Simon Le Bon has strong feelings about 'The Reflex'
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- Опубликовано: 27 сен 2024
- 'The Reflex' is one of Duran Duran's biggest songs. But Simon Le Bon says he has 'strong feelings' about the track... Subscribe to our channel at / absoluteradio
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What I like about these guys, you ask them about their music and the first thing they talk about is their great producers and collaborators. Good mannered dudes.
"I never tell people what the song is about." This is professional poetry!
Go read the book of words by Duran Duran. He tells you what the song is about.
The video was filmed here in Toronto on one of the two days they played at Maple Leaf Gardens, March 4th and 5th 1984.. I was at the March 5th show and watched them make the "I sold the renoir and the TV set" part through the crack of the doors into the arena, I was the only one there and I am DAMN proud to say and know I watched them make some of this video!
... great concert... two of my high school friends ended up very briefly in the video (ska dancing in the upper seats)... good times !
These guys aged so well like fine wine
I remember Rolling Stone trashing the lyrics to the Reflex particularly quoting " I sold the Renoir and the TV set" when they obliterated Seven and the Ragged Tiger. I always thought the track was lyrically genius with an abstract attempt to describe impulsivity and ear marked Simon LeBon as an original lyricist throughout his career. Most thought otherwise but was Simon was able to escape the typical trappings of the "I love you baby" pop world and that, in itself, was an accomplishment He would have made a good progressive rock lyricist. Somewhere online there is a college professor's interesting study on the Reflex lyrics.
-essßss
+rjmdrum You would be really interesting to chat with. Love your thoughts about this song!
Too right. I think that the lyrics & the whole sound of this sound keep to the maxim 'Don't be boring!'. Some musicians today would need to look up the b-word in a dictionary & then find themselves in the listing.
+rjmdrum If Rolling Stone hates something then you know it must be great.
To be honest, barely any Duran Duran songs contain that "Baby" lyric cliche.
John Taylor's hair looks great.
Unlike his face, after years of cocaine addiction.
It's all about the striking harmonies.
Simon is excellent at harmonising with himself, I first became aware of it with Is There Something I Should Know.
I love his harmonising on Notorious too, more recently Mark Ronson complemented his vocal performance. He was a choirboy and learned about harmonies back then.
I have always thought of Duran as underrated as musicians. And were always dismissed by the music press.
Nile Roger's involment is quite obvious. Its so catchy.
great tune that bassline got me as a little kid....That's def one of those that take you straight back to a more simple time.
"The early 80s was really great for profoundly weird, paranoid, pop lyrics", he summed it all! That's why i love so much the 80s: it's weird, it's profound, somewhat paranoid/punk yet catchy.
... abstract metaphorical poeticism... that fit the music perfectly !
Something about that Nile Rodgers! He's good that touch!
I was seven and wanted to see them in Concert when this song came out.
some lyrics are just lyrics...jiberish or not ...who cares,its a fantastic song...
If radio head lyrics can make sense why not duran duran`s?
FleFleFleFle..Flex ✌️
I love it.
John Taylor = vampire
John Taylor= handsome!!! I adore vampires anyway....he's still got it!! Do you know anyone looking like that at almost 60????? Maybe your neighbour?? Well..I come up and see you!!
Count Dracula. Suck your blood
Duran Duran's first three albums have the greatest nonsensical lyrics. And IMHO "Like an Angel" is their best song by far! It's got do dos, la las, and whistling.
Simon once said about a dancer., Dancing on the valentine no doubt?
Simon LeBon previously stated that he has no clue what the song means.
In the lyric book for Seven And The Ragged Tiger, Simon states that the Reflex was about a little friend but that a lot of it was stream of consciousness made-up on the spot nonsense.
Omg that's hysterical! It's about masterbation.
The single version of the Reflex remixed by Nile Rodgers was awesome at the time but now it just doesn’t hold up for me... it sounds too processed and I don’t enjoy listening to it anymore. I guess because it was overplayed and something about the production now seems off, like several instruments are unbalanced. It has actually made me appreciate the album version much more
In an interview in 2000, simon lw bon ssid the song was about ejaculation and the scene in the video where the eoman gets drenched was a nod to it
I liked the remix of it when I was a kid …now I like the album version much better …more disco-ey.
love that song but I think simon was kind of high 😅
SACRILEGE!!!!!🤓😲🙃😲
What's with the renoir lyrics?
