Lecture - True Colours - popular music in Aotearoa since the Eighties

Now and then I think of when we were ____________
Like when you said you felt so happy you could ______
Told myself that you were right for ______
But felt so lonely in your __________
But that was love, and it's an ache I still _________

You can get addicted to a certain kind of ________
Like resignation to the end, always the _____
So when we found that we could not make _______
Well, you said that we would still be ________
But I'll admit that I was glad it was _____

But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never ______ and that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger, and that feels so _______
No, you didn't have to stoop so _____
Have your friends ________ your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that, _______
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now and then I think of all the times you _______ me over
But ______ me believing it was always something that I'd done

And I don't wanna live that way
_________ into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you ____________ somebody that you used to know

Used to Know 

  

Shark Attack

Split Enz

(1980)

Loves got teeth and she bites so hard
Leaving you for dead like a deadly shark
And she doesn't leave a lot to be saved

I was swimming in the harbour of your smile
Splashing in the ocean like a child
I didn't know what dangers lurked there
Just beyond the waves
Shark attack

Well she chewed me up and she spat me out
I didn't want to meet a man eater
Shark attack

Please don't mess around with me
I'm a shark fatality, in the sea
I'm the one with the bleeding heart
I thought you were a real lifesaver
And life for once would do me a favour
But baby's just a butcher, and her teeth are razor sharp
Shark attack

Yeah she chewed me up and she spat me out
I didn't want to meet a man eater
Shark attack

And I'm lost at sea and I'm an amputee
And there was slaughter in the water when I fought her
Shark attack   (hey! etc)

Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey!                                                                                                                          

Songwriter: Tim Finn

Shark Attack

 

The Springbok Tour, 1981

 

 

  

An alternative anthem?

The year 1981 was a time of great economic anxiety in New Zealand, which was characterised by rising unemployment, industrial strife and a growing resentment of the Muldoon government. On the social/political front an impending Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand carried with it the fear of massive civil unrest. This sense of unease was captured by the seminal Auckland band Blam Blam Blam, which, in July 1981, released ‘There is no depression in New Zealand’.

(NZ History)

 

There is No Depression in New Zealand

Blam Blam Blam
(1981)

There is no depression in New Zealand;

    there are no sheep on our farms,

There is no depression in New Zealand;

    we can all keep perfectly calm,

Everybody's talking about World War Three;

    everybody's talking about World War Three,

But we're as safe as safe can be,

    there's no unrest in this country

We have no dole queues,

    we have no drug addicts,

        we have no racism,

            we have no sexism, sexism, no, no

There is no depression in New Zealand;

    there are no teeth in our heads

There is no depression in New Zealand;

    we sleep in a well made bed

Oh but everybody's talking about World War Three,

    yes everybody's talking about World War Three,

But we're as safe as safe can be,

    there's no unrest in this country

We have no SIS,

    we have no secrets,

        we have no rebellion;

            we have no valium, valium, no, no

There is no depression in New Zealand;

    there are no sheep on our farms,

There is no depression in New Zealand;

    oh we can all keep perfectly calm,

        perfectly calm,

            perfectly calm,

                perfectly calm,

                    perfectly calm...

Lyrics by Richard von Sturmer

There is no depression

The Front Lawn

The Front Lawn were known for their live performances, and toured extensively in New Zealand, Australia, Europe and America. They released two albums and made three short films.

We are the people
Who eat toast and butter and jam
People in other places
Just wouldn't understand

We are the people
Who drink milk with our tea
People in other places
Don't do it like you and me

The Reason For Breakfast 

(The Breakfast Anthem)
(1989)


You put the butter on and then the jam
Is this the way we usually do it
It's not big deal
do it this way
You know what I think
Do it like this

Flying Nun

French Letter - by Herbs

Can you see yourself, under a coconut tree

Wanting for nothing, or maybe a cooler breeze
Where all things romantic, in the south pacific
And the only peace is the spit on a feast, your feast yeah

Do you know what makes the ocean glow
Do you know what makes the ocean glow
When unwelcome guests, are making nuclear tests
Are making nuclear tests, are making nuclear tests
Are making nuclear tests

Oh yes, no nukes hah ahhhhhhh
Nuclear mis-energy, nuclear, nuclear, free yo yo yo yo yo

Is there nothing at all who can appease your greed
Could you please leave the air we breath
Why is it something we’ve done
You all seem to forget
About nuclear fallout and the long term effects

Is there anything gained when you hide the plane
Anything gained when you hide the plane
Let me be more specific, get out of the pacific
Ki te la pacific, get out of the pacific
Ki te la pacific

Pacific 3-2-1-0 - by From Scratch

BFM

Chains

Chains

DLT and Che Fu

Come break my chains come help me out, living in the city ain't so bad 

Come test me like a bomb straight from murdera

How comes i got cyclops fish in my water, A
Nation of Pacific lambs to the slaughter three
Eyes for my son and an extra foot for my daughter,

