A Colo(u)rful Walr(o)us

[vonFiedler]

12. The Quasar
Chris De Burgh - Lady in Red
Color 3 / Song 3.5 / Title Penalty

Player's Argument:
That's easy too. A great film (I suggest you...fantastic Gene Wilder, Kelly LeBrock (sadly) is now another victim of cosmetics surgery, damn!), great songs (there's also "I just Called To Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder). But this is fire red!

My Thoughts:
Quasar subbed a lot of titles with the color penalty (though he may or may not swap them). The real problem with having a color in the title is that I have to be really anal and ask myself whether this song really conforms to the color or if it just tells me it does. Did this song really need to be Lady in Red, or could it have been Lady in White? Lady in Pink? Okay, it does work, but I'm not giving it a slam dunk. I imagine it's not going to go over well with everyone listening either for song points.

 

[vonFiedler]

11. Martin
Jim Parker - Grand Central
Color 2.9 / Song 2.8

Player's Arguments:
Red is a very stressful colour, and this piece does an exceptionally good job of making you feel stressed—it's like wandering around a busy station, with the loud sounds of train horns and masses of people who are all in a hurry bumping into each other, with you unable to get past the wave of people. It's one of the absolute most interesting peices of music I've ever heard, and it's left more of a mark on me than any other piece of music I played in bands when growing up.

My Thoughts:
I'll give it that this starts very Red with those horns, and I think the color argument is good, but it strays a bit (Jazz rarely likes to stay in one spot).

 

[vonFiedler]

10. nutellaferret
Florence + the Machine - All This and Heaven Too
Color 3.5 / Song 2.5

Player's Argument:
Fiercely passionate, grand/bold sound and themes of love/the heart

My Thoughts:
Not only does this title drop heaven, but it heavily uses choir bells. That's not to say that I would automatically make this a White song, but I could see a good argument for Pink.

 

[vonFiedler]

9. Lord Quas
The Armed - Forever Scum
Color 5 / Song 1

Player's Argument:
This is the most intense headbangin shit, blood boiling and seeing red.

My Thoughts:
Angry yes. Hate it.

 

[vonFiedler]

8. Ghostwheel
Symphony X - Eve of Seduction
Color 3.9 / Song 2.3

Player's Argument:
Heavy themes of lust, even going as far as to reference burning and pain. Aggressive and driving in a musical sense.

My Thoughts:
Ghostwheel of course submits a metal song for what is nearly a metal category. This song is about lust, not anger, and I don't think that gels as well.

 

[vonFiedler]

7. Andy Snype
Saint Motel - My Type
Color 3.5 / Song 3.1

Player's Argument:
red is a seductive color. this song is pretty seductive.

My Thoughts:
Fairly cool song. In a weird way this song is almost Black, given the selective taste that is evoked. It feels like a "love song" by a man in a black suit. But I'm not saying Red doesn't work.

 

[vonFiedler]

6. Panic Station
Nine Inch Nails - March of the Pigs
Color 4.8 / Song 1.9

Player's Argument:
energy and speed, attention-getting, assertive and confident, energizing, powerful, stimulating and driven, aggressive and domineering, angry and quick-tempered, ruthless. NIN tends to be my go-to for energetic anger.

My Thoughts:
A very typical entry for this category. Red is easy to slam dunk in and this kind of angry music is a slam dunk. It's too bad that I don't like it much, but I liked it more than some similar songs that were submitted.

 

[vonFiedler]

5. Termi
D'Angelo - Untitled (How Does It Feel?)
Color 4.4 / Song 2.9

Player's Argument:
quintessential sex r&b, fits the color red imo

My Thoughts:
Was submitted for being sexy and it certainly does that. Only loses fractions of points on the color front because the category is so competitive. As for the song, this is some good R&B, but it's too long and repetitive to be something I would add to my playlist.

 

[vonFiedler]

4. BLOODYRAIN
John Sykes - Cautionary Warning
Color 4.7 / Song 2.6

Player's Argument:
Red is a color I'd associate with aggression, conflict, victory, and strength. The guitars are pretty bombastic here and the lyrics talk about some sort of conflict and anger, so it goes here.

My Thoughts:
Another angry metal song. It's not great but it's a bit cleaner than the others and that's generally what I'm going to like if I like metal.