Why-y-y-y-ya didn't they have any sampling layers in the feeble album original version of Reflex ?
Tra-a-a not to bruise the musicality with too much why-y-y-y-ya in the dance version.
Bu-u-uy a wall of sound effect into it, + don't lose time to.
Selling the tv set I can understand. But why sell the renoir?
Because a Renoir is worth more than a TV set -- especially if you owe money to the mob bookies.
Whats the song"REFLEX" about???? Tell us!!!!
Nick Rhodes :)
Masterbation. Watch the music video. That waterfall looks awfully white
Everybody knows that "The Reflex" is about a mischievous and elusive leprechaun who is really good at baccarat. "I sold the Renoir and the TV set" is what you have to do to support such an addiction.
I am kind of relieved that Simon admits that "The Reflex" is a kind of childish song (which it is, and I have never liked it that much for precisely that reason).
Yeah, their first real pop song and it sucked. I wish they had given it to Bananarama or Mel & Kim.
It’s obviously about unemployment and chaos in Thatchers 80s. The dull and crass sentiment of desperation and family breakdowns. Oh, by the way, doesn’t Terry hall look like that singer from Duran Duran?
😂
As a former "Duranie", The Reflex was always my least liked song of theirs. It's repetitive and a bit annoying. Simon is right, it is "childish". (Sorry, just my opinion. I realize it was a huge hit.) "Whyyyyyyyyyy don't you use it, Tryyyyyyyyyyyyy not to bruise it, Buyyyyyyyyy time don't lose it." Not too imaginative.
I completely agree with you!! It's not my favourite song of theirs, above all when Nick makes some strange noises with his mouth!! However, I think DD's lyrics are beyond....
The overwhelming number of songs, with their lyrics and melodic lines- are pretty much a dime a dozen- always following the same formula. (With The Reflex, the song has a great rhythm section, the keyboards dance about within the song and the rhythm guitar sound is unforgettably good. The song makes you want to dance.) Instead of just singing lyrics as just words, for Simon to stretch out the Y's in the melody, he was quite creative and imaginative, this is a small part to what adds to the songs greatness. You don't get that play with words in songs. It's like playing a note on guitar but bending the string on that note to evoke a different sonic quality.
Simon has Bryan Ferry´s ears...
Well it's about time he gave them back.
@@gdn101 Droll and unfunny British humour.
Duran Duran certainly had some of the most unique lyrics back in the 80s. Considering they were heavily marketed as "pretty boys" for tween and teen girls, the band never put out a typical "love song" in those early years.
The lyrics never made sense to me. That was one ofthose songs that was just about the whole package. The hook, the beat, the music... everything was pure pop perfection in 1983. I was never into the band much, now was my sister (all her friends were) but I loved this song when it came out when I was in 1st grade. Loved Wild Boys too. I was on the Culture Club/Madonna/MJ/Cyndi side of 1983-5
Oh my gosh!! Just realised something amazing about my beloved Duran Duran!!! WAS AT THE PREFECT AGE FOR THESE GUY'S AND Thought I should be the one to marry Simon. 🤣🤣Ahhh sweet innocence and memories of my relationship with them..
But did anyone else notice that they never bought our love songs!!!!! JUST CANT BELIEVE IT!! They were ahead of their time and paved the way for many obscure artists to treat us to their magic!
Can anyone think of ANY love songs by Duran Duran??"Save a prayer " prob comes close...
They had it all So original
The hair
Fashion
Make-up-heavy make up!! Esp Nick Rhodes..
MATE nothing was off limits or out of bounds!
AND ALL ALIVE which is always a bonus!! Wen so MANY leads of bands die from DRUGS ending the entire SHOW FOREVER!!
Lol as I now think of rolling stones 🤣🎛🔊🎹🎤All alive and kicking ass!!! After ALL THOSE DRUGS and kudos to them!!
They're brilliant ALSO
what
uh..
@Jupiter One of my favorites is "Leave A Light On".
Duran Duran might have even started the whole ambient scene with songs like Tiger Tiger with those keyboards. Drones and quality sound that reached right into your body.❤
Now I want to listen to "Do They Know It's Christmas?" He makes me think of the solo he has in the song. I think after this I'll be off to listen to it even out of season.
