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mark monday's Reviews > 1984
1984
by
by
'tis the season...
13 TALES OF TERROR: BOOK 9
yikes, the gloomiest of dystopias, the driest of writing, plus the inevitable sardonic twist ending to make your heart shrivel. an unhappy classic. read this while listening to the totally inappropriate eurythmics soundtrack and your mind will break too! mine sure did. the acid probably helped. ah, college.
☭ ☭ ☭ ☭ ☭ ☭ ☭
since the idea of rereading 1984 sounds about as exciting to me as living in the novel 1984, i have decided to instead review the wondrous semi-aborted soundtrack to the film 1984.
DRUNK* REVIEW #?:
1984 SOUNDTRACK by the EURYTHMICS
so this review actually started well before the typing of this review, when i conducted an informal focus group with this evening's drinking buddies...
"Have You Listened to 1984 by the Eurythmics and What Did You Think?"
Responses
Adrienne: "Never heard of it."
Everett: "Sounds familiar. Love the Eurythmics! Annie Lennox is one of the first white divas!"
Dave: "Must you always be so gay? Is this some kind of gay question that only gays understand?"
Kelly: "Must you always be so old? Jesus, the Eurythmics, they're so last millenium."
dissatisfied by these lackluster responses, upon returning home i decided to review the album on a song-by-song basis. following are my unsober reactions to each song, plus barely-relevant gifs to truly express what my pathetic inebriated self cannot.
Track 1: Winston's Diary"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ9s-O...
oh how sad and plaintive. winsome like Winston. winsome like death! makes me want to take a lonely trip to some lake in the middle of nowhere, and then die.
Track 2: "Sexcrime (nineteeneightyfour)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcTP7Y...
my God this is fucken horrible and wonderful in equal parts. this was the single off of the album?? Jesus. it is like the cheesiest 80s club music plus Annie Lennox singing bizarre lyrics and making crazy circus sounds at the end plus swarming headphones-centric effects. wow! imma listen to this one again.
"How I wish I'd been unborn... I wish I was unlving this!"
"I PULL THE BRICKS DOWN ONE BY ONE! SEXCRIME! DO DO DA DA DO DO BU BU! GIMME GIMME GIMME C'MON!"
Track 3: "Room 101"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhhQK4...
the clubathon continues with this dance song that is like a dance song that satan is saying you must dance to forever because you are damned, dance goddamnit dance, oh now there's a chill part where you can just sort of stand around dazed, oh and now the beat's up again so dance dance, dance minion dance! Lennox is ooohing and aaahing and Stewart is saying something threatening but corny in vocoder. i am sorta beginning to understand why the director tried to reject this soundtrack. tonally it is the opposite of the film. who cares, ilove this! this song is awesome. makes me want to dance until i die! wait that's the second time you've mentioned death, what's wrong with you mark?
Room 101 was the worst! man that part of the novel was tough. all the torture and tears.
Track 4: "Ministry of Love"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVutrP...
this percolates along with an appealingly sinister and minor note synth melody and some muttering of the title. and then all of a sudden these bizarro world music and martial type noises jump in. is that a donkey noise? wtf? random. okay back to haunting weirdness type noises. reminds me of Kate Bush and Kenneth Anger and Genet. random and trippy and weirdly sexy and i like this.
Track 5: "Julia"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Yis...
icy death-ballad activate! undying death-love on! it's better in heaven! death death death death death! a cold and wintry death! i think this was a single too. how in the world? the eerie synth washes over the eerie vocals, plus echoes, organs, the works. lush and creepy!
"When freezing snow lies everywhere... will we still be there? Will we? Will we? Will we still be there?"
yikes, no, i think not. but you left a beautiful memory!
Track 6: "I Did It Just The Same"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpl0_X...
Annie Lennox humming over a zippy tune that sounds like a downbeat sunday night in smalltown america circa the 70s via david lynch. plus cheap neon that is slowly blinking out. oh now her humming is getting more aggressive. Annie Lennox is like that crazy old lady walking towards you on the sidewalk. is she going to talk to you or is she just going to keep walking by you singing and mumbling to herself?
Track 7: "Greetings From A Dead Man"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNrhL...
groovy background music. background music to what exactly? some BA BA BA BAAA BA BA BA BUMs over and over and over again from Lennox. she wants to kill you. but in a mellow and relaxing and totally not crazy way.
Track 8: "For The Love Of Big Brother"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYnL...
this is a great song. all the nonsensical syllables plus actual lyrics plus sitar equals something really entrancing. but what does it all mean? probably death, sigh.
Track 9: "Doubleplusgood"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGwUNT...
synth beat, tribal rhythms, Lennox as the voice of Big Brother. nonsense report speak. "Chocolate Rectify"? was this in the novel? did the song just skip? is this a nightmare i'm having? why am i writing this? doubleplusgood? doubleplusungood? doubledoubledoubledouble. i am getting an awesome headache now. goodnight!
* oh i got high too, just for this album. seemed apropos!
