Starship's "We Built This City" - it sucks or not?
 

What would you say?

I never heard it because everyone says it sucks.

Literally everyone.

I think.

The fact that it’s known at all is proof of payola

here's the song:
Starship - We Built This City


here's the article that says it's the worst song of all time:
Oral History of “We Built This City,” the Worst Song of All Time

My advice to you Texas Boy is don't believe everything you read in the papers.

I like the song. For a band that started out as a San Fran Acid Rock band that re-invited itself twice, i.e. Jefferson Airplane > Jefferson Starship > Starship it aint a bad song. I don't care how many trite 80s clichés they tried to shove into one song - it works. It's a fun song. If it's hated it can only be for it being the type of infectious and contagious song that makes you want to repeat it a million times.

There was a lot of embarrassing crap in the 80s.
This was high up there. A uber-corporate rock song
acting like it's against the corporate music business.
...and what the hell is "Marconi plays the mamba" (?)
What, is he beating on a snake? Both Bernie Taupin
and Grace Slick should be embarrassed - actually,
I think they are, but the money still rolls in...

So they were basically admitting it's a load of wank.

Guglielmo Marconi invented the radio. They are using "Marconi" in lieu of radio. However the use of "radio" within the song represents the whole "corporate music business." Mambas are predatory snake. He doesn't play it like one plays an instrument, he "plays" it like one plays a part. They probably used "mamba" for both alliteration Marconi/mamba and as a malapropism Mambo/mamba - a two-for-one, which makes that lyrical line genius. In short they are saying the music industry is a predator.

Good ****ing answer

Now I like the song, Nea. Thanks a lot.

Mickey Thomas (the vocalist): "When the song went to No. 1, I said to Bernie [Taupin, one of the writers],
"More than ever, people are gonna ask what ‘Marconi plays the mamba’ means." He said, “I have no fucking idea, mate.”

Fans frequently understand the art better than the artists

Fans don't get to invent intent.

:dj:

I'd never heard the whole song before now and now I hate it.

**** the haters this song bumps

What's next, you elitists cant hang with the boys being back in town?

The difference being that this isn't hot garbage


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQo1HIcSVtg

Nah, all we are is Dust in the Wind.

Well I can only guess if the record company knew what Taupin meant they would have black-listed him. He just took the fifth to keep his job.

Now this is something I can get down with


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZjAantupsA

The artist doesn’t have to know it’s in there for it to be there. Science works the same way.



And frankly fans can indeed invent intent. You do it all the time with RAC and ICP. The artists indeed didn’t see what you see in it during the creative process but art is always open to interpretation beyond the confines of any single mind including the artist’s. The common intent was to create something for others to enjoy and interpret as they see fit.

Shakespeare didn’t know about DNA when he wrote this mortal coil. Yet, somehow he did.

Artist intent is 100% irrelevant to me as far as my experience of art goes.
When the artwork is let loose into the world, it's no longer up to the artist to say what it is.

That does not extend to conspiracy thoeries about what an artist actually meant.

And yes I know Nea was just being Nea.

Interesting. I'd say the opposite for myself. I tend to think of art as an extension of the artist so intent, even if just perceived intent, matters in regard to how I receive the piece.

It doesn't suck :o:

I can't really know what the artist intends anyway. Even if he/she has said so in an interview and I read it, I still can't know if he/she is lying or managing to fully express the real, deeply felt intent behind the work of art in question.

So however it comes off to me, that's how I judge it.

Which means I think that mamba line in We Built This City is really dumb, regardless of whatever the songwriter had or didn't have in mind ;)

My posts are my art. You don't get to say what intentions are, you said so yourself, brof.

So you're being someone else?

Church

Just saying you should follow your own advice. If that is your position "Fans don't get to invent intent." than you should take that to its full conclusion and not guess anybody's intent or assume what they are thinking.

Nah, son. You can guess about whatever you want, but unless you can back it up with logic or evidence you're nothing but Merit.

Probably the biggest false equivalency in MB history

Seeing things that aren't there and then using pretzel logic to justify it certainly isn't Merit-ish.

Rolling makes zero sense for a city's infrastructure.

As per artist intent versus fan interpretation, porque no los dos?

Totally open to interpretation, that drawing could easily go with The Gambler.

MicShazam, OccultHawk, rostasi, Texas Boy, Zhanteimi are all can’t-hack-it pantywaists who wear their mama’s bras

Turn her username blue and looks what happens...

Shittest thou us? "Coil" means life's troubles, not the physical body. No wonder you taught English in Japan.

I like to think that Tesla played a larger part than Marconi.