So I'm at the gym this morning, running on a treadmill and watching TV, when a commercial comes on for the NFL Network. Nothing notable about the content, but then comes the swelling music at the end of the spot and who do I hear? Morrissey! This, my friends, is the song that the guys at the NFL Network have co-opted:Trudging slowly over wet sand
Back to the bench where your clothes were stolen
This is the coastal town
That they forgot to close down
Armageddon - come Armageddon!
Come, Armageddon! Come!
Everyday is like Sunday
Everyday is silent and grey
Hide on the promenade
Etch a postcard :
"How I Dearly Wish I Was Not Here"
In the seaside town...
that they forgot to bomb
Come, Come, Come - nuclear bomb
Everyday is like Sunday
Everyday is silent and grey
Trudging back over pebbles and sand
And a strange dust lands on your hands
(And on your face...)
(On your face ...)
(On your face ...)
(On your face ...)
Everyday is like Sunday
"Win Yourself A Cheap Tray"
Share some greased tea with me
Everyday is silent and grey
I suppose that one line about Sundays fits nicely when taken out of context, but aren't the primary themes of this song (1) boredom; (2) misery; and (3) nuclear apocalypse? Regardless, it isn't exactly the kind of song that gets me in the mood for football. Maybe suicide, but definitely not football.
The last time I remember words and commercial meaning so mismatched was when Polaroid juxtaposed The Cure's "Pictures of You" over a happy couple taking photos of one another, and presumably not crying for the death of their hearts. Polaroid declared bankruptcy a couple years later.
8 comments:
How about Wrangler jeans using "Fortunate Son" to portray their brand as super-patriotic? Or -- and I know this isn't quite the same -- Viagra using a Queen song? Freddie Mercury, of course, died of an STD.
I'm not sure about the Wrangler one. Couldn't is be argued that Wrangler's whole thing has been that they're the jean for the working man? The Anti-elitest jean? On that level, maybe "Fortunate Son" isn't too terrible.
The Viagra one is classic. I'll add Reagan using "Born in the USA" back in 1984. Of course (a) the anthem-like and triumphant major key the Boss used in that song (ironically, I assume) did confuse a lot of people who don't listen to the words; and (b) it ended up working for Reagan anyway.
I'd say this would be a wonderful theme song for the World Series so far.
I always enjoyed the Chevy commercial playing the "this'll be the day that I die" portion of "American Pie." A couple was sitting on their Chevy at the beach and right after the song one of them says "You ready?" and they walk off camera.
I cannot imagine many products that a Morrissey song would ever be appropriate for except maybe some anti-depressant meds.
Apparently U2 didn't need the cash for 'Bloody Sunday'.
Can I put in Jon McLaughlin's "Beautiful Disaster"?
How about Royal Caribbean using Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life"? Nothing says family cruise like a song about liquor and drugs.
I like the way There She Goes by The Las has been used in many, many commercial contexts, always over sunny, happy footage of pretty smiling girls. Indeed, I would say There She Goes by The Las is the most advertisement-friendly song about heroin ever written.
There she goes
There she goes again
Racing through my brain
And I just can't contain
This feelin' that remains
There she blows
There she blows again
Pulsing through my vein
And I just can't contain
This feelin' that remains
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