The Potter Musical Appreciation Disparity
The iTunes Music Store has been taunting me with the celebrity pick lists of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint). Yesterday I decided to have a look. Just what does Radcliffe like to listen to between takes? Could his tastes really be so different from his red-headed co-star? Well, yes.
Radcliffe’s list (iTMS) kicks off with a pick seemingly designed to challenge us (”Hope There’s Someone” by Antony & The Johnsons), continuing with 9 more generally indie rock-ish selections. His comments:
To me it’s a simple song about wanting to be loved. Absolutely beautiful.
Or:
It’s my favourite song from their second album. The phrase ‘I no longer hear the music’ sums up perfectly the feeling of the first stages of the end of a relationship. Sublime and immensely sad.
Then we turn to Grint, whose list (iTMS) begins with an adventurous (?) Franz Ferdinand selection, followed by Smells Like Teen Spirit and venturing deep into the unknown with songs by Green Day and Dr. Dre/Eminem/Snoop Dogg. He says, about Teen Spirit:
Kurt Cobain — I thought he was cool.
And, on a Velvet Revolver track:
I went to the concert.
Grint: You don’t wear the concert tour t-shirt the day after at school, and you sure as hell don’t wear it in the iTunes Music Store. You’re in the Harry Potter movies! You’re a movie star! You don’t have to try to make us think you’re cool by informing us that you “went to the concert.”
For his final pick, by The Streets, he says, “Great song, great lyrics, and really original.” Let’s listen to the lyrics in the clip provided by iTunes:
Yeah yeah like I said you are really fit
But my gosh! Don’t you just know it!
I’m not trying to pull you
Even though I would like to
I think you are really fit
You’re fit by my gosh don’t you know it
So when I looked at you standing there with your horde
I was waiting in the queue looking at the board
Wondering whether to have a burger or chips
Yes, smashing lyrics! Fit lyrics, even! Ugh. Uneducated British boy hip-hop meets The Strokes.
What’s going on here? Do their musical tastes betray an uncanny resemblance to their Potter characters? Harry Potter is edgy and smart, Radcliffe’s picks are the same and his ability to express his thoughts on music is eloquently reflected in the accompanying text. Ron Weasley, poor fellow, is fairly unremarkable amongst his peers, showing elements of white trashiness and a little angsty when teased about it. Grint’s picks are the same, mainstream and unimaginative, his “Why I picked this” text inarticulate and embarrassing.
I am a jerk. I know. But couldn’t Warner Bros. (or his agent, even) hire a writer to at least make Grint read a little less like a teenager?
November 22nd, 2005 at 3:15 pm
Maybe because he IS a teenager? I don’t think there’s any harm in listening to music that makes you feel good and puts you in a good mood, despite the lack of lyrical giftedness or musical wizardry. You could probably dig through some of my old CD’s when I was that age, and I’m sure you could find some that you would label “mainstream” and “unimaginative”…. BUT…. the whole idea was that they were fun to listen to. My two cents.
November 22nd, 2005 at 3:52 pm
Once upon a time I had fun listening to Smells Like Teen Spirit, too, but if I were to try to describe why I like it, I’m sure I would have tried harder than, “The lead singer seemed cool to me.”
November 22nd, 2005 at 4:41 pm
“I dig them crunchy gee-tars.” - 14 yr. old Mike Nessen (Entertainment Weekly - 11/22/1992)
November 22nd, 2005 at 4:48 pm
See, now that’s good! You used a descriptive adjective there, Nessen — crunchy! Compare to the adjectives Grint uses in describing 11 tracks, listed with their frequency:
great - 4
cool - 3
amazing - 1
inspirational - 1
nice - 1
good - 1
original - 1
November 22nd, 2005 at 4:58 pm
Consider a rough count of Radcliffe’s adjectives:
favourite - 3
simple - 2
sad - 2
incredible - 2
best, beautiful, spectacular, uplifting, haunting, fantastic, wonderful, perfect, sublime, biblical, half-whispered, good, great, amazing - 1 each
November 22nd, 2005 at 5:30 pm
My take on this blog post:
pseudocontraneoantidisestablishmentarianalistical - 2
(or 5 times if spoken really fast)
November 22nd, 2005 at 11:23 pm
MIKE doesn’t know this — so let’s all take a trip on the way back when bus. Back in the 4th or 5th grade during one of my first of many visits to adams house, we were downstairs in his room and on the window shelf he had a few cassets stacked together. Being curious i looked at them. I can’t remember one of them, but the other — Oh man oh man! it was none other than WHAM. and asked adam what the hell was this doing in his room? and you know what he said? He said ” I thought they we’re COOL, or some thing to those affects. — So adam back off the kid and his taste in music. At least he has bands that folks have heard off. LOL. BTW these potter guys — you act like they’re Mark Hamil, Harrison Ford, and Carrie fisher. — wait a minute two guys and girl — HMM What an original thought by JK Rowling. Peace out!
November 23rd, 2005 at 2:26 am
Joe grandstands under the guise of a comment. Nice! (Did you know you can get your own blog (for free!) at blogger.com?)
November 23rd, 2005 at 12:52 pm
Nah just reminding you and letting the world know that you used to have some bad music selections too! — But at least I’ll admit that I had some some crap too — New kids on the block. Peace!