Hungary HUNGARY 2014 - András Kállay-Saunders - Running

[RainyWoods]

I always felt Suus must be about losing your own child or your life partner although I somehow knew it wasn't. Singing about heartbreaking things is not of course the problem, it has been done many times to great success. It's just that if you are going to sing about something terrible you'll have to find a song to cope with it and this just doesn't do it.

Stange Fuit is an example of a song bearing a horrific theme (slave's hanging) brillliiantly matching its tragic, deathly cadence. And yet the horrendous meaning is hidden in beautiful ironic poetry:

This was forbidden in America for some time anyway, long ago.

I always took "Suus" as a song about the darkest depression imaginable and Rona was just releasing everything inside of her because that's all she could do to say that she was alive. Letting these dark thoughts out. I never once thought of it as a song about a relationship but maybe that's because I didn't want to think of it like that. I thought of it how I related to it. The lyrics were done very clever. It can be personally interpreted in many different ways.

"Strange Fruit" is a brilliant example and utterly devastating to hear. My favourite song of Billie's that really gets to me was her self penned "Don't Explain". One of the rare songs she actually wrote herself about an abusive relationship she was in. The most achingly beautiful music combined with that withered voice and the tragic lyrics Billie sings of wanting her man still, despite the fact he's cheating on her and beating her up. The fact that this was real, a true story.

The melody change followed by "You know that I love you and what love endures, all my thoughts are of you for i'm so completely yours. Cry to hear folks chatter and I know you cheat. Right or wrong don't matter when you're with me sweet"

Utterly devastating.

Nico is another artist with incredibly dark subject matters either upfront or hidden deep within her songs. "Secret Side" allegedly is about the rape she suffered as a young woman by a member of the US Air Force at the end of Nazi era Germany. Nothing is spelt out for you though, you have to find it. The lyrics are cryptic but all the clues are there if you read into it.

I think we have just turned the thread into a tragic songs topic The ones we have shared though do the job a lot better and more tastefully than András' song.

 

[busybee]

I think we have just turned the thread into a tragic songs topic The ones we have shared though do the job a lot better and more tastefully than András' song.

The ones you have shared didn't have the limitations and requirements of a song taking part in Eurovision. 3 minutes long, visuals, language restictions, etc. Not to mention that those songs are over 40 years old and of an era with a much different atmosphere.
It's like comparing apples and oranges

 

[Matt]

Thank you so much for this video.
Andras sounds like a great guy...and I did have a feeling that the song was based on a true story.

It is, it happened to one of his friends in New York and he felt compelled to write a song about it.

 

[RainyWoods]

I thought Rona's song expressed war in Kosova. I've got many pupils in my school who come from Kosovo, and their innoncence has been shot down, and they have the same expression in their souls...

That could very well be the case. The sadness of the song is probably drawn from that. What's clever about the song is that she doesn't tell the listener this through the lyrics. It's pretty much a blank canvas of darkness for whoever is listening to attach their own images to like I know I certainly did. Rona also said that "Suus" was never about wallowing in that darkness but about experiencing it and making it through by releasing it all as that is the only way you can better.. and that's kind of what the song was for me. A massive release and it helped me so much. The songs message was universal, anyone who had felt pain and sadness like Rona had could relate.

 

[Knubelznarm]

If this song is cheap, I really wonder what people think about the other songs that have been chosen so far...LOL

It looked "cheap" to me because I thought it was an attempt at making a well-produced regular pop song more relevant by adding some "deep" lyrics, but I've got more sympathy for it now after watching that escXtra interview. The lyrics are still pretty banal though.

 

[Odalis]

I believe he could come up with better lyrics if he was a native english speaker, but i give him credits for trying, you gotta have guts to write something like that for Eurovision.

 

[Matt]

I believe he could come up with better lyrics if he was a native english speaker, but i give him credits for trying, you gotta have guts to write something like that for Eurovision.

