Wednesday, January 29, 2014

MUSIC: Situation Comedy


Today, after a brief (or not so brief) absence, I've re-discovered my love for British pop band The Divine Comedy. I've been playing his albums and tracks all day.

For those not-in-the-know (many, I'm sure), The Divine Comedy is one Mr. Neil Hannon, the only permanent member of this now almost 25-year-old band.

A deep creamy voice, like a young Scott Walker, croons over:

Love songs, like...well, 'Songs of Love'

Social commentary, like 'Sweden' 

and wistful character studies, like 'Commuter Love'

Think Morrissey, if he wasn't afraid to ditch the tired rock n'roll drag; or Neil Tennant, if the Pet Shop Boys dabbled in orchestral pop instead of synthpop.

I'm surprised no one has tried to do a full stage musical using TDC songs. Surely, in his large back catalogue, a great love story-meets-social upheaval drama can be pieced together with multiple threads covering the above themes. Act One opening with a scene on a train ('National Express') and ending with the epic 'The Certainty of Chance' perhaps? The mix-and-match possibilities are endless. Maybe I should start up on writing that? Or at least a Microfilm cover.

By the way, anybody have a copy of 'Fin de Siecle'? I lost mine.

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