"Uninvited" by Alanis Morissette (performed by Red Sun Rising)

I heard this song (the original version) the other day while I was giving my son a bath. I had forgotten how much I liked it - it is, in fact, one of my favorite Alanis Morissette songs. Critical reviews all describe the melody as "haunting," one of the key factors as to why I like it so much. "Uninvited" came out after the success of "Jagged Little Pill," her first album that was released worldwide. It was released as a single from the soundtrack for "City of Angels." Regardless of how you feel about the movie and its premise (which we'll get to in a minute), the soundtrack was brilliant and contained some of the most iconic music of the decade. For example, "Iris" - which Taylor Swift introduced very accurately during one of her concerts as "one of the greatest songs of all time" - was also released as a single for the movie. "Uninvited" earned Morissette two Grammy's in 1999 - for Best Rock Song and Best Female Rock Vocal - and it was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Original Song.

Like anyone would be

I am flattered by your fascination with me

There has been much speculation about this song. Because the tune does have a darkness to it, some have interpreted as being directed towards someone who is stalking the singer. However, this is not the case. In Morissette's own words, she has called this her "fear of love" song. To be pursued by someone you could feel a strong attraction towards but putting up a shield because of the murkiness of your own mind. In interviews, Morissette indicates that she had been going through some things during the writing of this song. She saw a raw snippet of "City of Angels" when she was asked to write something for the soundtrack, and she was inspired by the turbulence and confusion exhibited by Meg Ryan's character. Not being a stranger to romantic turmoil, she describes the hesitance to jump into something uncertain as a natural reaction to being burned. But the knowledge of pain is what makes it all the more blissful. "You don't really know how amazing things are unless you have the contrast of things not having been amazing for a certain amount of time, and I happen to like that theory."

Must be strangely exciting

To watch the stoic squirm

For those not as well versed in Meg Ryan movies as I am, I will recount "City of Angels" for you, because it is a truly romantic and tragic story. Nick Cage plays Seth, an angel who is charged to watch over humans in various ways but mostly to guide the dying to the next life. While watching over one of his humans, he becomes enamored with the efforts of the surgeon, Maggie (Meg Ryan), trying to save the man and her absolute torment when she fails. Seth quickly becomes obsessed with Maggie and makes a choice to become visible to her. They strike up a friendship which eventually turns into mutual attraction, which becomes a source of confusion for Maggie as she is already in a relationship with one of her colleagues. During the course of his duties, he meets a patient who used to be an angel but became human through a process called "falling." Seth begins contemplating the possibility to be with Maggie. In a symbolic act, he falls from a skyscraper and when he awakens after the fall, he is fully human, with all the pain and emotions that go along with it. He seeks out Maggie and when she discovers he has become human for her, they make love. I don't want to spoil the movie but let's just say their ecstasy is short-lived and it ends badly. Although Meg Ryan is still acting today, this movie came out right at the height of her career - once the 90s ended, Ryan was cast less frequently in the romantic comedies that made her famous. Part of it was that she wanted to branch out and do more serious films (like "City of Angels") but, unfortunately, that's just the reality of an actress who ages out of playing the ingenue.

You speak of my love like

You have experienced love like mine before

I chose to feature Red Sun Rising's cover of "Uninvited" simply because I like the singer's voice. This version is true to the original and preserves that chilling quality that was so acclaimed. I found the music video for this version disturbing and I can't exactly put my finger on why. In the video, an older man is looking out his window and he sees a neighbor across the way - a young woman - walking around her apartment naked in the middle of the night. The next day, he buys her a flower arrangement and leaves it at her door. That night, he watches her walking around again - this time, the flowers are on her table. As she stops to smell and enjoy them, a smile crosses the man's face. That's literally all that happens during the video but there is a sinister implication that it escalates after the video ends. The thing is, I know what that girl is thinking as she smells the flowers - we all have this fantasy of the "secret admirer" who turns out to be this perfect man who is everything we want him to be. However, when someone keeps showing up on your running path or seems to be invited to all the same parties you are, the feeling is more akin to being little more than prey. That's why "You" is so dangerous - because Joe Goldberg is that attractive man who wants to meet all your needs....and he also happens to be a murderous psychopath. That being said, the general consensus of women who watched "You" was that they'd happily be stalked by Joe. I even found myself thinking that, despite being very aware of the dangers of getting in a relationship with someone who is sociopathic and narcissistic. But, as the lyrics say, it is flattering to be wanted that much. To be on the receiving end of that much attention. Especially for those of us who love the spotlight. From what I understand of the second season, Joe meets someone who is just as creepily obsessive as he is and they live happily ever after....or do they? ::dramatic music::

