United States ☂️ WV192 ☔ Father John Misty - Screamland

[RainyWoods]

​

 

[Genesis]

Kai killing his time in the bathroom x

 

[RainyWoods]

@Genesis I was just stuck inside it for over half an hour but no one sent last minute votes.

 

[Genesis]

@Genesis I was just stuck inside it for over half an hour but no one sent last minute votes.

 

[RainyWoods]

​

Thank you again to everyone who helped me out here. Such a wonderful turnout. It was fun to organize this and twenty one voters is crazy. I'm very grateful. We'll see how well your favourites did soon. For me there were a couple of big surprises. A song I thought had a big chance of winning came last. Meanwhile the song I almost took out of the NF as I figured it chanceless... well, did it win? I won't say but it was right up there. Any predictions?

 

[kopachka]

I guess it's gonna be Margo Price.

 

[RainyWoods]

I guess it's gonna be Margo Price.

I can neither confirm nor deny

 

[cegs5]

Congrats on breaking your record! Just a bit more push and you vould could have got 50% of the edition participants.

I still believe it’s either Margo or Alela, but Margo has the biggest chance indeed ... I’ll be surprised if it’s someone else.

 

[Journalist]

Aaron Lee please ❤

 

[theditz83]

Omg Kai - I'm so so sorry. Past couple of days have gotten away from me and I totally missed the chance to vote here.

 

[RainyWoods]

Congrats on breaking your record! Just a bit more push and you vould could have got 50% of the edition participants.

I still believe it’s either Margo or Alela, but Margo has the biggest chance indeed ... I’ll be surprised if it’s someone else.

Thank you I could have reached 50% of players maybe if I did somes @s but I'm too shy for them

I'm very, very happy with that turnout though.

I thought Margo and Alela were strong candidates as I was putting this NF together. I also thought The Avett Brothers, Valerie June and Gillian Welch were likely to be strong too... but were they

Omg Kai - I'm so so sorry. Past couple of days have gotten away from me and I totally missed the chance to vote here.

Aw don't worry about it Gary. I was looking forward to your votes as I was really curious about what you'd think of one song here in particular. Maybe it won... maybe it didn't. Your votes most likely wouldn't have changed the winner anyway as there was a little but comfortable enough gap between 1st and 2nd.

 

[RainyWoods]

Aaron Lee please ❤

I see some Aaron Lee Tasjan fans in the house tonight.

I want that fashion

 

[RainyWoods]

CLICK HERE FOR OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO


Some folks do and others preach
Some bring sand back to the beach
Some learn hate, that others teach
And some don't understand
Some say everything's okay
Some say what all the other's say
Some folks give, some take away
Just because they can

All I want
Make no mistake
Oh, I don't have a side to take
And I can't live for them, it's true
But honey, I would die for you
I'd die for you

Boards go up, signs come down
Put a new face on this town
Make it smile, make it frown
Just as long as the money's good
Pennies in a woman's hand
Missing teeth or payment plans
Kids want something worth a damn
Oh, they're just pissing in a flood

But all I want
Let's make it clear
Oh, I'm not trying to make a lie sincere
To myself, I may be untrue
But honey, I would die for you
I'd die for you

Some go low, some get high
Some get drunk on wasted time
Some say arms, some say mind
But we all bleed the same blood
Naked streets of Babylon
Silver ships out in the dawn
All the graves we landed on
Oh, they'll be washed out in the mud

But all I want
Make no mistake
Oh, I don't have a side to take
I can't live for them, it's true
But honey, I would die for you
Oh baby, I would die for you
I would die for you
I'd die for you

​

You crowned Margo Price the winner of our Americana National Selection, and despite some stiff competition from Aaron Lee Tasjan and Alela Diane, our Nashville based country cowgirl pretty much cakewalked it. She took the lead from the very first set of votes and never allowed anyone to step in front of her.

I'd Die For You is the closing track of 2020's That's How Rumors Get Started. In its original form the song is a spunky little number that's kinda funky actually almost. Margo wrote the song a couple of years back but it started to take on new meaning for her in this (excuse my language) shit show of a year. She recently recorded this new synthphonic version of the song which really stretches the whole thing out to make it something bigger, and she filmed a beautiful music video. The underwater bits were actually shot late at night in Margo's home pool, and that's her husband diving into the dark waters with her.

