u2songs.com: Running to Stand Still
Site Related => Discography & Releases => Topic started by: PekkaL on November 30, 2009, 04:20:23 PM
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On the front page it says that the song Winter, featured in the Jim Sheridan film Brothers, is generating Oscar buzz, but how is this even possible?
The Academy Award rules clearly state that "An original song consists of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the motion picture" and "The work must be recorded for use in the motion picture prior to any other usage, including public performance or exploitation through any media whatsoever."
Thus, Winter should by no means be eligible. It wasn't written specifically for the film, and has already been released elsewhere.
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I don't think the song is strong enough personally.
They might have left it off on purpose for the film.
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U2’s “Winter†did indeed show up on Anton Corbijn’s “Linear,†a short film that accompanied the album “No Line on the Horizon†(which the band is touring vigorously across the US right now). But I’m told the song was, in fact, written specifically for Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers†and that it will indeed be eligible for consideration in the Best Original Song category.
The film has been completed for quite some time, mind you. It took a while for it to secure distribution (though I have no idea why — it’s a fine film). MGM picked it up maybe a year ago, and over the summer, Lionsgate bought the film in a three-picture distribution deal. So just because “No Line on the Horizon†has been in stores for a number of months doesn’t mean “Winter†(which isn’t an official track inclusion on the album, by the way) wasn’t conceived far in advance of its release.
http://incontention.com/?p=17736
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OK, very interesting... Thanks for clearing it up.
To this day I also thought that Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler" was disqualified last year because he put the song on his new album, but that seems to have been only a rumour.
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If I remember correctly Until the End of the World had the same situation...
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Thanks Brad for the heads up about the new version of Winter!! Totally different mix as well as some new lyrics. I can't wait to get the DVD since I'll probably not see the movie. It's a great song.
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So what's taking so long on the transcript of the new lyrics? Huh? ;)
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BTW, that U2.com article really makes it sound like a soundtrack album is still in the works. It wouldn't be the first time a film has had a score and a soundtrack album released separately.
...take a listen to a new U2 track 'Winter' - from the movie soundtrack... The soundtrack also features another U2 song, 'Bad'...
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I remember reading that Brian Eno thought they were fools to leave Winter off the finished album, but if it was made specifically for the film they might have done it on purpose to keep the Oscar nomination possible.
If the film's been finished for a while, I wonder if the version of Winter in it is a new mix or if it's actually an early mix, before the version from Linear. Not that I care enough to look up the dates production started and ended for either film.
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Listening to the stream on U2.com, it seems pretty clear to me that the version of the song on Linear was a very early cut of the track. The movie version seems, from what little bit i could hear, much more polished...especially lyrically. Not saying that that's a good or bad thing, mind you (i personally like both versions very much...i'll have to wait to hear the completed soundtrack mix before i'm really ready to either defend or vilify it). I thought one of the great things about the Linear version was how the rawness of the vocal and the lyrics played against what could be described as the uber-produced sound of the music (prominent strings, big sweeping chorus, etc) but i'm also pleased with the way the music in the soundtrack version establishes a more contemplative mood. One more comment i feel compelled to make, concerning the song, but not really it's Oscar contention or the differences between the two versions...i find it interesting that people are praising Coldplay left and right, they're the next U2, this and that, but when Linear first came out, everyone was slamming this song because "it sounds like Coldplay". Frankly, i heard a grandness in that cut of the song that Coldplay has never approached, but i find the double standard curious. I absolutely would defy anyone to listen to this song and then listen to Coldplay and say that the former directly "ripped off" the latter, so i don't feel that criticisms of unoriginality are fair at all, and good music is good music, regardless of who writes or performs it. This brings me back to something that's been a growing concern for several years now, but has really become alarming in the last couple. Why the stigma against U2? Any thoughts? This probably should be it's own thread, so i apologize if i annoy anyone...just following my train of thought here.
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I absolutely would defy anyone to listen to this song and then listen to Coldplay and say that the former directly "ripped off" the latter, so i don't feel that criticisms of unoriginality are fair at all, and good music is good music, regardless of who writes or performs it.
Good music should be considered good music regardless of who did it.
I never really thought Coldplay sounded anything like U2, though I know that they had a U2 poster in the studio as encouragement to push themselves when recording X&Y.
I think Coldplay sounds a lot more, not uber-produced, but like a lot more of the song came in production than writing or performing.