 

[vonFiedler]

3. Sultan of Skook
Sabotan - Carolus Rex
Color 4.9 / Song 2.7

Player's Arguments:
Red is a color that can represent violence and has been used by many empires throughout history, so an imperial sounding song like this is fitting.

My Thoughts:
I've seen these guys in concert. Not that I'm particularly endeared to them or anything, but they are okay and the song fits the color just fine.

 

[vonFiedler]

2. Oddish
Patti LaBelle - Lady Marmalade
Color 4 / Song 4

Player's Argument:
I'm pretty sure this song is about a prostitute lol but anyway, red represents a lot to me which actually made narrowing a song down tougher than i thought it would be, but in the end i decided to go with a sensual/sexually passionate interpretation of the color. This song is fun and flirty so it felt fitting

My Thoughts:
On point submission for a disco classic.

 

[vonFiedler]

1. Da Letter El
Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
Color 4.5 / Song 4.5

Player's Argument:
I generally hate 80s music, but this song has a soft place in my heart. It's aggressive, it's in your face, and rage is incredibly red and passionate that it's really not any other color at all.

My Thoughts:
Perhaps one of the most important anti-authority songs of our modern age, and a mid-tier pander.

 

[vonFiedler]

Scores

Technically Shubaka is in first place with 1 point due to his rainbow submission, but that wouldn't be exciting so here are the category scores.

 

[The Quasar]

My Thoughts:
Quasar subbed a lot of titles with the color penalty (though he may or may not swap them). The real problem with having a color in the title is that I have to be really anal and ask myself whether this song really conforms to the color or if it just tells me it does. Did this song really need to be Lady in Red, or could it have been Lady in White? Lady in Pink? Okay, it does work, but I'm not giving it a slam dunk. I imagine it's not going to go over well with everyone listening either for song points.

Red is Passion. So that's could be only Woman in Red! :D

 

[vonFiedler]

Rainbow redeemers for this category went to Martin, Aladdyn, and 2 to Quasar.

Next reveal is next thursday at 12 PST, as noted in the title.

Late sub from gbsfranca
MkGee - You
Pretty good, gets 3.8 for color and 3.4 for song.

And the rainbow sub got Shubaka17 one bonus point
Culture Club - Karma Chameleon
Don't forget that anyone can sub rainbow songs to potentially get a bonus point

 

[vonFiedler]

WHITE

Rainbow Header provided by The Quasar
David Sylvian - Forbidden Colours

White Header
The Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want

 

[vonFiedler]

19. Lord Quas
Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K.466 - 1. Allegro
Color 1.8 / Song 2.2

Player's Argument:
Is there anything whiter than classical? Nah but for real it's polished and perfected to spotlessness. White has a strong correlation with perfection and pristineness to me, and that's what I get from this. Esp the piano.

My Thoughts:
I think it's dangerous to reduce classical music down to one color, especially for long pieces, as it's actually very expressive and dynamic, and if you have a music teacher friend like I do you'll learn quickly all the different emotions and imagery a piece can go through (a lot of this can apply to Jazz to). Classical (which itself is used here incorrectly, but fuck me if I know the correct terminology) as we consider it wasn't one genre with one mode, it was just music. You wouldn't say all modern commercial music is one color, would you? Now, I can see at times when this piece feels white, in places where it feels regal and overbearing, but it definitely goes here and there a lot.

So after that lengthy defense of classical music naturally I'm gonna say this also FUCKING SUCKS. No, just kidding. It feels so wrong to rate this near what I gave Shawn Mendes last week, but this was a really hard category to rate and someone had to be at the bottom. Mozart is far from my favorite classical artist and this one doesn't rise above background music for me.

 

[vonFiedler]

18. Oddish
FKA Twigs - Mary Magdalene
Color 2 / Song 2.1

Player's Argument:
White to me is often pure/holy/peaceful/etc. I wasn't inherently trying to go the religious route, but i feel like it's easy to get religious imagery out of white, and this song felt like a pretty obvious choice when i was thinking of what to send. Aside from the fact that it evokes a biblical figure, the way it's sung, the lyrics, the composition, it all brings to mind those feelings, along with very white imagery. Like as in i can literally see a woman in wearing white, in a white room/space, stuff like that lol. It all feels very ethereal

My Thoughts:
So I deep dived into this song and it really seems to be less about religion and more feminism. The use of Mary Magdalene throughout history has strayed pretty far from the original religious intent, and that's what the song addresses, so it's less Only the Good Die Young and more Roxanne. Frankly I don't know what what color it sounds like, but I didn't think it was a catfail either.