Gifts from a land that i don't even know i was
To slow to see that s-car-go you say i'm all
Blow no cash exchange i didn't lie there's a
Picture of me in the dictionary under "French
Fry", no racism i'm out for who's in charge, I'd
Like to lay a fat cable, in their backyard to
Far they've gone now i'm radioactive strong I
Just walk past the switch and all the lights
Turn on, no "last dragon" just left my bones
Exposed didn't reach no final level yet my body
Still glows, why do you wanna annoy, nuclear
Boy with your toy

Wa Pihia neke mase a koe

Feel the light of one who stays over come some
Day set your sights and chip away

Come break my chains come help me out, 

living in the city ain't so bad 

Hurt Feelings

Flight of the Conchords

Some people say that rappers don't have feelings
We have feelings. (We have feelings)
Some people say that we are not rappers. (We're rappers.)
That hurts our feelings.
(Hurts our feelings when you say we're not rappers.)
Some people say that rappers are invincible
We're vincible. (We're vincible.)
What you are about to hear are true stories
(Real experiences)
Autobiographical raps.
Things that happened to us, all true
Bring the rhyme!

I make a meal for my friends,
Try to make it delicious,
Try to keep it nutritious,
Create wonderful dishes.
Not one of them thinks about the way I feel
Nobody compliments the meal

I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings
I feel like a prize asshole
No one even mentions my casserole.
I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings.
You coulda said something nice about my profiteroles

Here's a little story to bring a tear to your eye,
I was shopping for a wetsuit to scuba dive,
But every suit I tried is too big around the thighs,
And the assistant suggested I try a ladies' size

I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings
I'm not gonna wear a ladies' wetsuit I'm a man!
I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings
Get me a small man's wetsuit, please

It's my birthday, 2003
Waitin' for a call from my family

They forgot about me

I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings
The day after my birthday is not my birthday, Mum

I call my friends and say, "Let's go into town"
But they're all too busy to go into town
So I go by myself, I go into town
Then I see all my friends, they're all in town

I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings.
They're all lined up to watch that movie
"Maid in Manhattan."

Have you even been told that your ass is too big?
Have you ever been asked if your hair is a wig?
Have you ever been told you're mediocre in bed?
Have you ever been told you've got a weird-shaped head?
Has your family ever forgotten you and driven away?
Once again, they forgot about J
Were you ever called "homo" 'cause at school you took drama?
Have you ever been told that you look like a llama?

Tears of a rapper
(don't wanna make a rapper cry then watch what you say)
I'm crying tears of a rapper
(I pouring out the bullets of my Icannon)
Go play the tears of a rapper
(These are the tears of a rapper now)
The diamond tears of a rapper
(These are the bullet proof 24 karat of tears, of a rapper)

Songwriters: Bret Mckenzie / Jemaine Clement

 Hurt Feelings


What's the satirical point of this song? What does it have to do with norms of masculinity?

1. Lorde

On Feminism - and the meaning of the name Lorde.

1. How did Lorde hit upon the word "lord"?
2. Why did she add an 'e' to the name?
3. How does Lorde see her own degree of privilege?
4. What is feminism about for Lorde?

Royals - U.S. version

Royals - International / non-U.S version

I've never seen a diamond in the flesh
I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies
And I'm not proud of my address, in the torn up town
No post code envy

to cut one's teeth - acquire initial practice or experience of a particular sphere of activity.

a diamond in the rough - An uncut diamond. (idiomatic) A person whose goodness or other positive qualities are hidden by a harsh or unremarkable surface appearance.

to see sb in the flesh - in person or (of a thing) in its actual state.

post code envy - jealousy of another person's address, because of its snobbish status.

But every song's like gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom
Bloodstains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room
We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams
But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece
Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash
We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair

And we'll never be royals
It don't run in our blood
That kind of lux just ain't for us
We crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler, you can call me Queen B
And baby I'll rule (I'll rule I'll rule I'll rule)
Let me live that fantasy

2. Kimbra

Kimbra - Settle Down

I wanna settle down

I wanna settle down

Won't you settle down with me?

Settle down

We can settle at a table

A table for two

Won't you wine and dine with me?

Settle down

I wanna raise a child

I wanna raise a child

Won't you raise a child with me

Raise a child

We'll call her Nebraska

Nebraska Jones

She'll have your nose

Just so you know

I wanna settle down

I wanna settle down

Won't you settle down with me?

Settle down

Run from Angela Vickers

I saw her with you

Monday morning small talking on the avenue

She's got a fancy car

She wants to take you far

From the city lights and sounds deep into the dark

Star so light and star so bright

First star I see tonight!

Star so light and star so bright

Keep him by side!

I wanna settle down

I wanna settle down

Baby there's no need to run

I'll love you well

I wanna settle down

It's time to bring you down

On just one knee for now

Angela Vickers is a socialite in the film A Place in the Sun (1951). She seduces and leads astray a young man.




