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Stevie's "Livin' for the city vs. Sign O' the times Hey guys!
I was listening to both of these this morning and I was thinking of how both of these songs, have stood the test of time in terms of talking about what's going on in the world. In both songs, the stories that they tell hold your attention, because the are so true. I never get tired of them... This can also be said about Marvin's "What's going on? I read someplace that Prince was inspired to write SOTT after hearing, "The Message" by Grand Master Flash. What do u guys think? [This message was edited Mon Jul 5 16:28:08 2004 by shorttrini] "Love is like peeing in your pants, everyone sees it but only you feel its warmth" | |
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shorttrini said: Hey guys!
I was listening to both of the this morning and I was thinking of how both of these songs, have stood the test of time in terms of talking about what's going on in the world. In both songs, the stories that they tell hold your attention, because the are so true. I never get tired of them... This can also be said about Marvin's "What's going on? I read someplace that Prince was inspired to write SOTT after hearing, "The Message" by Grand Master Flash. What do u guys think? i never thought about the comparisons between the message and sicn o' the times before. Now you have mentioned it, they do share many similarities. Both very stark and brilliant. You'll never know a girl called Nikki and you'll never find Erotic City |
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Both 'Livin' For The City' and 'Sign O' The Times' act as valid contemporary time-capsules and undoubtedly mirror the state of society within the context of the time that their authors wrote the songs.
'Livin' For The City', for example, is an angry salvo of incandescent rage from Stevie, who pulls no punches describing how a hopeful but naive underprivileged individual is the victim of loathsome prejudice by those purporting to uphold the law. Consequently, we as listeners are foced to become impotent spectators of a macabre spectacle unravelling in our mind's eye, a spectacle that sadly replicates itself to this day in so-called civilised society. 'Sign O' The Times', on the other hand, is a veritable kaleidoscope of modern-day disasters afficting society as a whole, and is no less powerful for that. It forces us not neccessarily into indignant rage like the former song does, but it achieves something far more significant than just instilling indignant, powerless anger: it makes us reflect about the state of modern society as a whole, almost impels us to pray reverentially for a better future and, most important of all, we are compelled to make the best of the time that we have left whilst we still have room on this earth. . "You don't frighten us, English pig dogs. Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person." | |
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Sign wins hands down... ------------------------------
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giotto said: Both 'Livin' For The City' and 'Sign O' The Times' act as valid contemporary time-capsules and undoubtedly mirror the state of society within the context of the time that their authors wrote the songs.
'Livin' For The City', for example, is an angry salvo of incandescent rage from Stevie, who pulls no punches describing how a hopeful but naive underprivileged individual is the victim of loathsome prejudice by those purporting to uphold the law. Consequently, we as listeners are foced to become impotent spectators of a macabre spectacle unravelling in our mind's eye, a spectacle that sadly replicates itself to this day in so-called civilised society. 'Sign O' The Times', on the other hand, is a veritable kaleidoscope of modern-day disasters afficting society as a whole, and is no less powerful for that. It forces us not neccessarily into indignant rage like the former song does, but it achieves something far more significant than just instilling indignant, powerless anger: it makes us reflect about the state of modern society as a whole, almost impels us to pray reverentially for a better future and, most important of all, we are compelled to make the best of the time that we have left whilst we still have room on this earth. .  | |
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As much as I love Stevie Wonder, Livin for the City isn't one of my favorite songs. Of these two, Sign O the Times is my preference. Now if it were a choice between SotT and Front Line, it'd likely be a different story. Both have some pretty powerful lyrics. | |
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 This is one of the best VS threads I've seen in some time.
Living For The City is a classic, no doubt about it. But then Sign "O" The Times is musically more revolutionary and discusses more issues. Hmmm.... as much as I love Stevie, probably Sign "O' The Times. | |
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MrSquiggle said: Living For The City is a classic, no doubt about it. But then Sign "O" The Times is musically more revolutionary
Not even close. Stevie Wonder humanized and changed the way synthesizers were used long before SOTT was born and released, and "Living For The City" is a continuation of that. The title track to "Sign" was much more bare bones in comparison (this is not to say that stripped down, bare bones can't be influential), and has less of an influence MUSICALLY than a lot of Prince's earlier work. and discusses more issues.
