Ace Audio: "This Grill is Not a Home (Just a Greasy Spoon)" From SpongeBob SquarePants

No, I'm not joking, this is one of the better songs from SpongeBob, not my absolute favourite, but top five hands down.

However, that is not the reason I want to talk about this song, no I want to talk about this song because of something I brought the last time I reviewed a song from SpongeBob. Yes, I went on a little rant about why the song "I Can't Keep My Eyes Off of You (Oh, Baby)" from the episode To Love a Patty didn't work, and then it hit me, or I learned it by watching someone on the internet talk about it. SpongeBob always did songs like this.

Don't get me wrong, that song is still an awful abomination, but I made a mistake in that review, and I'm going to use this one to clear it, funny how fitting it is that I use the same show to fix a mistake, right?

So what was the mistake I made in that review? Well, here it is:
"I should also mention that this was apparently supposed to be a parody of a song from High School Musical, which doesn't work because that would require the audience member to A). Have seen High School Musical, and B). Have liked it enough to know all the songs. C). actually watch SpongeBob, and D). Actually dislikes that particular song to find this parody funny. I have never watched High School Musical, and I have no intents to, so if the audience doesn't get the reference than the parody is dead."

Yeah, I think now I'm going to start eating my words, I hear they make a nice addition to smoothies. So, what makes that sentence a mistake? Well, this song does, but what do I mean by that? Well, let's go through the list and take a listen to the song shall we?

So, I think that the first two are obvious as they are dependant on the other, and the third is also rather obvious since, uh-doi. So, what part of being a parody did this song get right where that one didn't? Yes, this song is a parody, of the song "A House is Not a Home" originally by Dionne Warwick in 1964, and also by Luther Vandross in 1981, I haven't heard either version before doing this review, but it's apparently how memories and the like can make a home become more and moving house can sometimes not feel right.

So, why does this parody work instead of the other awful parody? Well, first and foremost, the parody could actually work. Anybody who knows their music, or at least knows this song, might get a kick out of the parody and how they're using it for a similar meaning.

Which actually brings me to the big reason this song one-ups the other, this song actual serves a purpose to the story. The other song I covered took a lot away from the actual story and gave us a really annoying, not very entertaining song instead. This song on the other hand, actually does what a musical number should do, tell the emotional side of the scene with music and singing.

So, I guess ultimately the problem with the previous song had little to do with it being a bad parody. With that said, I think that this song also kind of proves why the other one is such an abomination. This episode came before To Love a Patty.

I also have to say, SpongeBob's and Mr. Krabs' voices are, although not perfect, still really good. They hit the keys they need and, since these are voice actors doing these roles, get the emotions down really well.

Surprisingly though I also like the lyrics. SpongeBob, now working at the Chum Bucket, feels sad since he loves working at the Krusty Krab. Mr. Krabs, likewise, hates the fact that SpongeBob isn't around, and the lyrics they sing really show their feelings. I'm not going to lie, this was one of two songs in this show that made me tear up as a kid, hell it almost makes me tear up now.

This song is the exact opposite of "I Can't Keep My Eyes Off of You (Oh, Baby)", as this one is a parody that works, actually adds to the story instead of takes away from it, is a good song on it's own, and doesn't have a scene of SpongeBob murdering a bunch of scallops to protect a sandwich.

Sorry that this wasn't a particularly big review, but I think it's important that if I make a mistake I should rectify it at some point, and honestly I felt like it should have been now. I won't be editing the other review, nor taking it down, that would kind of defeat the purpose of this review.

With that being said, next time will be a return to the songs that didn't originate from cartoons, so keep an eye out for that. I'm the Entity of Darkness, and next time will be nothing but GIRLS!

Ace Audio: "Take Me to Church" - Hozier

If you were to ask me what my favourite song of the decade is so far, I would probably choose "Eyes Wide Open" or one of Aurelio Voltaire's songs. Yet, at the same time I could very well place this song up there as well. Back in my review of "I Hate U, I Love U" or as I call it, "Drone on and on the song", I called this song "Drone on the song done right". Well, the more I thought about the more I thought that this would be a good review to do, because in a decade that gives us so many amazing gems, it's always fascinating how we focus on one gem over many others.

This is going to be a difficult song to talk about because, I know that some people don't like this song, and that it can make some people uncomfortable, and yeah, it does make me a bit uncomfortable too, although I think it is more the music video rather than the actual song. Yeah, if I do a list on the best music videos, telling you right now I'm not going to be talking about this one. However, to me the feeling of discomfort is not a strong one, and dare I say, it is an interesting one.

The sound of this song is very depressing, and that makes sense, as the song came from a place of anger and frustration, with the Catholic Church specifically. This isn't the first song I've talked about with religious themes, I did a review on the musical atrocity "Dorbees - Making Decisions" a while ago, and I've done "Hero" by Skillet as well. However, those were both abominations, as they were both songs I took a dislike towards. The songs from Dorbees were annoying and poorly done, Skillet is bland and dull. Notice how neither of those criticisms were based around the fact that they were religious songs. However, this is my first Ace review where I talk about a song that is against the Catholic Church.

The lyrical content is not entirely based around this though, and if it was then it would most likely be an Abomination. It actually uses clever metaphor of comparing somebody's lover to religion, and when you analyze the lyrics, you see how demanding the lover can be. Lines like "To keep the goddess on my side/ She demands a sacrifice/ Drain the whole sea/ Get something shiny..." are all things people have said they would do for their loved ones, you know "Grenade" by Bruno Mars, but that song tried to use that in earnest, and this song more uses it to show the compassionless lover, or the demanding nature of religion. This is one of those lyrics over music songs like "Innocent".

The great thing about lyrics over music songs is that they are essentially poetry put to music, or maybe even poetry made for music. The problem is that they can usually be either too simple, or too complex, which is tricky to gage because everybody understands things differently. Have any of you read the poem "Introduction to Poetry"? I'm not going to give away what it's about, but it took me until I was eighteen to understand what it actually was about, and I read it while in middle school. It's not that it's a difficult poem to understand, but I can be a bit slow on the uptake. On the flipside, some songs and poems, and even movies get a little too close to home with their metaphors, symbols, and personifications. See the Nostalgia Critic's review of The Matrix to truly understand. I think this song strikes a middle ground, once you get the main idea of the song, the metaphor and meaning come easily.

Since I'm talking about a song and not poetry, I should mention the musical aspect itself, because in honesty, this is the part that really ties it together. I know I criticized the piano in "I Hate U, I Love U", and although it is kind similar here, it works because 1). It is not just one key left to drone, 2). It fits with the mood of the song and 3). importantly, it isn't the only instrument in the song. The piano only opens the song, and then before the chorus, we get some nice drums that come into full swing by the chorus. There is also some kind of droning "Ooh!" in the background, but it adds to the song instead of detracts from it. Letting sounds drone on is not immediately a bad idea, much like how using all your speed boosts at the beginning of a Time Trial is not immediately a bad idea, but it can become one if you don't know what you're doing.

Hozier's voice is very nice on this song, I can't really explain it, his voice just sounds nice on this song. It's also much more different than some of the whispery or whiny male voices we have in pop like Ed Sheeran, Passenger and Lukas Graham.

Although this is not in my top 10, I do think that it's in my personal top 20. If you want to make a song that sounds like it's droning on, this may be a good place to start. On the other hand, if you want a song that has strong lyrical content and some really good instrumentals, than you may want to add this song to your collection, but then again with all the success it has gotten, I think you already have.

I'm the Entity of Darkness, and I'm feeling in a bit of an 80's mood next time.