SCORES & UPCOMING GAMES



CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL SCORE: (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 168, (7) Tracy Chapman 159 .......... FINAL FOUR FINAL SCORES: (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 154, (1) Joy Division 90 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 137, (1) The Cure 89 .......... ELITE EIGHT FINAL SCORES: (1) JOY DIVISION 74, (14) Low 60 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 85, (1) Elliott Smith 69 ..... THE CURE 65, (2) Radiohead 58 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 74, (1) Neutral Milk Hotel 44 ..... FINAL SWEET SIXTEEN SCORES: (1) JOY DIVISION 75, (5) PJ Harvey & Nick Cave 24 ..... (14) LOW 73, (2) Concrete Blonde (64) ..... (1) ELLIOTT SMITH 78, (4) Gary Jules 44 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 74, (6) Kate Bush 53 ..... (1) NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL 54, (13) The Church 49 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 73, (3) Sinead O’Connor 35 ..... (1) THE CURE 109, (3) Tori Amos 86 ..... (2) RADIOHEAD 76, (6) This Mortal Coil 50 ..... (1) JOY DIVISION 96, (9) Mazzy Star 91 ..... (2) CONCRETE BLONDE 76, (7) Bob Mould 28 ..... (14) LOW 60, (6) Crowded House 51 ..... (5) PJ HARVEY & NICK CAVE 65, (4) Alphaville 38 ..... (1) ELLIOTT SMITH 113, (8) Replacements 88 ..... (6) KATE BUSH 87, (3) Nirvana 64 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 99, (2) The Eels 62 ..... (3) GARY JULES 103, (12) Morrissey 63 ..... (6) Kate Bush 72, (3) Nirvana 53 ..... (3) SINEAD O'CONNOR 66, (11) Ride 27 ..... (13) THE CHURCH 106, (5) James 44 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 95, (10) Smashing Pumpkins 40 ..... (1) NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL 80, (9) New Order 56 ..... (2) RADIOHEAD 102, (7) Nine Inch Nails 99 ..... (6) THIS MORTAL COIL 61, (3) Indigo Girls 60 ..... (4) TORI AMOS 89, (5) Swans 40 ..... (1) CURE 82, (8) Tom Waits 68 ............... FINAL 1ST ROUND SCORES: (5) PJ HARVEY & NICK CAVE 93, (12) Midnight Oil 38 ..... (7) BOB MOULD 63, (10) Peter Murphy 47 ..... (1) JOY DIVISION 117, (16) Erasure 19 ..... (6) CROWDED HOUSE 98, (11) Leonard Cohen 54 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 199, (10) The Smiths 162 ..... (5) MORRISSEY 115, (12) Morphine 83 ..... (3) NIRVANA 137, (14) Slowdive 102 ..... (8) THE REPLACEMENTS 128, (9) Dream Academy 82 ..... (13) THE CHURCH 262, (4) Magnetic Fields 193 ..... (10) SMASHING PUMPKINS 165, (7) Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 155 ..... (9) NEW ORDER 160, (8) Sarah McLachlan 78 ..... (1) JEFF BUCKLEY 204, (16) Bjork 92 ..... (4) TORI AMOS 78, (13) Echo & the Bunnymen 22 ..... (8) TOM WAITS 72, (9) The Pretenders 22 ..... (6) THIS MORTAL COIL 51, (11) Yaz 31 ..... (3) INDIGO GIRLS 71, (14) Pavement 26 ..... (9) MAZZY STAR 132, (8) REM 46 ..... (2) CONCRETE BLONDE 88, (15) Psychedelic Furs 34 ..... (4) ALPHAVILLE 71, (13) Dead Can Dance 36 ..... (14) LOW 120, (3) U2 65 ..... (1) ELLIOTT SMITH 63, (16) 10,000 Maniacs 24 ..... (2) EELS 50, (15) Counting Crows 46 ..... (4) GARY JULES 62, (13) Depeche Mode 19 ..... (6) KATE BUSH 59, (11) Sisters of Mercy 20 ..... (1) NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL 42, (16) Violent Femmes 12 ..... (11) RIDE 25 (6) Peter Gabriel 24 ..... (3) SINEAD O'CONNOR 37, (14) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark 17, ..... (5) JAMES 24, (12) Red House Painters 23 ..... (7) NINE INCH NAILS 46, (10) Wilco 31, (5) SWANS 31, (12) Pet Shop Boys 18 ..... (1) THE CURE 50, (16) Gear Daddies 10 ..... (2) RADIOHEAD 40, (15) Liz Phair 35


