garfield Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) I was quite surprised. In THIS thread (post 207) there's a link to a very interesting discussion about The Hymn of Acxiom, along with a link to the source music recorded here: Here are the lyrics: Somebody hears you. you know that. you know that.Somebody hears you. you know that inside.Someone is learning the colors of all your moods, to(say just the right thing and) show that you’re understood.Here you’re known.Leave your life open. you don’t have. you don’t have.Leave your life open. you don’t have to hide.Someone is gathering every crumb you drop, these(mindless decisions and) moments you long forgot.Keep them all.Let our formulas find your soul.We’ll divine your artesian source (in your mind),Marshal feed and force (our machines will)To design you a perfect love—Or (better still) a perfect lust.O how glorious, glorious: a brand new need is born.Now we possess you. you’ll own that. you’ll own that.Now we possess you. you’ll own that in time.Now we will build you an endlessly upward world,(reach in your pocket) embrace you for all you’re worth.Is that wrong?Isn’t this what you want?Amen. This, of course, is a familiar piece to drum corps fans, having been the Bluecoats' ballad last year and on other corps reps, as well as to multitudes of band parents and WGI parents who performed it last fall. I wonder if the lyrics to Acxiom, and the ironic intent of its gorgeous musical chords, is at all known by those who played it or those who listened and loved it in the stands. According to the blog link (and seemingly verified by multiple other internet sources), The Hymn of Acxiom is actually an "ode" to THIS company, a data mining company, as written by a technology worker in Silicon Valley. The lyrics are, frankly, ominous. I'll never be able to listen to '14 Bluecoats without thinking of the data mining that is aimed at stripping me of all of my privacy in order to pick my pocket by making it easy for me to click "Buy". And I wonder what other music we've enjoyed have had odd, controversial, or somehow disconnected lyrics or messages in the source music. Edited July 2, 2015 by garfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Didn't Oregon Crusaders also play this last season? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 Didn't Oregon Crusaders also play this last season? Corpsreps is your friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Yup when the Bluecoats announced that they would be playing this piece last year, I immediately looked up the piece and realized I couldn't understand the words too well so I looked the lyrics up. I too was pretty surprised about what I found. With regards to your question about how many people actually knew the lyrics, I do think all the Bluecoats MMs did. I remember watching an encore of some sort that Bloo did where the members were singing the piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Corpsreps is your friend. Yes, I knew it and didn't need it. Just reminding an Ohio guy that the Ohio corps wasn't the only one. O! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exitmusic Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Considerable portions of "Empire State of Mind" are references to where and how to buy drugs for the lowest prices. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 Yes, I knew it and didn't need it. Just reminding an Ohio guy that the Ohio corps wasn't the only one. O! Got it, but listing all the performers was not the intent of my comments. Fixed, though. Now, smart guy, comment on the point or just picking nits? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) This has the potential to be a really cool discussion. I think in terms of what the Bluecoats and Oregon Crusaders did last year, no, the word's not only didn't matter, but were completely inconsequential. Now, having said that, I can absolutely see a show where the use of Hymn of Axiom, or any other song, really, could certainly come into play. Whether the actual words are sung/heard or not, they can have an impact. A good, though obvious, example might be from the Blue Devils 2014 show with "Be Italian". We never hear the words, but it's clear they have impact along with the style of the music. Crown's use of Space Oddity last year practicaly had audiences singing along, especially when they play the extended version following the drum break and ballad (one of last year's most spectacular musical moments, in my opinion). Staying with Crown, as a more subtle example, they played Copeland's Promise of Living in 2009, where the words aren't heard but absolutely had impact on their program, though you never hear them and might not even be aware the original composition had words. If you want to get really deep, and really imperceptible to some of the audience (but not the younger ones), but still retain the meaning of the words in the songs, check out 2009's Teal Sound show, "The Velvet Rope". The show was dripping with thematic and lyrical references to the sings included, particularity "Fix You" by Coldplay, "Your Attention Please" by Blue Man Group and "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera (and of course the lyrics to Velvet Rope, which appear as voice over in the show). Can anyone think of some more subtle and not in-your-face examples? Edited July 2, 2015 by Kamarag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luv4corps Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) Inconsequential? No. Remember the big raven's eye props in OC's 'Nevermore' show last year - as we heard "And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming," in the narration? 'Hymn of Axciom' and it's expose of being watched and monitored all the time for commercial gain - well there was a correlation there that I'm not sure many picked up. As to how the song fit thematically into 'Tilt' - dunno. Perhaps for the Coats it was inconsequential - but I doubt it. Funny, I did a similar in depth analysis of these lyrics (which I think are absolutely brilliant, by the way) last year during the 2014 season. That song haunted me for months! But her closing lyrics put it all into perspective. We brought this information mining all on ourselves. ;) Edited July 2, 2015 by luv4corps 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plan9 Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 I don't recall anyone in 2008 BD going around humming the notion of eating people and of course this year again redux of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd...creepy and irrelivant. Just a beautiful and dynamic musical piece for the value of the music alone. I think lyrics may have a residual impact when they are popular or well known and used specifically to enhance a theme... like 2007 Bluecoats "Smooth Criminal" .... perfect... or SOI's "When you Wish Upon a Star" ....everyone was singing along with that one....at least in their head. But if designers plan on the audience connecting to a piece like Acxiom based on singing the lyrics in their head......that is a big stretch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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