Frankenstein took my d20 (Die For Me Reviews)

[EightLeggedOedipus]

Astrolamb
+++ Fun high pitch retro-electro-punk. +++
--- monotone vocals. no bass all highs ---

A Werkenhorse
+++ If The White Stripes were a Dischord band in 1988, they might sound like this. +++
--- Repetitive ---

Boltoph
+++ You've been listening to a lot of Deshead lately. That's a good thing. I really like the little touches, like the palm mute accents in the left ear at 1:40 +++
/// I don't find the lyrics distracting or detracting, just forgettable ///

Charcoal
/// Songs like this are much better on fast forward. Your next entry should be thirty seconds long and feature the sound of tape advancing as a bridge. ///

Father Bingo
+++ You are killer. Nice gun +++
/// I swear to god I will sing for you. ///
+++ pause! +++

Hope, Oath, and Suspicion
--- really hate this singer ---
+++ The chord progression is nice. The slight backing vocals on the chorus make it +++
/// Lead guitar is a little too loud, but I dig the echo. The arrangemetn could stand a varied beat somewhere or a key change in a bridge ///
+++ Clearmountain Pause! +++

Luke Henley
/// Other than the jab in the ear by the occasional off note, this was so excruciatingly boring I was compelled to track my mouse pointer with the progress bar in media Player for the duration fo this song. ///

Nigel Bibbet
+++ Now this is not boring. The chord at "I know that you would" is perfect. +++
/// How come all you Brits are named Nigel? ///
--- More oomph in drums ---

Roymond
+++ The cello makes it. Nice arpeggios on the guitar too +++
/// Vocals seem unprofessional comapred with the rest fo the production, but not a "bad" thing. ///
--- Except for those "oh whoa whoa"s - definitely should a bin double tracked. And probably an effect too---

Rusty Iguana
--- Somebody just laid a turd on the smallest bones in my body. ---

Tuba Toothpaste
+++ I find this charming. +++
--- Why do so many people sing like this? Are you cool in your town? Would you buy your own album? ---
/// Look my child, it's four minutes long! ///

Roymond, HO&S, Boltoph and the unexpected Wrockenwhores

[Father Bingo]

Father Bingo
/// I swear to god I will sing for you. ///

Okay. We'll team up for something. But not this fight.

[Tuba Toothpaste]

Are you cool in your town?

I'm too old to be cool in any town.

[roymond]

Tuba Toothpaste
+++ I find this charming. +++
--- Why do so many people sing like this? Are you cool in your town? Would you buy your own album? ---

Is this your criteria for whether someone wrote a good song or tried in earnest to produce it for you? Perhaps so many people sing the way they do because they weren't blessed with your pipes. I don't recall Tube promoting himself as the best singer, with the best album. I can't speak for him, but lots of us are not necessarily happy with our voice. But we do the best we can, and hopefully we improve. Constructive criticism is welcome. Arrogant insults don't really help the process.

[jb]

Tuba Toothpaste
+++ I find this charming. +++
--- Why do so many people sing like this? Are you cool in your town? Would you buy your own album? ---
/// Look my child, it's four minutes long! ///

I don't quite understand these comments. Sounds to me like he's singing the only way he really knows to sing, in his best voice. This is the song he came up with. I am totally baffled by this "review", dude. You don't have to elaborate, but Roy's right, wtf is the deal here?

[WeaselSlayer]

Boltoph - There ya go, see how liberating that is? This is a wicked one-take song, and the guitar solo came out really well (I'm glad you redid it). Anyway, I'm really into this and would really love to see it live at like 10 times the volume, but it's pretty damn sweet right here in my headphones too. It goes out on this great swirly, sludgey note that I really dig. I love your vocals too. I guess the only thing I wish this had was a little more punch, y'dig? Anyway, great job.