13 TALES OF TERROR: BOOK 9
yikes, the gloomiest of dystopias, the driest of writing, plus the inevitable sardonic twist ending to make your heart shrivel. an unhappy classic. read this while listening to the totally inappropriate eurythmics soundtrack and your mind will break too! mine sure did. the acid probably helped. ah, college.
☭ ☭ ☭ ☭ ☭ ☭ ☭
since the idea of rereading 1984 sounds about as exciting to me as living in the novel 1984, i have decided to instead review the wondrous semi-aborted soundtrack to the film 1984.
DRUNK* REVIEW #?:
1984 SOUNDTRACK by the EURYTHMICS
so this review actually started well before the typing of this review, when i conducted an informal focus group with this evening's drinking buddies...
"Have You Listened to 1984 by the Eurythmics and What Did You Think?"
Responses
Adrienne: "Never heard of it."
Everett: "Sounds familiar. Love the Eurythmics! Annie Lennox is one of the first white divas!"
Dave: "Must you always be so gay? Is this some kind of gay question that only gays understand?"
Kelly: "Must you always be so old? Jesus, the Eurythmics, they're so last millenium."
dissatisfied by these lackluster responses, upon returning home i decided to review the album on a song-by-song basis. following are my unsober reactions to each song, plus barely-relevant gifs to truly express what my pathetic inebriated self cannot.
Track 1: Winston's Diary"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ9s-O...
oh how sad and plaintive. winsome like Winston. winsome like death! makes me want to take a lonely trip to some lake in the middle of nowhere, and then die.
Track 2: "Sexcrime (nineteeneightyfour)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcTP7Y...
my God this is fucken horrible and wonderful in equal parts. this was the single off of the album?? Jesus. it is like the cheesiest 80s club music plus Annie Lennox singing bizarre lyrics and making crazy circus sounds at the end plus swarming headphones-centric effects. wow! imma listen to this one again.
"How I wish I'd been unborn... I wish I was unlving this!"
"I PULL THE BRICKS DOWN ONE BY ONE! SEXCRIME! DO DO DA DA DO DO BU BU! GIMME GIMME GIMME C'MON!"
Track 3: "Room 101"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhhQK4...
the clubathon continues with this dance song that is like a dance song that satan is saying you must dance to forever because you are damned, dance goddamnit dance, oh now there's a chill part where you can just sort of stand around dazed, oh and now the beat's up again so dance dance, dance minion dance! Lennox is ooohing and aaahing and Stewart is saying something threatening but corny in vocoder. i am sorta beginning to understand why the director tried to reject this soundtrack. tonally it is the opposite of the film. who cares, ilove this! this song is awesome. makes me want to dance until i die! wait that's the second time you've mentioned death, what's wrong with you mark?
Room 101 was the worst! man that part of the novel was tough. all the torture and tears.
Track 4: "Ministry of Love"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVutrP...
this percolates along with an appealingly sinister and minor note synth melody and some muttering of the title. and then all of a sudden these bizarro world music and martial type noises jump in. is that a donkey noise? wtf? random. okay back to haunting weirdness type noises. reminds me of Kate Bush and Kenneth Anger and Genet. random and trippy and weirdly sexy and i like this.
Track 5: "Julia"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Yis...
icy death-ballad activate! undying death-love on! it's better in heaven! death death death death death! a cold and wintry death! i think this was a single too. how in the world? the eerie synth washes over the eerie vocals, plus echoes, organs, the works. lush and creepy!
"When freezing snow lies everywhere... will we still be there? Will we? Will we? Will we still be there?"
yikes, no, i think not. but you left a beautiful memory!
Track 6: "I Did It Just The Same"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpl0_X...
Annie Lennox humming over a zippy tune that sounds like a downbeat sunday night in smalltown america circa the 70s via david lynch. plus cheap neon that is slowly blinking out. oh now her humming is getting more aggressive. Annie Lennox is like that crazy old lady walking towards you on the sidewalk. is she going to talk to you or is she just going to keep walking by you singing and mumbling to herself?
Track 7: "Greetings From A Dead Man"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNrhL...
groovy background music. background music to what exactly? some BA BA BA BAAA BA BA BA BUMs over and over and over again from Lennox. she wants to kill you. but in a mellow and relaxing and totally not crazy way.
Track 8: "For The Love Of Big Brother"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYnL...
this is a great song. all the nonsensical syllables plus actual lyrics plus sitar equals something really entrancing. but what does it all mean? probably death, sigh.
Track 9: "Doubleplusgood"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGwUNT...
synth beat, tribal rhythms, Lennox as the voice of Big Brother. nonsense report speak. "Chocolate Rectify"? was this in the novel? did the song just skip? is this a nightmare i'm having? why am i writing this? doubleplusgood? doubleplusungood? doubledoubledoubledouble. i am getting an awesome headache now. goodnight!
* oh i got high too, just for this album. seemed apropos!
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
June 14, 2007
– Shelved
April 29, 2012
– Shelved as:
after-the-fall
December 16, 2018
– Shelved as:
mind-the-gap
December 16, 2018
– Shelved as:
world-of-insects
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message 1:
by
Cecily
(new)
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rated it 4 stars
Aug 14, 2012 05:13AM
I can sort of imagine this working with the Eurythmics, in a weird way.
