Two pieces – one old, one new, and both with a hook for you, your brand, your job, and where you’re headed next.
If you know me via Facebook, you know that I have a tendency to over-share music. (If you don’t know me on Facebook, here’s a link to the Dave page. And a link to the Area 224 page.) I’m not an expert – but I know what I like and I’m more than willing to share it.
Two songs lately got me thinking – is it time for a remake?
Lindsey Buckingham Remade His Own Song
Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsay Buckingham is a music industry veteran. At age 62, he is still going – sometimes with the Fleetwood Mac folks, and sometimes just by himself.
Rolling Stone Magazine, in its 2011 ranking of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All-Time,” included Buckingham – barely, ranking 100th.
One song of his – well, technically the band’s song – is called “Big Love.” The original video from Fleetwood Mac has an over-produced 80s sound to it.
httpv://youtu.be/rjKL469SpR0
Very bland, 1980s pop rock. Right?
A funny thing happened, though, once Buckingham started performing the song live, by himself. The song took on a completely new, raw, powerful, dare I say brilliant sound. Like this:
httpv://youtu.be/naAWX6OsHVI
What did we learn?
By taking away several unnecessary elements of the exact same song, it became more awesome.
Here’s what you can ask yourself – no matter where you are in the world, as a brand strategist, as a job-seeker, as a student of the game or someone heading off into something completely different, what can you take away to make something more…awesome?
- Are you adding 3 steps to a process where only one step is really necessary?
- Are you creating more hoops to jump through – for clients, for prospects, for site visitors?
- Is there a way to practice “addition by subtraction?”
Gotye Remade His Own Song
You’ve heard. The song. It’s everywhere.
Gotye. “Somebody That I Used To Know.”
Almost as many views on YouTube than residents of the U.S.A. (300,000,000 and counting.)
You can brush up on your Gotye knowledge if you’d like – here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry, where you learn, among other things, that he’s Belgian (so he’s GOT to be a good guy).
As for the video – here’s a link – if you’re one of those who haven’t actually seen it.
httpv://youtu.be/8UVNT4wvIGY
No matter what you think of the song, you can’t escape it. And, if the song itself can’t be escaped, neither can the remakes.
We’ve seen this happen before – dozens upon dozens of remakes, on YouTube, from artists looking to showcase their own talent by singing Somesong That You Used To Know. (Google the phrase “Gotye Remake.” I dare ya.)
Sheer brilliance can be found from…well, Gotye himself, who mashed up dozens upon dozens of the YouTube remakes, creating a song called “Somebodies: A YouTube Orchestra.”
httpv://youtu.be/opg4VGvyi3M
So, in one instance, an artist strips his own song bare. In this instance, the opposite – a crowdsourced piece of…awesome.
What Can You Learn from Gotye?
Back in the days when yours truly was a radio sportscaster, I’d have to deliver the same story at 6:05, 7:05 and again at 8:05. In the morning. I’m a morning person, so that part wasn’t a problem – but there was always the threat that you were delivering the same exact story over and over. If the Nets beat the Knicks 101-95 last night, the score won’t change in the next newscast.
But the story could. In fact, I learned, it SHOULD. It had to.
There’s another angle to explore. There’s another side to the story. Even when you’re talking about the same thing, there’s a different way to say it.
- Your company’s pitch: can it be more succinct?
- Your mission statement: can you cut out the BS?
- Your resume: does it do you justice?
- Your relationships: should you move from the text message to the Google Hangout, or from online to off?
