So our Sony CD DRM paper is virtually done, except for one thing: the title. We hope you can help us out.
We're looking for a phrase from a song lyric, song title, or album title that is distinctive and can be read as a pithy comment on the whole Sony CD DRM incident. It should be recognizable and non-inflammatory. The title of the paper will be "ThePhrase: Lessons from the Sony CD DRM Episode".
Please offer suggestions in the comments. Thanks!
[Update (Feb. 9): Let me emphasize that we're looking for phrases that would be recognized instantly by most readers. We don't want to have to explain where the title came from. (If we were wanted a phrase that we had to explain, the clear winner would be "Invisible Invasion", which is the title of the only album we know of that was issued under both of the Sony DRM technologies.)]
Front page posts
Songs about mistrustful relationships and communication seem apt here:
Suspicious Minds ~ Elvis Presley
Careless Whisper ~ George Michael
Or you could draw to the fact that everyone -- artists, publishers, consumers --- has lost out here:
Everybody Hurts ~ REM
Born to [not] run ~ Springsteen
Bittersweet Symphony ~ The Verve
I've titled several of my music and DRM-related blog posts this way. My favorite has been "I’ve this creeping suspicion that things here are not as they seem…" which is a line from Dave Matthews Band's The Stone. Other DRM related posts involve Switchfoot's "I can’t recall myself how I went down…" and "Adding to the Noise" and other DMB favorites "While everything is open… Everything is shut down, down, down", "Here we have been standing for a long, long time…" and "This warehouse frightens me. . .". Feel free to take those lines.
Speaking of album titles, how about REM, New Adventures in Hi-Fi?
"Burning Down The House" -- Talking Heads.
"The Downward Spiral" -- Nine Inch Nails.
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These)" -- Eurhythmics.
Ed Felten: "... recognizable and non-inflammatory"
-dsr-: “Burning Down The Houseâ€
Heh :)
I'd go for:
Greatest Hits xD
Apparently Unaffected - Maria Mena
Conspiracy of One - The Offspring
Evil Empire - RATM (sorry, i had to say it :$)
and, i can't think of anything else at this time.
Which Side Are You On? - Various
Oops! I Did it Again - this is not the first, just the most egregious
I Was the Fool Beside You for Too Long (Yo La Tengo) - maybe not recognizeable enough
Give it Up or Turn It Loose - James Brown
The Whole World Needs Liberation - James Brown
This May Be the Last Time - Staple Singers
Outro With Bees - Neko Case
I can't get no satisfaction....
kind of fits both sides, no?
// marc
The music score, the movie and the book may not have been widely popular, and the subject matter perhaps controversial or inflammatory, but “Requiem for a Dream†best suggests, I think, a metaphor for the tragedy and failure of DRM. Search Wikipedia for more detail.
Almost Paradise
An Affair to Remember
Beautiful Disaster
Cruel Summer
Dirty Laundry
Eye in the Sky
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Say It Isn't So
Tainted Love
This Is Not a Love Song (........oh my, this is the Best.Title.Ever. It's ironic, and it's Johnny Rotten, what's not to love?)
Trouble in Paradise
+1 for Burning down the hous or Oops! I did it again...
I spent a whole 15 minutes trying to think of something better... of course, the coolest would be to use an album with XCP or SunComm protection... from the EFF list these sound good:
* The Invisible Invasion (The Coral, (Columbia))
* Get Right with the Man (Van Zant, (Columbia))
* Suspicious Activity (The Bad Plus, (Columbia))
* Healthy in Paranoid Times (Our Lady Peace, (Columbia))
Cruel Intentions? Lessons from the Sony CD DRM episode
Everybody Hurts...
Another One Bites the Dust...
Smells like teen spirit...
Somebody's Watchin' Me (Rockwell, featuring Michael Jackson)
(or) Someone is watching you (The Voice, Alan Parsons Project)
Surprised that I was able to get this one in first: "Ghost in the Machine," the title of the 1981 Police album.
The cover art alludes to a mucked up or possessed computer, as well (although the phrase was coined to refer to a dualistic conception of human consciousness).
How about "Ghost In The Machine" - The Police
A movie title?
"How It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save it" (maybe the last word could be changed to IT).
When the music's over
(Your Love Is Like a) Ball and Chain
I dunno... I think "Oops, I Did It Again" is strangely appropriate here.
the great gig in the sky [pink floyd]
comfortably numb [pink floyd]
Break So Easy - Johnathan Rice
Stop The Rock (Apollo 440)
Taking Care of Business (Bachman Turner Overdrive)
Money For Nothing (Dire Straits)
Weapon of Choice (Fatboy Slim)
U Can't Touch This (MC Hammer) :P
Set The Record Straight (Reef)
Hate To Say I Told You So (The Hives)
That Certain Cliche: The overuse of the phrase-colon-explanation in titling of 20th-Century academic papers
Making Love to a Vampire - Frank Zappa
Absolutely Free - Frank Zappa (Or anything from the "We're only in it for the money" album, well maybe not 'hot poop')
Father o'blivion - Frank Zappa
Treacherous Cretins - Frank Zappa
and, to move away from zappa for a moment:
Picture of Innocence - Deep Purple
Tears For Fears:
* Everybody Wants to Rule the World
* Start of the Breakdown
REM:
* It's The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
* Can't Get There From Here
* Losing My Religion
* Try Not to Breath
The Police:
* Ghost in the Machine
* When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around
* Invisible Sun
* Too Much Information
* King Of Pain
The Beatles:
* Do You Want to Know a Secret
* Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
* You Never Give Me Your Money
Pink Floyd:
* Welcome to the Machine / Have a Cigar
* A Saucerful of Secrets
* Us and Them
The Who:
* I Can See For Miles
* Won't Get Fooled Again
Rush:
* Beneath, Between, and Behind
I found these. Anything noted [MI] is actually about the music industry, more or less. I think the two best choices in my list are Everything is Free and Games Without Frontiers (but it's all good music).
