ATRL's H O L Y T R I N I T Y Round Four: Highlights
borntodie
▲ Joanna Newsom - Peach, Plum, Pear MGMT - Time to Pretend The Beatles - Revolution 9
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This trinity travels to three clashing, unrelated genres to form a solid, wonderful trinity that's purely "odd". It touches on odd vocalization and musical influences with Joanna Newsom, leading to more electronic "oddity" concerning both musicality and the people making it. Shaping out the trinity is possibly one of the oddest songs created, ever, by The Beatles, with a massive legacy and that many people have been exposed to. A diverse, unique trinity design.
Original Entry.
borntodie's "ODD" trinity
Peach, Plum, Pear by Joanna Newsom
Joanna is generally known for being more of an 'odd' artist but this song strikes me as particularly strange. The way
her voice sounds because of her high singing and the addition of a children's choir is slightly creepy
and makes you feel haunted despite the sweet melody.
Time To Pretend by MGMT
I think this song tends to give you a big WTF moment when you hear it for the first time; you don't really know what's going on,
it's so overwhelming with the hyperactive synths that contrast the mildly depressing lyrics and on top of that you also get a bunch of weird noises. It's like a mixture of a weird dream and an acid trip, especially when you watch the video.
Revolution 9 by The Beatles
This is perhaps the oddest 'song' I've ever heard in my entire life. Our music teacher in high school showed it to us once and it
scared the hell out of me. It's confusing, intimidating and straight out weird, especially considering that it was written by
The Beatles, who are known for their easily accessible tunes.
YSL
▲ Goldfrapp - Lovely Head Kate Bush - King of the Mountain Rasputina - Gingerbread Coffin
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This trinity covers many frames of "odd". It begins with an audio-visual experience that you can't quite define (from Goldfrapp). In the center is odd-queen Kate Bush with a song questioning Elvis Presley's death. Odd in structure, topic AND sonically. It rounds out with an old folk tune about bringing a doll to life. Topically and sonically odd with diversity to form an undeniable "odd" trinity.
Original Entry
GOLDFRAPP
One of my favorite songs of all time comes from electronic duo, Goldfrapp. Lovely Head was the debut single for the duo and is a haunting masterpiece with a mysterious whistling that resonates throughout the entire song. The song's lyrics are quite mysterious but there seems to be a conflict, most likely an affair and the sinking feeling one gets when cheated on. "It starts in my belly" - the nauseous feeling one experiences after finding out, "then up to my heart" - the broken heart, "into my mouth, I can't keep it shut" - whether it's audible crying or letting out your hurt. Then again, I could be reading too much into it and it's probably just an oral sex anthem. Either way, I think it's the mystery that appeals to me the most.
I can't decide what's the oddest part accompanying this song. Is it the instrumental? The lyrics? The vocals? The single artwork? The music video? A song questioning whether Elvis Presley is still alive, it is a commentary on the pressures of fame and wealth and even sung in a slight slur as Elvis did. While most people prefer Kate's more notable hits, I consider this to be one of the gems that deserves more recognition.
I remember when I first listened to this song while I was going through my teen angst phase. Even after all these years, this was one of the few songs that remained in my iTunes library and I occasionally listen to it because it's not only creepy, but oddly entertaining. Performed by cello rock band Rasputina, Gingerbread Coffin is a dramatic piece about some weird voodoo ritual pertaining a doll that they are trying to bring to life.
▲ Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Where the Wild Roses Grow Madonna - Cyber-Raga Christina Aguilera - Birds of Prey
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This trinity encompasses many forms of "odd". The first layer appears to be an "odd" subject matter. The second is an "odd" experiment of a song, featuring a Global star singing in a lessor-known language. The third layer showcases an "odd" step out of the norm for an artist. All three of these songs are not only "odd" but "odd" collaborations, as well! A solid, well-rounded and peculiar trinity.
Original Entry!
❇''Where The Wild Roses Grow" - Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ❇
This song is particularly odd because of the story it tells. Minogue plays the role of Elisa Day. The chorus of the song suggests either that she's come to be known as the "Wild Rose" rather than as Elisa Day by people who recall her murder or that her body has never been found, and her ghost lingers at the place of the murder, but people, seeing only the roses, talk about them, when Elisa Day believes they talk to, or about, her (e.g., "They call me the Wild Rose; but my name was Elisa Day; why they call me it, I do not know; for my name was Elisa Day"). Cave is so entranced by Elisa's beauty and hates the idea of its fading, so he kills her in order to preserve the memory of her beauty forever.