I don't think you unworthy

I need a moment to deliberate

I've included both the Red Sun Rising cover and the original, for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

"Uninvited" Red Sun Rising Video

"Uninvited" Alanis Morissette Video

"Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer (as covered by Florence + the Machine)

I'm going to try to keep this short because I'm exhausted but I wanted to fit one more song into January. This song is also a good transition into February's theme and, besides....did you really think I'd let this month end without a dose of Florence Welch? Never!

The original song is by Robert Palmer, an English rock singer from the 80s. Due to its popularity, "Addicted to Love" became his claim to fame - he wasn't exactly a one-hit-wonder but pretty close to it. It was also supposed to be a duet with Chaka Khan, but that never happened due to contractual constraints. There are several cover versions of this song but this version is my favorite. If you listen to the original, it is the quintessential 80s song - from the electric guitar and keyboards to the twang in Robert Palmer's voice. It's easy to imagine it playing as the backdrop to John Hughes movie - in fact, I would be surprised if I did some research and discovered it on the soundtrack for multiple 80s teen romances. It's also an extremely long song - the album version is slightly over 6 minutes long, which was frowned upon in the 80s and nearly unheard of for pop music of the time. The single version they cut down to 4 minutes - mostly getting rid of the unnecessary instrumental breaks and the bulk of the end where he's repeating the chorus. "Might as well face it, you're addicted to love." You know....it's catchy but after 4 minutes of that, you get pretty fucking bored and you're pretty much begging for the fadeout by the end. Florence + the Machine cuts it even further to just under 3 1/2 minutes, only leaving room for the essentials. And that's the important thing about any type of art - you gotta leave them wanting more. Give your audience just enough and they'll keep coming back. I just made that up but it feels pretty true some I'm just going to say it is and call it a day.

You see the signs, but you can't read

You're running at a different speed

Your heart beats in double time

Another kiss and you'll be mine, a one track mind

You can't be saved

Oblivion is all you crave

If there's some left for you

You don't mind if you do

Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh yeah

It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough

You know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love

Moving on, I'm not sure the emotion/feeling the song is describing is love, per say. It sounds more like infatuation - that all encompassing need at the beginning of a relationship to be with someone all the time. The obsessive thoughts. The pull that keeps you coming back for more. That "addicted" feeling fades eventually, but what you have remaining - should you choose to continue (and sometimes even if you don't) - is love. Infatuation (and Lust) is what's explosive like that; Love is much more subtle. Unfortunately, it's the fluttery, energetic pulse of the former that gets all the glory. The peaceful calm of unconditional love - well, that gets it's own songs, too, but they're not the ones you expect. They're usually the ones acknowledging that we're only human and things happen. Acknowledging that we are flawed but, at least for a moment, that didn't matter.

Just FYI: While working on this post, I discovered that there is a movie named "Addicted to Love." A Meg Ryan movie, in fact, and one that I haven't seen. Shocking, I know. It's a romantic comedy (naturally) where two people (Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick) are trying to break up a couple (his cheating girlfriend and her ex-fiance) but fall in love in the process. It looks delightful, even though it sounds like the main characters sound like they start off as assholes in the beginning. And it came out in 1997, which was peak Meg Ryan and peak Matthew Broderick (a powerful combination, I'm sure). To be honest, I've been trying to cut down my screen time, so I probably won't be watching this any time soon. But if you're looking for a 90s romantic comedy to break through a bout of existentialism, this one's probably about as good as any you'll find.

Side Note: Another revelation - the official video for Robert Palmer's version of "Addicted to Love" is the music video that Bill Nighy's character in "Love Actually" is parodying. Love. It.