So does Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire," but it's not revolutionary, or even one of his better songs. Discussing more issues in a song doesn't automatically make a song superior to a song that discusses a single issue. They both have their places of merit, but in essence these songs are at opposite ends of the topical and musical spectrum. It's a watermelons/bananas comparison. Forced to choose I'd take "Living For The City" in a New York second. As a kid I had never heard ANYTHING like that from a social or musical standpoint. To this day I'm still fascinated with it. From the Rhodes, to the synth bass, to the counterpoint synth melodies, to the swirling sheets of synth lines toward the end, to the choir-like chorus of Stevie's voice multi-tracked that ends it, to the first time I heard urban blight narrated so viscerally in music...all this would normally be lost on a kid my age at that time, but it hit me HARD. It's synth based Blues for the Soul generation. "Living For The City" shall not be phucked with.  This post not for the wimp contingent. All whiny wusses avert your eyes. | |
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"Living For The City" is a haunting,brutally honest song.I was 4 years old when it came out,and it scared me to death...lol...something about the arrangement,and those synths,just sounds spooky.It's a very,very effective song.
"Sign O The Times" is a wonderful track,one of Prince's most impressive songs ever.But I'm not gonna pick a favorite because both songs are superb and I can't decide,lol. | |
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Supernova said: MrSquiggle said: Living For The City is a classic, no doubt about it. But then Sign "O" The Times is musically more revolutionary
Not even close. Stevie Wonder humanized and changed the way synthesizers were used long before SOTT was born and released, and "Living For The City" is a continuation of that. The title track to "Sign" was much more bare bones in comparison (this is not to say that stripped down, bare bones can't be influential), and has less of an influence MUSICALLY than a lot of Prince's earlier work. and discusses more issues.
So does Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire," but it's not revolutionary, or even one of his better songs. Discussing more issues in a song doesn't automatically make a song superior to a song that discusses a single issue. They both have their places of merit, but in essence these songs are at opposite ends of the topical and musical spectrum. It's a watermelons/bananas comparison. Forced to choose I'd take "Living For The City" in a New York second. As a kid I had never heard ANYTHING like that from a social or musical standpoint. To this day I'm still fascinated with it. From the Rhodes, to the synth bass, to the counterpoint synth melodies, to the swirling sheets of synth lines toward the end, to the choir-like chorus of Stevie's voice multi-tracked that ends it, to the first time I heard urban blight narrated so viscerally in music...all this would normally be lost on a kid my age at that time, but it hit me HARD. It's synth based Blues for the Soul generation. "Living For The City" shall not be phucked with.  | |
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Supernova said: So does Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire," but it's not revolutionary, or even one of his better songs. Discussing more issues in a song doesn't automatically make a song superior to a song that discusses a single issue.
EEEEYYYEEWWWW! That song is atrocious! neverabletostomachjoeledit: [This message was edited Tue Jul 6 15:34:29 2004 by MrTation] "...all you need ...is justa touch...of mojo hand....." | |
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Supernova said: They both have their places of merit, but in essence these songs are at opposite ends of the topical and musical spectrum. It's a watermelons/bananas comparison. Forced to choose I'd take "Living For The City" in a New York second. As a kid I had never heard ANYTHING like that from a social or musical standpoint. To this day I'm still fascinated with it. From the Rhodes, to the synth bass, to the counterpoint synth melodies, to the swirling sheets of synth lines toward the end, to the choir-like chorus of Stevie's voice multi-tracked that ends it, to the first time I heard urban blight narrated so viscerally in music...all this would normally be lost on a kid my age at that time, but it hit me HARD. It's synth based Blues for the Soul generation. "Living For The City" shall not be phucked with. Stevie's synthwork from that period has aged well also, unlike his (and others) 80s work. [This message was edited Tue Jul 6 15:38:50 2004 by MrTation] "...all you need ...is justa touch...of mojo hand....." | |
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MrSquiggle said: Supernova said: So does Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire," but it's not revolutionary, or even one of his better songs. Discussing more issues in a song doesn't automatically make a song superior to a song that discusses a single issue. They both have their places of merit, but in essence these songs are at opposite ends of the topical and musical spectrum. It's a watermelons/bananas comparison. Forced to choose I'd take "Living For The City" in a New York second. As a kid I had never heard ANYTHING like that from a social or musical standpoint. To this day I'm still fascinated with it. From the Rhodes, to the synth bass, to the counterpoint synth melodies, to the swirling sheets of synth lines toward the end, to the choir-like chorus of Stevie's voice multi-tracked that ends it, to the first time I heard urban blight narrated so viscerally in music...all this would normally be lost on a kid my age at that time, but it hit me HARD. It's synth based Blues for the Soul generation. "Living For The City" shall not be phucked with.  This post not for the wimp contingent. All whiny wusses avert your eyes. | |
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dahdahdah-daaaaah-da-daa-daaaaa
da-da-da-da-da-dada daaaa-daaaaa-daaaaa-daaa-daaaaa da-da-da, da-daaaaahhhhh....  | |
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Supernova said: MrSquiggle said:  | |
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