Latest / Barber Cuts: Beats and Bars / + - Ed Sheeran

Transcript

+ - Ed Sheeran · Barber Cuts: Beats and Bars

0:15
Welcome to Barbara Cuts, Beats and bars.
0:17
We're a father daughter music podcast that slices into some of
0:20
the greatest albums, one cut at a time.
0:22
With no industry ties or formal training, just a shared love of
0:25
music, we explore albums across genres, writing favorites and
0:29
skips while digging into what makes each one iconic.
0:33
I bring the beats. And I bring the bars and
0:36
together we deliver real talk and fresh takes from both sides
0:39
of the sound. Hi, I'm Riley.
0:41
And I'm Todd and welcome to this week's episode of Barber Cuts
0:46
where we are talking about plus the plus sign by Ed Sheeran
0:52
album from 2011, first studio album.
0:57
So Riley, let's kick it off. What are your least favorite
1:01
songs from this album? One of them is really
1:04
unfortunate. OK, so OK, I'll go with the not
1:09
unfortunate one to begin with, that was Lego House.
1:12
This was a problem that I'll talk about more later on.
1:16
A lot of these songs were just very cheesy, like cheesy to the
1:25
point where I couldn't get on board with it.
1:27
And that's coming from someone me.
1:29
I'm a fan of Owl City. OK, that's saying something.
1:33
If I think it's too cheesy to listen to, OK, And Lego House is
1:38
just that. It was like meant to be like
1:39
this sweet song, but it was like I'm going to build a Lego house
1:46
and it was just a generic love song after that, which most of
1:52
these were that one. I didn't like how it sounded and
1:56
I thought it was too cheesy. The any other song that like I
2:00
had an issue with, I liked how it sounded and that's why they
2:03
were all unfortunate. Grade 8 is my other one.
2:07
That's one great example. I really liked how it sounds.
2:11
I like the beginning part where it says like the my mind is a
2:14
warrior and it goes through all of that, which, again, cheesy,
2:17
but yeah, you're showing off my heartstrings like you were a
2:21
grade 8. Like some of his songs just seem
2:25
too easy. Like there's nothing clever
2:28
about it, but it's trying to be clever.
2:31
And that was like the case with this one and the Lego House.
2:34
Like I just, I couldn't get past those two, but great.
2:38
I I really liked how it sounded. And so that's how I was so
2:41
unfortunate that, like, the lyrics were like, just not what
2:45
I wanted. Yeah, I can see that.
2:47
So mine first you need me. I don't need you just wasn't a
2:53
fan of it And and I guess that it it seemed to depart from the
3:00
I got it in air quotes, wholesome storyteller of all the
3:05
other songs that he had. Even if you call them cheesy
3:09
lyrics like you did it, they're still wholesome, cheesy lyrics.
3:13
And this one he seemed seemed to turn into an egomaniac.
3:18
But you know, and reading more after I listened to it seemed to
3:23
be somewhat maybe have a personal story about the
3:26
struggle of making it in the music industry.
3:29
So I, I, I get where he was going, I guess, but it just
3:34
didn't resonate with me like many of the other songs did.
3:38
The other one, I guess there was a least favorite was the city
3:42
and it's something about it. I don't know what.
3:44
And again, this is this is me. Although it was stream wise one
3:51
of his more least popular ones on on the on Spotify just didn't
3:56
agree with me and and I can't really tell what it is, if it
4:01
was a single thing or not. It's like when a fan of the
4:04
chorus, when they do that type thing is just.
4:09
That was beautiful. Yeah, I know.
4:10
And, and, and it is better than that on the song.
4:15
So the the distorted guitar that was in there threw me off a
4:20
little bit as well, which I get. It plays into the dirtiness of
4:25
the city that he's talking about.
4:27
So I know why it's there. I know what it's representing,
4:30
but again, when the rest of the album is very clean in the way
4:35
it sounds, that just threw me off.
4:39
And so the both of these songs had something that was
4:44
relatively different than the rest of the album.
4:47
And and so it I guess that's that's the part that that threw
4:50
me off more more than anything. So those were my least favorite
4:55
2 Riley now. Really quick.
5:00
I will also say the elephant in the room for anyone who's
5:04
listened to this with us, with You Need me, I don't need you is
5:08
that has one of the most uncomfortable lyrics of all
5:11
times. And he really stops everything
5:14
just to focus on that lyric and you know, go listen to the song.
5:20
He knows what I'm talking about. I'm not going to say that in
5:22
front of my dad, but like I, I enjoyed like the kind of
5:27
rappiness of that song until he stopped all the music to say
5:31
that. And it like breaks.
5:32
I'm like, I can't. I can't.
5:35
Do it. Yeah.
5:36
And I can't even even even that line, like it just doesn't fit
5:40
with the rest of the album. And so I don't I don't know what
5:44
it was about that. And but that that one that was.
