Like or Dislike: Two Kinds of Love

[skcin]

I think that this my least favorite duet of Stevie's. Waaaaaay too soft pop adult contemporary. Bore.Ring.

I don't care for the lyrics, I don't care for the music, I don't care for the vocal performance. Sometimes I skip it, sometimes I don't - not cuz sometimes I want to hear it, but because it's left me so apathetic I just don't bother.

Oh, and there are HORNS in the song, a big no-no for me with very few exceptions. Horns + Stevie = bad. Damn you, Kenny G.

Written by Stevie, Rick and Rupert. Go figure.

Not enough harmony. Well, not enough good harmony. The following lines are OK, lyrically & vocally. I even occasionally sing along at this point:

Who in the world do you think that you are fooling
I've already done everything that you are doing

I don't think these words are profound, or touching, or even that good. But I like the way they sound & I like to sing along with Stevie's part for some reason.

Almost forgot the crappiest lyric:

Two kinds of love
one for the way you walk
one for the way you love me

Huh? One for the way you WALK? WTF does that mean? Stupid.

Live? I loathe it live, I really do. Dragged the show down. I cringe when I hear the start on a bootleg, and either leave the room or skip the tune. Peter Michael - that's who sang it with her on TOSOTM tour, right? Yeah, he sucked. Sucked hard. Barf.

[AliceLover]

Great temptation because of the chorus...love this

Would have been better with Lindsey!

[David]

Originally Posted by skcin

Live? I loathe it live, I really do. Dragged the show down. I cringe when I hear the start on a bootleg, and either leave the room or skip the tune. Peter Michael - that's who sang it with her on TOSOTM tour, right? Yeah, he sucked. Sucked hard. Barf.

Bobby Martin sang it with her.

I'm sorry Paula but I love this song. I love it on the album & I loved it in concert. To me, it's one of the great Stevie emotional songs.

[AliceLover]

Originally Posted by David

Bobby Martin sang it with her.

I'm sorry Paula but I love this song. I love it on the album & I loved it in concert. To me, it's one of the great Stevie emotional songs.

I really think a lot of it was directed towards LIndsey. "Who in the world do you think that you are foolin. Well Ive already done everything that you are doin".

[Johnny Stew]

I love the chorus and bridge, as well as the sound of Bruce and Stevie's voices together, but I'm not the biggest fan of Kenny G.'s somnambusax or the verse lyrics. I think I understand what Stevie was trying to say, but I think a potentially timeless little love-song was tripped-up by lyrics about the Betty Ford Clinic.

Originally Posted by skcin

Huh? One for the way you WALK? WTF does that mean? Stupid.

It's a physical attraction kind of thing... when you're in love with the way a man walks, the way he smells, the way he bites his lip when he's deep in thought. She loves him for the things that makes him irresistible, and she loves him for the way he loves her.
I think it's a sweet sentiment.

[skcin]

Originally Posted by David

Bobby Martin sang it with her.

I'm sorry Paula but I love this song. I love it on the album & I loved it in concert. To me, it's one of the great Stevie emotional songs.

Oh, right. Thanks. Bobby Martin sucked.

And don't be sorry, I want to hear everyone's opinions whether I agree or not.

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

It's a physical attraction kind of thing... when you're in love with the way a man walks, the way he smells, the way he bites his lip when he's deep in thought. She loves him for the things that makes him irresistible, and she loves him for the way he loves her.
I think it's a sweet sentiment.

Oh, barf!

[TheBlueLamp]

When I first head this I really hated it, but now according to iTunes it's my 6th most played Stevie song.

I think it's kinda cheesy and I love that. My favourite line (in a funny way) is "Well I talked to my famous friend last niiiiight" with the "night" being sung in that goaty way that only dear Stevie can get away with (for me).

The song does strike me as being very sad, and it sounds like she's either on the verge of tears...or falling asleep.

Hmm...this looks like I'm tearing the song to shreds but I really do love this song.

[dontlookdown]

production-wise this track is really gross.
bruce hornsby was a great idea
kenny g - not a good idea
cocaine was compromising creativity

[amber]

Intrinsically, I hated this song. Then the fab harmonies crept up on me. So I had to pick the middle one. Seriously, the fiber of my being is against this song, but when those harmonies start, I turn to jello.
Damn Stevie and her voice! And her harmonies! How dare she make this pap palatable!!!

[PenguinHead]

This song wasn't the result of cocaine...it was kolonapin(sic?) that dragged it down! Yes, it's a clunky mess, but it's so Stevie. For that reason I have two kinds of feelings for it: love and hate.

