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[2022] Wild Discussion
Ok with only 4 votes left to go, and no song idea making it to the final round but enough people wanting the idea to work, what about this song version as a concept? I tried to keep it narrow to a single song since my main issue with the Beatles prompt was the breadth of the discography."A book related to the lyrics for the song "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John"
This song has some fairly interesting nouns in it, so I feel like it can be similar to "My Favorite Things" in that it's a simple song where you can get creative, but you're bound by the limits of the lyrics. A few examples off the top of my head based on the first verse:
Blue-jean baby blue jeans on the cover: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
L.A. lady fiction and nonfiction set in L.A., James Ellroy immediately comes to mind
Seamstress for the band in title, how about Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Pretty-eyed an eye or eyes on the cover? I thought of The House of the Spirits and The Host
Pirate smile anything about or featuring pirates, The Princess Bride and The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down came to mind
You'll marry a music man Bel Canto and The Ensemble popped in mind immediately but there's a lot here
Ballerina/ you must've seen her The Turnout and the children's classic Ballet Shoes along with anything else ballet
Dancing in the sand sand on the cover like almost any beach fiction book or books set in deserts or in title like House of Sand and Fog
And now she's in me, always with me this one was harder and I don't have anything right off the top of my head, but maybe this is a title or theme play?
Tiny dancer in my hand hand on cover? I thought of Twilight and The Power straightaway
Sam wrote: "Ok with only 4 votes left to go, and no song idea making it to the final round but enough people wanting the idea to work, what about this song version as a concept? I tried to keep it narrow to a ..."I like that one. I'd vote for it.
Mod
Emily wrote: "I generally don't like song prompts, but I like this one."Ditto. I have downvoted every other song prompt because they were so incredibly broad, but I like this one and would be happy to have it on the final list.
Mod
Having it narrowed down to one song is a good idea, but I am the wrong age for Elton John lyrics and none of those lyrics mean anything to me. I did watch and enjoy the movie about him, but I kept being surprised, thinking "He wrote that?" "He also wrote that?" And I generally knew only a line or two of any one song.
I would be fine with the prompt, I like the more "creative" ones, but if it doesn't make it, I'm sure it's just because people don't vote for things they don't immediately recognize, and we don't all recognize the same things. Same with Twilight Zone, the backers of that one shouldn't take it personally.
For me, the problem with the song prompts so far has been that they have been "a Taylor Swift song" instead of just nominating "22", "a Disney song" instead of picking one. I thought the Sgt Pepper cover idea was better than the any Beatle song prompt.That said, I've always disliked Tiny Dancer as a song. But at least it was a specific song.
How about a book connected to your favourite song?
Mod
I like the Tiny Dancer song suggestion, it's more focused than the other song suggestions which seemed too broad.
People generally don't like to vote for "favorite" anything. I don't really have a favorite song.
I was a big Elton John fan in the mid 70s but lost interest after that. I’m glad members are still trying to find song prompts but Tiny Dancer is not one I would vote for. It’s hard to please everyone with such a diverse group.
I also don't care for "favourite" anything.
yeah I wouldn’t vote for Tiny Dancer I don’t relate to it at all. It shows the problem though any individual song will turn some people off but anything broader will be branded a “ freebie”
Sam wrote: "Ok with only 4 votes left to go, and no song idea making it to the final round but enough people wanting the idea to work, what about this song version as a concept? I tried to keep it narrow to a ..."I'll definitely vote for this! I just saw the movie too, and I like this song because it could lend itself to many topics.
Marry a music man - I really liked The Songbook of Benny Lament and Daisy Jones & The Six. It would also fitMalibu Rising, the original The Music Man, and biographies of singers or dancers.
I loved Candle in the Wind too, but offhand, I think the references are mainly names (e.g. Bobby Kennedy was in the original, and Princess Diana was in the newer version).
I agree that there are probably two camps, those who like the song prompt and want to do it again, and those that think we've done it enough (I'm of the former opinion, FWIW. It's only been done twice).I also think the songs we've done in the past have something in common - they're very recognizable as songs with a ton of options. My Favorite Things and We Didn't Start the Fire both all have tons of references in them.
Last year American Pie by Don McLean was suggested but it was a bottom. I wonder if it would make it in this year? Does anyone remember what the objection was to it?