Hope, Oath, and Suspicion - Shit, that junky guitar sounds great. This has a great driving but light and playful sound to it while still having this twist of melancholy. I really like the vocals and the echo-y guitar in addition to the rest of it. The conclusion with the handclaps goes a smidgen too cheesy, but other than that this is really solid.

Tuba Toothpaste - I can usually appreciate goofiness, but this is like mega crushing me down goofiness. The dissonant keyboard about halfway is kind of cool, but your vocals are still just weirding me out. I'm also not into the lyrics, because again they're juuuust too goofy.

Nigel Bibbet - This is good, but... well I was going to say it lacks a good deal of energy but it just picked up into this swirling waking the neighbors bit that I'm really into. This is a great sort of recorded-in-a-submarine song with utterly charming vocals. I like the tone on your 'lectric guitars. The feedback is cool.

Rusty Iguana - Junk junk junky. I dig this, it's creepy. The shifting vocal pitch is well-done. I guess I wished this changed a little bit, but also I'm glad it doesn't.

Astrolamb - Something was messed up with this I think and I couldn’t really listen to it. I’m sorry.

Charcoal - I really like what you’re doing. Some of the guitars are a little too echo-y for me, but this is a really cool sorta post rock thing. I can dig it. The conclusion is really a hell of a thing.

Father Bingo - I really like this a lot. It’s fun, but I can tell there’s some darkness and bitterness to it, and that’s what I really latch onto. I dig the fast bass picking a lot.

A Werkenhorse - This is really daunting and junky and eerie and kind of like Civil War rock. What I mean by that is it’s really fucking sweet.

Roymond - The strings and the background vocals make me ache in a really good way. I would love to listen to this late at night when I’m on my way home and I can barely see anything and I’m in a really dour mood. This is a huge compliment.

Luke Henley (me) - I just wanted to cop an Elvis melody. And improvise a song because I felt like this song sounds. It's how I do things. And if I did 10 takes it would sort of lose its point.

[roymond]

Roymond's was so fantastically amazing this week that it completely dominated everything ever. Another Roymond song on this list of my favorite Songfight songs (with Hey Ruth).

Wow. And then...wow. Thanks. I'm glad someone likes it Though I do agree with one reviewer about doubling the lead vox, and there are little mix issues in my head. Actually, there are lots of issues in my head, some littler than others. Thanks again. You made my day.

[jack]

roy: i thought your tune was excellent. great execution on the instruments (like the arpeggiated guitar stuff and the cello) and arrangement but i do agree that doubling the vox would really help. i'm sure you get tired of hearing people slag your vox, and really i don't find them anywhere near as bad as most stuff i hear around here, and like you say...you go for it. if i were you, i'd be picking the hell out of jim of seattle's brain on how he gets such great vocal tracks from his vocal chords, as he seems to have a similar "range" as you, and you both do great production. i know jim has told me in the past that he likes to do 3-4 tracks of vocals per final track and blend them through compression, creative panning, varying levels, etc. obviously, there's not much you can change about your voice in real life but there's certainly plenty you can do with it digitally.

honestly, the pitchiness of the vox in your song this week didn't stand out to me as much as the fact they sounded dry and uneffected. maybe doubling them could have at least helped that.

all this just my humble O you know.

[MintyHandy]

Here I am at a hotel in San Diego, away on business for a while. So I can't submit (unless I record something via ukulele in my laptop mic, which I may very well do at some point) but I can certainly review.

Yes, I bring my uke on business trips. And why shouldn't I? Nyah nyah.

A Werkenhorse

This is a great start to a full song; I find it engaging, amusing and compelling. Shame it doesn't go anywhere after that -- mind you, it just needs to fill out a lot musically to work for me, to kind of "take off" at some point. But it's friendly, and I like it. And...

...no clearmountain pause.

