[Escape@Hand]

Still early in the poll, but with close to 30 votes in, is Kids in trouble already?

I guess the "fans" don't get it? :lol: That's one of the best songs on the album. Perhaps it's going the way of You're Everywhere?

[Killer Whale Tank]

I agree. "Kids" is an absolute gem and definitely my favourite cut on this fairly dismal album. But it always seems to have been a divisive track, with some fans absolutely hating it, so I didn't expect it to last long in this poll.

[Chris Tanz]

I agree. "Kids" is an absolute gem and definitely my favourite cut on this fairly dismal album. But it always seems to have been a divisive track, with some fans absolutely hating it, so I didn't expect it to last long in this poll.

But out in the first round with Pretend and Last Night I Zzzzzzzzzzz??!?!?!?!?

There's four people out there who are like, "Yeah, I enjoy the plink pop piano keys and dumb dumb lyrics on In View more than I like having my face melted off by Kids."

"I'll be the antlers, I'll be the elk. I'll the right whale, and I'll be parallel! I'll feel more than human, when the work's hitting home. I'll be aped by my ancestors, I'll state the plan as my own" ... vs. "Phone rings once, phone rings twice" -- wait, don't tell me, I'm keen to guess: "Phone rings three times"?

It is the best song on the album.

I haven't been this upset since last week.

ct

[Killer Whale Tank]

:lol: Sing it, brother! I'm with ya. The song kills. :thumb:

[potsie]

In View is fine, except for two things: Rock's trite 80s keyboards (more proof he hasn't listened to music since about 1985) and the absolutely atrocious 'I am of you' line. That might be the most laughably inept line Gord ever perpetrated. To hear how ludicrous it is, try saying it aloud, imagining you're speaking to someone. The effect is comical.

On the surface "In View" appears to be a love song in which the narrator is either nostalgically wistful about a past love or is possibly speaking about an unrequited love. In the context of this idea, I agree that line "I am of you" is awful.

However, in the context of a potential metaphor of the song, that line may work. I *think* I recall Gord once introducing the song by saying (and I'm paraphrasing), "This is a song about God. Or not at all about God." I'm not a religious man (and I have no idea if Gord was), but if I take Gord at face value on that comment, I can make this song about God. It's all there... the idea of "I've been meaning to call you" referring to the idea of prayer, and the phone ringing with no answer being prayers going unanswered. "I trust you and that makes you true"... religious individuals have beliefs that don't always require rigorous evidence. "Excited states..." - a reference to quantum physics in which there is a higher energy (or power.... God) than the ground state (Man). And on and on...

I'm in over my head talking about religion but maybe someone more well versed in that vernacular could enlighten us on whether the phrase "I am of you" has a spiritual meaning. If not, that line should have never got past first draft!

With In View, I like the idea that the Hip took the chance on something different. It's a calculated move that paid off from a commercial standpoint, and although I dislike the keys on it, it is undeniably catchy.

[potsie]

I'm bewildered at the early results... Kids racking up 4 votes, Drop Off picking up a couple. How the f**k can anyone think that Pretend deserves to hang around longer than Drop Off!!

[andrew sharpe]

That might be the most laughably inept line Gord ever perpetrated. To hear how ludicrous it is, try saying it aloud, imagining you're speaking to someone. The effect is comical.

You have some super weird reasons to hate Hip songs but this one takes the cake. The line isn't good because it would be out of place spoken aloud to someone? Do you honestly feel that first person point of view lyrics should sound realistic...in a SONG?

But I have no problem in principle with the Hip writing a lighter-tinged pop song now and then. Hell, I love 'Coffee Girl,' another song unjustly crapped on by Hip fandom for reasons that elude me. Unlike 'In View,' that one is produced properly and sounds great.

Try saying "Hey there Coffee Girl, beautiful and disaffected" aloud, imagining you're speaking to someone.

[Moof_Milker]

Caption: Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie faces down angry mob of Hipbase voters who erroneously think In View isn't a great song.

[Chris Tanz]

In View does at least hide the title at the end of the song (much like At Transformation) so it is not a complete pop sellout (along with the "day erases ..." passage). They could have totally jumped the shark and called it "I Do (I've Been Meaning to Call You)"

*barf*

ct

[Killer Whale Tank]

andrew sharpe, CG is a character portrait, while IV - unless it's about God - is a straightforward 'lover addresses loved one' song. The lyrics work by different rules. I would never say that the "spoken aloud to another person" test is some sort of all-purpose rule for evaluating song lyrics. But it's a reasonable exercise when an imaginary address is the whole point of the song.

Note that I didn't slag IV anyway; I said I didn't mind it except for the stupid keyboards and that one atrocious line. Apparently any criticism of anything the Hip do is 'hate.' :roll:

[sean.bonner]

I remember an interview with Gord on CNN where he talked about how he intentionally wrote the lyrics to In View to be a simplistic as possible.

[potsie]

I remember an interview with Gord on CNN where he talked about how he intentionally wrote the lyrics to In View to be a simplistic as possible.

That's probably the key to crafting most pop songs. Simple lyrics, getting rid of any unnecessary words. Every word in "In View" is two syllables or less (with the exception of "Excited") and there are no spare parts. I doubt there is any other Hip song that could make that claim. I think there is probably a preference on this board for music that breaks the song-writing rules (like the "no-chorus" Nautical) as opposed to follow them, but writing something that is catchy is not necessarily easy to do and Gord probably wanted to stretch those muscles. I also think that this is the first time he's addressed the topic of love so directly in a song. It's rare that one of Gord's protagonists wears their heart on their sleeve, but this one certainly does.

[kieffer]

I remember an interview with Gord on CNN where he talked about how he intentionally wrote the lyrics to In View to be a simplistic as possible.

That's probably the key to crafting most pop songs. Simple lyrics, getting rid of any unnecessary words. Every word in "In View" is two syllables or less (with the exception of "Excited") and there are no spare parts. I doubt there is any other Hip song that could make that claim. I think there is probably a preference on this board for music that breaks the song-writing rules (like the "no-chorus" Nautical) as opposed to follow them, but writing something that is catchy is not necessarily easy to do and Gord probably wanted to stretch those muscles. I also think that this is the first time he's addressed the topic of love so directly in a song. It's rare that one of Gord's protagonists wears their heart on their sleeve, but this one certainly does.

While I didn't expect In View to win this poll, it's a song I enjoy for what it is (and has been described), I'm very surprised it's not going to make it out of the first round. For the record my vote went to WC and will continue to do song until that song is exiled.

[fingernailsonhull]

Every word in "In View" is two syllables or less (with the exception of "Excited") and there are no spare parts.

Also "erases."

[thebends]

While I can appreciate tribal analysis, the unbearable lightness of fully entitled opinion judgement and locker room talk, it's hard to move forward on the "ghastly abortion cannot be expunged" characterization. Nothing personal, just public.