GD round 1: Can You Feel The Love Tonight Wins

[Undercover Monk]

an interesting matchup between a sappy love song and a manic latin number.

Three Caballeros (The Three Caballeros)

Can You Feel The Love Tonight
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[Chaz]

Can you feel the ass kicking that will happen here?
_________________
The enemy's base is down.

[Ctorj]

[lexprod]

Ugh, damn you Elton John!!!!
_________________
I'll have a P please...

[Zag]

I'm with you, lex. Can you feel... is way too saccharine for me, and way too pop, plus it's a terrible earworm. Also, it suffers from what I call the Hall and Oates syndrome, which seems painfully successful in pop songs.

Hall and Oates syndrome

Verse one has:
Line X, ending in word A
Throw-away line ending in a word that rhymes with A

Verse two has
Identical Line X, except that it ends in word B
Throw-away line ending in a word that rhymes with B

Verse three has
Identical Line X, except that it ends in word C
Throw-away line ending in a word that rhymes with C

----

Here's another offender, Jump ahead to the 3:00 point and they shove all the offending lines together! Yay! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ZyywoMSM0

[MNOWAX]

DON"T BE HATIN ON ME HALL AND OATES!!!!

Can you feel the love tonight is my new front runner now that my old one was destroyed ( you'll be in my heart(
_________________
The Man The Myth The Legend
MNOWAX

[Zag]

I actually don't think that Hall and Oates is the worst offender. It's just that I first noticed the syndrome in a Hall and Oates song (I forget which one) so that's what I have always called it.

[Chaz]

[Chaz]

"There's a" is sang twice.
"And can you feel the love tonight" (the title of the song) twice.
"It's enough" twice.

Other than that, I can't see a repeated phrase in the song.
_________________
The enemy's base is down.

[Chaz]

Really, the only thing the song has going against it was it's massive popularity, but it was only popular because Elton John is fucking amazing.
_________________
The enemy's base is down.

[Zag]

Ok, it's a more complex case, but it's still formulaic.

And can you feel the love tonight
It is XXXXA
It's enough for this (random phrase)
That we YYYYA
And can you feel the love tonight
How it's ZZZZB
It's enough to make (random phrase)
VVVVB

where the X's, Y's, Z's, and V's are completely throw-away lines.

And it's so saccharine! I agree the Elton John is awesome, but this isn't proof of it.

------------------------

Just so that I don't come across as merely a hater, here is what I consider the best-written love song of all time. Feel free to give it the same treatment I've given this one:

Kathy's Song, by Paul Simon

I hear the drizzle of the rain.
Like a memory it falls,
Soft and warm continuing,
Tapping on my roof and walls.

And from the shelter of my mind,
Through the window of my eyes,
I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To England where my heart lies.

My mind's distracted and diffused.
My thoughts are many miles away;
They lie with you when you're asleep
And kiss you when you start your day.

And the song I was writing is left undone.
I don't know why I spend my time
Writing songs I can't believe
With words that tear and strain to rhyme.

So you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true.
I stand alone without beliefs.
The only truth I know is you.

And as I watch the drops of rain
Weave their weary paths and die,
I know that I am like the rain;
There but for the grace of you go I.

-----------------------

Besides the incredible gestalt of the thing, there are a dozen brilliant points in it: The metaphor to rain, including returning to it in the final stanza; the fact that the only line which strains the rhythm of the song is "words that tear and strain to rhyme"; simply the line, "The only truth I know is you"; the resonance against the cliche "There but for the grace of God go I". Need I go on?

[Chaz]

Don't misread me. I definitely think there are better love songs.

But "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" currently has thirteen votes, and The "Three Caballeros" doesn't have any votes.

Sure, four of the votes are against "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", but I would be willing to bet that everyone is either voting for or against "Can You Feel the Love Tonight."

For clarity sake, I agree that Simon and Garfunkel are amazing (personally, I'd put them above Elton John), but to suggest that "Three Caballeros" is in any way a better song than "Can You Feel the Love Tongiht." Pshaw, sir... puh shaw.

As an aside, this would be my favorite love song of all time.
Bright Eyes - "First Day of My Life"
_________________
The enemy's base is down.

[lexprod]

My vote is half AGAINST can you feel the love tonight and half FOR 3 caballeros, as a whole
_________________
I'll have a P please...

[MNOWAX]

best love song of all time?

I will by the Beatles. /thread.
_________________
The Man The Myth The Legend
MNOWAX

[Undercover Monk]

but the poll tournament is not which is the best but which is your favorite. I prefer to watch 3 caballeros to can you feel the love even though it is a better song. savvy
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[L'lanmal]

[Chaz]

Yes, the words are different, but the context of the conversation (at the point that I posted the Elton John lyrics) was actually focussed on the Elton John version.

The flow of the song, however, is about the same. I see what Zag is saying (and I almost agree), but to suggest that it's not as good as "The Three Caballeros", well, that's just lunacy to me.

I mean, I could see someone's favorite show (as a child) being The Three Carballeros, sure, but just stand alone songs, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" crumples the competition.

Though, Monk's point is a compelling one.... however, when I watch Simba, it just seems cheesy and sappy to me (now). When I first watched that scene in The Lion King, I remember it being very impressive.
_________________
The enemy's base is down.

[Zag]