Hope, Oath and Suspicion

Musically it kicks off great; could have done without "Judas" being the first word, though; makes it seem like it's going to be more self-indulgent than it ultimately turned out, you had to win me back. I find the high guitar noodling (early on, then after the signature line) to be annoyingly high and thin. Overall I like it, though, especially starting at 1:26, when the extra drum and your higher singing kick in, and suddenly that high guitar isn't too high any more. Solid. The part with the telephone voice doesn't work as much for me, though, as I liked your voice the way it was. You know, I don't normally like religious-imagery songs, but this works. Hooray for hand claps! And...

...the clearmountain pause needed more hanging tension, and to come back stronger. But you got it in there, so bravo!

Nigel Bibbet (Bibbet is fun to say out loud, go ahead, try it. Bibbetbibbetbibbet.)

Here's a negative: the first time you use the echo ("you...you...you...") on your voice, it really called attention to itself and I didn't like it. Here's a positive: right until that point, I was digging it, and I kept right on digging it afterwards. Nice sound, great structure, the introduction of the harpy guitar was really nice for heightening -- although that feedback needs to go away now. Whew, that's better. Lyrically, though, it's a miss, because lines like "We're so perverted, we'll be like the sex world cup" (which, while infantile, is also terrific) can't be followed with a sincere "Because I know that you would die for me". It's like a joke without a punchline, which is a shame, because if you take away the title line, the rest of the lyrics are great. Oh, that ending feedback hurt my ears. And...

...no clearmountain pause. But we are so perverted, aren't we?

Rusty Iguana

With a name like Rusty Iguana, you'd expect to hear something industrial, and this song does not disappoint. Unless you are like me and don't like industrial, in which case it disappoints a lot. Sigh. Had to turn this one down a touch and take a few bites of pizza until it was over. It might be a great example of this genre, but to me personally it just feels like a quick five-minute throw-together, uninspired and flat. And...

...no clearmountain pause. But really, where would you put it?

Father Bingo

Good old punk vibe straight in, happy and fun and nice. Oh no, but there are no words, are there? Well, I've got a whole stable of instrumentals like this, and a good many of them sound a lot more like "Die For Me" than this. In fact, this is less "Die For Me" and more "Get A Piece Of Cake For Me" with a touch of "You Can't Have Any Cake". I wish I hadn't written that, because now I really really want cake. It does sound good, though, happy and fun and Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet. So I will probably add it to my mp3 collection, because it's really good, but it won't get a vote, because it was an instrumental, and because it made me want cake. And...

...no cakemountain pause.

Incidentally, I'm flattered that you even considered using my lyrics at all, and if you ever want some custom-written, I seem to be doing a better job with lyrics than music at the moment, and I'm happy to give it a try. Let me know via PM if you ever want some at the last minute. I like pressure.

Tuba Toothpaste

I liked the last thing you did, so I'm looking forward to this. Load, dammit, load. Wow, this is a lot different from your last one. Put on your Nikes and drink the Kool-Aid, eh? I like your voice, I like your guitar/piano arrangement, although the whole thing sounds very MIDI. I like your lyrics...now the question is, is there a hook to tie it all together? Ah, dammit, "Die for me, come fly with me, drink the holy liquid..." killed it for me. I wanted something more clever or more profound. I know it's about a cult, and I love that strange undercurrent of dischord that drifts into the chours -- absolutely love it, how it helps me visualize the cult aspect -- but the lyrics could have used another draft or two. Overall solid, but a touch empty for me. And...

...no clearmountain pause. Unless the memory of it was brainwashed out of me.

Roymond

By 0:10 I'm in love with the arrangement. Oh no, another reference to "shar(ing) a goal" (see Tuba's entry). This is quickly becoming a lesson in things that rhyme with "Die For Me", some obvious ("Lie For Me"), some not ("Blasphemy") -- obviously I like the latter-type better -- but overall it feels very obvious. Ooo, at 1:31, the rhymes are still obvious, but I like the arrangement even more. This is great, great music in search of better lyrics. And...

