"Music is the effect created against silence."

July 17, 2017 9:39 AM

Why does the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest winner sound so different from other contemporary pop songs? Luís Figueiredo, the arranger of the song “Amar Pelos Dois” sang by Salvador Sobral and written by Luísa Sobral, explains why. Includes an analysis of "corporate" music and advice on finding good new music since you really can't expect corporate radio to give it to you.
posted by JanetLand (14 comments total)

I'm guessing it's the same reason why this song defied conventional pop music trends.
posted by mysticreferee at 9:53 AM on July 17, 2017

Here's a link to the official vid for the song. Beautiful.
posted by wemayfreeze at 10:03 AM on July 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

Here's a link to a slightly more irreverent moment that Salvador had during a wildfires benefit concert 2 weeks ago, playing the song. It was kind of embarrassing and caused a miniature kerfuffle. He is either really good at putting on this character, or is truly is like a deer in fame's headlights (either way it's clearly part of his overall appeal).
posted by chavenet at 10:12 AM on July 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

TL;DW - it's a show tune.
posted by straight at 10:21 AM on July 17, 2017 [8 favorites]

I'm guessing it's the same reason why this song yt defied conventional pop music trends.

I'm not sure I can trace the linkage of ideas. You have linked to probably the most-recognizable (and as I understand it, most-covered) song in history, which does indeed sound unlike other pop music of the era. Eurovision songs* -- which, per the FPP, do not sound like other contemporary pop songs -- almost all vanish without a ripple.

*"Waterloo" being the exception, of course.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:25 AM on July 17, 2017

wat

finding new amazing music hasn't been an issue for decades

even if you aren't into usenet, podcasts, blogs, sound cloud, etc, etc there is always spotify and apple music with 30M songs
posted by Foci for Analysis at 10:29 AM on July 17, 2017 [5 favorites]

I'm not sure I can trace the linkage of ideas.

-non-rock insturmentation
-avoiding cliched verse/chorus/verse/chorus/break/chorus pop song structure
posted by thelonius at 10:38 AM on July 17, 2017

This is a strange video. Nobody is obliged to listen to "popular" music anymore (my teenagers and their friends are all into this weird genre of soundtracks-that-aren't-actually-soundtracks-to-anything) if millions of people listen to Katy Parry, it's probably just because that's what they like.
posted by straight at 10:42 AM on July 17, 2017 [5 favorites]

Also, I don't think the popularity of "Yesterday," "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Let it Go," or "Amar Pelos Dois" means there are a lot of people who want to listen to more songs like these if only the music industry would let them. Nor do I think it means there are a lot of people who want to listen to hours of music that varies diversely as much as "Amar Pelos Dois" varies from most current pop music.

Rather I think there are a lot of people who occasionally enjoy hearing a song that is different from whatever more-homogenous collection of music they usually listen to. The kinds of pop music discussed in the video are designed to have catchy earworms that get stuck in your head the first time you hear a minute of a song. But songs like "Amar Pelos Dois" become popular when people have an occasion to sit and listen to them, like being featured in a movie or a song contest. But almost by definition you aren't going to be introduced to an hour's worth of songs that are all the climax of a movie or the standout-moment of a song contest.
posted by straight at 11:57 AM on July 17, 2017 [2 favorites]

I was not on board with Amar Pelos Dois the first couple times I listened to it, but by the time the Grand Final came around I was rooting for it to win. Even so, Salvador Sobral's statement about "real music" vs "fast-food music" soured me on him and his song. I can enjoy complex, intricate, mostly-analog music like his while also having a dance party in my car whenever Jedward's "Lipstick" comes on. The idea that we can, or should, only like one kind of thing makes me both angry and sad.
posted by zebra at 2:51 PM on July 17, 2017 [8 favorites]

(my teenagers and their friends are all into this weird genre of soundtracks-that-aren't-actually-soundtracks-to-anything)

Yes, what is that? My own (long past teenage) sprog is really into gamer-style epic music that to me sounds like GoT battle scene parody. Has it budded off from the by-the-yard stuff that directors can presumably buy for tuppence-ha'penny now that the bedroom boys can make it on a cheap PC if they have the talent and the warez connections? Is it worth a delve?
posted by Devonian at 6:48 PM on July 17, 2017

Nobody is obliged to listen to "popular" music anymore

Except in restaurants, shops, offices and all over the damned place really. Party of my daily dread of going to work is the knowledge that I'll probably be exposed to several seconds of "Oh Chariot" or "Best Day of My Li--ii--iii--ii--i--i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ii-iii-i-i-i--iii-i-i-i--fe" or some other horror while waiting for the elevator, before I can get to my desk and purge it with Skinny Puppy or Skullflower or Swiss Mountain Transport Systems or something.
posted by Foosnark at 7:42 AM on July 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

One of the reasons it sounds so different is simply that it is in 3/4 time, which almost nothing else is nowadays.
posted by tommyD at 9:54 AM on July 18, 2017

You can't just waltz in and leave a comment like that!
posted by Celsius1414 at 6:32 AM on July 21, 2017