ORIGINAL VERSION

NATIONAL FINAL RESULTS

​

A big thank you again to those of you that helped me pick this song. It was great fun holding this Americana NF There's certainly a chance for some of these artists to come to WV at a later date, especially the ones I haven't shared yet (I really want to send Alela). I was super happy to see Aaron Lee Tasjan do so well. I don't know why but I thought that one of his would struggle here but it was very well received. Also, Kurt Vile slaying it in 5th. Work it.

​

 

[cegs5]

That was an easy prediction, Margo’s song screams hosting. I was probably mean scoring it quite low, I did appreciate it more during the LL tbh. Glad to see Aaron Lee doing well, although it doesn’t surprise me, if I recall it correctly it did much better than you expected with My Camera some time ago, with another WV roster though.

 

[RainyWoods]

That was an easy prediction, Margo’s song screams hosting. I was probably mean scoring it quite low, I did appreciate it more during the LL tbh. Glad to see Aaron Lee doing well, although it doesn’t surprise me, if I recall it correctly it did much better than you expected with My Camera some time ago, with another WV roster though.

Yeah, I should have had more faith in Aaron, especially as from the returning artists I placed into this NF, he was the only one that previously got me a good result (11th). Kurt and Father John Misty are my flop artists and Alela came last in the NF I held at the start of the year. I guess as Little Movies is very different to My Camera I was sceptical. I almost wanted to keep the results secret and send Aaron as well the following edition

I was most shocked though about Valerie June. I've had that song of hers I shared as a potential internal choice for ages and thought it would be a strong, if quite risky choice. I thought it was a big contender in this NF but her strong Southern drawl seemed off-putting to a lot of voters.

 

[RainyWoods]

2nd in Semi 2 with 97 Points / 5th in REJU with 46 Points
2nd in the Grand Final with 169 Points​

Amazing result for this stunning Margo song. Thank you very much for all the support I'm very pleased that you've gifted her a silver medal. It's funny cause I've had her on my WV list for a very long time, ever since I heard her boozy country number Hurtin' (On The Bottle) thanks to a sample cd from a magazine I read called Uncut. Never thought I'd be sending her with something this epic. A few of you said "eurovision ballad" when you sent me NF votes, and bizarrely I'd Die For You sounds exactly like one in its synthphonic form, which is why I was so blown away with it probably. I lived my very own Voda fantasy at WV this year















I don't really know what I'll be sending next, although I have a couple of songs in mind. I feel like I need to switch things up a bit maybe cause I've been going quite heavy recently with the emotional entries (though Margo's ballad was one with a hopeful message at least) but it's just these are the only songs that have been talking to me right now when I've been feeling blue. If I followed my heart at this moment you'd probably experience spam with Father John Misty, levels not seen since Justyna decided she wanted to represent Poland/Subway eighty seven times.

 

[RainyWoods]

Ok, I had that moment where you're listening to a song and something in your head clicks "this is my next entry". It fits my mood and also feels right for the time of year. I used to listen to this songwriter a lot during my teens, and they never released this song I'm sharing as a single, yet it has gone on to become their signature tune more or less. It's incredibly bittersweet.

This won't be the first time for my artist at WorldVision. A juror shared them here before I started playing, but they unfortunately missed the final. Some more clues: The singer wasn't born in the States (they are of Russian Jewish descent) and their music has been described as anti-folk. Despite the song I'm sharing being released in 2001 and later again in 2006 on their first major label release, it was only in 2018 that my singer was invited onto an American late night show to perform it for the first time on tv. The song is about a Biblical figure, although some think the piece uses the story told here as a metaphor for something very different and much sadder than it already is.

 

[theditz83]

paging - don't miss the "train" on our NF legend

Clicky clicky

 

[RainyWoods]

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth
I have to go, I have to go
Your hair was long when we first met

Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
He ate a slice of Wonder Bread
And went right back to bed
And the history books forgot about us
And the Bible didn't mention us
And the Bible didn't mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads
But they're just old light, they're just old light
Your hair was long when we first met

Samson came to my bed
Told me that my hair was red
Told me I was beautiful
And came into my bed
Oh, I cut his hair myself one night
A pair of dull scissors in the yellow light
And he told me that I'd done alright
And kissed me 'til the mornin' light, the mornin' light
And he kissed me 'til the mornin' light

Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
He ate a slice of Wonder Bread
And went right back to bed
Oh, we couldn't bring the columns down
Yeah, we couldn't destroy a single one
And the history books forgot about us
And the Bible didn't mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first