...the clearmountain pause needed a little more building prior, and needed to be two beats longer. It also needed to be placed once only, at 3:25, in order to truly be a clearmountain pause, I think. But it's in there, and that's a good thing. Especially when evil comes down and threatens your town. In the form of a clown. Who is wearing a frown. Heh. I crack myself up.


Luke Henley

I feel like this song needs to either be faster, or needs something to fill in the spaces between guitar strums, because the guitar just isn't cutting it. Too thin, not enough sustain. Nice vocals, though; I'm a sucker for tentative harmonies that might fall apart at any time. Sometimes they do fall apart here, but the overall effect is nice. Incidentally, why do I need to turn up the volume so much to hear you guys? Don't forget to "normalize" the audio once you've gotten it into the computer. So in summary, I like the tentative harmonies, but hate the guitar, and there's not much here to inspire further listening. Ouch, what's going on with those chords? Are you still learning guitar basics? If so, bravo for you having the guts to submit your song with those flubs intact. Excellent. And...

...no clearmountain pause. Dagnabit.

Astrolamb

Strong musically, and vocally I'm reminded of Jello Biafra meets Fred Schneider. This is not a bad thing, as it turns out. The song itself is nothing special, but it's delivered with sincerity and strength, which I have respect for. Suddenly the guitar has all but disappeared. Hey, wait, is THAT a clearmountain pause? If so, I feel like it needed more justification, because the drop in guitar volume was arbitrary and out of place. But good for you getting it in there. And...

...perhaps a clearmountain pause doesn't mean exactly what I think it means. Dammit, Astrolamb, you've confounded me again! For the first time!

[and now, a clearmountain pause to iron my shirt and pants for tomorrow's work-related activities]

Boltoph (Boltoph is hard to type in a hurry. Go ahead, try it. Boltoph. Boltpoh. Botpoh. Dammit.)

You jumped from the intro into the first lyric one measure -- or perhaps three measures -- too soon. That's it. That's all I've got. It's a great song, lyrically and musically. Your voice is nice, too. This type of song is not exactly my cup of tea rhythmically (not enough bounce and pop), but you've done a great job here. Nothing more to say. This gets my vote. Well, okay, if I'm nitpicking I'll say that I'd rather you had put the 1:34 part before the 1:12 solo, or in fact saved the solo altogether for later in the song...but that's it. Did I mention this is the only one where the title lyric doesn't sound forced? And...

...no clearmountain pause, but the song's too good to bother mentioning it. Except that I already have, and the delete key gives me night sweats.

Charcoal

We love flange, yes we do. Sweeping vistas of guitar-driven flange. I hear mountain ranges peeking from below the horizon. I hear three faraway birds flying across the late afternoon sky. I hear the sound of distant traffic calling me to travel the road untaken. Okay, I don't really hear any of that. But I had to do something with my imagination, because there were no lyrics to guide me through the song. But it did inspire a lot of interesting images in my head. A nice ethereal piece, though, to be sure. Does get a bit repetitive in the second half, though. And...

...no clearmountain pause either, because clearmountain pauses involve the music AND lyrics kicking back in simultaneously, 'sfar as I can tell. But I do -hear- a clear mountain in the distance...okay, I'm fibbing again. I actually hear someone walking past my hotel room door.

- - - - -

Overall, a really good bunch. Even the instrumentals were quite good, even though I pooped on them for being instrumentals. I'm giving it (as mentioned above) to Boltoph, but a lot of you could have taken it with just small tweaks. Great fight, y'all.

[WeaselSlayer]

So if I'm past guitar basics I don't get a bravo? Well, fuck.

[MintyHandy]

Yeah; if you're more skilled than that, but just left in the major chord flubs near the end because you were (a) lazy, (b) pressed for time, or (c) didn't care, then yeah, no bravo.

Hey, gotta be supportive to the up-and-coming folks, right?