5:47
Just yeah. And.
5:48
Odd. An odd song.
5:50
I watched these Youtubers who do like the episode that I'm
5:55
talking about is they do like whose bars this And so they do
6:01
different bars and they have to guess the rapper and stuff like
6:04
that. And the person choosing it chose
6:06
that one lyric. And so they were guessing all
6:08
these rappers, and then it was like Ed Sheeran.
6:10
They're like go. Away what Ed Sheeran said that
6:15
when it's like you think of like, you think of almost like
6:19
first dance songs. When you think of Ed Sheeran,
6:21
'cause you think of like, photograph AT like all of these
6:25
sweet little songs. Yeah, so.
6:28
That. Out of nowhere.
6:30
Yeah. But we can move on from that.
6:33
Yeah, so. Favorite songs?
6:35
I my favorite songs were drunk. I liked the singing is I liked
6:45
the almost. Is this foreshadowing because
6:47
somebody's got a 21st birthday coming up?
6:50
I just want you to be prepared. I liked the singing on it.
6:57
I liked the drunk parts that he sang.
7:01
I liked they were almost a little imperfect, as if he was
7:06
drunk. The first time I listened to it,
7:09
I couldn't decide if I liked it or hated it because of that.
7:12
Like it sounds almost flat or pitchy in certain parts when
7:15
he's singing. And then I decided I really
7:17
liked it. And so that was that became one
7:21
of my favourites. I mean, I don't agree with the
7:23
sentiment, but you know, I just liked how it sounded enough.
7:31
And again, cheesy lyrics. But my favorite song, and I get
7:35
to say this now, has a lot to do with nostalgia.
7:40
My favorite song is The A-Team. This song, I remember listening
7:47
along to it in the car on the radio.
7:50
I remember really liking it. I remember along to it, I
7:54
remember being really confused because I didn't know what Class
7:58
A meant. And so I just thought it meant
8:00
she was in a different classroom.
8:03
And so I went along with that. But I just really love like that
8:07
song and I think it it stays true to fancy the cuteness.
8:13
It has some better lyrics to me that aren't as like in your
8:19
face. She's but the been this way
8:24
since 18, but lately her face seems slowly sinking, wasting.
8:28
And then the next Eric, and then it says the worst things in life
8:31
come us 'cause we're just under the upper hand hand.
8:34
And I don't know, I just really like that little group of lyrics
8:37
all together. They flow really well together.
8:39
They sound really nice together. It's a neat sentiment to be
8:43
singing and like a love song, kind of like a sad sentiment.
8:46
Like you don't necessarily expect to hear that.
8:50
I mean, most of it is nostalgia. I just remember.
8:53
So you saying all this, I got to ask, do you know what the song
8:56
is about? No.
8:57
OK, so is it? Cocaine.
8:59
Yeah, it's not a love song at all.
9:01
It's about cocaine, isn't it? It's a yeah.
9:04
It's about he, he played. He played a gig at a homeless
9:08
shelter and saw what the. Better though.
9:12
This saw what this person was going through and I and I saw
9:16
some stories and where her name was Angel.
9:20
So like angels with wings in the song.
9:24
But yeah, it's, it's a, it's about, it's about a girl.
9:28
The character that uses that has a drug addiction, cocaine, Class
9:34
A drug, and then falls into homelessness and prostitution to
9:40
get more of the drug. So I did not know that that's
9:44
not a love song. That may be why the lyrics are a
9:46
little bit better. I think that makes the song.
9:51
And I should not have been singing along to the song as a
9:53
kid, but I was. Yeah, it was on the radio.
9:58
Yeah. And and this is this is one of
10:01
those where, you know, we it it's it's by far is most popular
10:06
one on the album. I mean, it's over a billion
10:09
streams, you know, and so it's. The one that made Ed Sheeran.
10:12
Ed Sheeran Yeah. And it's, you know, we, we I
10:18
don't maybe we've had three billion stream songs, 2 from
10:24
Nirvana last week and then this one and on albums particularly
10:31
that we've done. But yeah, this is 1 where we
10:34
we've had some of these where the music is very upbeat, but
10:39
the lyrics, especially when you know what they are, they don't
10:42
match, you know, the darkness of the lyrics don't match the
10:46
upbeatness of the music. And so you you can the opening
10:52
lines before it gets into that class A-Team.
10:56
White lips. And, and all this makes so much
10:59
sense now when you hear it. White lips, petty face,
11:02
breathing in the snowflakes, burnt lungs, sour taste, lights
11:07
gone Days Inn, struggling to pay rent, long nights, strange men.
11:12
So as the lyric person, I feel like I love my people down
11:18
living in a land of nostalgia. That's fine.
11:23
I was living in a land of nostalgia where nothing was
11:26
wrong and no drugs because I didn't know what drugs were.
