On The Record

  • Glen, get your suit dry cleaned

    January 30, 2008 @ 8:50 am | by Jim Carroll

    once.jpgThe men and women from the Academy have said “yo, Glen and Mar shall go to the ball”.

    Yes, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova’s Oscar nomination for Best Song for “Falling Slowly” from Once is back on tracks. The song is eligible to be considered for an Oscar because, well, it obviously meets all the criteria necessary to be considered for an Oscar.

    Per the dude from the Academy:

    The Academy’s music branch executive committee has met and endorsed the validity of “Falling Slowly” as a nominated achievement. The committee relied on written assurances and detailed chronologies provided by songwriter of “Falling Slowly,” the writer-director of “Once” and Fox Searchlight.

    Fab. Now, is someone going to organise one of those big homecoming ticker-tape parades for when the pair win the gong?

    • 26 Comments »

    1.
    January 30, 2008
    8:57 am

    theyre back in!! i hope they win it, fair play jim! fuck the begrudgers!! why do the irish eat their own? same people watch fuckin xfactor & just cant be happy cos its not a validation from fuckin england or the US..its ok to support your own ‘folks’

    hafta hate the small minded shitebags in this country sometimes…but this is the biggest finger to them i can think of.

    well done Glen & Mar!!

    now WIN IT!!!

    Comment by dave
    2.
    January 30, 2008
    9:19 am

    Sanity prevails! I wonder though how all this hoopla will effect their chances?

    Comment by Conor
    3.
    January 30, 2008
    9:31 am

    Funny how anyone Irish who criticises anything Irish is immediately labelled ’small minded’ and a ‘begrudger’.

    I don’t like this song. I don’t like the cut of Glen Hansard’s jib and I don’t care if they win this Oscar or not.

    Comment by Brock Landers
    4.
    January 30, 2008
    10:51 am

    I can’t stand it either plus it sounds like a rip of Tracy Chapman.

    Still if they win it’d be great for the country, there’d be a huge feel good factor, possibly another economic boom and an end to the crisis in the health service.

    Plus 50 per cent more craic.

    Comment by Ronan
    5.
    January 30, 2008
    10:52 am

    Brock I couldn’t have put that better myself. You took the words right out of my mouth.

    Comment by Neill
    6.
    January 30, 2008
    10:58 am

    Yes.
    Well done Outspan.

    Comment by Pedro
    7.
    January 30, 2008
    11:46 am

    I wish the Eddie Vedder song from “Into the wild” had of gotten a nod, just so that film would have had more nominations.

    Comment by roosta
    8.
    January 30, 2008
    11:48 am

    I can’t stand it either plus it sounds like a rip of Tracy Chapman.

    I’ve never heard it but that’s put me right off.

    On another note doesn’t that Mikel bloke who plays for Chelsea look exactly like Tracy Chapman?

    Comment by Twenty Major
    9.
    January 30, 2008
    12:47 pm

    hmmm…for some reason or other, the first line or two of each verse is a little bit too close to ‘You Really Got a Hold on Me’ by Smokey Robinson, for my liking

    I’m probably alone in this, but from here on in, i’m going to publicly state any cases of ‘that sounds JUST like xyz’ when a song comes out. I was miles ahead of anybody else on the Cutting Crew/Mika thing and kept my cakehole shut. Well no more…

    Comment by ivan
    10.
    January 30, 2008
    2:04 pm

    I can not say that I am a fan of The Frames nor am I all that keen on the song that Hansard is nominated for but I would really enjoy seeing him win. There’s something so agreeably unlikely about this tale of this unknown indie guy who ends up at the biggest, most glamorous shindig of them all.

    Having said that, the songs they’ve chosen for Best Original Song are a tad woeful. The Flaming Lips had a good song in “Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” and Kate Bush had one in “The Golden Compass”. Why aren’t they on the list? Even Snow Patrol’s song in “Spider-Man 3″ is better than the 5 songs nominated. I think i woulda probably gone for “Beautiful Ride” from “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.”

    Comment by Conor Furlong
    11.
    January 30, 2008
    2:37 pm

    @dave - how is this the Irish “eating their own”? Is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences comprised of Irish begrudgers now?

    Or maybe I missed all the negative reaction to this song getting nominated, or Saoirse Ronan getting nominated, or Daniel Day-Lewis getting nominated (check the passport, he counts!), or Six Shooter winning an award last year.

    Besides, I’m extremely tired of seeing people write off criticism as Irish begrudgery. It’s such a lazy way to defend yourself or something you like.

    I think the song itself is quite simple but effective - that’s more important than its complexity in my opinion.

    As well as that it’s the best of the bunch, so it should win.

    Had Vedder gotten one of his ‘Into The Wild’ songs nominated I might see things differently, though. Still can’t fathom why that got overlooked, especially when you see three songs from one film in the category instead.

