The Futureheads - 'Heartbeat Song'
Brevity is fast becoming a lost art. Everything is getting longer: films, TV shows, games, books, songs, albums, explanations...which is odd because the one thing everyone knows about the modern age is that no-one has much of an attention span. So there is an awful lot more stuff out there to skim over, whole libraries full of unfinished books, warehouses of unwatched DVD extras, a universe of cyberspace crammed with saggy, overlong creative endeavours that no-one will ever get around to experiencing in full, despite their best intentions.
I doubt you even bothered to read that sentence, did you? I can't say I blame you. It was way too long. And a bit pompous. These shorter ones are better. Nothing too taxing. Easy, sweet little thought-nuggets that slip into the stuff-befogged brainial cortex like warm honey on a sore throa...sorry, I did it again, didn't I?
(. Let's get quizzical.)
This song is so brief, so to-the-point that even with a little bit of mucking about at the beginning, the video clocks in at just two minutes and forty seconds. Most videos, even without a mucking about bit, last for over four. Even if the music in this video were not very good - a situation we do not have to worry about, this being one of the UK's best bands on pretty much top form - this would still represent a significant saving in your time.
Think about it, that's about 90 seconds you don't have to spend listening to a pretty good song go on for longer than it needs to. 90 seconds you could fill with a quick trip to the loo, or the preparation of a drink, or maybe time spent dashing out a couple of brief emails. Hell, you could even listen to an entire song in that time. 'Velocity Girl' by Primal Scream is less than 90 seconds long, leaving you about 8 seconds' worth of contented sighing.
In this way, the Futureheads aren't just here to make hyperstimulated riff-pop and bring a twitchy grin to your fizzog, they're providing a valuable public service. They bring us the gift of music, they bring us the gift of joy, but most of all, with their intense focus and ADHD songwriting, they bring us the gift of time.
Not that any of you care. You skipped to the star-rating and went straight to the video, didn't you?
Bah...
Download: Out now
CD Released: April 5th
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comment number 1.
At 6th Apr 2010, OddOne wrote:Am I right in saying this is Fraser 4th 5 star song IN A ROW?
Well, that all good and proper but I'd give it 2 stars. It's a tad boring and tried.
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Comment number 2.
At 6th Apr 2010, harrythedog10 wrote:Out of all the songs Fraser's given five stars to in the past 4 days this one's the most worthy in my opinion. It's fun, it's catchy and it's more interesting than half the stuff in the charts at the moment. 4 Stars for myself.
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Comment number 3.
At 7th Apr 2010, spirit wrote:The Futurehead's version of Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love , is one of my favourite cover versions , ever !
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Comment number 4.
At 8th Apr 2010, Jordansair White wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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At 8th Apr 2010, Jordansair White wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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At 12th Jan 2011, U14750494 wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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