"We Are Beautiful No Matter What They Say"

[babylonsister]

Run time: 04:02 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qellR4eu3yA   Posted on YouTube: November 28, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: November 28, 2008 By DU Member: babylonsister Views on DU: 2946

 
Nice! Happy Thanksgiving!

[143tbone]

1. Thanks. I needed that. n/t

[TheEuclideanOne]

2. Hey, If that's what it takes.....

You remind me of Steward Smalley :) I'm good enough, smart enough, and people like me.

[raouldukelives]

3. Great performance

I never really listened much to her music thinking it was all Brittney Spears type stuff. After seeing this and another live performance I have to say she might be one of those rare acts that is actually better in person.
If I see another lip synched dance routine "concert" i'm gonna hurl.

[stlsaxman]

4. why must she cram 117 notes into a syllable? doesn't she know the right one to sing??

where's the melody? is there one? i sure can't hear one...

this almost ain't singing- it's "emoting". this whole style makes me nervous as hell. i know it's supposed to be "soothing and supportive" but it's like when you're deep in yourself trying to work something out and someone comes up and starts stroking your arm or shoulder and you violently shrug casting them off and yell "JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE- OKAY?!?!?".

That's what this style of "singing" does to me.

okay- i'm done now.


:yoiks:

[Snotcicles]

7. I'm not much for yodeling.nt

[stlsaxman]

8. so that's what that is...

:rofl:

[dawgmom]

11. It's called "melisma"

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6791133

I agree with you completely. In the hands of a skilled vocalist only, and when it is used sparingly, it is beautiful. However, so many young vocalists think that vocal gymnastics are the only acceptable style, and this chick and especially Mariah Carey (ugh) are the worst offenders. As a result, shows like American Idol are filled with wannabes who think this is the only way to sing.

[CTyankee]

22. Hildegard of Bingen was doing this in the 12th century.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqvoB4uN1Qs

Youtube has a number of these recordings.

I did a major paper on her for a class on Mysticism in graduate school. She was an amazing woman who put her name on her compositions (not done in her day). Funny that you can hear her music 9 centuries later!

[Mad_Dem_X]

12. She does have a tendency to over-sing

Which is a shame, because she has a lovely voice, but she overdoes it, and that ruins any subtlety the song may have, IMO.

[JDPriestly]

13. In baroque music, it is called embellishment.

Baroque music (Bach, for example) is written with little curlycues above the notes that indicate how many times you are supposed trill and what notes you are to include in the trill.

It's fun. It's expressive. Tastes differ. She is a well disciplined, good singer in my view, but I don't know who she is. Never saw her before and don't follow pop music.

[Karenina]

15. Her name is Christina Aguilera and girlfriend got her some pipes!

Yes, her style is highly ornamented as in Baroque music, one that Stevie Wonder pioneered. Knowledgeable listeners will HEAR that she THOUGHT CAREFULLY ABOUT turn and mordent she used. AND her intonation is PERFECTION. She's a versatile MUSICIAN, not just a singer.

The song itself gets a C- from this critic.

[JDPriestly]

21. Agreed, except I would give the song a D-.

Boring. She does a lot with it, but boring.

[PatSeg]

20. It is so annoying

and its a shame because I really like her voice, but I can't listen to those vocal exercises over and over again. As someone else said, it would be effective if used rarely, but she appears to do it just to prove she can. It may be a difficult feat but it can be difficult to listen to.

[Suji to Seoul]

5. Piss off with this mawkish shit. She wouldn't know how it feels to be called

ugly, fat, stupid, worthless. . .she's one of the beautiful ones. Trite nonsense.

I'm getting sick of beautiful people saying it's okay to be not beautiful, like they fucking know how it feels.

Hey, Christina. . .gain 50 pounds, then talk to me about "no matter what they say. . .words can't bring us down."

FUCK YOU!!!!

(rant off)

[RollWithIt]

6. Gees.... take a chill pill...nt

[Lerkfish]

9. well, I sorta see your point

I agree that looks are important in the entertainment industry. therefore, the ONLY people we are usually going to see, female, are good looking. However, that doesn't mean they can't comment on the injustice of lookism, in fact they might be MORE cognizant of it if they realize just how much that contributes to their success, and questions how right or wrong that is.

For example, I'm tall, 6'4". I don't think of myself as any height one way or the other, but when I see people pick on someone cause they're short, I see how stupid that is, since I had absofrigginglutely no control over being tall.

you don't have to be a victim of discrimination to recognize it.

[TheEuclideanOne]

10. Not true. She must certainly have heard "stupid" or "worthless"

Not sure if it is just me, but isn't this song written from the perspective of a very insecure person? Nobody who is really secure would think these lyrics. It just drips feelings of insecurity.

[bitchkitty]

18. I heard that she wrote the song in response

to Eminem's trashing her.

[Eyerish]

14. And how much about her life do you know about??

She grew up with an abusive father who never touched her, but mentally and physically abused her mother. It got so bad that the only way for them to get away from him was to leave while he was away from the house. So none of us really "know" what someone grew up with and to make assumptions is ridiculous and useless.

And your other assertion that she can't write/sing a song because she doesn't know what it feels like to be picked on is just silly. If that's the logic we went by, people who'd never been in love or had a heartbreak couldn't write a song about those topics either.

The point, is that she's conveying a message to others who might be feeling those things and to empower them to feel good about themselves, which we need more of in my opinion.

[ellacott]

19. I'm a big Christina Aguilera fan

and she did have a tough upbringing. She has a great voice. She has grown a lot since being in the business. She went through a phase when she used to dress really trashy. I'm glad she has grown out of that. When she was asked why she dressed like that she said that was her way of expressing herself. I think she had to work through a lot of issues regarding her upbringing.

[Goat or Panic]

16. Here's a link to the original video.

Explains a little bit more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNthqC2fsVw

[blaze]

17. Context is everything!

And I like the vocals in the original much better too.

[lumpy]

23. This is an outstanding video, a lovely piece of theatre.

thank you