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

Sunday, March 6, 2016

First Round Matchup: SINEAD O'CONNOR at ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK

(3) Sinead O'Connor, "Three Babies"

The selection committee found that certain types of sadness—heartbreak, existential doubt, suicidal ideation—are fairly common in popular music, while other types of despair rarely rear their heads. Sinead O’Connor’s “Three Babies,” generally regarded as a personal song about her miscarriages, is interesting in part because it takes on a much less charted portion of life’s grief (let this also serve as an oblique answer to anyone wondering why we didn’t choose “Nothing Compares 2 U”). O’Connor’s astonishing singing voice wrings every last bit of pathos from lyrics like “In my soul / My blood and my bones / I have wrapped your cold bodies around me.” It’s a wrenching song, but one that also contains a sense of peace.



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(14) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, "If You Leave"

This song has the reputation of being one of the big teen romance tracks, recorded as it was for Pretty in Pink or whatever John Hughes movie it tracked. But listening to it, it’s romantic, sure, but the song's weirder, we think, than usually billed. It’s in the position of knowing this relationship, whatever it was or is, is over, and asks only for one more night, knowing that it’s over but not wanting it to be. “If you leave / don’t leave now” sets up the situation well. So it yearns for it to go on even as it seems to know it won’t. I suppose it does say “if,” but seems resigned to the knowledge that the you will leave: “promise me just one more night / then we’ll go our separate ways.” Does that make it less romantic? I think not, but it’s the kind of romantic that’s also doomed. The selection committee had to consider the intersection of romance and sadness, and chose songs that come at the question in a number of ways. Can a song indefinitely extend a love affair or a night? Andy McCluskey, OMD’s singer, has an incredibly evocative voice, and while purists might point out that this particular song choice doesn’t represent OMD well (it seems to be the point at which OMD changed from weirdo sort of historical technophiles into full-on romantics (and later dance poppers, see Sugar Tax etc.), it’s hard not to admire the way the song turns at the end: “if you leave / don’t look back / don’t look back,” as if to suggest that the speaker can’t bear the idea of the beloved leaving and has chosen to remain here in the song and in the moment forever preserved and still visible in its sadness and its last-ditch proposition as if in amber.





Which Song's Sadder? Vote by 9am 3/7

Three Babies
If You Leave
Do Quizzes

5 comments:

  1. If Sinead loses this, I'll rip my laptop in half like she did the Pope pic. Also, the DIY video was, oddly, better than OMD's.

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  2. OMD's videos are usually pretty bad, unfortunately. It's worth pointing out that, though they're known best for "If You Leave" and some of their other John Hughesy romantic songs, they're a lot weirder band than that. Their first few albums are dark and strange and lovely and obsessed with technology. Their last two (English Electric and History of Modern), from the last few years, are really, really good. The committee thought about nominating "Enola Gay," an older single, or "Joan of Arc," but settled on this partly because we liked the fact that on examination the song seems to yield a much sadder heart. Still, I don't predict Sinead will have any trouble handling OMD. Though I'll be sad to see all the synthy bands sent home on the first round of the tourney, I think Depeche Mode might have a good shot at upending Gary Jules tomorrow. Good luck to Erasure...

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  3. Is 'Nothing Compares to You' in this thing? Not that this one isn't a heart breaker... or Troy.

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    Replies
    1. +1 for “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Also, the a cappella title track, “I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.”

      “All the flowers that you planted, mother, in the backyard have all died and wilted away.”

      Is that not sad enough? Huh, committee? I'd like to meet in a dark alley someday, just to chat about your selections over tea. Oh, my dear favorite songs, help me through.

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  4. Nope--the committee was constrained to only one song per band (albeit there are a few ways that got fudged as you may notice); see also the description on the Sinead track for why we didn't include "Nothing Compares to U" though it's obviously a lot of song. "Troy" is of course great also.

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