I like this song because photography has always been my thing so when I hear “Take a picture,” that’s the same thought that I usually have in my head.
When I first saw this video, I thought that all the things that happened in it were things that the singer wished he could take a picture of. Plus, because the band was called Filter, I really did think that this entire song was about someone who loved taking pictures. Later I found out that the song was actually about getting drunk and needing someone to take a picture so you would be able to remember what you did in the morning. I like my version better.
Today we wish a happy birthday to one of the most important figure in American music and American culture in general, Mr. Bob Dylan.
This music video was shot as a promo for the ground-breaking documentary, Don’t Look Back. It was filmed in an alley near the Savoy Hotel in London. The cards that Dylan flips throughout the video were written by Donovan, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Neuwirth and Dylan himself and, of course, both Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth can spotted standing in the background of the video. (Considering that Don’t Look Back features a famous scene in which Dylan absolutely humiliates Donovan, I always found it interesting that he played a role in the production of this video. Did Donovan help write out the cards before or after the It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue incident?) In typical Dylan fashion, the cards feature intentional misspellings and occasionally they don’t actually match up with the lyrics. For instance, the song may mention needing “eleven dollar bills” but the card reads “twenty.”
Dylan filmed two other versions of this video, neither one of which was officially released but which can both be found in Martin Scorsese’s Dylan documentary, Don’t Look Back. One was shot at a nearby park while the other was apparently filmed in the Savoy Hotel itself. All three of the videos follow the same basic theme of Dylan flipping cards while Ginsberg and Neuwirth wander about in the background.
This song, which was inspired by the writings of Beats like Ginsberg and Kerouac (as well as, according to Bob Dylan, by the music of Chuck Berry), was Bob Dylan’s first top ten single in the U.S.
Corey Hart is best known for defining the 80s with Sunglasses At Night but, as the saying goes, he did have other songs.
Bang (Starting Over) is the title track from Hart’s fifth album, Bang. Unfortunately, Bang only produced one moderate hit and it wasn’t this song. I say unfortunately because Bang (Starting Over) is actually a pretty good song and it just had the misfortune to be released at a time when musical tastes were changing. Both the song and Hart are better appreciated now than they were in 1990.
This video was directed by Meier Avis, who has directed videos for just about everyone.
I went to the same high school as Jessica Simpson!
Of course, I didn’t go there at the same time that Jessica did. Jessica was long gone by the time I started the 9th grade. As well, I actually graduated while Jessica dropped out so she could become a super-rich celebrity instead. That said, I did take a few classes that were taught by Jessica’s former teachers, who all agreed that Jessica was a sweet person. To be honest, most of my classmates made a big deal about being kind of cynical about going to the same high school as Jessica Simpson. You’re never more jaded than you are between the ages of 13 and 18. Myself, I’ve always liked Jessica Simpson because we’re both from Texas and we both occasionally play dumb for the laughs.
Anyway, this song was written when Jessica was going through a very public divorce from Nick Lachey. It’s an empowerment song that also happens to be really depressing, which is really the best type of song there is. There’s something to be said for a good depressing song and a good depressing video.
This video was filmed at the Inn, which is a bar in Long Island. The video features Britney performing with her then-backing band. It also features a speaker that appears to be on the verge of exploding and a motorcycle. To be honest, if I was performing this song, I would probably want a motorcycle on stage with me too. This is a song that just makes you want to ride a motorcycle.
(Seriously, I’ve always had like a major weakness for motorcycles. It’s not so much that I like to ride them as much as I just like to lean up against them.)
I can remember that, when this cover was first released, a lot of people complained that it wasn’t as good as the previous versions and Britney also got a lot of criticism for saying that she had been inspired by Pat Benatar’s cover when the cover was actually performed by Joan Jett. Myself, I like Britney’s cover. It’s fun to dance too and Britney always seemed like she was happy when she was performing it. So, the haters can just shut up as far as I’m concerned.
Don’t worry, everyone. We’ve got another few trillion years to go before the universe ends. We’ll all be dead by the time the sun goes supernova but hopefully, this site and all of my film reviews will still be here to provide future readers with some sort of solace before they’re vaporized into nothingness.
Through the Shattered Lens