11:30
Sometimes it's good not to listen to lyrics, yeah.
11:34
But I mean, that makes the song better in my opinion.
11:39
Yeah, I think that is a good song still.
11:42
Yeah, it is a it is a good song. I, I have to admit, it was up
11:46
there like I was debating on this one.
11:51
I kept going back between the the two that I picked and
11:54
actually there were four that I kept going through and this one
11:57
didn't quite make it, but it was it was there.
11:59
It's a good song. Yeah, it is.
12:02
So Speaking of, what were your favorite songs then?
12:06
So my two favorite songs. I'll start with grade 8.
12:12
Oh no. And say musically is what it
12:17
captured me. And again, this makes sense.
12:20
You were listening to the lyrics of the song.
12:23
I was not first round through. And it the the beat is just a
12:29
catchy little beat and it kept up throughout the whole song.
12:33
You know, I like the chorus, the way it sounded a little little
12:37
shift in it. It seemed to be harmonizing, but
12:41
yet there's nobody to harmonize with.
12:43
So I'm guessing he just records his voice and then records over
12:47
it. You know, double, double
12:48
tracking records him on top of himself.
12:53
You know, there was 11 lyric in there where, you know, again,
12:57
it's it's a love song and it's a cheesy love song.
12:59
Your your body is my ballpoint pen.
13:02
OK, but seems to be like his first love and he's coping with
13:09
falling so hard for someone. And again, your line that you
13:13
said you're strumming on my hearts like you were a grade 8,
13:17
but I've never felt this way. Just kind of leans into that.
13:21
And grade 8 making sure as I was listening to was like, OK, is
13:28
this another class A-Team? And this has no idea what I'm
13:32
you know about to say. Best I can tell, grade 8 is the
13:36
highest level grade you can get in music school.
13:39
It's auk thing so I may have it wrong, but if that is the case
13:44
and she is strumming on heartstrings like a grade 8, the
13:49
analogy makes perfect sense. Yeah, she's a pro.
13:52
Yes, I get it and I'm not I'm not saying it's not, but the
13:58
musically is what is what captured me and again, the the
14:03
lyrics of being a the sweet little cheesy love song.
14:06
Didn't you know, didn't didn't turn me off.
14:10
And then my favorite song, really it it hit me because
14:15
again, nostalgia for a very different rate reason is the
14:20
double sweep of Lego House. No.
14:24
How did we do? This so again, a reminder, we
14:31
pick favorites, we pick least favorites.
14:34
We don't talk about them. And so you hear our
14:37
disappointment with each other as we are going through these
14:41
and we are on Zoom together and this is I we're each doing our
14:47
best not to go. Oh, you pick mine with our
14:50
facial expressions. But Lego house.
14:52
So the way it starts, like the opening lyrics are crystal clear
14:58
and it caught my attention because, and you'll know this,
15:02
our house has been around the block with a few Lego sets back.
15:06
Oh yeah, it. Has so you know and it starts
15:11
right off. I'm going to pick up the pieces
15:13
and build a Lego house. If things go wrong we can knock
15:16
it down and again, at that point in time I got no idea what song
15:19
is about. I'm like hey Lego pieces, build
15:21
them up, knock them down. Done that millions of times with
15:25
brother Barber and so and you. But Legos?
15:30
Legos were more his thing than than yours.
15:32
Yeah, I was more a Lincoln Log girl.
15:34
So he is, yeah. And so like that caught me.
15:38
I was like, hi, OK. And then not too long, it made
15:46
me right after that line, he shifts and he sings that line.
15:50
He shifts over to a little rap staccato line or two, which I'd
15:56
like that shift and then back to singing.
15:58
So he's just going back and forth and also like maybe midway
16:04
through the song around the two-minute mark, he's got a a
16:09
line or two that has a very scratchy voice, which most of
16:15
his songs through here were were again, pretty clean.
16:19
So I like that scratchiness, just the difference back in the
16:23
the staccato side of things. And again, lyrics, yeah,
16:28
relationships, how fragile they are, how much effort is involved
16:32
to build a relationship. So, yeah, cheesy, I get it, but
16:36
it was nice. And then as I'm looking through
16:40
all this, the video, I don't know if you saw this, the videos
16:45
got a completely different message, completely different
16:47
vibe than the music. What's?
16:49
Going on. And so the music, it is also,
16:54
the other thing that I'll say about this and Ed Sheeran that I
16:57
find hysterical is that the Spotify photo at the moment of
17:03
this recording? Oh yeah, August 25th is Ron
17:06
Weasley. Yeah, it's Rupert.
17:09
Rupert Grant. Yeah.
17:11
And and I'm like, OK, that's pretty funny because first
17:14
glance I thought it was Ed Sheeran.
17:15
And then when I was like, wait, that's not Ed Sheeran.
17:18
Like, have you ever watched an interview of Ed Sheeran?
