LOTS AND LOTS OF VOTES FOR MY BATTLE OF THE BANDS CONTEST FROM TUESDAY:

Fnord writes:

This is apples and oranges. You’ve got the neo-millenial slacker ramblings of Weezer up against the proto-New Romantic RenFaire geekery of Chris De Burgh?

Ultimately, I have to go with Weezer because I think they did a much better job of capturing, and ultimately driving the cultural zeitgeist at that time. Chris De Burgh, through both this song and Lady In Red (and really, is there anything else he ever was known for?) is much more able to draw people into his Weltanschung. But ultimately, isn’t music (or any form of artistic expression) supposed to be inclusive instead of exclusive? Weezer says “We are you. You are us. This is the way we are right now.” Whereas De Burgh says, “This is my story, my experiences and my fantasy.” Thus De Burgh makes a subject-object delineation that I think is a conscious method to keep something (his audience, something in his personal life, etc) at a distance.

A lot of people would rebut that however and say something like this: “There are lots of great songs with fantastic settings and tales that capture the the imagination, there’s nothing inherently distancing about it.” However, I think if you look at the best of them — take Gordon Lightfoot’s Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, for instance — they still all boil down to a thesis of “This could be me.” With Edmund Fitzgerald, you have a bad day at work gone from bad to worse. Getting busted for shooting pr0n, having a database crash so bad that revenue flow stops, catching shrapnel from an IED in Iraq, or having your ship break up on Lake Superior. A really bad day at work. Not a great cognitive leap for those who have to make a living. Tough to make that “It could be me” leap when you’re thinking “Well, here I am in Hades front of Charon. I’d much rather be playing Styx in a bar band instead of crossing it with Big Creepy here.”

Interestingly enough, I think the same distinction can be made between your work and that of Eon McKai. With your work, especially where the girls are not overly made up or sporting obvious silicone, the production lends itself to a very palpable sense of “That could be me.” With some notable exceptions, the vast majority of women you hire appear (even given your caveat of “all porn chix are broken and crazy”) like they’d be women you’d meet at an indie rock show at First Ave. or a geek bar. McKai’s work however, like that of De Burgh, is very fantastical and clearly not something that is ever going to happen to anybody in the realm of quasi-normal life. There again the subject-object separation is clear and ultimately lessens (in my humble opinion) the cultural value of the work.

D’s reply made me laugh:

I would have offered my thoughts on the Chris DeBurgh vs Weezer question earlier but I just found out about it. I would have loved to get access to the ass eating site as it is the perfect metaphor for life today.

“How’s things?”

“Great! Just as soon as I eat a little ass.”

“Honey, don’t forget to pick up the dry cleaning.”

“I’ll get it while I’m out eating some ass.”

“The party of the first part, here in after referred to as the ass eater…”

“Your attitude has come to the attention of human resources, we’d like to discuss your ass eating technique.”

“Be all the ass eater you can be in the Army.”

“The party of the second part, here in there after referred to as yet another ass eater…”

“Grant me the serenity to eat the ass I have to, not to eat the ass I don’t and the wisdom to know the difference.”

At any rate Weezer looks like they’re doing impersonations of unfortunates with Asperger’s Syndrome and Chris De Burgh looks like a less masculine version of Bonnie Tyler, who we last heard from “sitting on a powder keg and giving off sparks”. I thought Weezer had a better song if only because it was consistant with their ironic posing. Plus no way would Charon let you get in the friggin boat with out paying the fare, no bargaining, no free loading, no nothing, that’s made abundantly clear in the classical literature and heavy metal music.

I think any ambiguity would be cleared up if you took the sound track from one and played it over the other video, just to see if anyone noticed.

Tony says:

I’m casting my vote for Weezer and “El Scorcho”. I never heard this song before you posted it on your blog, but now I can’t get it out of my head. The Chris de Burgh song, “Don’t Pay the Ferryman,” takes me back to my high school days. I found it annoying and corny back then and it hasn’t improved with time.

Missy Asslove writes:

They both kinda suck but weezer can suck and u still know they’re good. Like Picasso:)

Si says, then asks:

I’m going have to go for Weezer, that is an awesome song and the lyrics are great!

ps Would there ever be any chance of you filming Kacey? I know you did a blog on her a while ago but how often do situations like that change? To me she is one of the hottest girls around along with Riley Mason and Erin Moore!

Devil At Heart writes:

Chris DeBurgh.

Reason, not that you asked for one. Just thought I’d share. I like things that are just a bit dark. The whole lighting and scene he had going for the music video just made it more entertaining. Plus, he reminded me of some of that power ballad 80’s rock stuff. Kind’ve stuff you see some guy fuckin jammin out to in his late 80’s BMW.

DN The Hater says:

à propos your little contest : stick to the porn gig….I, of course, hated it.

V says:

The Weez gets my vote. Chris DeBurg song is okay, but the video looks and feels like it was shot in the 80s, it other words, it’s kind of dated. The Weez gets my vote even though I have never heard of them before. The Weez, simply because they look like a modern band appeal to me more.

Joe writes:

I gotta go with Weezer. Johnny Thunders beats ’em both by miles, though.

Porter writes:

Weezer wins in my book. I like their music better – and it’s got a little less of an 80s feel for the video; having lived through that era of MTV – I’m not entirely willing to go back to it.

Ralph writes:

I vote for Weezer, not that the 80’s didn’t rock, but sometimes some emo ramblings are just what’s needed.

Michael in Burbank writes:

Hmm, tough choice. Weezer is good stuff, full of self-depreciating irony and all that. On the other hand, you have to appreciate the full-on commitment to style (with no irony aftertaste) of Chris DeBurgh. This decision is also made easier because I remember seeing that video when it came out because I am old (41.) DeBurgh wins!

And if by some chance I win this, I’ll take the subscription to Mano Job.

Billy Watson writes:

There were more votes (mostly for Weezer) which I didn’t list here, and while there’s really no “right” answer, I’d have to go with Weezer, too. Of course your opinion on music isn’t my criteria for giving away a free 30 days to one of my dirty websites. I mean that would be too obvious, right? I was looking for something witty and fun in your reason(s) as to why The Weez or DeBurgh should win.

Initially I was going with Fnord, cause that answer / analysis had to take a while to bang out…right bro? I liked Missy Asslove’s Picasso analogy. DN The Hater didn’t disappoint, either…as usual.

I’ve decided to give away two memberships: Michael in Burbank gets the Manojob one, and D gets one to Eat Some Ass, cause they both know which one of my sites they like the best. So guys, hit me up, and I’ll issue you a PW. Just don’t share it, OK? I’m serious! We have state-of-the-art software installed on all our sites, and once you share your password, a special frequency is secretly emitted from your computer, and your testicles will turn into eencie-beancie raisins.

Thanks everyone! This was so much fun, I think I’m going to have more contests, in which porn will be given away…cause what’s better than some free porn?