Robin P wrote: "The experience this year is that pop culture just doesn't make it. We have a variety of ages and nationalities and if people don't immediately recognize the reference, they won't vote for it. We al..."I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the movie about him. Elton John was popular when we were young, but I never bought one of his albums, so I was also surprised by some of the songs.
Three Dog Night gave a free concert locally and before I went I couldn't think of many songs they did. But once they got started, I found that not only did I recognize all the songs, I was able to sing along with most of them. It's funny how stuff like that comes back to you. It was a lot of fun.
Tiny Dancer lends itself to a lot of different topics, so it doesn't need to be a personal favorite to work for the prompt.
Nancy wrote: "Last year American Pie by Don McLean was suggested but it was a bottom. I wonder if it would make it in this year? Does anyone remember what the objection was to it?.."At the time he was in court facing domestic abuse charges.
I would vote for a specific song prompt over a general one. I mostly downvoted or was neutral on the prompts where you first have to narrow down the prompt (ALL Beatles, Disney or Taylor Swift songs) and then choose the book, because almost anything fits when you take all those songs into consideration.I love Elton John so would vote for it for that reason alone, although I wouldn't vote for it if it were "any Elton John song".
I hadn't even heard of the We Didn't Start the Fire song before the prompt was suggested, but I still voted for it and enjoyed it because there were lots of specific lyrics to work with.
I don't need to like a song to like it as a prompt idea. However I haven't liked the prompts that are to choose a song out of a big list and relate a book to it...I feel like they are arbitrary choices if you have no connection to one of the songs.
Why not just "a book about music and/or a musician" instead of making it a pop culture reference?
American Pie is a great suggestion. There are a lot of lyrics. And for people who like non-fiction, you could read a book on the people the song is allegedly about.
I'm pretty neutral on song prompts in general - they don't thrill me, but I don't hate them either. However, 'Tiny Dancer' really does nothing for me. I think we've already had much better song prompts suggested. I guess it's tough finding a song or song type that such a large group can all relate to.
Song prompts are tricky. I think the two we've had got through because they refer to very specific things (imagery, events, people etc.). Personally I would only vote for a song that followed a similar pattern. I don't like having to interpret lyrics and apply them to a book, I prefer a more obvious connection.
Dubhease wrote: "For me, the problem with the song prompts so far has been that they have been "a Taylor Swift song" instead of just nominating "22", "a Disney song" instead of picking one. I thought the Sgt Pepper..."I agree. I also liked the Sgt. Pepper cover idea a lot. I don't often get invested in looking up books for prompts that aren't yet voted in, but that was one I did start to get excited about.
Regarding American pie I believe it’s considered unpopular due to his private life. Regarding related to music I thought the point of a lyrics prompt was it provided a range of options related to music wouldn’t.
WRT American Pie, the beginning of the song has the line "I can still remember how that music used to make me smile". So, pick any song that makes you smile and use it to choose a book!
Katie - you should re-propose sgt pepper's cover. I looked at the list and there are lots of famous writers on the cover (Poe, Huxley, Wilde, Shaw, Wells, Joyce, Dylan Thomas, William S Burroughs, Lewis Carroll ) plus the non-fiction opportunities. Plus - anyone who wants to use Beatle lyrics - they are there too.
Dubhease wrote: "Katie - you should re-propose sgt pepper's cover. I looked at the list and there are lots of famous writers on the cover (Poe, Huxley, Wilde, Shaw, Wells, Joyce, Dylan Thomas, William S Burroughs, ..."I am willing to do it if I can make the submissions thread in time!
The Sgt Pepper cover was in the bottom of poll 5 so the prompt would have to be changed into something different to be resubmitted.
I probably wouldn't vote for Tiny Dancer. I like Elton John but I've never really liked that song. I don't really care either way about song prompts in general, but if I'm going to vote for one it's because I have a personal connection to the song in some way (ie. My Favourite Things). I was a lot more excited about the American Pie option, although I can understand why people might not want to support the artist.I can see where people thought Disney was a freebie, but the idea was really for people to narrow it down to make a connection to a specific song. I guess my assumption was that most people would have one or two Disney songs or even movies that they really liked would naturally gravitate toward those. There are are quite a few Disney movies that had very few songs or at least not many recognizable songs, so I guess I didn't think of it as so much of a freebie as most others seem to.
