Thu 19 Jul 2007
Simple Words Providing Food For Throught
Posted at 20:10 +1000
Very quick entry today, since I'm crazy busy on stuff that I don't really want to be doing but have to get done anyway (a.k.a real life).
Over at John Scalzi's blog he has a thoughtful piece up about the words in Joan Osbourne's 1995/6 pop hit One of Us. I am complete agreement with his main point and, somewhat unexpectedly, have found myself thinking about it a bit more in idle moments today.
The comments are worth a read as well. More than one person doesn't really like the song, although when they explain themselves, it seems they don't like the rendition (are they fans of the Prince version?). Ignore the comments about word counts and deadlines if you aren't a regular Whatever reader: the guy is meant to be on a deadline and promised "not much blogging" for a few weeks. Barely one week in and out pops a 1000-word piece (maybe he didn't have time to make it shorter).
Personally, I'm not a big fan of the video Scalzi linked to, like a few of the comment writers. However, I like the tune for this song and I think it would make a good instrumental. I don't dislike the words, either. The original recording is a bit harsh in the sound for my taste and the video does nothing for me. I prefer the smoother instrumentals in the re-recorded version (also with vocals by Joan Osbourne) that was used as the title song in Joan of Arcadia — a series, by the way, that takes the point Scalzi was trying to make and runs with it to a much greater extent.
Oh (bonus feature!), if you're not in the mood for contemplative writing but have ever parented a child, known somebody who has a child, or have seen a picture of a child on television, this Scalzi piece from last week is fairly amusing.