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

Saturday, March 12, 2016

First Round Matchup: MIDNIGHT OIL vs PJ HARVEY & NICK CAVE

(12) Midnight Oil, "Blue Sky Mine"

What I like about this matchup best is that here we get the explicitly political. Sometimes sadness isn’t—or shouldn't be—just personal. The song isn’t subtle; songs of protest never are. The video makes it even less subtle, but that's sorta the point, right? Why should we privilege the apparently personal anyhow? We seem to be, so far in the bracket, more often than not. Can the political be sad in the same way that the personal can? What do we want out of a sad song anyhow? Since the political is meant in some way to move us to action, does that mean that it doesn't register on us in the same way that a more overtly personal song does? After all, this song’s still sung from the perspective of the I, not the we (though the we’s implied), and addresses the political tradeoffs that we make to survive: while "nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground," he also understands that "If I work all day on the blue sky mine / there’ll be food on the table tonight." It's just evident that it's a persona or character being played or inhabited here by Peter Garrett (who would go on to join the Australian government). Would we feel differently if we knew that he did actually work all day on the Blue Sky Mine? Why? I'm interested in where this conversation potentially leads us, though one also might just choose the song you think is sadder (what does that mean again?) or more kickass.



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(5) PJ Harvey & Nick Cave, "Henry Lee"

Does anyone else find the video uncomfortable? I don't know if I've ever actually seen it until now. Well, this too's a persona song, a version of a traditional murder ballad, but there's apparently more going on acting. It's super obvious these two are into each other, or were at the time of the video. They were in fact romantically involved*. (Does knowing that matter? It enriches the experience for me anyhow, but why that should be is a little more mysterious: I like to think I'm just judging the art, but that's a sucker's position, isn't it?) This song too isn't sad in the spontaneous overflow of emotion way, but it's a sad story that we're hearing, just without the contemporary set of moral trappings we're used to reading this stuff through. Or at least it's not as obvious. I found this song—and the album it's on, the subtly-named Murder Ballads—challenging when I first heard it, if I'm being honest. Cave's work (and PJ Harvey's too, though maybe in a less overt way) has always worked the grotesque, typically pairing or trading off violence and beauty. They're contrasted in this very song in ways that make me wonder what exactly it means to be sad, why I want it, crave it, pursue it as much as I do. It's a dark song. It's not sad in the way of many others in the bracket. There's a clear decision to be made in what drug you want here.

* Apparently they didn't know each other well until they filmed the video, which was done in one take, and you can watch them falling in love over the course of four minutes.

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Which is sadder? Vote by 9am 3/13

Henry Lee
Blue Sky Mine
Quiz Maker

5 comments:

  1. The Nick Cave/PJ Harvey video is unavailable in my country, which, although it's a weird election cycle, is still the USA. You got an alternate?

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    Replies
    1. Solved it myself: here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdNCHomHlU

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  2. Beat us to it: here's another for those who have trouble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfbNSBbpqpk

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  3. Henry Lee is just the best combo of sadness and sex. Damn.

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    Replies
    1. Though I voted for PJ Harvey for the same reasons, I think the bracket will be poorer without this Midnight Oil song than it would be without Harvey and Cave, if that's how the votes go (they seem to be trending that way).

      Delete