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

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Second Round Action: (12) MORRISSEY vs (4) GARY JULES

So we should probably now admit that clearly the committee made a mistake by underseeding Morrissey at a (12) seed, especially since he easily stiff-armed (5) Morphine to earn this matchup with Gary Jules' 2001 cover of a Tears For Fears song that knocked out super-gloomy-but-not-especially-sad Depeche Mode in the first round. So he's pissed—or as pissed as he ever is, which is mainly being pissed about colonialism or those who eat meat within a thousand feet of him—and not to be underestimated here, particularly he's got something to prove: "Suedehead" was his first single as a solo artist, and a kind of answer to his time with The Smiths.

Well, we expected Jules to be here, largely because "sad" isn't really something that Depeche Mode does well, and, aided by a Michel Gondry-directed video and his inclusion in the 80s-canon-(re)making Donnie Darko, he certainly looks like he's been here before. How crucial that song seemed after watching the film!

Certainly considering these two songs strictly on their merits vis-a-vis apparent sadness, it's hard to see how Morrissey can compete. I mean, Jules sings "No tomorrow, no tomorrow / And I find it kind of funny / I find it kind of sad / The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had" which is about a dark an outlook as it gets, sung in a sweet tenor, and paired with a spare piano version of a simple and lovely melody.

But then Morrissey is Morrissey, as iconic and complicated a crooner as they come, and everything sounds sad and more than a little coded coming from him. Look at the lyrics, which seem to be about an uncomfortable situation with an ex-lover (or one night stand?), focused purely on the self-interested awkwardness of the speaker. It's sad, yes, but mostly for the lover, the you that "comes here...and why do you hang around...when you know it makes things hard for me)." As delivered by Morrissey, though, I read it as a dramatic monologue in which we gradually understand that the speaker is an unlovable narcissist, perhaps the sort of person who demanded to publish his autobiography (not to say anything as banal as a memoir) under the moniker Penguin Classics. But then that's how I read almost all of Morrissey's songs, and one loves that about him or not. As for me, I do love them and him for their layers and complications and many echoing ironies. Is it sad? Yes, but at a much different angle than "Mad World."

We've had this conversation before here, albeit with a different set of songs: do we value more all-in sincerity or layered archness? Or are we deciding between two interesting videos (that Morrissey takes the 1988 video in a James Dean direction adds quite a bit to it and makes it face off reasonably well against a technically superior, but of course it should be superior, 14 years later, art-house 2002 video)? Or are we deciding between the real 1988 and the 2001 revision of it? Well, you decide. (But let us know your criteria in the comments below. We're interested not just in your vote.)

*

(12) Morrissey, "Suedehead"



vs

(4) Gary Jules, "Mad World"






FINAL SCORE: GARY JULES 103, MORRISSEY 63



1 comment:

  1. Mad World, no question. Rather than show up to the game, Morrissey wrote an angry poem and had it delivered by courier. The poem rhymed, but railed against poems that do. Also the paper was perfumed.

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