Florence + the Machine Version

Robert Palmer Version

"Dream A Little Dream" by The Beautiful South

I'm about half-way through "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" on Netflix....and I'm loving it, naturally. Episode 5 is about a demon who tortures people by trapping them in their worst nightmares. Throughout the episode, various versions of "Dream a Little Dream" play in the background. It happens to be one of my favorite songs to sing because it's one of the songs I know I sing well. It's the tune I pulled out if I was peer pressured to sing at karaoke. It's the song I sing when I need to calm down my son or lull him to sleep. As a mezzo soprano, I feel like my voice is better  suited to songs from the Jazz Age and the Big Band era, rather than modern pop songs. It seems like all the popular songs are sung in such a ridiculously high, breathy fashion - you can't really judge someone's singing ability in that range, in my opinion. Most popstars have to sing in falsetto to reach those notes, anyway....or use autotune. That's why most pop songs don't sound as good live as on the radio.

A version of this song in French - also performed by The Beautiful South - is on the soundtrack to "French Kiss." Aside from being one of my favorite Meg Ryan movies, "French Kiss" is essentially the reason I fell in love with the culture, language and music of France. My parents had this soundtrack and I'd listen to it on repeat. The movie came out in 1995 - imagine me, a 7-year-old girl, belting out her best interpretation of the French lyrics for this song. Around this time, I also stole one of my dad's Berlitz "Teach Yourself French" books (my dad was a linguist - he had several of these books in various languages) and dedicated myself to the language. Fast forward about 15 years and several "How to be a French Girl" books later, I ended up taking up French as one of my majors at university. I've probably forgotten everything though - I don't always have time to do my Rosetta stone lessons so I'm a bit rusty. Still, you never forget the feeling. Maybe I'll run away to Paris, one day - rent an apartment in Montmartre, write in a cafe all day, and then laze about the Quartier Latin until sunset. That actually sounds pretty nice. One day, one day.

So, "French Kiss" - Meg Ryan plays a woman (Kate) whose fiance ran off with a beautiful French model. Determined to win him back, she flies to Paris. While on the flight, she meets Luc, a scruffy yet lovable rapscallion who wants to start his own vineyard and has no qualms about breaking the law to do it. Luc becomes Kate's guide and gives her advice on how to win her fiance, Charlie, back. Essentially, he's giving her lessons on being a French girl - be aloof, mysterious, non-committal. Things Kate isn't, naturally, because she wears her heart on her sleeve and she's open about how she feels. However, when she follows Luc's advice, she does get Charlie's attention but just as they're about to have sex, she realizes that she doesn't want a guy who is only interested in her when she's pretending to be someone else. Meanwhile, Luc - as a favor to help Kate - volunteers to seduce the French girlfriend, Juliette, but fucks up by calling her "Kate" in the heat of the moment. Awkward! As you can guess, Kate and Luc realize they have fallen in love in the end. Luc boards Kate's plane back to the USA and confesses his love. And there's your grand romantic gesture. 

Stars shining bright above you

Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"

Birds singing in the sycamore trees

Dream a little dream of me

Say nighty-night and kiss me

Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me

While I'm alone and blue as can be

Dream a little dream of me

What strikes me most about romantic comedies is how quickly everything happens. The events of "French Kiss" happen over - at most - a week. Even Charlie, the (shitty) fiance, falls in love with his "French goddess" over the short time that he's in Paris for a conference. Why the rush? These people are making major life decisions after feeling something for complete stranger - Kate decides to move to France and start a vineyard at the end of the movie, for chrissakes! That sounds like a terrible idea....she even knows that Luc has a sketchy past. I wonder what happens after the "happily ever after" we see at the end of romantic comedies - do they stay together? Or does it fizzle out as quickly as it started? Do they end up fighting all the time? Considering how neurotic some of these characters, it seems like that's inevitable. Yep, these movies are unrealistic bullshit....but I still like them. Something about watching a good romantic comedy makes me want to believe in happily ever afters. That probably makes me stupid - but I'm happier when I'm stupid.