    Comment by Adam
    12.
    January 30, 2008
    2:56 pm

    “I’ve never heard it but that’s put me right off”

    Yeah I mean, it wasn’t resounding praise.

    Comment by Ronan
    13.
    January 30, 2008
    3:07 pm

    Sorry, but Tracy Chapman is responsible for one of the worst songs of all time and then another one of her songs was covered by Ronan Keating.

    How much more damage are we willing to let this woman inflict on the world?

    Comment by Twenty Major
    14.
    January 30, 2008
    3:12 pm

    it’s the one Keating covered I meant.

    I agree Chapman is a pain, plus that album has been released more times than your average juvenile delinquent.

    Comment by Ronan
    15.
    January 30, 2008
    4:32 pm

    @Conor Furlong - Most of those songs weren’t written specifically for the films they featured in, hence they couldn’t be nominated. Although I agree that Dewey Cox should have got a nod at least.

    Comment by Conor
    16.
    January 31, 2008
    8:46 am

    I blame Tracy Chapman for global warming. Fast Car and all of that

    Comment by Jim Carroll
    17.
    January 31, 2008
    1:03 pm

    Smokey Robinson, You Really Got a Hold On Me:

    “I don’t like you
    but I love you
    Seems that I’m always thinking of you
    Oh, oh, oh you treat me badly
    I love you madly”

    Falling Slowly, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova:

    “I don’t know you
    But I want you
    All the more for that
    Words fall through me
    And always fool me
    And I can’t react”

    I really don’t think this is “a little bit too close” to Smokey. Unless you are actively looking for ways to diss the song.

    Also, where are you all getting the Tracy Chapman thing? Doesn’t sound a bit like TC to me.

    Comment by Roisin
    18.
    January 31, 2008
    2:26 pm

    I think Glenn Hansard is an icky, smug creep. In fact, my personal version of hell would be to have headphones welded to my head that infinitely played the bleeding heart blend of ‘earnest’ bollox he comes out with between songs whenever he plays live. I’m proud to begrudge him any possible success that might come his way.

    Comment by gardenhead
    19.
    January 31, 2008
    4:39 pm

    When we were in (Christian Brothers) school we used to be brought to these excruciating religious retreats out in the country, to this monastery/friary full of Fr. Trendy and Br. Hipgnosis types; and ALL they ever played us was Tracey Chapman tapes because of the positivity she brought into her music from her struggle as a black woman in a white man’s world or something. Man, it sucked. I vowed never to listen to her again, and then one drunken night I ended up in the Olympia where not only SHE was playing, but Paddy Casey was supporting her! Needless to say, I saw the funny side, so I immediately checked back into the monestary/friary.

    Comment by Hot Lunch
    20.
    January 31, 2008
    8:29 pm

    Tracy Chapman was in the RDS in 1988? I think. Outdoor yoke…sweet divine mother of shite. I’m sure I saw Mister Twenty Major up the front… talking about a revolution…

    Comment by Liz
    21.
    February 1, 2008
    9:16 am

    Liz - Twenty was there, was he? That was the gig that the Hothouse Flowers headlined. Mmmm - we’re getting closer to unmasking him

    Comment by Jim Carroll
    22.
    February 1, 2008
    1:31 pm

    Hmmmm….Interesting theory Jim… I just sent him a Leaving Cert Irish Exam Paper and a pair of sandals. I’ll let you know what happens.

    Comment by Liz
    23.
    February 1, 2008
    3:42 pm

    All lies, lies I tell you.

    Comment by Twenty Major
    24.
    February 1, 2008
    4:29 pm

    I think its fanatastic for Irish music and also for Irish movies that a huge multi-million/billion dollar industry, in America, has recognised this little film…. Its heart-warming.

    I love the music, and hopefully, it may inspire other contemporary musicals, with honest-to-goodness rock music instead of the dated tripe that comes out of Disney and the like… Have they written a good song since the 60’s?

    I am sad that my country is so negative. In fairness, a little bit of negativity keeps things balanced but this thread really paints the Irish as the most negative, belittling meanspirited country in the world.

    I guess being critical is alot easier than being creative….

    Comment by Finola
    25.
    February 26, 2008
    9:14 pm

    It’s a pretty son, but so much of it is plagiarized, so why is worthy of all the attention and awards. Smokey Robinson should get the Oscar

    Comment by music fan
    26.
    September 28, 2008
    8:35 pm

    This is quite belated, but I’m justified to see that other people did see that they ripped off the melody of smokey’s song, and although the words aren’t exactly the same, it automatically think of you really got a hold of me. Sorry, blame it on “name that tune.” I guarantee if someone played just the chords, without the words…i’d be justified. (I hope they credited Smokey, but probably just ripped off another R and B legend).

    Comment by Smokey's Song!!!

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