire songs could have won this category, unfortunately lower-mid tier is as high as I can place this one.

But any other of their songs are rotten.... 

Hmm, when I recently posted this song on the three day walrus I knew i had used it somewhere else

[Homer J. Fong]

In 10th place and scoring 8 points:

Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx - Gold Digger



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osh

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes

Have I listened to the song before? Yes

Comments:

"Separate the art from the artist" is a difficult endeavour when you have someone as irritating and unlikeable as Ye (or whatever he’s called these days). Can’t deny the man has some talent though, and this is a very solid song. Not something I have on my playlists but am usually happy enough to hear it when out and about.

[Homer J. Fong]

In 9th place and scoring 9 points:

Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson



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Kol

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes

Have I listened to the song before? Yes

Comments:

There’s something about Paul Simon’s voice that annoys me. If only he stuck to the songwriting and let Garfunkel do all the vocals, I’d probably enjoy them more. Nonetheless this is undeniably a great tune, even though I probably prefer The Lemonheads cover of it.

[Cdeb]

Jaysus - Simon and Garfunkel an artist you don't like?

I didn't think such people existed! 

[Homer J. Fong]

The next five songs (8th - 4th) were all very, very close and their relative rankings changed a few times when finalising my list.

In 8th place and scoring 10 points:

Aqua - Turn Back Time



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E.N.

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes

Have I listened to the song before? Yes

Comments:

Very good choice, definitely fits the category well. It’s a shame Aqua didn’t release more music like this, they were clearly talented songwriters but I guess novelty bubblegum pop made them more money? *shrug*

[Homer J. Fong]

In 7th place and scoring 11 points:

The Chieftains feat. Sinéad O'Connor - The Foggy Dew



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Necro

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes

Have I listened to the song before? Yes

Comments:

I love Sinéad O’Connor’s voice and it fits this haunting number perfectly. Whatever one thinks about her as a person, her musical gift is undeniable. And if this song doesn't make you want to pick up a gun and go drive the Black and Tans out of Dublin Castle, then you're probably a Tory MP. 

[Homer J. Fong]

In 6th place and scoring 12 points:

INXS - Suicide Blonde



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Hello 2D Person Below

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes

Have I listened to the song before? No

Comments:

I don’t know a huge amount by INXS other than Need You Tonight (which I like) and Never Tear Us Apart (which I love). Really enjoyed this one too, definitely one that benefits from repeated listens as it kept moving up the table each time. Maybe I should check them out more.

[osh]

"Separate the art from the artist" is a difficult endeavour when you have someone as irritating and unlikeable as Ye (or whatever he’s called these days).

That's kinda why I went for it tbh. I took the disliking the artist literally 

[Homer J. Fong]

In 5th place and scoring 13 points:

Bruce Springsteen - Radio Nowhere



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Rachel Stevens on a Pogo Stick

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes

Have I listened to the song before? Yes

Comments:

I quite enjoy a bit of The Boss every so often. My sister’s a huge fan and I’ve tagged along twice to see him live – he (and the E-Street Band) puts on a hell of a live show! But even though I don't listen to him all that much I’ve always really liked this song, very catchy and energetic - it's actually on my running playlist. Very good choice, although it does serve as a painful reminder that I haven't gone running for several weeks and that my fat ass has to go back and redo Couch To 5K yet again. 

[jp liz v1]

I think I have liked all songs so far in this round

[Homer J. Fong]

In 4th place and scoring 14 points:

Sólstafir - Miðaftann



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Irish Aris

Have I listened to the artist before? No

Have I listened to the song before? No

Comments:

I'd never heard of this band before and when I googled them I saw them as "post-metal"...I’m not entirely sure what that is tbh. Anyway I really enjoyed this. A very haunting and otherworldly sounding number. It helps of course that it’s in Icelandic, which is just a ridiculously beautiful-sounding language. Always great to hear stuff you may never have come across otherwise, so thank you for this choice! This was very close to cracking the top three.

[Homer J. Fong]

So who does that leave in our Top and Bottom Three for Round 2?

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cdeb
Declan A Walsh
jp liz v1
Sawduck
ShaneU
the purple tin

[Homer J. Fong]

In 15th place and scoring 3 points:

Snoop Dogg feat. Willie Nelson - Superman



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the purple tin

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes, but not together!

Have I listened to the song before? No

Comments:

Fun breezy little track. More of a quirky curio than a song worth repeated plays. I didn’t dislike it but couldn't really justify putting it any higher in this round.

[Homer J. Fong]

In 3rd place and scoring 15 points:

Radiohead - House of Cards



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ShaneU

Have I listened to the artist before? Yes

Have I listened to the song before? Yes

Comments:

I overcame the temptation to put this in last place due to the absolute PHILISTINE submitting it admitting that they don’t like Radiohead!  Nah, in fairness I can see why they wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea but I am definitely a big fan. I’m curious as to why our submitter picked this one though, it’s certainly not the most 'obvious' Radiohead song for a non-fan to submit. And from what I gather general fan consensus seems to be that it’s one of the weaker songs on In Rainbows (though that doesn’t say a lot since it is an almost perfect album)...anyway I disagree with that consensus, this is a wonderful song.

Despite reaching the podium, our submitter needs to listen to more Radiohead and be converted! 

[E.N.]

The next five songs (8th - 4th) were all very, very close and their relative rankings changed a few times when finalising my list.

In 8th place and scoring 10 points:

Aqua - Turn Back Time

Just catching up - I'll take that
I leant hard into it being a band that was otherwise absolute dross!

[jp liz v1]

So who does that leave in our Top and Bottom Three for Round 2?

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cdeb
Declan A Walsh
jp liz v1
Sawduck
ShaneU
the purple tin

I fear bottom

[E.N.]

...anyway I disagree with that consensus, this is a wonderful song.

I'm with you, one of my favourite tracks on one of my favourite albums