Here's the official video of the song. You can see short little clips from the movie in it. It really is kind of ridiculous.

"Dream A Little Dream" Video

 

"Dreams" by The Cranberries

There are two types of people in this world. People who love Meg Ryan movies....and people who don't. I'm one of the former so expect to see another Meg-Ryan-movie-related song to come up later this month. One of my favorite movies is "You've Got Mail," which is based on a old Jimmy Stewart film, "The Shop Around the Corner." It's basically the same plot, except that "You've Got Mail" is set in the late 90s and the plot centers around email instead of the standard post. Obviously, you know I think it's a great movie but, if I had to choose one scene, my favorite part is at the beginning.

There are certain rules that romantic comedies - and most romances, now that I think of it - have to follow. I've mentioned it before but the number one rule is that the two lovers have to be different but, somehow, the same. And usually, they want the same ultimate goal - to be free, to have adventures, to be successful, to be able to marry for love, whatever. The differences arise in how they have chosen to go about achieving that end goal, which results in complications for their love story that have to be resolved before they can be together. It's usually not as obvious as it is in "You've Got Mail" - in the movie, Meg Ryan plays independent book store owner, Kathleen Kelly. Tom Hanks (it's always fucking Tom Hanks) plays Joe Fox, the owner of a chain of mega-bookstores who plans to open a branch in the same neighborhood as Kelly's little shop (aptly named The Shop Around the Corner, an homage to the film's earlier inspiration). Although business rivals in real life, they are internet pen pals who became fast friends on AIM one night. However, they don't know that, but the audience does and the fun is knowing that these two are secretly in love with each other and don't realize it.

Returning to why I love the beginning, this different but the same rule is adeptly highlighted in how their mornings start. They both wait until their respective significant others leave for work, they make a show of making sure their SOs are really gone, then they excitedly go to their computers and they wait patiently for the Internet to start (ah yes....that harsh dial-up sound does bring a bittersweet sting to the cockles of this old Millennial's heart). Kathleen and Joe both are hoping for an email from each other and get a rush of happiness when they see that their faith was not in vain. Throughout the movie, they tell each other everything over email - mundane things, happy things, their favorite movies - things normal people wouldn't tell a complete stranger. But they never run out of things to say and they are happy to have a person they can share their authentic self with, even if they never meet. Even when Kathleen thinks her pen pal stood her up when they had planned to meet...but he didn't! Joe showed up but Kathleen was so caught up in her personal drama of losing her family business because of Fox Books, that she doesn't catch on. That's another rule of romantic comedies - the guy is usually the first one to realize there's something there and initiate contact. It's usually like a love at first sight kinda thing during the Meet-Cute and it has to happen to move the story forward. He's also the one who has to bring the story full circle with the Grand Romantic Gesture.

And now I tell you openly

You have my heart so don't hurt me

You're what I couldn't find

A totally amazing mind

So understanding and so kind

You're everything to me

Oh my life is changing everyday

In every possible way

And oh my dreams

It's never quite as it seems

'Cause you're a dream to me

Dream to me

Went on sort of a side tangent there on the Rom-Com rules - we'll get into more of those thematic elements in later posts. As you can see, I've probably spent way to much time analyzing these movies but - what can I say? - I'm a writer and a film buff. That's what my mind does in its free time - it thinks deeply about seemingly meaningless shit. Like the opening to "You've Got Mail"....because I haven't even gotten to my favorite part yet! Yes, it's cute how Kathleen and Joe's mornings mirror each other but my favorite part is when they're walking to work. They take essentially the same route to their respective destinations and they keep criss-crossing but they never meet, they never even see each other. It brings to mind this idea that them meeting later in the movie is kismet - it's meant to be. Like things couldn't have happened any other way because they had to meet eventually. It was only a matter of time and everything that came before was leading up to that moment. During this criss-crossing scene, "Dreams" by the Cranberries is playing, which sets the perfect backdrop. It's wistful and upbeat, and these elements combined make the overall song sound...hopeful. Anyway, including this scene as one of the videos so you understand what I mean.

"Dreams" Official Video

Opening Scene from "You've Got Mail"