MadTheDJ
Group: Members
Posts: 13
Joined: Sep. 2012 |
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Posted: May 08 2014, 10:19 |
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Oddly enough, I knew the Oldfield version first. A friend pointed out that H&O covered it. I later sought their version and like most (all?) people here, I'll take the MO version any day of the week. H&O's was a hit, which is good because it brings some attention to the original.
I think one of the many things that helps the original is that it's a woman singing the song. With Maggie's vocals, we see the situation play out from the point of view of the character of the prostitute, hitting on this guy, getting rejected and pathetically trying again. Hall's vocals, being a guy, put us in the point of view of the Family Man himself who, with the altered lyrics, flip-flops between wanting to be with her and remaining faithful to his wife. The prostitute is the more interesting character in the scene because we see her increasingly desperate attempts to pick this guy up. It opens up a whole spectrum of possible personality traits in her (why *this* guy, why not move on to another guy? Is her view of her own beauty really that objective, is she deluding herself that her expression would "work on any man in sight"?...). In the H&O version, his temptation is an attempt to make the situation more interesting (will he or won't he?), but it's too clichéd and predictable.
The altered lyrics present an interesting shift in context, though. Because in the H&O version, the man is genuinely tempted and struggling, and ultimately goes after her when it's too late. The chorus of the song is given a different meaning now:
He said, "Leave me alone, I'm a family man And my bark is much worse than my bite!"
"Please, just leave me alone, I'm a family man. If you push me too far I just might!"
In the MO version, the "just might" is qualifying the earlier line about his bark and his bite, threatening that if she doesn't go away, he just might lash out at her in some way.
The H&O version adds the context that, in his temptation, he "just might" take her up on her offer, which he eventually chooses to do after she leaves and it's too late for him. And again, having him bow to her come-on is a far less interesting way to play the situation out, in my opinion.
-------------- Buy The Mike Oldfield Chronology book at: http://tinyurl.com/klyfvuc
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