Bad Ambassador Thought it was just ok when I first heard it upon release, but it's really grown on me over the years. I think I learned to key in on the aspects that I liked (lyrics, vocals, strings, chords & melody) and ignore the aspects that I didn't care for (I find that opening phased/bendy guitar riff very off-putting - too hippy-dippy sounding for me. Same thing with the loping rhythm). Now I kinda love the song. It took a good decade or so for me to recognize it as a great song though. I agree with those that find it a little laughable that this is what passes for a "rock" song in DC land. I love lots of noisy/aggressive/heavy rock music, but Neil is never very convincing when he tries to lean in that direction. This is another great Neil Hannon song with slightly louder guitars. Takes more than a little bit of distortion to rock for real. 4.5/5
I can't say I've ever seen Bad Ambassador as especially rocky, but then I'd never consider The Divine Comedy a rock band, really. Even though Regeneration comes as close as they ever come, I'd only classify the title track and Note To Self as anything higher up the scale than indie soft rock.
Found this puzzling - who are these mythical people? - then realised, of course, I'm one of them. Me, yesterday: "I have no interest in this, show me something new". However, it was reasonable to expect great ideas, as all of the previous albums had been full of them. But OK, let's take a break from that for a while - ASAAL wasn't stuffed with content either and that was fine. Even so, the song still doesn't quite make sense to me: "I'm putting this away so I can try to be a big star for a while" - but all of that was successful, and I don't buy the indie fallacy that popular music has to be dumbed down (hm, there's a song about that somewhere...). I don't know. It's strange; Neil's obviously poking fun at his delusions of grandeur here, riding with the tough guys on a Japanese motorbike. And taking the lyric seriously one moment, as a joke the next, is such a key part of how the earlier albums work. But I can't hold on to the ambiguity, can only hear it at face value, because everything surrounding it demands to be taken straight - the indie arrangement, the production, the major label debut that everyone really would like to sell a million. And it's kind of sad too - here is Neil's id, already knowing that it's not going to work out.
I'm SOOOO happy I brought up the "R" word... Anyway, "Bad Ambassador" scored a headbanging 70.35 points from 18 leather-jacket-wearing votes, for a guitar-smashing preliminary total of: 3.91
It was almost like he looked into his crystal ball and saw The Flan Thanks for reading the quotes, by the way, I was starting to wonder whether all the hours I spent collecting them up was time well spent (well, we probably all know the answer to that...!) I always find it very interesting to hear what artists had to say about their latest work at the time of its release, especially since it usually contains details that they forget about in later years. I've got a stack of stuff all organised here to post so I will probably carry on doing it, but I'll think twice about going to quite the same lengths for future albums. It's just that this one is such an interesting anomaly that rarely gets discussed, and it's fascinating to me to hear the thought processes behind it.
Today's song is: Perfect Lovesong Track 3 on "Regeneration" and its third single, which in February 2001, Neil was touting onstage as a future Number 1 single. Unfortunately by the time it was finally released on October 29th, the album had flopped, the band had broken up, and the single whimpered out to little fanfare, only reaching number 42. Interestingly, we now know that the song's music had been around since the days of "Promenade" and it was resurrected and finished up for this album. Here are some quotes from 2001 about today's song: "It's about my wife and I won't say any more than that! (laughs) It's a song I've had in my head since 1992 but I hadn't managed to get it into shape yet. It was too beautiful for me to ruin by making some kind of stupid Beach Boys pastiche. It's very hard in this business to avoid clichés, especially with love songs. So I waited and eventually it came. Our producer helped us to get it into shape: I must admit that without him forbidding it I would have put a rubbish guitar solo in the middle ... " (Newcomer, March 2001) --- “ Nigel's main quality is knowing how to stop us ,” admits Joby. “The melody of 'Perfect Lovesong' is very sixties, it's reminiscent of the Beach Boys. We were about to make it the greatest pastiche in the world, with timpani and lots of silly high backing vocals. Nigel came in and said, '"Why? How is this useful?" “Unfortunately, he was right, anyone can parody the Beach Boys, ” Neil confesses. (Rock and Folk, April 2001) --- Question from BigDiv: Apart from yours, what's the perfect love song? Neil: One of the best is 'God Only Knows' by the Beach Boys. I like it when he says 'I may not always love you'! 'Perfect Love Song' was written ten years ago, but I've only just found the right words. (BBC Webchat, March 2001) --- When you say: “ Together we will stay / Forever and a day ”. Neil: It's paraphrasing the Beach Boys in "God Only Knows". I don't say, “ I will love you forever ”, but “ I will stay with you ”, which is different. It's more honest. You probably get sick of each other after a while, but engagement is something to be taken seriously. (Start’up, March 2001) --- On the lighter side, we have “Perfect Love Song” which name-checks The Beatles and Beach Boys. What is your idea of the perfect love song now? "I’m not sure if it’s something I really aspire to. I did a lot of love song writing. When I wrote that song, I thought it was a neat idea to even suggest that I’m going to try and write the perfect love song. It’s in the lyrics. I had written quite a lot them. I had written A Short Album About Love. But a lot of those songs weren’t particularly love song-esque. They were long. And odd. I feel like I’ve written better songs about love in my latter years. Mostly because I have more knowledge of the subject." (Under the Radar, 2016) Here's the song with its video:
On the new 2020 Bonus disc , there is this demo, which dates from the Promenade period as you can very much tell when you listen to it! *If I remember rightly, we also decided that there was part of this song in one of the other "Prom" demos, but I can't recall which one right now ...