17:20
That's. Ron Weasley and I get I didn't
17:22
know his name, movies aren't my thing, but I knew it was Ron
17:25
Weasley. I didn't know his name.
17:27
All that to be said, the video and then I'll let you tell your
17:31
story. Just so we don't get lost in
17:33
this, the video for Lego House is it starts off with Rupert
17:43
Grant Bing and Ed Sheeran look alike and he's singing the song.
17:47
He's writing lyrics, He's playing a guitar.
17:50
It looks like he's acting in quotes here as Ed Sheeran.
17:55
And then you very quickly, at some point in time, he goes out
17:59
onto the stage, you know, to sing the to sing the song.
18:02
Fans are waiting for him and security knocks him over.
18:06
He's a stalker. So, like, what happened there?
18:11
And then at the very end of the song, security's taking him off
18:15
the elevator and Ed Sheeran's getting on the elevator, and
18:18
they, like, look at each other. And then the song ends and like,
18:22
OK, stalking is not cool. I don't like not endorsing
18:28
stalking at all. If you're still don't.
18:31
Don't do that. But that was funny.
18:35
Yeah. I laughed at that when I was
18:37
like, oh, my goodness. This is.
18:39
This is because they, you know, they look similar.
18:44
I mean, they don't look off that at A at a glance, they, they can
18:48
pass for each other, but when you look at them, they don't,
18:51
you know, they're obviously two different people.
18:53
But I was like, oh, this is this is interesting.
18:56
So yeah, have you ever watched any interviews of Ed Sheeran?
19:00
Very, very few. He's hilarious.
19:04
I so I have seen stories where he's like an all around, you
19:09
know, I, I was going to say all American guy being that we're in
19:12
America, all, you know, just your normal kind of.
19:17
Yeah, he, he, he talks about, Here's one interview where he
19:22
talks about how voice coaching works.
19:25
And he's like, I used to stink at singing.
19:28
And he has, like, original voice recordings of him singing.
19:31
And it's not good. He randomly showed up on like
19:33
Taylor Swift's tour as a clown and surprised her.
19:37
Yeah, I have seen that video. And then you can see her face
19:40
like they're the two dancers are like, no, go over here.
19:43
And then you see her face when she recognizes him, and she's
19:47
like, oh, goodness, you know, yeah.
19:49
He just is a who in any interview I've seen of him, he's
19:53
he like kind of is in on whatever joke there is.
19:58
Yeah. Like he's in on it.
20:00
Yeah, which I I like that me. Too.
20:03
So any any other so those are favorites.
20:06
Any other song thoughts or anything or well, I guess we can
20:10
just kind of include that all in.
20:12
Why Why is this an album that people should listen to if they
20:17
haven't? You got you got thoughts on
20:19
that? Let me tell you my other song
20:22
though, so you can think about it and, and why I didn't have it
20:29
in there was small bump and, and I really got drawn into it.
20:35
And again, so I'm, I'm normally yes, I'm a music person, but
20:41
when the lyrics are very easy to hear, I, I, I do listen to him a
20:45
little bit more. And oftentimes you find that
20:48
with folk and singer-songwriter, so it's a little bit easier to
20:52
hear him. And so he's close to that.
20:55
I know, I know that's not, not him, but he's close to that.
20:58
And so, you know, it's a happy little song talking about
21:03
somebody that's four months pregnant, no, 5 months pregnant.
21:09
And the lyrics are all about like, oh, you're going to do
21:12
this and you're going to do this.
21:13
And then at the very end, it's like, no, the the baby was still
21:21
birthed 5 months in. And the last three lines is
21:24
where you figure that out. I'm like, Oh, this is a wreck.
21:29
And it's a true story about some of his friends.
21:33
And you know, so for, for people that have gone through that or
21:37
even a miscarriage, which we, we, we have like, man, that's a
21:42
heart wrenching song. True.
21:46
And, and I, and I see it and, and I love the meaning and the
21:49
potential healing behind it. But when it got to the end and
21:53
delivered the the gut punch of the last two lines, I was like,
21:58
oh, this, this, this can't be a favorite, can it?
22:02
But it's still, it's still a nice little song, so.
22:05
Yeah, I guess I'll show my hand early.
22:11
People shouldn't go listen to this album.
22:14
Yeah, I don't know why it is either.
22:17
I didn't like it. I liked it OK, but I didn't like
22:22
it. Yeah, it's.
22:23
Probably been one of my least favorites because, and let me
22:27
tell you why I pulled out the poster, even looking at like the
22:35
ones I didn't like, like Sex Pistols is the one that comes to
22:39
mind. Like neither of us like Sex
22:41
Pistols, but they like were huge in the genre.
