Songland Ben Platt

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 6/9/20 at 2:24am

Did anyone watch?

[John Adams]

Posted: 6/9/20 at 9:06am

I did!

I never miss an episode of Songland. I've been a HUGE fan since last summer's first season. I posted a little bit about the show last year, in a post HERE.

A couple of things that caught my ear/made me smile in the Platt episode:

     - Ben's "phrase-ology" (and really, the body language/constructive commentary from all on the panel) when speaking with Anna Hamilton, who wrote the song, "Deathbed"

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Perhaps it's more in the editing, rather than what actually happened in the room, but it's hard to miss the lack of eye contact (eyes buried in their notes, downward glances) from all when speaking to Anna about her song's unfortunate title.

I think Ben's choice of words in his rejection conversation w/Anna will seem very familiar to anyone who's been in the rejection seat before; especially his inclusion of the words, "at this particular juncture".

     - How often Adele is threaded into the episode, whether it be a direct reference, or via allusion.

     - Ben's comment to Kylie Rothfield after her performance of the re-tooled version of "Ghost"

I love EVERY episode of Songland and I am absolutely smitten with watching how creative minds work, the importance of collaboration and how the collaborative process can shape a better end result. I also see how important it is not to be too precious of one's own creations.

I'm also smitten with the talent assembled for this show. Although all are writing songs to be tailored for release by the weekly guest artist, each writer is an amazing vocalist in their own right. These aren't songwriters like Burt Bacahrach (for example), who write AMAZING songs but should never really sing them themselves...

I cannot say enough good things about Songland. Only one episode left this season... 

More from previous episodes can be seen/heard HERE.

Updated On: 6/9/20 at 09:06 AM

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 6/9/20 at 4:41pm

I started watching the second season and have really enjoyed it. The professional panel of writers all have a positive energy about them. I saw Ben at a show at NYCity Center and I found him even better looking in person.

Updated On: 6/9/20 at 04:41 PM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 6/9/20 at 8:35pm

I watch every episode and honestly it was the first time this season where I thought the correct song wasn't picked. To me, "Ghosts" was the better song by a significant margin. And honestly, I thought the song he chose sounded way too much like "You Will Be Found" from DEH.

[John Adams]

Posted: 6/9/20 at 10:07pm

bjh2114 said: "I watch every episode and honestly it was the first time this season where I thought the correct song wasn't picked. To me, "Ghosts" was the better song by a significant margin. And honestly, I thought the song he chose sounded way too much like "You Will Be Found" from DEH."

For my tastes, "Ghost" was the best song in the episode, but I'm an Adele fan, and "Ghost" (IMO) is definitely an Adele song. Platt mentioned it in the episode, also.

It makes sense to me that you find a connection between "Everything I Did To Get To You" and "You Will Be Found". To my mind, that's a connection that helps makes EIDTGTY a song that's tailored to Ben Platt. Luis Fonsi made a similar decision when he chose "Sway" - which to my ears sounds very similar to "Despacito" (you can almost overlay the two, with no dischord).

Also, when discussing the song, "Fool's Gold", Platt makes the comment, "There's always room for songs about boys". EIDTGTY fits that bill. So does "Ghost", but EIDTGTY is more uplifting.

...and just 'cause I LOVE this song:

 

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 1:25am

I actually liked some of the melody of Fool’s Gold and thought the initial arrangement was better than the 2nd. The song he chose was unmemorable and I could not hum a bar at gunpoint.

They used some of the 2nd season winners on The Voice and the winner sang one that was very easy on the ears.