You rarely find a song that tells a story as unusual and enticing as this one, especially when accompanied with such a well-done music video that really represents the song's story perfectly.
Lyrics
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name is Elisa Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name is Elisa Day
From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one
As she stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
That grew down the river, all bloody and wild
When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped at the tears that ran down my face
[Chorus]
On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I'd seen
I said, "Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?"
On the second day he came with a single red rose
He said: "Will you give me your loss and your sorrow?"
I nodded my head, as I lay on the bed
"If I show you the roses will you follow?"
[Chorus]
On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist
On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
As I kissed her goodbye, I said, "All beauty must die"
And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth
❇''Cyber-Raga'' - Madonna.❇
I don't think I've heard a song quite as odd as Cyber-Raga. It's both sonically and linguistically unusual and uncommon, especially for someone who was as mainstream as Madonna was in 2000, when this track was released on her eighth studio album, Music. The Talvin Singh-produced song incorporates elements of trance, trip-hop, and electronica and features Sanskrit, which is a historical Indo-Aryan language that Madonna became familiar with as a result of her professing of Kabbalah.
The song tells Madonna's desire to end world hunger. A quote from her embodies the message of the track: "The first casualty of hunger is hope. And the most subversive act you can perform is on behalf of someone's sense of hope. It's shameful how little it really takes to help, and how easily we are all discouraged from doing so." Not every day you hear a song about world hunger in Sanksrit!
Lyrics (Sanksrit version AND English translation!)
Ohm sri guru bjor namaha
Hare Ohm
Svastika jabyaha
Pari va layanta
Meeahyayna margayna
Ma he ma he saha gobra nebyaha
Soomastu leetum
Nocah samasta
Sukino lavantoo
Cay yeahna bacha mana sen greeyarva
Boodyajmah nava brakri tes bavalvat
Cahrohn viel eyat
Saka lamparasmai
Naray anai aytee samarpayavee
Hare Ohm gotsade
Hare Ohm gotsade
Hare Ohm gotsade
Hare Ohm
Svastika jabyaha
Pari va layantah
Meeahyaynah margayna
Ma he ma he saha gobra nebyaha
Soomastu leetum
Nocah samasta
Sukino lavantoo
Cay yeahna bacha mana sen greeyarva
Boodyajmah nava brakri tes bavalvat
Cahrohn viel eyat
Saka lamparasmai
Naray anai aytee samarpayavee
Hare Ohm gotsade
Hare Ohm gotsade
Hare Ohm gotsade
Hare Ohm
***
English Translation:
May all be well with mankind
May the leaders of the earth in every way
Protect the earth by keeping to the right path
May there always be goodness
For those who know the earth to be sacred
May all the world be happy
Whatever I do
Whether my body, mind, sense, organs, intellect, self
Or out of natural inclination
I make it all an offering to
The all-pervading supreme being
❇''Birds of Prey'' - Christina Aguilera. ❇
This song is odd for may reasons. First of all, the vocal delivery of the song is intriguing because it comes off as distant and cold but, at the same time, still haunting and capable of elevating the quality of the track. In a sense, it alludes to the fact that Christina herself could be a bird of prey or a victim of a bird of prey. That's another interesting topic! What is a bird of prey? There are countless interpretations. Birds of prey could be a metaphor that represents the media or the paparazzi, or people who want to take advantage of someone, or society as a whole. But it's easy to see that it represents anything or anyone that preys [both literally and metaphorically] on something. A truly stunning [but also very unsual] track!
Lyrics
Suddenly lost inside a fantasy
Everything not quite what it seems to be
Slipping and falling through the looking glass
Catching a glimpse at all that lies behind the masks
You disappear with the dawn
You only see what you want
When you are out with the birds of prey
When you are out with the birds of prey
They watch and they feed, they take what they need
They bite as you bleed, the birds of prey
Taking the blue pill only made you cry
And all that the red pill did was make you forget why
There is no right, there's no wrong
You only see what you want
When you are out with the birds of prey
They watch and they feed, they take what they need
They bite as you bleed, the birds of prey
They watch and they feed, they take what they need
They bite as you bleed, the birds of prey
They watch and they feed, they take what they need
They bite as you bleed, the birds of prey
They watch and they feed, they take what they need
They bite as you bleed, the birds of prey
You disappear with the dawn
You only see what you want
There is no right, there's no wrong
You only see what you want
Original Entry.
Let's just say it'll be a war of trinities... 
