Welcome to the seities Walrus Reveal! We have 5 categories for judging:
#1. A song that you can listen to on repeat. If you can’t answer that, just submit a song you have heard a lot and don’t get tired of.
#2. A song that draws you in. Maybe its a song that always gives you goosebumps at a particular spot, or a song that always demands more of your attention when it’s playing.
#3. A song you like that is 3 minutes or less.
#4. An angry song. Maybe the singer screams a lot, or maybe the lyrics are about being angry at a person or situation. It’s up to you how you interpret it.
#5. A song you like from a genre you don’t usually like.
We have 6 entrants all vying for glory and the possibility of earning a Walrus Champion Badge which will most assuredly raise your street cred.
My reveals will alternate nights with Cassette’s, which means the reveal for Category 1 will be tomorrow. I’ll likely kick things off around 8pm Eastern US time.
A warm, Walrusy welcome to all for this first reveal. I’ve tried to strike the right balance of remembering that this is just a game, while still giving each entry due and fair consideration. I’m looking ahead a few categories and figuring out placements there, and things are all changing based on the day and what mood I am in. No matter where you end up just know that I really appreciated your submission, I am completely unqualified to be a judge of anything, and there was a large element of whimsy to all scoring. As they say “All’s fair in love and Walrus”.
Category 1 Reveal - A song that you can listen to on repeat. If you can’t answer that, just submit a song you have heard a lot and don’t get tired of.
I really enjoyed this category. Thanks to everyone for giving me some new music to enjoy, and a special thanks to JohnnyTruant for being a gentlemen and swapping into this Walrus since the categories were not working for MimosaDef.
Unfortunately for Mr Truant, no good deed goes unpunished…
In 6th place with 1 point, JohnnyTruant - Pinchers - “Bandelero”.
Man, something about this track just wasn’t working for me. I think it’s a combination of the genre being one I don’t listen to a lot, and the pitch of the singers voice for the verses. But I also feel like if I experienced this song in a party setting it’s the sort of track where people would be singing along to it and having a great time, and I might have a whole different perspective on it? In any case, you get one point here and I think the only reasonable and adult thing to do is blame MimosaDef.
In 5th place with 2 points - Rexx - Tom Petty and Eddie Vedder - “The Waiting”
“The waiting is the hardest part” Eddie belts out in the chorus….and that’s something I found myself agreeing with as this song hit about the 3 minute mark.
It’s a solid performance by two iconic musicians. I think for me it just felt like a 3 minute song prolonged to 5 minutes. With that said, I really love Eddie’s vocal performance here, and it’s a fun tune. It certainly fit the category.
In 4th place with 3 points - SkyDiver8 Indigo Girls - Love’s Recovery.
This song is probably not the best style match-up for me, but I like to think I still know a beautiful song when I hear it. It’s a soulful, heartfelt performance and there were enough “moments” in this one to get it into 4th spot.
In 2nd spot we have something which could generate some controversy!
With 5 points it’s RiskyFlush - Dishwalla - Counting blue cars (acoustic)
“Tell me all your thoughts on God - ‘Cause I’d really like to meet her”.
This was the first song from this category I listened to, and immediately thought it was a contender for top place. Such a great, catchy song that takes you to another mindset as you follow the lyrics. And I guess my category allowed the option for “a song you have heard a lot and don’t get tired of” which risks it running afoul of the “well known song” rule. As it turns out this was the most played song on US radio in 1996. The thing is I grew up in Australia and don’t believe I ever heard the song until now. I don’t think it received anywhere near the same success there, and as such no point deduction from me. A new track to add to my easy-listening playlist.
And that leads us to first place…
Scoring 6 points and sitting atop the podium we have Pyatnitski, who has set a standard of consistency with his scores that we may never see the likes of again.
And now that he has thoroughly dominated placing last it appears he is coming for the other end of the scorecard with this absolute gem:
Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding
I had to do some research on this masterpiece. It was written by Elvis Costello, and inspired by the breakout of the Falklands war. It tells the story of a coastal town living through the dichotomy of reaping the financial benefits of building new ships, while at the same time seeing their own sons go off to war to fight from them.
“With all the will in the world, we’re diving for dear life…when we could be diving for pearls.”
What a line. Turns out Costello listed this as one of the best he ever came up with, and it’s hard to disagree. A worthy winner of my first reveal.
Just as an aside, my next reveal should be two days from now, and I am actually going to reveal Category 3. I am pushing Category 2 to be my last reveal because it’s so damn good and I would like to conclude this Walrus on it’s peak category.
Mr cassette! Nice to see you back from…whatever it is you were doing earlier.
I agree, great entries all round. I gave all of these a bunch of listens since “repeatable” was the name of the game this time.
ty for category compliment. It’s definitely interesting trying to get those right, and categories can make or break a Walrus it seems. Tomorrow evening can’t come soon enough!