As a song it's very strange but not bad, it doesn't speak to me though. See what I said about someone having to be on bottom. Sorry.

 

[vonFiedler]

17. Panic Station
Danny Kaye - Snow
Color 3 / Song 2.4 / Lyric Penalty

Player's Argument:
if i'm really honest with myself, I submit a song about snow and say I'm unimaginative and boring

My Thoughts:
This is a very strange song because it's sounds so "CITY OF THE FUTURE". But it also definitely has tropes like sleigh bells and is very on-point with its lyrics.

If I said this was middling Christmas music, it's probably because I haven't heard it to death. I don't suspect I'll hear it more, unless they make a Christmas themed Fallout game.

 

[vonFiedler]

16. Ghostwheel
Intervals - Sweet Tooth
Color 1.9 / Song 3.1

Player's Argument:
White is a complex color for me, but for me what makes this song feel white is its positivity, clarity, and clean feeling. This is like the sense of euphoria I get after having an epiphany.

My Thoughts:
I had to really scratch my head hearing this, and then I realized that, having interacted with Ghostwheel enough, this was probably the Whitest metal he could send me.

Of course it's rad, clean rock. Could use some lyrics to put it over, but that may or may not have improved it.

 

[vonFiedler]

15. shubaka17
Stella Jang - Bourgeois Emotion
Color 2.9 / Song 2.2

Player's Argument:
first of all white is going to be reclaimed by the proletariat happy May Day you capitalist swine. second of all, listening to this song is a white sheets open windows spring breeze kind of song.

My Thoughts:
I would not really claim to understand what you or the song are going on about with the use of Marxist concept. However, what helps this as a White song are a myriad of small musical motifs, like the finger snapping, soft surf guitars, but especially the a-haa-haa-haa-haa.

Musically, this is one of the most interesting and strange songs submitted to this category. It has a creative approach to the idea of "subsisting on love", but it doesn't push me past the point of easy listening.

 

[vonFiedler]

14. The Quasar
Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerard - Elysium
Color 3.8 / Song 2.3

Player's Argument:
That's one of the more liberating deaths of cinema....And, I'm sure, if you close your eyes, you can see and image a monocolor world. A white color.

My Thoughts:
It sounds pretty on-point. Good argument. I gotta give you a lot of points for this, but I also have to nitpick... everyone knows Elysian Fields are gold!

As for the song, I've been pretty vocal about my criticism of Hans Zimmer in the past. Now, at least this song is from a mostly pre-hackery period of his career, and it works, but it doesn't really grab me either, perhaps because I'm not too fond of the movie.

 

[vonFiedler]

13. Schiavetto
Sufjan Stevens - Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
Color 4.2 / Song 2.1

Player's Argument:
On January 5, 2000, witnesses across several small Illinois towns came forward with reports of a strange triangular mass in the night sky, visible only because of its glaring white lights. Sufjan draws on the imagery of that UFO sighting (the so-called "St. Clair Triangle) and refigures the event as something holy, a manifestation of the divine. The craft, easily dismissed as a trick of the stars in the sky, becomes instead something angelic.

My Thoughts:
Cute song. Cute explanation. It really hits a lot of the right breezy notes to feel like a soft fluttery White. The song sounds pretty good, but it just doesn't go anywhere. It feels like it abruptly quits before developing.

 

[vonFiedler]

12. Lebossle
Buckethead - Whitewash
Color 4 / Song 3.4 / Title Penalty

Player's Thoughts:
it's peaceful, and whitewash is white

My Thoughts:
Whitewash certainly is White. Now this song captures a new aspect of White which is emptiness. Does this emptiness feel specifically White? I'm not sure. But it's a neat instrumental track that you can mentally vibe to if it was on in the background.

 

[vonFiedler]

11. Sultan of Skook
The xx - Angels
Color 4.3 / Song 2.1

Player's Argument:
White represents purity, and this song is about love in its purest form.

My Thoughts:
This just hits that white sound and subject matter. I just don't think I like this kind of specific wobbly sound anymore, I think I've heard it in too many soundtracks. Compare it to The Mighty Rio Grande, which is all over the place. I'm not saying it's bad, but I couldn't be more generous with the score when so many songs submitted were better.