22:46
They were leaders, they were doing something different, all
22:50
of that. This is just a generic pop album
22:54
that's like not even crazy good. It's like, I guess he raps
22:59
sometimes and that's different, but it's really just a normal
23:03
pop album that doesn't seem like it broke much ground past
23:08
A-Team. So when you're looking at it
23:10
like I'm looking at it in the line of artists that it's with
23:14
and it's with like The Cure, Marvin Gaye, Nirvana, like, and
23:18
even going back to like ACDC, The Beatles, like it just seems
23:23
out of place. Yeah, so.
23:26
Set up for failure. Yeah, So I'll, I'll, I'll tell
23:29
you what I found. Not that I may disagree or agree
23:34
with you. I may hide my ratings a little
23:37
bit better than what you have. This is Ed Sheeran's debut
23:44
studio album. He had other EPS that he didn't
23:48
independently released before this one influenced by Eminem,
23:53
Niz Lobby best I can tell, and Damien Rice.
23:58
Heard of two of those and lyrics were personal for many or most
24:06
of the songs, maybe, if not about him, but things he had
24:08
been around or close to. We talked about some of them and
24:13
it's a blend of acoustic storytelling, lyrics, pop music,
24:21
and simple, because it's not very simple what he does, simple
24:26
minimalistic sound, but he's still able to do some pretty
24:31
neat things with the music and have several different genres
24:37
kind of included in there. So most of his songs, a guitar,
24:40
piano, and a loot pedal to create all kinds of this stuff.
24:43
He does most of this by himself. I've seen some clips, no
24:48
interviews, clips of shows that he's done and him getting all
24:53
this stuff set set up and joking and, you know, cutting up as he
24:57
does it, which is still kind of cool.
24:59
But to see him do it all and then launch into the song, it's
25:03
still still pretty neat. Not that others can't do it.
25:10
There's also some verbose rhythmic rhyming on some of the
25:14
songs. You know, we we talked about one
25:18
of our least favorites, You and I was another one that had lots
25:22
of rap on it, which was pretty neat.
25:26
Also very emotional songs such as 18 and small Bump.
25:30
And I think that emotion really, even though they're they may,
25:36
you may have called them cheesy. I think that's the part and who
25:41
he is outside of the albums. I think that's the part that
25:45
connects him with people. And so is this his best album?
25:51
I think most people would say no, it's not.
25:54
Again, I'm no Ed Sheeran aficionado, but the but this
26:02
album launched Ed Sheeran and so who is Ed Sheeran?
26:08
Well, as of August 25th, 2025, he has two of the most streamed
26:17
songs on Spotify. Shape of You is the number 2 /
26:22
4.5 billion. Again, none of none of these are
26:27
on this album, but this is Ed Sheeran.
26:29
This is this is the album that launched Ed Sheeran.
26:32
Shape of You is over 4.5 billion.
26:35
Perfect is number 10. So he has two of the top 10 /
26:38
3.5 billion. He's got 4 songs in the top 100,
26:42
three of them with 3 billion plus streams.
26:46
And he's the most, he's the artist with the most 3 billion
26:50
plus stream songs. And Shape of You was the most
26:54
stream song for a shade over five years.
26:58
Like that's, that's crazy. And that's the current record.
27:04
The weekend is got the most 1 now.
27:07
And so he's he's catching on him.
27:08
But Ed Sheeran still holds the record.
27:12
And his album Divide is the third most streamed album on
27:16
Spotify. Like this is the album that
27:19
launched all that now. Is it his best album?
27:22
No, I, I don't, I don't know which one would be because
27:27
again, I'm I'm not an Ed Sheeran aficionado, but yet this is the
27:32
album that launched Ed Sheeran so that.
27:35
Yeah. Is why you would go listen to
27:39
it, because you may have heard The A-Team, but none of the rest
27:43
because you picked up on Ed Sheeran with Photograph or Shape
27:47
of You or Perfect so much. Oftentimes, like last week, we
27:53
said, hey, if you're a Nirvana fan, go listen to Bleach.
27:58
Go listen to that first album. That's why you would go listen
28:03
to this album. It's his first one.
28:04
Yeah, I guess. I guess I don't.
28:10
I don't guess. I know I'm not a, I'm an Ed
28:13
Sheeran person fan. I'm not an Ed Sheeran music fan.
28:19
So I, I get, I get the I, I think he's a very neat guy.
28:24
I think the way he does his music is very neat.
28:27
I think the concert clips are really cool.
28:30
He seems very down to earth. Pop music isn't always my thing,
28:35
especially not like radio pop. And the reason those songs are
28:39
usually the most played is because they were radio pop or
28:42
trending and like they were good songs like technically, but they
28:49
just never were like my style and none of his music really has
28:54
been other than a team was probably the closest it got with
29:00
like soft. And I just ruined that one for
29:03
you. No, you made it better.
29:05
That's what I kept saying. I guess that sums up sums it up
29:09
as best I can. I mean, Ed Sheeran as a person
29:13
fan, but Ed Sheeran music, I'm not a fan.