Yes, it's really interesting, thanks for doing it. I agree it's particularly acute for this album, but I'm finding it's changing my perspective on Absent Friends as well. (Tell Me What's Wrong was the other demo I think - "I know you can't believe" / "I'll match you pound for pound".)
Moving forwards in time, "Perfect Lovesong" is another song that was tried out onstage on the short 2000 Scottish tour, and here it is. It's not the most changed song of the lot, but you can certainly hear a bit more of that Beach Boys sound that Godrich told them to dial down... (once again, sorry about sound quality!)
Tucked away on the DVD-single of "Perfect Lovesong", there is this remix of the song done by the band I Monster... It's not everyone's cup of tea, but for completion's sake here it is anyway
The song was performed live on the entire of the 2001 tour with the full band, and here's a recording of it from the V Festival (albeit with messed up aspect ratio)
And lastly for now, if you only watch one of today's videos, make it this one - A recording of Neil back in 2002 doing the song during a solo instore in the US. I got goosebumps, I'm not afraid to tell you. (watch for the capo change moment, and you'll understand why these days he gets Warren to come onstage and do it for him, mid song )
The positives: The tune. It's a beautiful tune, beautiful. The negatives: the words. they're not awful, but I dislike the idea of the song. Again it's too meta, it's not enough letting us make up our own mind about the song. I don't like the simile of "heavyweights" and I especially don't like the idea of making love till you're half dead. The production I'm on the fence about. Although a lot of Beach Boys-isms have been copied to death over the years precisely because they work, I think Godrich was right to discourage a full-on pastiche. Apart from anything else, it's too presumptious to take on the Beach Boys at their own game. On the other hand, the recording they did end up with is competent but nothing particularly state of the art or earth-shattering. This is a pretty song but I don't hear a smash hit single even if it had been released ahead of the album. Just because the tune is so good, 4/5
One of my very favourite Divine Comedy songs. Sounds simple enough but it's a really lovely but a (not surprisingly for Neil) quite complex chord structure that rolls around beautifully. I love the imagery of holding on to each other like heavyweights in the final round. Also a rare outing for the (rightly!) maligned descant recorder! A full 5/5. I find the promenade (or maybe even earlier?) era demo fascinating, obviously the Ten Seconds To Midnight part is interesting enough but everything else apart from the words and middle 8 is pretty much there in a bare bones form. There aren't really any guitar driven songs on Promenade, I wonder if he had used it if he would have transferred it to piano?
Notes of the alternative versions: Early idea: sounds like he could have done a great version of the song back then (musically, anyway; who knows what lyrics it would have had) once he had ironed it out properly and separated out the bits that belong in "Ten Seconds To Midnight". I just get the sense of him being more effortlessly brilliant back then. But I'm a Promenade-head so I would say that. Early live version: compared to the released arrangement, six of one half a dozen the other. The extra Beach Boys aping doesn't go too far. Instore solo: good performance that emphasizes the melody (a plus) but also the lyrics (less of a plus).
Perfect Lovesong I feel like I had a lot to say yesterday, whereas today, not so much. Lyrically, this is much simpler - not that that's a bad thing - and musically it's pretty straightforward as well, but it's absolutely lovely. I love Neil's clever lyrics, but I love the contrast when he pulls back and writes something simple and heartfelt. Another song that works well love, and acoustic (the capo change always raises a smile). The remix is inoffensive but inessential - just as well given that it was tucked away on a dvd single, surely the most pointless innovation in the format wars! We walked out of the church to this song at the end of our wedding, so 5/5. As an aside, @LivingForever, the quotes are much appreciated!