Jillian wrote: "The Sgt Pepper cover was in the bottom of poll 5 so the prompt would have to be changed into something different to be resubmitted."Well, there goes that idea.
This has been a really interesting discussion and it's great seeing how people approach the song prompts. Honestly I picked "Tiny Dancer" because I was trying to think of songs that had a range of words beyond some standard stuff that could lend themselves to different ideas; that's why I liked "My Favorite Things" because of the range of options within the lyrics. But I completely get why other people lean more to the emotional connection to a song in order to want to vote it in."American Pie" definitely has some pretty diverse lyrics that could make for interesting options, although I personally like "Tiny Dancer" as a song more but it's a toss up. But I don't think it would work now anymore than it did before for the people that didn't want to support Don McLean then considering he pleaded guilty to four of the charges and his daughter recently came forward alleging mental and emotional abuse on top of that.
I probably won't suggest "Tiny Dancer" but this was such a great conversation to be part of.
I found an article on songs that contain lists.Both We Didn't Start the Fire and My Favourite Things were mentioned. Some of these songs are mostly lists of places.
I've Been Everywhere
California Girls
Vogue
Subterranean Homesick Blues
It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Dancing in the Streets
Come Together
(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66
Under the Sea
One Week
Life is a Rock (but the Radio Rolled Me)
And of course, The Elements by Tom Lehrer. :)
If you like Tiny Dancer suggest it. Those who speak up are often not the majority and even I might vote for it if I learned more about it.
It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) has some great lyrics that would work!
Dancing in the Streets takes me back to the movie Sister Act with Whoopi Goldberg which I really enjoyed when I was younger.
Mod
Both We Didn't Start the Fire and My Favourite Things were mentioned. Some of these songs are mostly lists of places.
I've Been Everywhere
Californ..."
A lot of these (though not all) are very US-centric.
There actually was a prompt for elements in 2019!
I've Been Everywhere was a prompt that was submitted last year. We found many versions of that song that fit other countries. It appears to be a setting type of prompt but I thought it was fun and I voted for it.
Nancy wrote: "It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) has some great lyrics that would work!"It really does. Including topics that were mentioned earlier this summer.
Earthquakes - A Splendid Ruin, Sarah's Quilt
Mountains - The Mountains Sing, And the Mountains Echoed, Cold Mountain,Go Tell It on the Mountain
Uniforms - military, police, first responders, etc.
Listen to yourself...
Speed - Veronica Speedwell, Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans
Ladder - A Ladder to the Sky
Furies - The Heart's Invisible Furies, Fates and Furies, The Furies
Reporters - journalism books
trump - Trump
bookburning -
bloodletting -
renegade - Renegades
solutions, alternatives - lots of nonfiction, Solutions and Other Problems, The Seven-Percent Solution,
end of the world - A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, any dystopian book, sci-fi books about leaving a dying earth.
Light a candle - Light a Penny Candle, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake
Birthday party, cheesecake - lots of cozy mysteries
jellybeans, boom - (Easter, Independence day)
Symbiotic - evolution
Patriotic -
Time alone -
There are indeed a lot of versions of the song I’ve Been Everywhere, depending on where you live! Bluegrass singer Rhonda Vincent came out with a COVID version called I Ain’t Been Nowhere, which is pretty funny and relatable.
I suggested It’s the End of the World last year but I think the consensus was “too soon!” It does have some great possibilities though. I heartily recommend Lenny Bruce’s autobiographical How to Talk Dirty and Influence People and may have gone with Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung (you read what?!) by Lester Bangs if it had got through.
I would love It's the End of the World and would TOTALLY vote for it!
For a 2022 tie-in, what about a book with 22 or more letters in the title? This would encompass a ton of non-fiction, which often have subtitles, but there are also lots of fiction books with long titles, like:All of the Harry Potter Books
We Are All the Same in the Dark
The Widows of Malabar Hill
The House in the Cerulean Sea
The Nature of Fragile Things
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Just to name a few.
Mod
Shannon wrote: "For a 2022 tie-in, what about a book with 22 or more letters in the title? This would encompass a ton of non-fiction, which often have subtitles, but there are also lots of fiction books with long ..."I would vote for that!
So could this next poll be the last?
Mod
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HOW ANNOYING is it that the app just randomly drops words?!?! WHY does it do that?? Why haven't they fixed it??? It's TEXT. Text is the simplest thing to display.