Well, I just saw it for the first time (to give you an idea how bad a Duranie I've been, I didn't even _know_ they had a new album out until just now--then again, I really haven't been remembering to look into pop music on the actual radio much lately at all) and...huh.
First of all, I am VERY annoyed that _every_. Single. Freaking. COMMENT is about the fur, telling people to shut up about the fur, and telling the people telling the people to shut up about the fur gory details of exactly how fur farms operate. WHY ARE _NONE_ OF THE COMMENTS ABOUT THE _MUSIC_? OR THE ACTUAL STORY CONTENT OF THE VIDEO? I am disappoint.
Anyway. The whole Switchverse thing was fucking brilliant (for some reason I _love_ that Simon(e) Le Bon is black. I don't even mean that ironically, it's...kinda wicked), "Joan" Taylor was SPOT. FREAKING. _ON_ and when they went into the full out Duran Duran parody video thing where they were all in the suits and "Nicole" Rhodes was in the white and black, I about LOST it. And "Simone" in the red suit is SO FREAKING ADORABLE, I swear. (I then started trying to figure out exactly which of their previous videos it reminded me the most of--possibly "Electric Barbarella"? Yes, I am this much of a geek.)
As for the "panic girls", well...I dunno. All the costumes were very weird, creative and beautifully textured and the shots were kind of showing the sexy flesh in a...complimentary kind of way? I dunno. It didn't come across as complete sexism so much as "Female bodies are pretty, and things like sequins, feathers and lace are pretty. Let's show them together in a pretty way." So it was like, skanky, but..._artsy_-skanky?
Sure, they didn't mean the video as a dead serious exploration of women's issues and whatnot, but...if you expect Duran Duran to be dead serious about ANYthing you are following the wrong band. Also, gender-bending has been a major thing in New Wave ever since the beginning and Duran Duran goes almost back _to_ that beginning. I mean, you ever seen Annie Lennox drag-king it up in the video for "Sweet Dreams"? Wondered how Boy George got his makeup like that? So, in a way, this is them returning to their _roots_. (Okay, not their _personal_ roots. But their buddies, their homies, their _kind_'s, roots.)
If nothing else, it shows that Duran Duran can STILL do what they've done best--make really freaking _creative_ videos. This is 30 years after their first album and they're STILL making story-videos. That's kind of awesome.
As for what the song's actual meaning, I have...NO idea. I think I need to hear it shorn of freaky colourful visuals that keep making me giggle over everything and interstitial interview-bits. I seriously couldn't concentrate on the lyrics at all. AT all. :P It's possible they're really sexist or have disturbing connotations, but...I have no idea. I seriously need to _hear_ songs first and see them later.
First of all, I am VERY annoyed that _every_. Single. Freaking. COMMENT is about the fur, telling people to shut up about the fur, and telling the people telling the people to shut up about the fur gory details of exactly how fur farms operate. WHY ARE _NONE_ OF THE COMMENTS ABOUT THE _MUSIC_? OR THE ACTUAL STORY CONTENT OF THE VIDEO? I am disappoint.
Anyway. The whole Switchverse thing was fucking brilliant (for some reason I _love_ that Simon(e) Le Bon is black. I don't even mean that ironically, it's...kinda wicked), "Joan" Taylor was SPOT. FREAKING. _ON_ and when they went into the full out Duran Duran parody video thing where they were all in the suits and "Nicole" Rhodes was in the white and black, I about LOST it. And "Simone" in the red suit is SO FREAKING ADORABLE, I swear.
(I then started trying to figure out exactly which of their previous videos it reminded me the most of--possibly "Electric Barbarella"? Yes, I am this much of a geek.)
As for the "panic girls", well...I dunno. All the costumes were very weird, creative and beautifully textured and the shots were kind of showing the sexy flesh in a...complimentary kind of way? I dunno. It didn't come across as complete sexism so much as "Female bodies are pretty, and things like sequins, feathers and lace are pretty. Let's show them together in a pretty way." So it was like, skanky, but..._artsy_-skanky?
Sure, they didn't mean the video as a dead serious exploration of women's issues and whatnot, but...if you expect Duran Duran to be dead serious about ANYthing you are following the wrong band. Also, gender-bending has been a major thing in New Wave ever since the beginning and Duran Duran goes almost back _to_ that beginning. I mean, you ever seen Annie Lennox drag-king it up in the video for "Sweet Dreams"? Wondered how Boy George got his makeup like that? So, in a way, this is them returning to their _roots_. (Okay, not their _personal_ roots. But their buddies, their homies, their _kind_'s, roots.)
If nothing else, it shows that Duran Duran can STILL do what they've done best--make really freaking _creative_ videos. This is 30 years after their first album and they're STILL making story-videos. That's kind of awesome.
As for what the song's actual meaning, I have...NO idea. I think I need to hear it shorn of freaky colourful visuals that keep making me giggle over everything and interstitial interview-bits. I seriously couldn't concentrate on the lyrics at all. AT all. :P
It's possible they're really sexist or have disturbing connotations, but...I have no idea. I seriously need to _hear_ songs first and see them later.
...Notorious
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