He is a native speaker, he is from New York City. And i think the lyrics are just fine, not sure where the problem lies.

 

[Knubelznarm]

I believe he could come up with better lyrics if he was a native english speaker, but i give him credits for trying, you gotta have guts to write something like that for Eurovision.

That's the thing... He grew up in New York

And i think the lyrics are just fine, not sure where the problem lies.

Well, it's been done before, and in a much more clever way imo. But then again I guess art doesn't always have to be understated

 

[busybee]

He is a native speaker, he is from New York City. And i think the lyrics are just fine, not sure where the problem lies.

The problem is that if someone doesn't like a song, they'll find all sorts of things wrong with it...lol

 

[RainyWoods]

The ones you have shared didn't have the limitations and requirements of a song taking part in Eurovision. 3 minutes long, visuals, language restictions, etc. Not to mention that those songs are over 40 years old and of an era with a much different atmosphere.
It's like comparing apples and oranges

That's very true and commercial music has changed (although Nico was never commercial). There are songs today that handle dark subject matters very well though. Another couple..

Eurovision has limitations but those limitations didn't stop "Suus" in any way. Though from the video of Andras that balizeg shared with us, I can see that his intentions are good, writing that song for his friend who went through some terrible stuff. The trouble is, I don't think he has succeeded in putting two and two together. It's feels a contrived mix of song and lyrics. The first time I listened to the song I paid no attention to the lyrics and thought it was a decent pop song, then reading the lyrics I was actually quite shocked to learn what it was about. I don't know if I could enjoy the song as a piece of pop because of the lyrics but then neither did I actually draw any emotions from listening to it as I would hope to do with a song of such a subject matter. I just don't think it works.

 

[busybee]

Eurovision has limitations but those limitations didn't stop "Suus" in any way.

I wouldn't know because I had no idea what she was singing about. It was obviously something heartbreaking..but, personally, I found it too dramatic for my taste.
I don't think that, to get your point across, you need to scream and cry on the stage.

 

[Morty]

After watching the video for this song, I think the lyrics match the rest of the song just fine. Drum and bass doesn't automatically mean it's cheerful and all about parties. It does mean that you can't have a ballad type of text to explain everything in detail tho, that wouldn't suit the rest of the song, and it would all just be weird. As a Eurovision song, I believe this is perfectly done, and I'm giving this a 12.

 

[FilipFromSweden]

This song is gooooooooood

 

[PamSwynford]

I've changed my mind about this song. It's going in my top 5!

 

[Knubelznarm]

The problem is that if someone doesn't like a song, they'll find all sorts of things wrong with it...lol

and if someone likes it, they'll try to defend it. So what's the problem? We all like discussing music, I guess that's why we're here.

 

[Joni]

Oh that Luka... what a great song, almost had forgotten how awesome it is. Off-topic sorry..

 

[Mrm]

I thought Rona's song expressed war in Kosova. I've got many pupils in my school who come from Kosovo, and their innoncence has been shot down, and they have the same expression in their souls...

And what about Serbs from Kosovo! What a cheap propaganda!

 

[RainyWoods]

I wouldn't know because I had no idea what she was singing about. It was obviously something heartbreaking..but, personally, I found it too dramatic for my taste.
I don't think that, to get your point across, you need to scream and cry on the stage.

It was a brave experimental jazz song though in essence. The lyrics were loosely translated to "Let me cry because this is the best I can do now" or the actual english version where it was "Let me cry cause everything will say i'm still alive". It was incredibly powerful and moving stuff for me.

I totally get why so many people were alienated by it though. It certainly wasn't a song for everyone but it was wonderful to see a song so dark and unconventional get Albania's best result to date.

 

[Joni]

Most ESC-fans hated Suus but the rest of Europe liked it - what does that tell about ESC-fans?

 

[Tristran]

I absolutely LOVE Hungary's song this year, my first douze points of this season!