The specific Coldplay-esque sound I hear in Winter is the canned strings in the opening, they have a particularly similar rhythm and melody to the strings in Viva la Vida.
Why the stigma against U2? Any thoughts?
Oh, plenty of reasons. Some people specifically dislike Bono, either because they think his humanitarian efforts are somehow not his business, because his stage presence and performance style are kind of in-your-face and weird, or because the combination of the two feels like he's demanding their attention for a cause they don't want to be bothered with.
Also, the "popular" rock music these days has a distinct sound that U2 doesn't come near. Personally, I think that's to their benefit; rock and roll has, for the most part, become really bland in the last few years.
Some would just say U2 is too old to bother trying to stay current, though that's less often a reason people dislike U2 and more a reason people give for why they're "not as good" as the mainstream.
And some people just didn't like the last album, the last two albums, the last four albums, etc.
My friends tease me a little for being so obsessed with U2, but one day one of them told me someone in their dorm was playing ATYCLB and it reminded him that U2 is actually good.
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Just saw "Brothers" and of course stayed through the end credits to hear the new version of Winter.
Musically, I like the Linear version a lot better. The synth strings are gone from the Brothers version and replaced by an orchestra and a lot of "Hollywood" type sounds. I'd compare it to the difference between the Best Of version of Hands That Built America and the Gangs of New York version.
Lyrically, I noticed lots of new lines, especially at the end when Bono sings an entirely new verse about "coming home," which relates specifically to the movie. I'd have to hear the new version a few more times in order to decide which lyrics are better.
Bottom line: the Linear version is more synthy and Eno-esque, the new version sounds like several Hollywood music types had a hand in the production and as a result is less spontaneous and exciting, IMO. There are pros and cons to both, I suppose, but I prefer the former version. (I say "version" and not "mix" because it's pretty clear that the Brothers version is a total re-recording, including the vocals, not a remix.)
Oh, and as for an official soundtrack CD, I don't know. Aside from "Bad" and "Winter," there are very few songs in the movie, certainly not enough to fill a soundtrack album. Unless they filled it up with "songs inspired by the movie," etc.
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I agree 100%...I find Edge's guitars in the "Linear" version far more eerie, melancholy and captivating...the "Brothers" version is no slouch, but much more (over)produced and (over)polished.
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http://www.incontention.com/audio/winter.mp3
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;) That's a bit clearer than the other ...
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OK, does anyone else hear "Let It Be" in their head when that piano intro starts up?
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Ha-ha--I didn't until you mentioned it. Maybe the first 3 chords. "Let it Be" was never one of my fav Beatles songs, however.
I thought the "Linear" Winter opening sounded dead on to the Coldplay song and kept the same rhythmic figure throughout, like other people mentioned. That always bothered me but I still think both Winters are exceptionally fine songs.
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Maybe the first 3 chords.
Exactly.
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I thought the "Linear" Winter opening sounded dead on to the Coldplay song
Funny, whenever I heard it I always thought, "Beef. It's what's for dinner." Though when I tracked down that old commercial on YouTube the melody isn't really similar at all.
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lol...i didn't hear Let it Be...when i listened to it for the 2nd time, i thought it sounded familiar, and then i immediately thought of "Can't Help Falling in Love".
I've gotta say that this song really moves me. i was thinking the other day about how, when NLOTH was first being promoted, i read in several different sources (including the book with the disc, i believe) that Bono had written mostly from the 3rd person for this album, creating a series of "characters", because he felt that he had exhausted himself as a source. Listening to this song...it's hard to put into words, for me...it sounds, in spots, intently personal. i wonder if the parts of the song about "words would find me...rhymes began in me, summer sang in me, summer sings in me no more"...i wonder if Bono was having a crisis, writers block, if you will...it makes me think of someone saying to themselves "man, this used to be so easy...why is it so hard now?". Some of the other phrases during the verses, especially the bit that's been excised from this version about being borne a child at a young age and learning that, instead of mellowing you out, it only reinforces your fierce determination to right the wrongs that you perceive in the world...that so sounds like Bono himself, as opposed to one of these characters. I like the characters just fine, but i remember someone (read: Bono) saying once that soul music was when the singer decided to reveal rather than conceal...i suspect that that is why this song moves me so deeply. this song is really glorious. i know i've already read a bunch of negative reviews of it so im sure that no one else will agree with me, but i love it. i know that parts of it are specifically calculated to make the listener feel a certain way, but...so what? the song works, as a complete, unmitigated success, for me.