29:18
So that being said, what are your ratings?
29:24
My objective rating is it's low so I'm scared.
29:29
Well, it's OK, It is what it is. My objective rating is a 7.5 and
29:37
then my personal rating is a four.
29:41
OK. For the A2 I don't know.
29:48
There were. No, I like him as a person and
29:52
that's why I feel bad like he's ever gonna listen to this and
29:54
feel like he would hurt my feelings.
29:56
He's so successful. He does not need a random 20
29:59
year old girl's appear. No, I, I think that because it
30:07
was his first album and because it was his first like recorded
30:11
album or record debut, whatever album, there were a lot of
30:16
imperfections and that's the nature of it being like it
30:20
brought him to who he is. But the lyrics were a little
30:24
funky at times. There were a few songs that we
30:27
both said just felt out of place.
30:30
There was the one song I'm blanking on the name, it had
30:33
love in it, but now I can't remember the name of it.
30:36
It was like the last song. But it was like.
30:40
Yeah, and it was like 7 minutes long and like a minute of it was
30:43
just silence and. That was 2 songs. 2 songs.
30:46
That's a hidden song. That's the one that comes after
30:49
it. Yeah, but that doesn't work as
30:52
well on Spotify. No it doesn't.
30:56
Like, 'cause I just got annoyed. Yeah.
30:59
Especially with like the one that I was looking at, they were
31:02
technically deluxe songs. After it, we didn't listen to
31:04
those. So I was just like, OK, like
31:09
there just seemed to be a lot of like, bits missing here and
31:14
there that could have been tighter.
31:16
And then I already said I didn't really enjoy listening to it.
31:20
It just felt easy most of the time.
31:24
And I get that some of the lyrics had deeper meanings.
31:26
That's great. That brings some of them up, but
31:31
not necessarily enough for me to like walk around listening to
31:35
them. And honestly, a few of these, I
31:39
was listening to them. I was like, oh gosh, I hope no
31:42
one asked me what song I'm listening to right now.
31:45
I've done that a few times where there's like a TikTok trend
31:49
where people will stop you and they'll be like, what song are
31:51
you listening to right now? And sometimes when I'm listening
31:54
to albums around campus, like with my headphones on that we're
31:57
supposed to be listening to, like Sex Pistols is a perfect
32:00
example. I was like, oh, gosh, no one
32:03
asks me when I'm listening to because it does not reflect me
32:06
right now. And that was this whole week.
32:08
I was terrified that someone was going to ask me somewhere, oh,
32:12
what are you listening to? And I'd be like no, skip skip
32:16
skip skip. Let me search for what I want to
32:20
want, want you to hear. Yeah, last week.
32:24
Go back to last week, last week. But yeah, I mean no hate.
32:29
So I I will slightly redeem us with Ed Sheeran and Ron Weasley.
32:40
My personal rating is a 6.5. Again, I'm not a pop fan,
32:46
although when I search for Ed Sheeran it came up.
32:49
I have photographed liked as one of my songs.
32:51
I have no idea when I liked it but so I do have at least one Ed
32:56
Sheeran song liked and but again, I'm I'm not a I'm not a
33:02
pop fan but as I was listening to it like I I don't know.
33:07
And maybe this is just me, I wouldn't really skip any of the
33:11
songs either, but they just weren't my favorite, you know?
33:15
They, they weren't jarring, they weren't annoying, they weren't
33:18
any of those things. But as far as just letting music
33:22
play in the background, it it it OK, great.
33:26
It was what it was, but I also didn't really thoroughly enjoy
33:31
any of them either. So objectively, I gave it an 8
33:38
for the simple reason that this was the first album of a guy
33:43
that has obviously done very, very well.
33:47
So you know, and and again, he's still new first album 2011.
33:53
So the influence that he may have is still to be determined.
33:59
So it really has nothing to do with that.
34:01
Whereas some of these other albums that that does have a lot
34:04
to do with it. This is really objectively based
34:08
on who he has become since then. And I again, may not be my
34:14
music, but Dang, a lot of people really like his music.
34:18
So I'm must be in the minority on this one.
34:23
So I can I can realize realize that I'm actually going to take
34:29
2 seconds to show how some of these things start to relate.
34:36
And one of so one of the things that Ed Sheeran again, this is
34:40
all UK. So I may have this fabulously
34:43
wrong, in which case we we we've had some UK listeners.
34:49
So feel free to type in and tell me where I've gone off the
34:53
rails. But he has listed as as some of
34:58
his influence grime, which is not as big in the US as it is in
35:05
the UK. And best I can best I've read
35:08
and listen to some of it and was actually like, oh, this is
35:12
actually not bad. It's EDM.
35:14
So electronic dance music with rap on top of that.
35:20
So it's it's, it's actually not that bad.