[EightLeggedOedipus]

Tuba Toothpaste+++ I find this charming +++
--- Why do so many people sing like this? Are you cool in your town? Would you buy your own album? ---

Is this your criteria for whether someone wrote a good song or tried in earnest to produce it for you?

Uh, ahem.

The Scholar:
The primary goal of reviewing is two-fold: a) to help third-parties make decisions about what to seek and what to avoid. b) to help the creator become a better creator. A third goal of reviewing is c) to entertain the reader. I obviously failed you on c. I amused myself. I met a. Anyone looking for "charming" might listen (or listen again). Those who are looking for "cool" or "retail-ready" might skip this. With b, I hope that I planted the seed for questions that I would find essential to the self-evaluation stage of the song creation process. In response, Tuba indicated that "cool" is not something that appears to be attainable or important to him. Kudos. He also let me know that there may be a cohort gap in between us that abrs my connection to the vocal style. This feedback may help me listen, and may also simply explain that I am not in his target audience and shouldn't expect to be. I do believe a dialogue between us may still help his songs. I do not hear a bad voice. I hear a bad choice of style-- something entirely controllable. If anythign I hope my feedback might inspire Tuba to attempt a different style next week, especially since the one two weeks ago was a lot more pallatable. This is my opinion as a pretentious musician.

The Bigot:
It pissed me off and I'll say whatever I goddamn want cause it's a free country. Bastards.

The Sunday School Teacher:
I'm sorry, kids. Mr. Toothpaste put a lot of hard work into this song, and we're blessed to be able to hear it. It's really good. The good book says "Music shall bring them joy" and you certainly have, Mr. Toothpaste. Thanks. Keep up the good work. Praise the lord.

[bz£]

The primary goal of reviewing is two-fold: a) to help third-parties make decisions about what to seek and what to avoid. b) to help the creator become a better creator. A third goal of reviewing is c) to entertain the reader.

While we use the same word here, these are not "reviews" like a CD review that you'd read in whatever hip magazine you subscribe to. I don't think a lot of people read the boards to decide which songs to listen to. (Case in point: you didn't.) If your idea is to be helpful and categorize songs, that's swell, but you'll have to be more clear about it. "Charming" doesn't tell us anything about what the song sounds like.

Helpful stuff is the best part of a good quality review, and, sorry, but there isn't much helpful here. I've listened to the Tuba song about half a dozen times now and I have no idea what you're talking about or how they could get anything useful out of it. That's okay, too, because you can't always find something useful to say about every song, especially if you're commenting on four fights a week. But you've got to realize that your "review" of the Tuba song fails to meet both of your stated goals, so don't be too surprised that people want to call you on it.

As for entertaining, well, I've been guilty of that myself. I write stuff that I think is funny but people just get all pissed off. Don't worry 'bout it: this is the internet and people will get pissed off about anything you say. Amuse yourself and maybe a few other people will laugh too.

[roymond]

So, three men walk into a bar...

The Scholar:
The Bigot:
The Sunday School Teacher:

OK, we're all in this bar together
Discourse continues and that's the important thing.

[bz£]

OK, we're all in this bar together
Discourse continues and that's the important thing.

We're all in a bar, and that's the important thing.

[jb]

I amused myself.

All I know is that I couldn't make head nor tails of what you were trying to tell Tuba Toothpaste, other than some insult about him thinking he's cool when he's not, and wondering why people sing like they do-- when I don't think a lot of people have a choice about the way they sing. That's just the way they sing, and there is no other way for them.

I would personally prefer clarity and coherence in reviews, personally, at the expense of "entertainment", especially when the ostensible purpose of said review is to constructively criticize the work in question.

[EightLeggedOedipus]

The review was not helpful or entertaining. Point taken.

[jb]

The review was not helpful or entertaining. Point taken.

now back to the bar.

and as penance you must host songfight san diego 2006.

