Mark Ronson ft Lily Allen - 'Oh My God'
Ms Lily Floral Allen has spent the greater part of the last few months becoming notable less for the music which she makes and more for how she chooses to spend her time under the celebrity spotlight (stuff like this, for example). Less attention is paid to what she sings than who she chooses to slag off, and whether Kate Nash is stealing her pop crown or not. So it's a welcome relief to have some (relatively) new Lily music to ponder over, if only as a reminder of what made her such a brilliant pop star in the first place.
In a recent interview with the Guardian, Lily recounted how this single came about. First listen to the track, then guess which of the following is true:
a. She's been a fan of the Kaiser Chiefs since whenever - HELLO they r like the BEST, OK? - There is no greater honour than to cover one of their songs, hence the level of enthusiasm and sincerity with which the song is delivered.
b. She'd planned to do a pop adaptation of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, but after spending the day burying Amy Winehouse CDs in the world music section of her local music superstore AND writing in her blog AND painting her nails she was dead, dead tired and opted for a more simple composition.
c. Mark Ronson asked her to suggest some songs for his covers album, gave all of the good ones to other people and then ordered her to version the Kaiser Chiefs, leading to a small amount of churlishness on Lily's part.
You guessed it, it was a. No, it was b. Yes it really was c.
The result being something that sounds a bit like an all right Blur b-side from the mockney era. Lots of trumpets, as you'd expect from Ronson, but just something a bit lacklustre about the whole production.
Take a listen to the Lily solo spectacular 'Nan, You're a Window Shopper' (it was the B-side to 'LDN') to remind yourself just how much better Ms Allen can do this pop lark. I hadn't listened to it for ages, and it made me feel dead mournful, like.
Download: Out now
CD Released: July 16th
(Nickie Latham)
Comments
Sorry, but I have to say this, its an originally brilliant song ruined by these two.
Mark Ronson should go and write his own stuff and not sit there and get himself to cover, or make other people cover and wreck other artists songs. Lily Allen doesn't suit a song like this and her voice doesn't fit in either and really makes it look bad to me.
Sorry but I dislike most cover songs, I'm more of a believer in write your own stuff. It may while still being good not be as big hit like older songs, but at least you know you did it and that's something you can be proud of. If it were me releasing a cover of a great song as a single, then I wouldn't really feel happy with myself considering you've not really done anything apart from doing something that's already been done before. The only time I feel its good to cover another song is only when performing live if you ask me.
I mean some cover songs I liked, I mean No Doubt's cover of Talk Talk's 'It's My Life' I thought was pretty good, as somehow to me it still worked and flowed nicely. I also quite liked Maroon 5's cover of Oasis's 'Don't Look Back In Anger' on Radio 1's live lounge as again it flowed nicely and the voice was good enough to retain the songs greatness, however again the original's will always win for me as it was pretty much the basis. I guess though because everyone is subject to their own opinion some may not like these, although these are pretty much the only ones I like.
Sorry for my big rant but I don't like it, you may think different, but my opinion still stays at hate with this, I guess the only positive thing is that it aimed the same song at a wider audience who like this style of music this cover version is played in.
I wonder if someone is going to release a cover of something like 'Live Forever' or 'Supersonic' soon as a single, unless its good I dread that day. :P
i dont like this, i think this is a sort of song that only works as a rocky song. lily allen doesnt do it justice
what is the big deal with mark ronson anyway?
i mean im not saying hes rubbish . . . i just dont know what he is!!!
it needs to be explained
also i thought stop me was pretty good until i listened to the original (after finding out it was actually a cover) and thought "oo this is quite good, marky r isnt really that special"
but lily's ok
at least when shes not covering something by a rubbish attention seeking band . . . =P
I don't like this cover at all, even if it does have the Kaiser's backing. Ronson himself is a talented producer in his own right so why did he just make a album full of covers? My guess is it either laziness or he had a killer hangover at the time.
PS, in the video for this song, is it just me or does Ricky Kaiser look a little squinty eyed? Either he is leching over the cartoon Lily (which franky doesnt bear thinking about!) or he really needs a trip to Specsavers!
I hate Lily Allen.
She's so boring. All her songs sound the same and shes so..up herself!
Get a life Lily! And don't talk about Girls Aloud singing other peoples songs if you dont practise what you preach!!!
Is it just me, or do guys cover girl's songs better than girls cover guy's songs? "Love Machine" by the Arctic monkeys was good, "Ooh la la" by groove armada was good, this track and lots like it are a bit useless!
I really like this cover (and the video!) And I also saw Mark Ronson and Lily Allen at the Eden Project live, and they were excellent. Can't see how no-one else likes it. :(
[I was there too! Look! - Fraser]