35:22
And it kick started in the early 2000s and grime came from the UK
35:33
garage scene. Hey, shout out.
35:37
Which is where original and and pirate radio.
35:44
Original pirate material from the streets a few episodes back.
35:49
And so the streets is not really considered grime.
35:54
So I do want to say that whereas, but but they all came
35:59
from that same garage, UK garage movement and and pirate radio.
36:06
And and so it's it's neat to see those connections.
36:10
Just a few albums and from again two albums, one the Streets
36:16
original pirate material never heard of and OK it it went bad
36:21
and now Ed Sheeran heard the A-Team.
36:24
None of the other songs. And again, may not be my music
36:28
scene but neat to see the connections of how things
36:34
develop and shifts through people grabbing music, tweaking
36:38
it a little bit to their own liking and then putting out
36:41
records for people to consume and enjoy and then change
36:46
however they want to. So that was neat, that.
36:48
Was neat. So that being said, that gets us
36:53
to song of the week. Riley, what was your song of the
36:58
week? So my style of the week was Dang
37:04
Dang Dang I for the people who aren't southern, because that
37:08
tends to be a word that I get pretty Southern on Dang by
37:13
Rainbow Kitten. Surprise, it's one of their new
37:15
songs. They're about to release a new
37:17
album, very looking forward to it.
37:19
I really like rainbow kitten, surprise they have a really
37:23
great name even though kittens are kind of my OPS.
37:29
But Dang it is a good song. Makes me look forward to the
37:32
album. Although it wasn't a song, this
37:36
next one isn't a song week. Also for new music, Somber.
37:40
SO MB R just released his first album I think his is Undressed
37:48
and Back to friends. If you know those songs they're
37:50
everywhere. Undressed just a really good
37:53
song. But he just released his I think
37:56
debut album or official album. He's like 1819 he's crazy young
38:02
and also like 6-7 so but just his album really good.
38:06
Highly recommend. But Dang was my official song to
38:09
me. I'm so excited for a new album.
38:13
You're just you're taking our song of the week and really
38:17
transforming it into songs, albums.
38:21
I'm transforming it. Into Riley has the.
38:24
Floor to talk about music and so she's going to take.
38:26
That floor, Yeah, I I see that. I see where you're going.
38:31
I can. Go on if you.
38:33
Need I have? Like.
38:35
I know you can work. I know you can.
38:37
I'm cutting you off. So my song of the week was
38:41
actually inspired by this album because I listened to the album
38:46
and then when you get to the end, it starts playing related
38:49
songs. And the first song that came on
38:52
was Fix You by Coldplay. I'm like, oh, I love this song.
38:58
So then anytime I hear that song, I'm like, OK, Yep, got to
39:02
go listen to it again. Yeah, I've got to go listen to
39:04
it again. And it's one of these, one of
39:06
those songs you always forget about it and then you hear it
39:09
and you're like, oh man, I really like the song.
39:12
And you hit repeat a couple times and and so, you know, a
39:17
couple different stories about the meaning behind the lyrics.
39:19
So I don't know which one is which one is right one, one from
39:23
the singer, one from what? Like who knows?
39:27
But the opening of the organs and just so calm and quiet.
39:32
And then again, yeah, I love the music.
39:36
But when you can hear the lyrics so clearly and in that first
39:41
line of when you try your best but you don't succeed, it's like
39:46
just hits home. Just reminds you like things
39:49
don't always go your way. Sometimes life, sometimes things
39:54
just go wrong. No matter how good you are, no
39:57
matter how hard you try. But you know the the the song
40:04
and it just. If if you haven't heard it, go
40:07
go listen to it and maybe maybe it'll be playing underneath our
40:12
voices as we get this pushed out.
40:14
But you know, around the 235 is the the chorus of the lights
40:21
will guide you home and ignite your bones and I will try to fix
40:26
you. And that build up to get to that
40:30
point like this gives me chills most every time I hear it.
40:35
And so then the the build up hits after that line and then
40:38
the first line of the build up is.
40:42
Tears stream down your face when you lose something you cannot
40:46
replace. Oh, I'm getting chills thinking
40:48
about it right now. Like oh mercy, it's like, what a
40:52
great song, you know? And and then at the end of the
40:56
song, like I love when songs do this, it's a build a crescendo
41:01
and then it the end of the song goes back to the quiet, but it's
41:04
not an organ, it's a piano. And his voice with the same
41:10
lights will guide you on lines and ends with I'll try to fix
41:13
you. What a great song.
41:16
You may not be a full blown Coldplay song because they are
41:20
kind of pop, but that's a great, great song by Coldplay.
41:26
Fix you 2 things one. Why in the mid twenty 10s did we
41:35
decide that Coldplay was laughing was like the butt of a
41:38
joke? So many songs use Coldplay as
41:41
like the butt of a joke. I don't get it.