[boltoph]

Been listening to the songs a bunch of times and here's what I think for anyone interested. Green is what I like the most. I like almost all of the songs though.

Tuba Toothpaste I like how this song has changing patterns, how it develops and moves toward the chorus, and I like how there are a couple lines that sound like they're from the Cheers theme song. There are some severely cliche moves here like the "ride a shooting star" part which is something we've heard a million times but always still sounds warm. Basically I'm into all the catchiness but it's pushing the boundaries of mockery to me. I almost feel like the light playful instrumentation and the slapstick vocal suggest that a better title for this might be "Dine with Me". But I like that it's a warm, playful song, and catchy.

Rusty Iguana This does sorta make me wanna die and if I had to hear this nonstop for the rest of my life I would definitely want to do your bidding. My threshold would probably be three days at best. Maybe three hours.

Roymond My favorite thing about this song is the chord changes at the part 1:22 when you wrote this song...that one line. Then to be honest I'm not crazy about the chorus part but then again when I imagine how much could be done with the instrumentation there, and then imagine the dynamic drop back down to the verse, I get a little psyched. Obviously the cello sounds great and adds quite a bit the vibe of your dark verse and heroic folk chorus. I could do without the part about justifying votes, but it's kinda funny. I'm glad you had a good catchy chorus with the title line, and that the song represented dying in it's melodies...to me at least.

Nigel Bibbet I am pleased that you've compared dying to an orgasm! That theme you've tied into it is my favorite thing about this. Ears get hurt from 1:20 and at the end for ten seconds...ouch...could've put a tremolo on that sound and then brought it down in the mix with some reverb on the left side of the mix. sorry for the quick production blurb there but had to say it...it really hurt. The electric guitar entry is solid and the chorus, catchy. Key things by me. I had to listen to the verse lyrics a bunch of times to understand them, i'm not quite sure what they have to do with the chorus. That's my main gripe. I like the Spinal Tap quality of the choruses.

Luke Henley There's a couple really moving lines in the melody here and the harmonies you threw on em really emphasizes that. I had to take this and run it thru and eq to get rid of some hiss and then normalize it. I really like it more each time i listen. The way it develops around "virgin" is great, and the chorus from 1:20 to 2:00 is potentially killer (at least by me) I wish it flowed smoother into the chorus. This is a song I could sit down to and pick the parts apart, put em back together with more dynamics. If there's a coverfight and I can cover a LH tune this is it. What I would do to this song, what I would do to her...not necessarily stoned but, beautiful.

Hope, Oath, & Suspicion Jammin right from the start, I like the straight 1-2 drum groove and this is damn catchy and going real well with the sunny warm day and I feel like just cruisin the streets listening to this. Hard to have constructive comments unless you want my production thoughts. In which case the vocals are way to goddamn quiet. I need more vocals, because they sound great, catchy. That and a bridge that moved faster and had a change in the rhythm might make this song move in a exciting direction. I think dying in this tune is being seen as a welcome escape from life. Good catch on the title too. Really sticks to my brain, too.

Father Bingo Started off with a great kickin' feel and definitely maintained that feel, it's real catchy and i love the sound of those electrics, even the one shifted or tuned down. But I have no idea how this would be "Die for Me". The vibe puts forth nothing even remotely suggesting the title. I can appreciate an instrumental and even everything going on here but this could be in any fight and also appropriate for an aerobics class compilation or a theme song for a sitcom or something.

Charcoal This really reminds me of a remote band that I was way into called Cathode. just a trio of guitar bass and drums, all instrumental (they no longer exist but were part of the Castle von Buhler label out here in Boston while it existed). I do have to say that for an instrumental this does feel like the title, even the guitar line almost feels to be speaking it during the beginning for a bit. It's long a slow but I dig it. I ate breakfast to it this morning, and loved it. For the title I don't know if i could give it a vote, but as far as what I listen to and play, it's right up my alley. Don't know if I could offer much input here either but the obvious aforementioned in this thread and picky production comments and such...like it could build into more intensity. I might like this titled "Valium"..it pulls me in, into a state of tranquility...