OHHH YESSS I often rem that song..."At Christmas time it's hard wen you're not having fun " Simon's adorable voice
New moon on monday?...
NMoM is still my fav song. I never cared what the song was about. The vocals are just another instrument in a great song.
Simon: “I never tell people what songs are about.”
Also Simon (In the Book of Words): The Reflex is about standing in front of the microphone and improvising.
I sold the Renoir and the TV set...flex flex flex. Too good.
The Reflex was the 1st Duran Duran song I ever heard I heard it on a record called Now 3.
I love Simon le Bons lyrics, I know not what he’s ever on about, in fact I’d love to know
I bet HE doesn't even know..DEF prob the most original BAND Iv ever heard.
Joanne Marshall one of, I think that era had very unique groups, the human league, Thompson twins being amongst them
ricordo che imitavo Simon e ballavo alla grande.Che tempi
"I sold the Renoir and the TV set" OMG
Is John Taylor belching there ?
I thought it might have been a reaction to a break up,
Much as I love DD, Simon is wrong about "The Reflex" being the first time sampling had been heard... Depeche Mode were sampling at least 2/3 years before "The Reflex" although they weren't even the first I'm sure
I think it was around the same time, as The Reflex was recorded in 1983 and was remixed by Nile towards the end of the year. DM made Construction Time Again in 1983 and that’s where they started sampling. I agree though that it’s likely that DM were probably first but only just.
In the early 20th Century, Jazz musicians sampled other artists. In the 1940s, French composer Pierre Schaeffer used sampling in a genre called Musique Concrète. Pet Sounds by the Beach has sampling on it and so do some Beatles albums. Duran Duran's The Chauffeur (1982) has sampling on it and so does Girls On Film (1981), which predates Nile Rodgers' remix of The Reflex (1984). So Simon has been a part and has heard sampling before. So sampling is not unique to Depeche Mode or to other artists of their era.
What Simon is referring to is the members of the band hearing sampling for the first time in the way Nile Rodgers did it. Typically, sampling is taken from another audio source and added to one's own track. However, Nile used his creativity and sampled from within the same track and did his magic with those sounds- that is where you see Simon's amazement of what Nile did on their remix.
@@Guapito1973 Sampling is not new to 80s artists. In the early 20th Century, Jazz musicians sampled other artists. In the 1940s, French composer Pierre Schaeffer used sampling in a genre called Musique Concrète. Pet Sounds by the Beach has sampling on it and so do some Beatles albums. Duran Duran's The Chauffeur (1982) has sampling on it and so does Girls On Film (1981), which predates Nile Rodgers' remix of The Reflex (1984).
@@eamonconnelly8029 The Mellotron is arguably the first sampler, but let’s not confuse tape music with the digital sampling revolution.
@@deastman2 Mellotron is tape based and the first digital sampler was introduced in 1969 called the EMS.
I have no idea what you are talking about when you state: "let’s not confuse tape music with the digital sampling revolution. Not sure how your reply relates to the initial comments by James Davies and to the following post by Gaupito 1973.
Simon, you never heard sampling before? Depeche Mode did it when Alan Wilder came on board in 1982 with their first releases in 1983.
The Reflex was recorded in 1983. It was released as a single though in April 1984.
Something doesn’t quite add up here. Nick used his Fairlight for the production of most of Seven and the Ragged Tiger. Maybe it was after they had done the Reflex and he was inspired by that. But did Nile already have his Synclavier at that point?
They should have strong feelings about it, Nile Rodgers brought in session musicians to play all the instruments, the Duran Duran guys didn't even play on it. All the guys who actually played on it are listed as, "Additional drums" "Additional guitars" and so on. Obviously the record company and Nile felt that the band weren't good enough to play on their own album.
Bollox
Nile Rogers wasn’t involved in any part of this album. He remixed The Reflex for the single release many months after Seven and the Ragged Tiger was released, and that was their first time working with him.
Now if you’re talking about the Notorious album that he produced, they only had 3 regular band members at the time (bass, keyboards and lead vocals). The guitarist and drummer had left the band, and those are the only instruments, along with horns and additional percussion, that were played by the “other musicians.”
John very handsome, Simon ugly and old, Simon never did anything good, not creative, John a genious.
You're so rude. So what do you look like?