Only Flame poll

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 1:08 pm

Something occured to me this morning listening to the GCW bonus disc. (Absurdly hypothetical situation alert). If by some unforseen set of circumstances, the only song by Elvis Costello that still existed in recorded format in 100 years was The Only Flame in Town, which version would you want it to be. Keep in mind that future generations would be unaware of ANY OTHER contribution to songcraft that EC had ever done. While this would be a tragic loss, there's still this one tune that exists. SO would you rather future generations knew EC by the demo version or the sax and oates version? Which would be the better version to represent Costello's brilliance?

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 1:10 pm

take out your bias "with sax and daryl hall".

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 1:12 pm

disclaimer: the above comment was playful. please dont tell me i should never buy a pet.

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 1:20 pm

wehitandrun wrote:disclaimer: the above comment was playful. please dont tell me i should never buy a pet.

You're different, son.

migdd · Post by **migdd** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 2:05 pm

Taken outside the context of the rest of EC's work, the GCW version of Flame sounds like a bad song by a bad singer with bad sax squealing. Although it's the ugliest version of this song put to vinyl (or plastic), it does fit in with the rest of the album content better than the demo and live acoustic versions.

I really like the demo band version; however, if you really want to HEAR and FEEL the song, the live acoustic version on the GCW bonus disc is the one that best represents EC abilities as a songwriter and singer (for me, at least.)

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 2:54 pm

Joking or not, my description is not biased. That version of the song features sax andf Daryl Hall. It's a fact. Bias would be if I said "the suck one."

Don't get a pet.

Sour Milk Cow · Post by **Sour Milk Cow** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 3:38 pm

The truth is that the phrasing of the poll question is slightly tricky. If TOFIT was the only EC song the world would ever hear, it would be a pretty unimpressive legacy for the beloved entertainer.

The choice would be between a fairly throwaway pop song and a turgid, overwrought ballad. Neither version stands alone as particularly substantial or as a good example of what EC does.

The ballad version is probably more typical of EC. It's melancholy, which is a tone closer to EC's heart, and is more indicative of his body of work.

The album version is a pop song, upbeat and lacking any real anger or bite. There is some punnery there, but it is a pretty atypical kind of song for him. So asking which version should be the ONLY remaining example of Costello's work will likely lead many to pick the ballad version, if only because it is more typically EC.

I'm not suggesting this is the only reason-- clearly, many people dislike the album version, and I used to be among them. But the poll would be slightly fairer if the question were simply, "which version do you like the best?"

I think the ballad versions have music that is wildly at odds with the lyrics, and not in a way that works. It's like having a version of "Party Party" arranged to fit on Sinatra's "Only the Lonely." To me, it just isn't a very deep song, and all that "less tender and more tinder" wordplay works better in a pop song than it does in an i'm-so-serious moaning ballad.

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 4:10 pm

I have to say that I'd keep the original. It's not that I think the alternate version is bad, quite the contrary. I just think that this is one of the few songs on GCW which the production doesn't detract from the music (it undoubtedly attracts from the sentiment...it's like sneezing an 'I love you'). I prefer the hurried 'vocal delivery' a lot, better than the alt. version. The 'cheesiness' (how can I put that more saliently?) of the record is fun in a way (like Noise pointed out) that it reflects the time it was made. Nothing wrong with that.
I'll be a monkey's uncle of EC sings the album version in a venue near you soon though.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 4:17 pm

"Which version do you like best?" wasn't the point though. The point was which version would you prefer if there was only one. It's not an unfair question, just a different question than you wanted to answer. By all means, feel free to make a poll that asks the question you want, and I'll vote there as well.

You're quite right that none would be a good legacy for EC. It's not his best song, regardless of the version. But it's my hypothetical universe, so them's the rules.

My feeling is that the songs on the album reflect the mood he was in at the time. He wrote them in the throes of divorce, with the UK having invaded the Faulklands. Bleak worldview for the artist. The words do not convey a sense of hope and light; they're dark pretty much throughout. The original version of TOFIT undercuts this in every conceivable way. That can be clever--writing a depressing song with a catchy melody. They Might Be Giants have made a career out of it. But in this case, it just sounds like someone else recorded it. It's completely out of place. It fits neither the mood nor sound of the rest of the record. Its cheesiness is not quaint or charming the way so much retro 80's music is. It sounds so calculatedly radiobound, I wouldn't have been surprised to find it on a Phil Collins record (that's not a compliment). And while having a dated sound is not inherantly awful, this particular sound should have died never to be reborn. If this were the only way Elvis was to be remembered, people would write him off as a hack. With the demo version, even if it's not his finest hour, at least it's not embarrasing.

