By: Jake Kilroy
It's rumored that Paul McCartney has some small interest in working with indie rock neo-psychedelics MGMT. Sure, it's overwhelmingly flattering that Sir Paul wants to work with two hipsters from Brooklyn, but in recent years, it seems that Sir Paul would certainly pull your music down. Yes, the man co-wrote some of the best songs of the 20th Century. He's a legend. He's so famous and so constantly referenced in popular culture that he almost has the stability of a fictional character.
However, if you put the complexity of MGMT's 2007 space ride Oracular Spectacular against Paul McCartney's 2007 token gem question mark Memory Almost Full, you start to wonder who would be leading the parade in cool when it came to a collaboration. MGMT's single "Time To Pretend" is a beautiful and nostalgic melody and surreal lyrical interpretation on growing up.
And, on the other hand, here are the entire lyrics to the first single ("Dance Tonight") off Paul McCartney's 2007 album:
[Everybody gonna dance tonight. Everybody gonna feel alright. Everybody gonna dance around tonight. Everybody gonna dance around. Everybody gonna hit the ground. Everybody gonna dance around tonight. Well, you can come on to my place if you want to. You can do anything you want to do. Everybody gonna dance tonight. Everybody gonna feel alright. Everybody gonna dance around tonight. Well, you can come on to my place if you want to. You can do anything you want to do. Everybody gonna stamp their feet. Everybody's gonna feel the beat. Everybody wanna dance around tonight. Everybody's gonna dance tonight. Everybody gonna feel alright. Everybody gonna dance around tonight. Everybody gonna jump and shout. Everybody gonna sing it out. Everybody gonna dance around tonight. Well, you can come on to my place if you want to. You can do anything you want to do. Everybody gonna dance tonight. Everybody gonna feel alright. Everybody gonna dance around tonight. Everybody gonna dance around tonight. Everybody's gonna feel alright tonight.]
Sooooo...you see the problem here. It's like the senile, old version of Dave Bowman, the one where he's eating in the neon room, having to go back and help young Dave shut down HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. MGMT doesn't need Sir Paul's help, just his name brand, I suppose. I doubt Jonathan Frazen's "The Corrections" would have been as good if he had Ernest Hemingway back from the dead as a zombie to help Frazen.
I know Paul McCartney's not a zombie and maybe my analogies
make no sense (like a willow cat fighting a dragon on wheels), but shit,
McCartney's lyrics for "Dance Tonight" sure don't make it harder to
believe Sir Paul isn't actually a zombie. I bet he wrote that song in his sleep
with fart sounds.
[Photo Credit: Paul McCartney] [Photo Credit: MGMT]
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