In praise of the mild expletive
Posted by Paul Waring on 27 July 2008 - 9:44am.
Rock musicians are a sweary bunch at the best of times, but occasionally turning down the 'eff and jeff' pot can have a really powerful effect.
Which gives me the opportunity to post up this bit of magic from Elbow for the Massive's listening pleasure.
My favourite line comes at 1:45, when Guy sings "...holy cow I love your eyes..."
The 'Holy cow' is perfect - plenty of other (stronger) phrases would have scanned just as well but wouldn't have a tenth of the impact. (And by the way the internal rhyme with the next line would be lost as well).
Any other examples where the greater impact comes from the milder expletive?
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Whoopsie Daisy......
Less than an expletive...not on my iPod honestly
Terri Walker
Elbow
...one of those bands I've always meant to listen to, but never quite got round to it. Great clip, great song... actually wondering if you could recommend a good Elbow album to start with??
and on the subject of swearing... have to say, it didn't work with Radiohead's Creep (two versions, one with "very special" for radio play, the album version had "fucking special"). Not that I'm a big fan of swearing, but the "very" version did sound weak in comparison.
Elbow Albums
Biscuit - they're all great. The Seldom Seen Kid is as good a place to start as any. Then work through them in chronological order: Asleep in the Back, Cast of Thousands, Leaders of the Free World. You won't be disappointed. Honest.
BB - know what you mean.
Then I saw them live at Latitude (missed them at Glastonbury) and suddenly it all made sense.
Start with the latest (The Seldom Seen Kid) then take your pick from the others. It's all good, I promise you.
Unusually...
...they are a band who get better with each album. Agree with the above posters: start with Seldom Seen Kid.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Seldom Seem Kid it is. Cheers Paul, David and KB!
Review
Come back and let us know that you weren't disappointed! ;)
nice idea
will do!
I LOVE IT
top recommendation. thanks all.
Fantastic!
As I said earlier, try the other 3 albums too. You won't be disappointed.
definitely will
I can't stop listening to "The Bones of You" in particular. Ooooooooh, it's wonderful.