CURRENT GAMES BELOW — PAST GAMES ARCHIVED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

Thursday, March 10, 2016

First Round Matchup: JEFF BUCKLEY vs BJORK

(2) Jeff Buckley, "Hallelujah"

This is one of two Buckley numbers in the tournament this year (This Mortal Coil covers Tim Buckley, Jeff’s father; and Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteaus/TMC would go on to be friends with and collaborate with Jeff). I remember in the mid-90s hearing about this dude Jeff Buckley, and I bought his Live at Sin-E EP that didn't connect with me then since I probably still only had eyes for Erasure, and it took a few years to discover this, his most famous recording, and only then did I get it. Haven't heard it yet? Lose yourself here in his unearthly voice and the simple reverb. No, it’s not Jeff’s song (it’s Leonard Cohen’s, as you probably already know if you know your way around sad songs: here's the original for comparison, which seems only proper to consider, since you're probably already thinking of it or one of its apparently over 300 cover versions, of which besides this I've always been partial to Cale's, which apparently inspired Buckley's). But, like all versions that eclipse the original, the song seems like it was written for Buckley. That he drowned at 30—swimming in the Mississippi fully clothed—makes the story that much sadder. Maybe it's better just to get out of the way. Just let that last minute or so of the song open you.



vs

(15) Bjork, "Unravel"

“Unravel” is a relatively simple song, best explained by quoting its one repeated verse: “while you are away / my heart comes undone / slowly unravels / in a ball of yarn / the devil collects it / with a grin / our love / in a ball of yarn / he'll never return it / so when you come back / we'll have to make new love.” So there’s that: it’s beautiful, sweet, you’re gone, I miss you, I fall apart, I sing a missing song, and you come back, and we have to make something new in its place. The song’s the yarn. Kickass! But as in many Bjork songs the lyrics are weirder at a second glance: why does the devil collect it with a grin? or at all? your heart? our love? And when you come back are you the same? Am I the same? Is our love the same? Is our new love that we must now make from scratch again the same? Why then does the verse repeat only once and then not again? I start to think, listening to the song once—and then again—that it’s like a Mobius strip, doubling back on itself, a twisted figure with only one side. The repeated swelling and repeating—is it almost like a round?—of the lyrics becomes stranger and stranger the more I listen. Still, it's a sadness that's not otherwise represented here: the sweet and winding pain of the beloved being away, but knowing s/he'll be back, but knowing  how you and s/he and your love are changed by the absence, even if not catastrophically. In a sadness bracket this song no doubt stands out for its lack of cancer, permanent heartbreak, suicide, whining, goth posturing, existential dread, and potentially inclusive na na na nas. Instead it’s a little song of heartbreak and heartmake, rinse, repeat, rinse, rinse, repeat. We don’t think it’s any less sad if the sadness it springs out of is temporary.

Also, the video's beautiful if maybe reductively literal. It's funny to watch bands figure out what a video can do. That may (unfairly, maybe) keep this game closer than expected and give Bjork a shot at the upset.

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Which is sadder? Vote by 9am 3/11

Unravel
Hallelujah
Do Quizzes

4 comments:

  1. Its use in a West Wing episode alone gives "Hallelujah" the win.

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  2. The Jeff Buckley suffers from overexposure (Shrek, right? It was used in Shrek?). The Bjork is unlike anything else in the brackets--it's clearly the outmatched Cinderella but dang if I don't love it. Then again, I married a Davidson grad, so that's probably to be expected.

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  3. The Shrek version was Rupert Wainwright but I hear you on the 'hearing it too much' front. But, and it's a BIG but, the Buckley version of this song (paired with his sad demise) is world class sad, like the Lionel Messi of sad. It's sad.

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  4. I'd much prefer to see Bjork advance, but that's just me. The organ outro in “Unravel” has always got me there.

    ReplyDelete