✄​

Regina Spektor is a Russian American singer-songwriter who has to date put out seven studio albums. From her off-kilter style of writing she's garnered a sort of cult-hero status in the indie world. I used to listen to her music a lot during my teen years and would buy her records. This version of Samson I'm sharing with you is taken from Regina's 2006 release, Begin To Hope, although she released the track on her self released album called Songs, back in 2002. It's a gentle, haunting ballad that seemingly references the Biblical figure, Samson. Listen closely though and you'll pick up that this isn't quite the Samson sheared unbeknownst of his long locks by Delilah in the Bible. "The bible didn't mention us, not even once" Regina laments. This Samson takes a slice of Wonder Bread before going to bed, and the author telling this story certainly doesn't seem like the cruel, mean Delilah we are familiar with, who betrayed her man. It's been said that Regina wrote the song about her first love who she had lost to a terminal illness. The song is seemingly full of metaphors that tell of the battle her lover went through with Regina there by his side. I find it makes it all the more powerful and poignant knowing that piece of information. It's a tragic love song but such a soft and moving one, despite its sadness.

 

[RainyWoods]

Thank you for voting Regina through to the final This one was my 80th entry here with you. I can't believe how fast time flies by. It's kind of worrying.

Here's a really beautiful intimate live performance I found of Samson back from 2007. It's on some nice Swedish show that was happy to have her.

Also, to mark eighty songs, I'd like to do a mini look back and share with you my top 5 favourite personal moments since I've been here. In no particular order:

1. General reception of Judee Sill's The Kiss
I know this one is some people's favourite entry of mine I've shared here. I was still a newbie at this point and I remember being so moved with how people took to this obscure artist's emotional song. The Kiss is one of my all time favourites, and so close to my heart. I haven't shared Judee since as I felt I could never replicate that special moment. I hope to change that though one day soon.

2. Getting Kurt Vile through to a final
My super flop Kurt at last reaching the final, only to go on then to share last place there with three other songs (a four way tie which he won on voter count x) was just so hilariously fitting, and yet I consider it one of my greatest achievements. Up until that point he was the holder of my worst semi result (still to this day has it) and managed to end an outrageous qualification streak I was once on. Kurt represents the side of my taste that's usually a hard sell at WV but my underdog slacker rock hero with his trippy little feel good psych number was a minor success. Oooooo yeeeeah

3. Winning with Weyes Blood
Oh, this one made me real happy. Not that winning previously with John Lennon and Anastacia didn't make me happy... but.. well, John Lennon and Anastacia. Weyes Blood being an underground psychedelic folk artist really made the whole thing feel special. Movies was and still feels very much a bizarre winner to me.

4. Getting to host with lovely people
Hosting ruins your life... but you get to team up with people you like very much and ruin their lives as well The times I got to host with Calvin, Robert and Ashley were wonderful, and then there was also the time Kris hired me to help on his editions. Always rewarding experiences.

When Fab Fems hosted WorldVision together

5. Margo Price's nuts LL reaction
I was shook when I think it was 21/22 players gave Margo's song a woot at the LL. I couldn't believe. It made me so happy and hyped seeing all the little plug characters shaking it to her big ol' ballad.


Thank you for always cheering me up, for all the music, and see you at one hundred entries! I've got plenty more songs and new artists to share with you

 

[RainyWoods]

1st in the Grand Final with 173 Points
1st in Semi 1 with 138 Points / 2nd in REJU with 41 Points​

A result like this, especially after how the semis turned out... I totally wasn't expecting it. I wanted to get justice for Regina (was fairly confident of that) and was fairly hopeful for a solid result, but I hadn't prepared myself for a win tonight. On my 80th edition too (8 being my lucky number)! Thank you so much again. Damn, you've broken my can only host during Eurovision week curse. How could you all? That semi win as well was nuts, what the heck!?















My next entry was going to be something super shocking. Not shocking at all that I'd love the song or the singer. Just shocking how this artist is eligible for United States and how I'd be sending this kind of music to the contest (entirely in a different language also). I got myself kind of pumped for sending him and was looking forward to the reaction, but now I've got a PQ, my mind immediately starts thinking about my favourite flop gentlemen who would need it.. Kurt Vile, Father John Misty, Ariel Pink, Sadistik etc My mind does however still keep going back to the crazy wildcard who I had lined up to send before this victory. I am a bit obsessed