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 4:22 pm

So what you're saying is that someone might be altrusitic in their choice, and go for a version that a greater percentage of the population could enjoy. I would say it's IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to prefer one version, but vote for another.
The selfish gene! (unless everyone genetically related to you prefers another version, and their reproductive success will be influenced greater than your is lessened, by you choosing another version....

...I doubt anyone's reprodcutive success will be influenced by The only flame in town though - even the slow versions!)

Sad science geezer alert - I'll get me coat!

migdd · Post by **migdd** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 4:29 pm

I agree with Sour Milk Cow that this is not a song to go to the mat over.

Makes for an interesting poll, though. . .

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 5:30 pm

I love this song.

Sour Milk Cow · Post by **Sour Milk Cow** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 6:15 pm

I will admit that, a few years back, when I first heard the "ballad" version of TOFIT, I thought "Oh, good, he has rescued the song from the GCW production." It's still an entirely valid way to feel about the song, I just don't feel that way anymore. For me, it just hasn't held up at all in its ballad version.

It's interesting to note that there doesn't seem to be a true "demo" version available for TOFIT. There is the demo on the bonus disc, which I believe dates from either the late 80s or early 90s, when he re-wrote it for Aaron Neville. And there are the two versions on the GCW bonus disc-- the alternate studio version, and the live re-interpretation from after the album was recorded. I wonder what the original demo for the song sounded like before he went into the studio for the album sessions. Was it poppier than the later ballad versions? Or did it begin as a ballad, mutate into a pop song, and then revert to its original shape? It is curious that EC never released the original demo, given all the versions he's put out now.

I think the song itself is a clever follow-up to Everyday I Write The Book, but they are both kind of hack songs. They both take their central metaphors and squeeze every last drop out of them, and they are the kind of songs that EC could probably write very quickly if he wanted to. To be honest, sometimes I wish he would. I think that Stephin Merritt does this sort of thing very well, and the records of the Magnetic Fields have sort of opened me up to not dismissing this kind of production out of hand, as I have in the past.

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 7:32 pm

Did you take down the poll because the album version got more love than you expected?

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:22 pm

What happened?!!! I didn't take away the poll at all! I edited out the last sentence in my original post, which said "Might make an interesting poll question..."

CRAP!

Actually, when I last checked, the album version had 5 votes, and the various other versions had something like a combined 12 votes, with the bonus disc demo at 6. That's about what i figured, and it suggests that while people may not agree on which they like best, they like the album version less than the various (and more similar overall) ballad versions.

I'll redo the poll somehow.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:27 pm

Well now I'm really confused. I tried to redo the poll, and it came back up with double choices. Oh well. At least it's up again.

SweetPear · Post by **SweetPear** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 11:55 pm

AAAHHHHH!!!!!

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 3:06 am

Coming up next week:

Which version of The Town Where Time Stood Still would you eliminate from the space-time continuum if you could only play one on a loop over and over and over again IN YOUR HEAD!

SoLikeCandy · Post by **SoLikeCandy** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 6:55 am

I never really liked this song--and my islike for it grew exponentially when I heard a Muzak version of it at the mall.

Boo. BOO.

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 10:49 am

laughingcrow wrote:Coming up next week:

Which version of The Town Where Time Stood Still would you eliminate from the space-time continuum if you could only play one on a loop over and over and over again IN YOUR HEAD!

Tell HIM he cant have a pet, Noise.

Post by **BlueChair** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:03 am

SoLikeCandy wrote:I never really liked this song--and my islike for it grew exponentially when I heard a Muzak version of it at the mall.

Boo. BOO.

I really like the demo versions on other bonus discs, but the album version truly nausiates me.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:57 am

laughingcrow wrote:Coming up next week:

Which version of The Town Where Time Stood Still would you eliminate from the space-time continuum if you could only play one on a loop over and over and over again IN YOUR HEAD!

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:59 am

For some reason, "Turning The Town Red" and "Town Where Time Stand Still" are just the same song to me. Catchy, but I missed the boat somehow.

Sour Milk Cow · Post by **Sour Milk Cow** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 8:54 pm

I'm confused-- is the "demo" version from the GCW reissue the alternate take with the band?

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 9:35 pm

Disc 2, track 1.

Elvis Costello Fan Forum

Only Flame poll

Which version of The Only Flame in Town should exist if it was the only Elvis song anyone would ever hear?

Only Flame poll