41:43
Because once I started listening to music, Coldplay hits almost
41:47
every time. OK, Coldplay hits OK now they're
41:51
cool again because they caught that one person cheating.
41:54
So don't come for Coldplay if you're making friend of them in
41:56
the 20 tens. I'm not about that two that that
42:00
song actually cheesy time. Anytime I think of that song,
42:05
that's one of our first like main conversations that we had
42:09
about music that like just took the whole car ride because that
42:13
song came on 1st after we were driving home from church on a
42:18
Wednesday night or something. And I was like, I love this song
42:21
and you're like IDQ and you were like, it's a great song but I
42:25
hate it when it comes on 1st because I can't listen to any
42:27
song after it for a little bit, like 'cause it's just so good.
42:32
And I was like, Oh my gosh, I do that too.
42:33
I have to replay it like that. And we were both talking about
42:36
like it's the best and the worst song to come on in the car.
42:40
Like when you have a lot of driving after.
42:42
Because like you can't listen to a different song for like 20
42:46
minutes after you listen to that one.
42:47
And you have to like either re listen to it enough to get it
42:50
out of your system or just sit in silence for a little bit and
42:52
process it every time, every time.
42:55
It doesn't matter if it's the 100th time, it doesn't matter if
42:57
it's the first time. Every time it gives you chills
43:00
it it like you just kind of have to sit there and marvel at it.
43:05
And and. That was like one of our first
43:08
big conversations where it was like the whole car ride home
43:11
where you're. Like, Oh my gosh, it's still one
43:14
of those songs, though. That and I'll put in the air
43:16
quotes that nobody listening on the audio can see.
43:20
You forget about it. Yeah.
43:21
And so it's not one that I go and play, it's.
43:23
Not Viva La Vida. It's not and, and, but yet when
43:27
it pops in and again, this popped in right after the Ed
43:31
Sheeran album and I'm like, oh, and again, repeat, repeat.
43:35
Just hitting the back button to, to start it again.
43:38
And I'm like, oh man. And, and, and like you said, I
43:42
don't know, 3 or 4 times. And then finally I'm like, OK, I
43:47
don't guess I need to repeat it again.
43:48
And it, you know, went on to whatever the next song was
43:51
probably another Ed Sheeran song that I'm like, I should have
43:54
repeated it, but you know, fix You by Coldplay.
43:59
I love the song. Riley.
44:01
Too so fix you by Coldplay and dying by with my best Riley
44:09
accent rainbow kitten surprise, which again, that's a that's a
44:16
great, great band name. So oh, I guess before we get to
44:23
next albums again, I almost forgot did forget last week.
44:27
We're awful podcasters in our socials.
44:30
So what are we? Barber cuts pod at Facebook,
44:36
Instagram and X, formerly known as or still are known as
44:42
Twitter. In our hearts.
44:44
And we've also got Spotify that you can leave comments there and
44:51
we also have a playlist that. Yes, we do.
44:56
Riley will, I don't know if she has or I haven't unchecked
45:00
earlier today, she added. I've added the ones.
45:03
I've added the ones that I can like.
45:05
Vividly remember which ones are my favourites.
45:10
So this I think is where the population are vast, massive
45:16
listening crowd realizes that Riley doesn't listen to the
45:20
podcast. I don't like my own voice.
45:25
Can I tell them? Can I tell them?
45:27
I don't like my own voice and so I don't like re listening to it.
45:30
And randomly when we're in like group settings, they're like by
45:33
ourselves and I'm being quiet. My my boyfriend will start
45:37
playing. It's very softly and it kills
45:42
me. I get so bad and he's like, you
45:44
don't want me listening to your podcast?
45:46
I'm like, not with me around. Oh mercy.
45:51
That being said, what is our next album?
45:57
All right, our next album is The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
46:02
and the Spiders from Mars. David Bowie.
46:06
OK, this will be an interesting one.
46:09
Do you, Are you a are you a David David Bowie person?
46:13
I don't know. I know Mama hot is, I think.
46:22
OK. Her and I once had a
46:24
conversation, I don't know if this helps or not. her and I
46:27
once had a conversation about how there is something
46:30
attractive about David Bowie, but we don't know what it is.
46:34
We thought he was a good looking guy.
46:36
That's what we were chatting about.
46:38
Interesting, interesting. So take that with what you will.
46:45
That may or may not influence my listening.
46:48
Yeah, So our next album, Just Repeat, is a David Bowie album
46:53
from 1972. Go find the one that's got the
46:56
longest name. That'll be it.
46:58
But officially, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the
47:02
Spiders from Mars, which at first glance, that's a, that's a
47:07
pretty good album name. It's long, but it's a pretty
47:10
good album name if I do say so. So there we are.
47:16
Yeah, David Bowie, next album. Until we meet again.
47:21
I'm Todd. And I'm Riley, and this was
47:24
another episode of Barbara Cats.