The verse that amuses me is the one where she seems to address her sleep deprivation with her "famous friend" as if she has bragging rights:

"My third day up, well, his second nighter."

Girl, get some sleep!

Funny that it was a single. Such an odd, off-beat song. With better production and more universal, emotionally accessible lyrics, it could have connected with people and done better in the charts. (This is the same person who wrote Landslide, right?)

While I was happy that Stevie performed a good chunk of the Other Side album in concert, I'm not surprised that Two Kinds of Love turned out to be a "one-tour song."

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by skcin

Oh, and there are HORNS in the song, a big no-no for me with very few exceptions. Horns + Stevie = bad. Damn you, Kenny G.

I'll offer my thoughts on this nadir of musicmaking sometime later, but for now, just as a point of clarification: I don't think saxophones are generally referred to as horns. The term horn, when not referring specifically to the French horn, usually is applied to brass instruments, like the trumpet, trombone and tuba. Saxophones, even though they're usually made of brass, are classified as woodwinds, along with flutes, oboes, bassoons and clarinets.

EDIT: Okay, having just listened to this song for the first time in a long while, it's actually not as bad as I remember. The vocals, for one thing, are pretty great. This is certainly one of Stevie's better efforts on this album, for two reasons: 1) There's an actual melody here, and a rather nice one, at that, at least for the most part. 2) The harmonies between Stevie and Bruce, which are great and really play to Stevie's strengths. Once again, though, the problems with this song come out of the arrangement and production. The music is just syrupy MOR "adult contemporary" dreck. The keys and drums sound like they're coming right out of a computer program and add zero personality to the song. And, of course, at this point it almost seems redundant to point out how much Kenny G makes me want to vomit. Listening to him "play" the saxophone is like gulping down a bowl of strained carrots: monstrously bland, no texture whatsoever, and it really does a number on your gag reflex. As for the lyrics, they're not terrible, but they're far from great. Fairly typical Stevie relationship fare. My only real complaint: Why the switch from first person to third, right in the middle of the bridge? A mystery for the ages, I suppose. Anyway, if this song had been recorded differently, with a more dynamic arrangement and some more interesting instruments that actually carry some semblance of punch, we would have ended up with a much better result. But I suppose that's kind of the theme of this album, isn't it?

One last note: Listening to Stevie's harmonies on this song almost makes me think that recording an album of duets would be a good move at this point in her career. However, I'm afraid that if she did it, she'd just choose a bunch of bland, MOR "adult contemporary" counterparts instead of people with really interesting voices who would truly complement her.

[skcin]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

I'll offer my thoughts on this nadir of musicmaking sometime later, but for now, just as a point of clarification: I don't think saxophones are generally referred to as horns. The term horn, when not referring specifically to the French horn, usually is applied to brass instruments, like the trumpet, trombone and tuba. Saxophones, even though they're usually made of brass, are classified as woodwinds, along with flutes, oboes, bassoons and clarinets.

Thanks, quim. But for the sake of simplicity (and laziness, since I'm not going to look at the liner notes to see exactly what instruments are played in some other songs) I will stubbornly just refer to all brassy colored instruments as horns.

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by skcin

Thanks, quim.

Now now. This is a family forum.

But for the sake of simplicity (and laziness, since I'm not going to look at the liner notes to see exactly what instruments are played in some other songs) I will stubbornly just refer to all brassy colored instruments as horns.

The word "sax" is 25% shorter than "horn"! Plus, all three letters are conveniently located in the same area of your keyboard!

[skcin]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

Now now. This is a family forum.



The word "sax" is 25% shorter than "horn"! Plus, all three letters are conveniently located in the same area of your keyboard!

True, but that would have entailed me actually thinking "it is a sax, right?" and then wondering if someone (David) would have corrected me & made me feel dumb with some comment like "well, it's specifically a suchandsuch sax..." Yeah. This worked out much better.

Fine. I generally do not like Stevie songs that include horns OR saxophones. There - happy now?



:

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by skcin

True, but that would have entailed me actually thinking "it is a sax, right?" and then wondering if someone (David) would have corrected me & made me feel dumb with some comment like "well, it's specifically a suchandsuch sax..." Yeah. This worked out much better.

Specifically, I think it's a soprano sax. That's Kenny G's preferred instrument of torture. (I know you wanted to know.)

Fine. I generally do not like Stevie songs that include horns OR saxophones. There - happy now?

Ecstatic, although I feel bad that douchebags like Kenny G make people think that the saxophone is some horrible, migraine-inducing new age instrument. If Coltrane had been alive, he probably could have contributed a much more insteresting solo to "Two kinds Of Love"...