A Werkenhorse I'm not sure if you were going for the White Stripes feel but this is all about that. Don't like throwing that comparison right out there but can't help it. It yearns to be rockin' but at a minute into the song it hasn't even changed at all. And you keep repeating the same line and never build into anything. Kinda bummed that you were about to build it into a rock song at the end, but then ended. Good idea and vibe about this. It moves me in a rockin way. More time...more time...more feeling.

Astrolamb My favorite thing about this is guitar part in the chorus there...almost going minor. Wish you're vocal had followed that minor and belted out some more notes, and could've done without the clear mountain pause attempt at 1:14 (if that's what it was). The guitar solo is fun in an amateur way, could work on that melody a bit more but i have to admit it does go with the punk vibe of this tune. I really like the chorus and wished for it to have more vocal going on instead of just the title line.

I, Boltoph Who wants to die? I know it's all romantic and shit but, not nearly as romantic as yearning for life. Maybe I just realized that recently and this is my song about it. So it's a serious song and I know it. Wished I had the guitars a bit more crankin and more 4-5khz and such, I agree with all the feedback i've gotten here, thanks. You should be able to tell where the pause was gonna be but didn't have time to rerecord and didn't feel like doing a chop chop. My next songfight entry is gonna be a lot "lighter". I've been stuck on the same format for the past month. Women, they do what they do. The narrator definitely thinks too much

...thinking about the vote some more...

[Daj Werkenhorse 1]

A Werkenhorse I'm not sure if you were going for the White Stripes feel but this is all about that. Don't like throwing that comparison right out there but can't help it. It yearns to be rockin' but at a minute into the song it hasn't even changed at all. And you keep repeating the same line and never build into anything. Kinda bummed that you were about to build it into a rock song at the end, but then ended. Good idea and vibe about this. It moves me in a rockin way. More time...more time...more feeling.

.

Thanks for the comments!
I was going for that 'going nowhere' feel. It's weird and tense, and it is almost uncomfortable . . .
But, now that I've done it once, I won't be doing it again!

[EightLeggedOedipus]

...thinking about the vote some more...

Don't be afraid to vote for yourself, fool. It would help the worthy to win.

[Tuba Toothpaste]

Well, I got a lot of attention, and that's nice.

I hate to say, I know exactly what Oed was talking about. Just the other day, I put on an old Carpenters album and a similar thing went through my mind (although I think Karen Carpenter's voice was phenomenal). This stuff was top 40?

And, although like R. Durand said a couple of weeks ago, the song should just make sense itself, I'll explain it. Minty Handy understood the historical events this song refers to, and maybe some others did too, but I can't tell from the reviews.

I can't guarantee these details are completely accurate, but they're close.

In 1978, Jim Jones led the People's Temple, a cult he founded, to Guyana where they set up a settlement called "Jonestown" in the jungle. They began planning a mass suicide. Reverend Jones explained to everyone that after they died they would all hitch up with a spaceship that was travelling in the tail of the Hale-Bopp Comet ("ride a shooting star").

The US government heard of this and sent Congressman Leo Ryan with others to investigate the reports of mass suicide plans. After their visit, and at the airport preparing to depart, members of the People's Temple showed up shooting and killed the congressman and others.

Shortly afterward, over 900 Jonestown residents committed suicide by drinking Flavor-Ade laced with various poisons.

The song was supposed to sound like the songs we play at church as sung by Reverend Jones. The chorus was meant to sound a little creepy, hence the dissonances. It should sound a little "charming" but ultimately a little alarming, since his "die for me" request is literal, not figurative as in some of the other songs. And the amazing thing is apparently 900 people followed him consciously.

Incidentally, Jim Jones himself died from a bullet to the head - maybe self-inflicted, maybe not.