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for some reason i neglected to mention that i read this while listening to the totally inappropriate eurythmics soundrack, while on acid, in college. terrifying! my mind broke and i never recovered.
I had a different impression of 1984 (not completely different) than a lot of people. I liked it, and rated it well. It is a classic, which, for me, often means that it has a lesson in for the rest of humanity (and no doubt this surely does). Calling it a classic mislead me. I was expecting to read the work of a skilled surgeon, instead I felt like I was stabbed with a screwdriver.
And strangely, found art in that.
I was expecting to read the work of a skilled surgeon, instead I felt like I was stabbed with a screwdriver. And strangely, found art in that.
wow! i really love this comment.
sometimes i wish i had a banner on my profile where i could highlight various favorite comments.
Placeholder for potential future review.
LOVE your reviews
Must you always be so old? Ha! Nice gif selection, except for the one that made my eyes bleed. And Rainbow Man is the best!
David Bowie tried to do a 1984 album too. Mean old Mrs. Orwell wouldn't give him permission though because she was freaked out by Bowie. So it ended up being the album Diamond Dogs which I am actually pretty fond of.
Anthony that is news to me! mean old Mrs. Orwell really ruined things for the world with that decision. or not. i love Diamond Dogs.thanks Velvetink & Carol!
BB i love Julia. and For the Love of Big Brother. two great songs!
dammit - i wish i could hear the mooosic at work
Anthony wrote: "David Bowie tried to do a 1984 album too. Mean old Mrs. Orwell wouldn't give him permission though because she was freaked out by Bowie. So it ended up being the album Diamond Dogs which I am actua..."Really excellent album. I play Rebel Rebel in class when we talk about Julia.
you are a teacher! i don't think i knew that. i have a soft spot and a lot of respect for teachers. when i was a kid, it's what i wanted to be when i grew up.although the teachers i know now are rather burnt out on their jobs. i think being a teacher in the inner cities of the bay area can be on the soul-crushing side of things.
mark wrote: "you are a teacher! i don't think i knew that. i have a soft spot and a lot of respect for teachers. when i was a kid, it's what i wanted to be when i grew up.although the teachers i know now are ..."
I am indeed! I'm very fortunate in that I teach in a small school (there are only 120-150 in each year's graduating class) and I teach the Advanced Placement courses, so I have a little more academic freedom, engaged and inquisitive students, and relatively minor discipline issues. Those things combined help me avoid the burn-out that can so easily come with the territory. (But before I get too poignant and made-for-tv-movie inspiring about it--I also look forward to enjoying the hell outta not doing anything for a whole summer!)
you are quite fortunate and i am quite jealous. let's trade jobs. how do you feel about doing health-related public policy in san francisco? you can have my staff too, i'll make it a package deal.
mark wrote: "you are quite fortunate and i am quite jealous. let's trade jobs. how do you feel about doing health-related public policy in san francisco? you can have my staff too, i'll make it a package deal."Can I refer to them as minions? If so, then you may have a deal!
deal! you can call them minions as long as you feed them treats and assure them that they are the ones who really run the program. which is actually true. see, easy. we're gonna make this happen!
mark wrote: "deal! you can call them minions as long as you feed them treats and assure them that they are the ones who really run the program. which is actually true. see, easy. we're gonna make this happen!"Considering my lack of knowledge about health-related issues, what could possibly go wrong? Right? (It would probably be prudent to have the CDC on speed dial for me.) However, I have an exemplary record of selecting tasty treats. Let's do it!
Geez, mark! thanks for flooding my screen with Gifs, dude! Maaaahhhh EEEEEYYYZZZZ!!!!!
ha! glad to be of service, Traveller! GIFS 4EVA
Sensory . . . overload . . . seizures . . . can't . . . control . . . keyboard . . . gfornuw]=g[ gf[r4a
mission accomplished!
mark wrote: "mission accomplished!"fcpo;[KCGF5^#%*)sejus425453=094-u
thP(*&T#grpiR$W
I had no idea that the Eurythmics did a soundtrack for 1984. They were one of my favourite bands from the eighties. You have just given me a massive new appreciation of their art.
listen to the soundtrack, post-haste! you owe it to your 80s self!
Awesome stuff, Mark!! And funny you should mostly write about the Eurythmics soundtrack that was never even used for the movie... Just yesterday I talked about this with my brother on the phone - isn't that hilarious!? Similar cultural interests indeed... I'll have to listen to that album soon and then reread your review.
My brother really likes the album, btw, I haven't heard it in ages.
it's awesome, but appreciation of synth pop and 80s dance music is definitely a must for appreciating the album.
A very interesting review, Thank you. Please note Tracks #7 and #8 are no longer available.I was never a big fan of Eurythmics, but I did enjoy some of their work. The 1984 soundtrack was not my fav, but it was nice to see it again here. Thank you
thanks for pointing that out, will fix now!
