We’ve got a pretty quick turn around from the Sweet Sixteen to the Elite Eight. With less than twenty four hours between listens for many of you, the two songs that advance to the big dance will have to earn not only your respect and admiration, but your tolerance as well.
Does Joey have what it takes to be a champion?
Since this is going up late and it’s a weekend anyway, you get an extra 12 hours to post your scores- votes are due Sunday at noon. Listen here.
Our first match-up could have easily been our final had the numbers shaken out a little differently. Valerie faces its biggest challenge of the tournament as it takes on Won’t Back Down.
Lilly Allen and her godfather Mick Jones will try and avenge the Clash’s loss last round to punk godfather Joey Ramone with her version of Straight to Hell, but Wonderful World is looking pretty strong. Tournament history shows that voters will take an optimistic song over a downer in most cases, but this should be an interesting match-up.
Pasteable:
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson vs. “Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen vs. “Wonderful World”
Living the Dream 
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson vs. “Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash 6.5 / 8
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen vs. “Wonderful World” 6.5 / 7.5
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson vs. “Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash 8.5/5.5
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen vs. “Wonderful World” 10/6
This day comes down to which songs I can stand to listen to repeatedly. I could never get tired of Straight to Hell, as evidenced by the month and a half in early 2009 when I discovered the song on myspace (remember myspace!?) and listened to it 40 times a day. I’m not tired of Valerie yet. Getting pretty tired of the other two.
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson [8]
“Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash [6.5]
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen [8.25]
“Wonderful World” [7.75]
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson 9
“Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash 8
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen 6
“Wonderful World” by Joey Ramone 9
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson -8
“Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash -7
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen -6
“Wonderful World” -8
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson – 7.2
“Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash – 9.5
“Straight to Hell” by Lily Allen- 8
“Wonderful World” – 7.3
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson 9
vs. “Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash 6
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen 4
vs. “Wonderful World” by Joey Ramone 10
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson vs. “Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash 6.5/10
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen vs. “Wonderful World” 9.5/10
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson vs. “Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash
Kelsey 9.1 7.9
Michael 7.8 6.8—-dislikes the back up singers
Janos 9.3 7
Cristina 9.1 7.9
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen vs. “Wonderful World”
Kelsey 7.1 7.3
Michael 7.2 : 7.4
Janos 8.0 : 8.5
Cristina 4.3 : 7.3
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson vs. “Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash 8.0 to 7.0
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen vs. “Wonderful World” 6.0 to 9.0
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson vs. “Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash 8.5 to 4.0
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen vs. “Wonderful World” 4.5 to 9.0
Already know all of these songs are going to be a 7 or better for me.
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson 8.5
“Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash 7.3
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen 10
“Wonderful World” 9.5
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson 7.0
“Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash 8.0
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen 7.0
“Wonderful World” 4.0
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson – 7.4
“Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash – 9.6
“Straight to Hell” by Lily Allen- 7.0 [this really didn’t do much more me today]
“Wonderful World”Joey Ramone – 9.6 [put me in a great mood]
I actually haven’t changed my rubric for this whole thing (5 has been “average”), but at this point I need to. For this, 2 = average. 6 is the old 9 ( = fantastic) My votes also reflect how I think these songs should be ranked in this whole round.
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson 3
“Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash 5
After listening to Valerie upteen times, I finally realized that it’s Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual” that it reminds me of. Which… isn’t bad, but is not a song you can take seriously.I don’t know, Valerie is fine but doesn’t have much depth. And there are Cash covers I like better.
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen 10
“Wonderful World” 6
Honestly this vote is somewhat to make up for some spreads I, uh, disagree with above. I don’t think there is over a 4 point difference between any songs at this point, especially not these two, which I think should be the final 2. I do like Lilly better: it’s a more interesting interpretation of a more interesting song (her voice is just… un-fucking-real), and I love the idea of a tribute to the Clash winning because they’re such a phenomenal band. Joey Ramone does a pitch-perfect punk cover here, but it’s a pretty straightforward schtick, even if it’s a great example of it. It pains me to give him a score this low (I may not have given this less than a 10 yet?) but I just think some of the spreads above are ridic. Also I’m not in the mood for a happy song right now.
Seems like we’re revisiting the hammer question, but this time I’m on the other side. Since I’m one of two people who gave this match-up a spread greater than four, I’m going to assume this comment is directed at me. All I’ll say is that I find Lilly Allen’s song cloying and not particularly interesting, whereas I not only love listening to Wonderful World, but appreciate the fact that it was performed by one of my all-time favorite musicians at a time when he knew his days were numbered. I can’t think of a lovelier and more moving goodbye from a punk legend who’s often mistakenly perceived as the posterchild for apathy: this song shows that the energy and anger behind the voice of the Ramones was also matched by a deep sense of optimism. As far as final statements go, I think it’s pretty powerful.
And besides all that, my scores for both of these songs haven’t wavered by more than a point throughout the tournament. I don’t consider myself a reckless scorer and don’t consider this particular score beyond the pale. The idea behind this whole tournament concept is that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and, as long as scores aren’t registered with malice or intent to game the system, there’s really no such thing as a “ridic” spread. Aiko, you’re welcome to use your vote how you wish, but lay off the judgements.
Votes are for ChrisB and Carolyn, respectively.
Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson = 8, 9
“Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash = 9, 8.5
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen = 6.5, 7
“Wonderful World” = 9.5, 6
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson – 7.9
“Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash – 9.9
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen – 8.4
“Wonderful World” Joey Ramone – 7
“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse & Mark Ronson 3.5
“Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash 7.7
“Straight to Hell” by Lilly Allen 6.5
“Wonderful World” 9.3