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The Fascinating Untold Stories Behind Some of Our Favorite Songs

By Tom Hawking on

Sure, everyone knows that Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” is about about his son falling from a window, Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” may or may not be about Warren Beatty, and “In the Air Tonight” is not about watching someone drown. But there are plenty of other less well-documented backstories behind popular songs — like the one that surfaced over the weekend about The Beatles’ “Get Back” starting its life as a dubious satire called “No Pakistanis.” Wisely, the band rewrote the lyrics before releasing the song, but it remains a pretty fascinating piece of history, and our cue to discuss the less-documented stories lurking behind some of the songs in our iTunes collection. … Read More

Music

10 Songs About Racism That Don’t Suck

By Tom Hawking on

By now you’ve no doubt heard Brad Paisley and LL Cool J’s thoroughly bewildering “Accidental Racist,” and wondered how in God’s name we live in a world where this song exists. We guess the sentiment is laudable enough, in its own cack-handed way — ultimately, it’s a plea for mutual understanding and racial reconciliation, which is something we can get behind, even if it is couched in curiously passive-agressive language and non-apologies — but boy is it ever both a) weird and b) plain old bad. In the spirit of the song’s message, though, here are a bunch of songs about racism that actually make for vaguely pleasurable (if often sad and chastening) listening experiences. … Read More

Music

The 50 Best Albums You’ve Never Heard

By Tom Hawking on

For all that the internet provides an endless wealth of music, it’s easy to get stuck in the same listening habits after a while. Sometimes it takes someone to come along with a bunch of new tunes to shake you out of such ruts, so we’ve been amusing ourselves this week at Flavorpill central by delving into our record collections and sharing some of our favorite obscure, under-appreciated albums. From the very old to the very new, cerebral hip hop and exuberant African rhythms to experimental drone and overlooked indie bands, there’s something here for… Read More

Music

The Most Beautiful Song Lyric Tattoos We’ve Ever Seen

By Tom Hawking on

Song lyrics are clearly a popular choice for tattoos, but the vast majority of lyrical quotes are pretty much plain old script tattoos. We have nothing against this, but it’s interesting to see tattoos where lyrics are combined with an artistic flourish, so we’ve gathered some examples of truly beautiful work that we thought we’d share with… Read More

Music

Photos of Famous Musicians Playing in the Snow

By Tom Hawking on

If that was winter, we guess it’s pretty much over, which is depressing news for those of us who actually enjoy the snow (and for anyone worried about, y’know, global warming and the future of the planet.) We’re already looking wistfully back at the photos we published a couple of weeks back of famous authors playing in the snow, and we thought we’d follow up today with similar images of musicians. These were somewhat more difficult to track down — a legacy, perhaps, of the fact that musicians as a whole aren’t exactly noted for being outdoor types — but still, there’s plenty of snow-related musical imagery to be found if you look hard enough. So click through and try to ignore the fact that if these crazy warm summers are anything to go by, these sorts of pictures are probably gonna be the only way to see snow in a few years’ time. Huzzah. … Read More

Music

10 Great Rockstars’ Famous Last Words

By Emily Temple on

It’s hard out there for a rock star. All those people out there venerating your image and hanging on your every word — you really have to choose your words carefully. Someone’s always going to remember them. To that end, Jeremy Simmonds, London-based rock writer and author of The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns and Ham Sandwiches, which just hit shelves this month, has put together a list of famous last words — and we mean very last words — from some of our favorite musicians. ”Rock musicians – bless ‘em,” Simmonds writes. ”They spend their entire lives trying to create the perfect couplet, the lyric that will speak either to the faithful concert crowd, or perhaps just that one dedicated follower sitting alone in his bedsit, wishing he’d thought of it. And while some artists may kill themselves in achieving this, there are as many who might just die trying. However, when the final moment does arrive, even the most articulate can struggle to find the right words…” Read on to find out just what those words, right or wrong, might be. … Read More

Music

25 Intimate and Revealing Backstage Photos of Famous Musicians

By Tom Hawking on

We all know what our favorite musicians are like on stage — whether they’re shy or flamboyant, whether they’re chatty or businesslike, whether they’re funny or taciturn. But we also know that what we’re seeing on stage is ultimately a performance. Off stage, however, it’s a completely different matter, and thus backstage photography has always provided an interesting insight into the music world, particularly when the photos in question aren’t posed or contrived. We’ve pulled together a collection of such photos, images that seem to capture sides to performers that we rarely get to see, giving a glimpse of the person behind the persona — whether it’s a tearful Kurt Cobain slumped in a corner, Bob Marley playing soccer, or Lemmy reading a book (with nary a bottle of Jack Daniel’s in sight!), these are like all great photos in that they capture a moment in time and in doing so also capture some part of the subject’s personality. We hope you enjoy… Read More

Design

Mosaics of Influential Musicians Made from Their CDs

By Heba Hasan on

What better way to recreate the likeness of greats such as Jim Morrison, Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, James Brown, Freddie Mercury, and Elvis than to depict them using their music as a medium? Mirco Pagano and Moreno De Turco used an array of the musicians’ own albums to create portraits that stunningly capture the facial expressions and body language of each icon. But the project is more than just a tribute to thee stars. It’s part of Piracy, a campaign against illegal file sharing by the advertising agency TBWA based on the idea that these deceased musicians were cheated out of their success and ultimately brought down by music piracy. The theme is underscored in an accompany video, which shows Michael Jackson literally withering away as CDs swallow him up.

Though the images are visually stunning, like Visual News, we’re not sure the campaign entirely adds up. Why was TBWA moved to illustrate the ill effects of Internet piracy using this particular set of musicians, most of whom worked during a time that predates file sharing and were extremely successful during their lives? Let us know what you think. Are these images an interesting way to use art for a relevant cause or an aesthetically cool campaign whose politics and/or execution bother you? Click through to see images and video from Piracy, and head over to Behance to learn more.  … Read More

Music

10 of the Best Political Songs You’ll Ever Hear

By Tom Hawking on

Last week we published a list of what we considered to be some of the worst political songs ever — the trite, the mawkish, the hopelessly naïve. Predictably enough, the feature generated plenty of comment section debate, including one call for a corresponding list of good political songs. We actually ran a feature a while back about good 21st-century political anthems, but still, your wish is our command — so without doubling up any, here’s a selection of songs we consider to be as moving and effective as those other songs are banal and ineffective. Your comments are, as ever, welcome. … Read More

Music

25 Great Songwriters on the Art of Songwriting

By Tom Hawking on

Thomas Edison’s famous and oft-abused quote about genius being 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration is one of the great truisms of our time. But is it actually, y’know, true? How creativity actually works — in terms of the nuts and bolts of actually getting things down on the page/tape/canvas/etc. — is perhaps the most mysterious aspect of art, a process that’s both romanticized and often misunderstood. And in view of this, we thought it might be interesting to see what some of our favorite songwriters had to say about how they approach the process of writing. Click through to read opinions from Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Björk, Patti Smith and a whole heap more. We hope they provide some measure of inspiration, interest, or insight. … Read More