Everything is Free (Gillian Welch) [MI]
I'll Never Be Free (Van Morrison)
Pirate Radio (Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper) [MI]
Seen and Not Seen (Talking Heads)
Puzzlin' Evidence (Talking Heads)
The Sound of Business (David Byrne)
The Million You Never Made (Ani DiFranco) [MI]
You Really Got a Hold on Me (Smokey Robinson)
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Gil Scott-Heron)
Concrete and Barbed Wire (Lucinda Williams)
We Have the Technology (Pere Ubu -- The Tenement Year version is better, and if you listen to the song, or read the Christgau review, it is clear that We Don't, but that might be a little subtle for your intended audience.)
Games Without Frontiers (Peter Gabriel)
The Mess We're In (PJ Harvey)
Make The Music Go Bang (X)
We're Having Much More Fun (X)
I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts (X) [MI]
PS from other people's lists, This is Not a Love Song, and Saucerful of Secrets, both look great to me.
Crossroads (Clapton)
She Blinded Me With Science (Thomas Dolby)
I Heard It Through the Grapevine (Pips/Gaye/CCR)
Riders on the Storm (Doors)
Promises in the Dark (Pat Benetar)
Free Bird (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Spirit of the Radio (Rush)
Won't Get Fooled Again (Who)
Rebel Yell (Billy Idol)
Burnin' For You (Blue Oyster Cult)
Welcome to the Jungle (Guns 'n' Roses)
You've Got Another Thing Comin' (Judas Priest)
I am not offering new ideas, but as I read through the suggestions above, a few stand out.
- Get Right with the Man (Van Zant)
Given that it's the CD that sparked the whole mess, it seems appropriate (though I would have never heard of it otherwise.)
- Money For Nothing (Dire Straits)
Highly recognizable and highlights the fact that the paying customers are the ones being victimized by DRM.
- It’s The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) (REM)
It stood out, but on second thought, it implies that the perpetrators of DRM are getting away with it.
- Can’t Get There From Here (REM)
Appropriate, but not widely recognizable.
You can't stop the music (The Village People)
Shadow Gallery - War for sale
- Victims
- New World order
- Ghost of a chance
And finally my favorite
- The dance of fools
Listen Like Thieves -- INXS
Chain Reaction - Diana Ross
Let Me Entertain You - Robbie Williams
Blood on the Dancefloor - Michael Jackson
Inflammatory: ;)
Somethin' Stupid - Robbie Williams
Beat it - Michael Jackson
Resistance is Futile (not music, but most appropriate)
The Song Remains The Same - Led Zeppelin
Rush Lyrics
"1001001 In Distress" / The Body Electric
"Big money got a mighty voice, Big money make no sound" / The Big Money
"Reverse the golden rule" / Kid Gloves
"Activate the programs, And run behind the scene" / Prime Mover
"All this machinery making modern music" / Spirit Of Radio
"They're digging through all of your files / Stealing back your best ideas" -- They Might Be Giants, _Cage and Aquarium_
"Welcome to my Nightmare" - Alice Cooper
"Suspicious Activity" from the EFF's list (as posted above) sounds perfect, but isn't all that recognisable.
"Guerilla Radio" (Rage Against the Machine) is another possibility.
"Welcome to My Nightmare" - Alice Cooper
"Somewhere Outside of New York" (SONY) - "Gut Painz and The Shitz" (no!! really!! old 1977 punk band)
Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle - Sex Pistols
Don't Look Back In Anger - Oasis
How about:
Who's Next -- album title
Who Are You -- The Who
It's So Easy -- Linda Ronstadt
Why Me -- Styx
The Grand Illusion - Styx
Meatloaf (BOoH2), two song titles
I'd do anything for love - but I won't do that!
I want my money back!
Movie Title:
Dumb and Dumber (2)
Clone Wars
Heaven's Gate (the fiasco western)
Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Spirit of Radio -- Rush
Moving In Stereo -- The Cars
For fun:
You Never Give Me Your Money -- The Beatles
More appropriate for the Analog Hole category:
Fixing a Hole -- The Beatles
These foolish things?
Give Me Another Trojan Song - Tom Fogarty
"You used to say 'Live and let live'," - Paul McCartney & Wings, from Bond film "Live and Let Die" lyrics
Couple more Beatles:
"Dear Prudence"
"Let me take you down ..." :)
If we had mod points, I'd give the above "Unchained Melody" suggestion a +5. It's perfect: it's short, everyone will recognize it, and it gets the point across so well.