3. Anna Coddington

Runner

Read the lyrics before listening:

I’m running on empty, trying to take a long view

hoping that my happiness is on my way toward you

run out of feelings, nothing left for you

I made a mess of them with somebody before you

Running on empty - being low on energy, or possibly literally not having much fuel left  in your tank.

I’ve wasted my heart throwing love down a wishing well

now I can tell when the bottom’s near

so I keep running and the further that I go

the more I love to be on my own

getting near to the bottom - similar meaning to running on empty

I’ll stick around for the fun, but baby I’m a runner

Coz you might be the one or just another lover

I’m here now for the fun, but baby I’m a runner

Coz you could be the one or just another lover

A runner - someone who doesn't commit in a relationship

I’m running on wishes, promises of all new

beginnings and everything I felt when I first saw you

running on the feeling that just around the corner

is the pay off for all of the hell I went through for ya

running on wishes - trying to be optimistic, but not feeling very optimistic
the pay off - the reward

I’ve wasted love throwing my heart at a lost cause

and all because it seemed easier

but I kept running and the further that I got

the more I realized that it’s not

a lost cause - something that's not worth fighting for

Listen to the song and video together

Fixture Picture

Aldous Harding

Honey, your face is folding up
As the memory kisses you goodbye


It's better to live with melody and have an honest time
Isn't that right?

There's a definite vibe
You can't be pure and in love

In the corner in blue
Is my name (in the corner)

Fixture picture
I've got it, I'm on it
You're in it, I'm honoured

Fixture picture
I've got it, I'm on it
You're in it, I'm honoured

Some phrases these lyrics recall:

"I've got the picture" (to understand something, and need no further explanation)
"a fixture" (person with whom you have become very familiar, attached)

Fixture Picture

Boney M - Brown Girl in the Ring (1979)


Brown Girl

I'm more than the colour of my skin

I'm a girl that likes to sing

All I know is what's within

Not just a brown girl in the ring

Go to school and learn their ways

Told how to think and what to say

While my mother says to pray

I pray for better days

God, please help them see

They ain't no different from me

Not above, not beneath

Teach them equality

I'm not just a brown girl in the ring

I'm a girl that likes to sing

I'm not just a brown girl in the ring

I'm a girl that likes to sing

I'm more than what they think of me

More than the colour tones that they see

More than urban, R&B, more than a slang that I speak

Aardanha refuses Hip Hop Award

1. What is Aardana's cultural background?

2. What song did Aardana win best Hip Hop song for?

3. Why does she refuse to accept the award?

Discuss: What do you think? Was she right to refuse the award?

  

Tiny Ruins

Winter Garden


I await the day 
when I work at the museum

With you across the way 
in the winter gardens

So young and so warm

We'll storm, we'll swarm

the parks on our lunch breaks

We'll lie on the lawn

Smile so stealthily

Buttery and brief

We'll lie through our teeth

Shock all the cavalry

Statues watching on

Us in our time bomb

to lie through one's teeth: informal. to tell someone something that you know is completely false: He asked me how old I was and, lying through my teeth, I said "29".

shock cavalry: heavy cavalry used in battle as a 'shock' tactic.

Statues watching on: onlookers, spectators

a time bomb: a secret that is bound to become public and upset others

1. Who are the two people in this song?

2. What are they doing?
3. What will happen eventually?
4. Consider the use of rhyme, rhythm and assonance in these lyrics.
5. Can you find imagery relating to war?
6. Can you find imagery relating to gardens?

Four Seasons in One Day

Crowded House

Four seasons in one day
Lying in the depths of your imagination
Worlds above and worlds below
The sun shines on the black clouds hanging over the domain

Even when you're feeling warm
The temperature could drop away
Like four seasons in one day

Smiling as the shit comes down
You can tell a man from what he has to say
Everything gets turned around
And I will risk my neck again, again

You can take me where you will
Up the creek and through the mill
Like all the things you can't explain
Four seasons in one day

Blood dries up
Like rain, like rain
Fills my cup
Like four seasons in one day

It doesn't pay to make predictions
Sleeping on an unmade bed
Finding out wherever there is comfort there is pain
Only one step away
Like four seasons in one day

Blood dries up
Like rain, like rain
Fills my cup
Like four seasons in one day

Dark Child - Marlon Williams

My little blond haired blue eyed boy
One day you'll grow up and be distressed
One day you'll grow up and reject everything
I've set out for you

My only dear long wasteful son
One day you'll wonder what you've become
One day all this could be yours if
You only had the will to outlive
Your mother and I

Looking in, from the outside
Couldn't see it was true
Oh my dear, dark child
I've been waiting for you

Looking in, from the outside
Couldn't see it was true
You've been given too much time
Oh my darling
I've been waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you

Although the news came as no surprise
I always hoped I'd never have to bury a child