I reckon Perfect Love Song could easily have fit on any of the post Regeneration albums also. It's just a nice pop song, but doesn't have a particular style that makes it feel like it definitely has to belong to a particular album. I remember seeing a Channel 5 interview with Neil on some surely short-lived chat show that existed back then, where Neil was saying (or the interviewer talked about Neil's marriage and then Neil agreed with it) that there were lots of love songs, but no so many about being happily married and live after that. (I think I blame this interview for Mother Dear (even though that's possibly about his own mother) and Leaving Today, although maybe I don't dislike that song as much now, anyway, getting diverted...) Feel sorry for him feeling that this would be his number one hit though - even if it was said in jest, he would have had high hopes for it I reckon. (And I'm glad it didn't get to number one, as I feel like I wouldn't like it as much then) Also, still not sure if I like the Maybe Now... *Recorder* You can see... *Recorder* Just what you... *Recorder* Mean to me.... bit. I do enjoy the random Air style blips and blops on the song though. Anyway, it's still darn catchy. 3.9
They are definitely read and appreciated, especially for this album, even if not always quoted from, so thank you! That recorder parts immediately struck me as a version of the classic Neil call-and-answer backing vocals (Queen of the South, Tonight We Fly and many more!). Interesting to know the tune had been around for a while. The demo also sounds a bit like a hymn. No idea what he's singing! Yes me too, although it's easier to be 'effortlessly brilliant' when you have years to sit in your parents attic just tinkering with songs, and you don't feel the pressure of anyone else's expectations Yes! I'm not really one for love songs but that one is gorgeous! "I may not always love you, but long as there are stars above you, you'll never need to doubt it, I'll make you so sure about it. God only knows what I'd be without you..." which basically means forever, *sniff*! Erm... yeah, not my cup of tea but thanks for posting. Is it a 'remix' when so little of the original song remains? I listened as I liked Daydream by I Monster, so hoped they might have done something similarly ethereal with the electronic bleepy bloops, but this just takes the bass from I Feel Love and slaps Neil's vocal on top of a bouncey dance track (sorry to anyone who likes it!). Lovely version. I liked the haunting high bit in the middle, and could hear something of Neil's 'mature voice' coming through here. Could see/hear his future self in this performance (despite the hair! ). Maybe changing vocal style for this album was a good thing in the long run. That's lovely! Perfect Lovesong I'm undecided as to whether I like this. Overall I find the tune really lovely, and there are some bits I really like, others I can take or leave and some that annoy me enough not to want to listen to the album version again!. Like: dualling recorders reflecting 'heavyweights in the final round' lyrics (its almost a musical round - is that intentional wordplay?). Unison recorder and falsetto part in middle eight. I like the falsetto again on this one The poor old recorder only gets a bad name as its every kid's first instrument, but even a rubbish plastic descant can sound pretty if played nicely! Great for folk and baroque music Take or leave: A nice bass line kicks in, but not sure there's much of a 'big old Beach Boys sound' here and kind of glad it was dialed down from full on pastiche(I grew up on a Beach Boys Diet - my dad's absolute favourite! Plenty of Vegetables... ). The lyrics initially passed me by with this one. Listening now I'm not sure what its about, apart from being another song about songs, don't really enjoy the metaphors and don't connect them to my idea of 'love' - 'heavyweights' feels too combative and I really don't like the making love until half dead line. I'm struggling a bit to get into my head that this is album is meant to be sincere, and that its 'Neil the person' singing, as opposed to any one of a multitude of characters. I couldn't help but wonder whether the second verse is ironic ('I'll give you what I think you're after'), or in character, a bit like the misogynist in ...Alfie, but presumably it is straight up? If so I don't think I get it/like it, but hey ho! Annoy: spacey, bloopy, wu-wu-wu noises; distracting amount of gasping/hyperventilating/excess effort after key change. Neil was presumably instructed to do this as it is an Important and Emotional Part of the song. I find this weird and distracting. (Key change?! Isn't that a bit cheesey?) Score is tough as I really like the tune, but my enjoyment of it is spoiled by the other factors, so I'll go for an Average Lovesong score of 2.5/5.0
As already implied upthread, I quite like this one - possibly in part due to the similarities in "sound" to Travis at their best which others have implied are a downside in their eyes, but also because it just feels like an oasis of downright pleasantness and cheer among the remainder of the album, which (whether one likes it or dislikes it) is somewhat saturated with gloom. The lyrics are simple and once again more or less comprise a song-about-writing-a-song, but this is no reason to mark it down per se; there are some bloody good songs outside the realm of DC which can be described thus, and within the DC catalogue there are significantly worse examples of the form! The instrumentation is again fairly simple, but works well alongside the vocals. Overall.... 4/5
Perfect Lovesong 4.8 Lovely, dreamy, summery, wistful, wispy music. The highlight of the album. It may be a Beach Boys hommage and all that but it is up there with the music it is hommaging. The words may not be Leonard Cohen, but they do not need to be. Love is about feeling and instinct not about vocalising and reason.
Must confess most of the time it’s the emotions the songs produce that move me and I do like a good melody, so... like this a lot. 4/5
Perfect Lovesong After hearing this song for the first time I can remember think that this was going to be a huge hit, so I can't really blame Neil for thinking the same thing. It's surprising to find out the recorded version is what it sounds like with the Beach Boy elements toned down. They only way it could be more like them would be to find that Neil was holding a surf board while he sang it. So it still sounds like a Beach Boys rip to me, but one of the best ones I've heard. Once again the whizzing and whirring sounds are superfluous, the song doesn't really benefit from them to my ears. Time has dulled it's impact a bit I suppose, but I still think it's a great pop song. 4.5/5