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I think that the Brothers version of Winter is infinately better than the Linear version
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i know i've already read a bunch of negative reviews of ["Winter"] so im sure that no one else will agree with me, but i love it.
No, you're not alone; I think it's much better than most of the NO LINE ON THE HORIZON album (well, the "Linear" version for sure; verdict's still out on the soundtrack mix)...
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I love it too. Especially the Linear version. It certainly fits well with the other quality songs on NLOTH, which I think is the best album they've put out since the 90s.
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Now that it's been nominated for a Golden Globe I guess we should expect some kind of promo to be issued.
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Now that it's been nominated for a Golden Globe I guess we should expect some kind of promo to be issued.
Had a dream last night that I came across a mint copy of just such a thing in a used CD store. Woke with the dawn and, when I realized it was all in my head, greeted the day with a "dammit".
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I've been checking all the usual suspects for a promo CD. Nothing yet.
Digital distribution is killing obsessive collecting. >:(
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(http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g317/anglicus/ebay/cd-u2brothers.jpg)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380192995018
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GP2's dream has come true. Sorta. ;D
Happy New Year everyone!!!
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Scans... And I've already sized them for the discography...
(http://homepage.mac.com/bradhood/.Public/winter_traycard_u2w.jpg)
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(http://homepage.mac.com/bradhood/.Public/winter_disc_u2w.jpg)
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brotherssoundtrack.com doesn't exist. >:(
Cancelled plans?
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Thanks for posting the scans. ;)
In case anyone is interested, here's the 4 other nominated songs Winter is up against tonight at the Golden Globes--
The Other Golden Globe Song Nominees
"The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart)" – Crazy Heart
Music & Lyrics By: Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zelvaxvTaUk
"Cinema Italiano" – Nine
Music & Lyrics By: Maury Yeston
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HcRtBcWHs0&feature=related
"I See You" – Avatar
Music By: James Horner and Simon Franglen
Lyrics By: James Horner, Simon Franglen and Kuk Harrell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GMTQBriA3I
"I Want To Come Home" – Everybody's Fine
Music & Lyrics By: Paul McCartney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIgwLW0YlqA&feature=related
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Any of you loony-toons (and I say that affectionately, as a fellow insane collector) been shelling out $150-$160 for this on eBay? I've discovered there is a limit to my collecting drive...$150 for one song? Not even the superior version of that song? Oh, no, not me. Why, dammit all to hell, didn't they just tack this on to the BROTHERS soundtrack? It would have surely boosted sales of it immensely over its current film score-only presentation.
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I'm not much of a collector myself though I might have dropped a few pennies here and there. But not on promos.
Well The Edge was at the Golden Globes ceremony--5 secs on screen. McCartney was there as a presenter for animated films. Both lost. That's show biz.
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Well, that probably hurts Winter's chances of a wider release. Still waiting on the Oscar nom.
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I have paid a fair bit for a couple of promos: "MOFO (The Phunk Force Edit)" and "Excerpts From Rattle And Hum" are the two that come to mind. I don't recall exactly what I paid for them, but less that $150 per song I think. But then, that Rattle And Hum Promo has five tracks. ;D
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Not even nominated at the Critics Choice Awards and a loser at the Golden Globes. It may yet still garner an Oscar nom but I think we can all get comfortable with the golden boy ending up on T-Bone's shelf.
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So, no Oscar nod. I notice U2.com took Winter off the front page pretty quickly after the Oscar announcements this morning.
I don't guess we'll be seeing an official release of this anytime soon.
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Outside of the context of their tour (somehow its own untouchable microcosm), it's been a rough, rough year for our lads...
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True, we'll always have Paris...
and Red Rocks, Berlin, Dortmund, Chicago, Boston, Slane Castle, London, Milan, Den Haag, St. Goarshausen, ..................................Point Depot........ :)
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i gotta say i didn't like it. the version for the movie killed what enjoyment i did get from the original and watered it down to something i just didn't like. so i'm glad the oscar committee left well enough alone. because now they won't have to rehearse that song for the oscar broadcast which reduces the likelihood i'll have to see it live this summer lol. :-)