Uh oh
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A rapid fall from grace for last roundās winner.
In 15th place, scoring 1 point, hokie with Crimson Sky by Brian Crain
Thereās quite a number of these sort of abstract instrumentals in this category and there are several of them which do nothing for me. Deciding how to order these is challenging. None of them are unpleasant to listen to or anything, because itās impossible to make a guy playing piano unpleasant to listen to. In the end I felt like this had the least chance of my opinion improving if I continued to listen to it. I think itās dull rather than pretty, and doesnāt have a lot to say musically. That left hand arpeggio wears out its welcome with me after a minute or so.
If youāre listening along and thinking āwow harsh last place, this song seems fineā then strap yourself in for a whole category of the same. Itās all difficult to differentiate and Iām frequently going to penalise things just for being boring. Thatās whatās happening here.
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Hmmmmmm.
I honestly donāt know if youāre going to consider my song boring or not, but at least it has lyrics.
Oh I almost forgot againā¦
What would I have submitted?
Well, as promised, after suzzer described Shearwater as Christian Rock, Iām going with them again. The song is The World in 1984.
Very pretty main piano riff and I love the lyrics as well, while listening to it Iāve sometimes thought about For sale: baby shoes, never worn which is often called the shortest story ever written. This song opens:
āWhen our column advanced, and we saw what weād done, we were sure that we could never tell the folks back homeā said my father to me, I had just turned 16, and we were walking from my school to his apartment alone.
Paints a vivid picture for me of the circumstances and relationship this guy has with his dad. I feel like Iāve read the first chapter of a book.
Man, I have really enjoyed this little piece of procrastination. I guess I have to continue the reveal, though.
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Also a rapid fall from grace for last roundās third place.
In 14th place, scoring 2 points, Lawnmower_Man with Song for Lynette by Eric Johnson
Itās going to look for a while like Iām piling all the instrumentals at the bottom, but Iām not; there are just quite a lot of them. Hereās the problem with this sort of thing: the line between finding it entrancing and finding it bland is a sharp one, thereās not a whole lot of middle ground. With other songs I can be like, well, I didnāt love the song, but I like the lyrics, or I like this little bit of it, or I like that itās inventive, or whatever. Here I am just asked to find the piece captivating in its entirety, or thereās nothing left to hold on to and Iām just bored listening to it.
must say, loving this thread even on a day of indifference for OP. learned about flash fiction and really dug the last 2 songsā¦
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Here we go again.
In 13th place, scoring 3 points, pyatnitski with Dulcimers Played By Peter Neff. Strings Played by Labradford
Less New-Agey and a bit more interesting than the previous two, I can see what theyāre going for musically, but the brute fact of the matter is Iām still just bored.
The great thing about revealing songs is that if I keep doing it, eventually we will reach the end of the category. This is a joyful prospect.
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that wiki on the baby shoes is poignant stuff. Im a bit torn up over it, set against these crazy times. Texted my Mom to see if sheās available for an hour of yardwork Saturday 
Youāre putting your mom to work? For shame
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Letās just complete the set of last roundās podium.
In 12th place, scoring 4 points, Louis Cyphre with While Your Lips Are Still Red by Nightwish
Again, the word in this category is not hate, but indifference. Pleasant enough ballad, but I generally find this genre overwrought and this is no exception. Itās a bit by-the-numbers.
Uh oh, that might not bode well for me.
I think Johnny might have been on to something here.
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I tried to think of a good Dylan song for the first category and overlooked masters of War. I might have gone with that if I had thought of it.
In 11th place, scoring 5 points, jalfrezi with Oh! You Pretty Things by David Bowie
This is āItās Not You, Itās Me, Part 1ā. Nothing wrong with this song at all, I just personally donāt enjoy listening to it. Fully embracing the subjective is the only way weāre going to get through this category.
Also, this is required watching if you havenāt seen it before. Now thereās a Bowie piano song.
shouldāve gone with Lady Grinning Soul
I wonder how many songs even exist that āfeatureā the piano that arenāt new age, classical, or jazz. I mean George Winston probably accounts for 50% of the category in the aggregate.
Itās Not You, Itās Me Part 2
In 10th place, scoring 6 points, microbet with Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin
I know this is supposed to be an American classic, best American composer ever, brilliantly combining elements of classical, jazz and ragtime, etc etc. I donāt get it. To me it sounds like a bunch of ideas thrown in a blender. Itās a long and varied piece and there are plenty of bits where Iām like āoh, that was really niceā but equally as many points where Iām like āwow, that flourish was really obnoxiousā. Also, itās a very well known piece and if you submit a 16 and a half minute long piece (or, spoiler alert, A 26 MINUTE LONG PIECE), youād better be sure Iām going to love it.
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This may have been a wording problem. It didnāt have to be completely centered around the piano, the Shearwater song I posted is an example. The piano is important there and you couldnāt really just replace it with something else, but itās just one element of the song.
We really shouldnāt have pressured him to include this stupid category. What were we all thinking?