RDphantom
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Mar 8 2009, 3h48
Today by The Smashing Pumpkins and instantly I'm humming along. Right up till the end when the Visa logo comes up and I realize that the Pumpkins Sold Out! WTF!!
What's next, Amtrak using
Night Train? AfterEllen.com using I Kissed a Girl? The Brady Campaign using Janie's Got a Gun? Dramamine using Vertigo? Is nothing sacred? Is everything inevitably going to end up being used and twisted by The Man? My husband was sitting with me and at the end he turns to me and asks "So how does it feel to have the music of your generation raped and pillaged by The Man?" He's outraged anytime an 80's song pops up in yet another commercial trying to sell us something. Yeah, I've seen the Beatles commercials, and the Pepsi commercials with Michael Jackson, but The Smashing Pumpkins? They are the opposite of "commercial". They are thoughtful, introspective, melancholy, angry and sensitive. Not exactly "commercial" material. Well, I guess "they" got The Ramones, and they were a hell of a lot more underground than The Smashing Pumpkins, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
But it was still shocking to me for some reason. It felt like an invasion of my privacy, somehow. The Pumpkins music is personal to me. I grew up with it, it was in fairly regular rotation in my friend’s cd players. It was in the background while I was figuring out how to grow up and what kind of life I wanted to lead. They have meaning to me for being a part of my life. For them to be paired up with something that has no emotional meaning whatsoever is a betrayal to my feelings for them.
I'm actually a little surprised myself at how strongly I dislike the commercial use of this song, since I've actually enjoyed hearing songs used for commercials in the past. For example, the Hallmark card commercial using
U Can't Touch This makes me smile and I love the tire commercial with the astronauts dancing to Jump Around. I've even found music I like from commercials: This Strange Effect from a cell phone commercial. So what's so different about Today? It has meaning to me, where the others were merely songs that I enjoyed, and that makes all the difference in the world. If I don't want the things I like being commercialized, can I condone anything being commercialized? Before, I wasn't so sure that selling out was such a bad thing if the artists were ok with it, but now I think they should continue to Rage Against the Machine, because I'm part of the equation too, damnit!!
Comentários
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PinkFloydrulez There are two sides to every coin. It's entirely possible that the director of the ad is just as much a fan of the Pumpkins as you and the song has just as much meaning to them. It was part of their vision to have that song play a part in their creation, and to spread the music they love and share it with millions of people. I don't watch a whole lot of tv, but I did manage to catch the commercial you're talking about a couple of days ago. I found it somewhat humorous that the classic misconception was made - happy sounding song, but beneath the surface it's quite the opposite. and of course, the commercial tried to go for the whole feel-good thing. Of course the directly probably knew this, but... it's a great song, is it not? what better song to get someone into SP - I know it was one of the first I loved - and the music really did fit in rather well... but that's just my opinion. I should have stopped typing after the first paragraph XD
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RDphantom PinkFloydrulez, I think it was the whole feel-good attitude of the commercial that irritated me most. It totally ignores and thus deems irrelevant the deep emotional meaning of the song, the whole purpose for it's being in existence. Plus Billy Corgan was so opposed to it for years, as is obvious from the quote found in the YouTube video info. In general I'm not entirely opposed to the commercial nature of the music biz. I know that these people need to make a living, and in fact I believe they should be rewarded for making something that enriches my life so much. They do something that most people can't. Plus I know it takes money to produce and distribute music on the massive scale that the Pumpkins enjoyed, so they need to earn that back, though I'm sure they did that a long time ago! You make a point about the director having a vision for the commercial. Just because it's not anything like my vision for the song doesn't mean it's not in some way valid, though I have a hard time liking it. It is a really great song. Someone who has no history with the music, or only vaguely remembers it being on the radio a long time ago, may think it's a really cool find. And I guess I have to acknowledge that has value to the band, as a potential source for new listeners. After all, it reminded me that I haven't listened to the Pumpkins for years. Check out the humorous categorization of artists at this link: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/7art.htm And thanks for reading and responding!
