Well, we are finally here, three months later and 62 teams shorter. We are down to two. In one corner, we have the A-pool champions, the undefeated Rolling Stones. In the other corner, we have Otis Redding. Both teams have saved their best for last, with both of these songs in the top 10 on AM. Just one last thing, remember to vote for the song, not the artist.
Wow. This is a close match for me, with both songs in my top 10. I'm going to vote for Otis, but let me illustrate how close this was for me, by showing a fragment of my top 10 songs list:
8. The Dock of the Bay
9. Hotel California
10. Satisfaction
If it were "Paint, It Black" or "Under My Thumb" I would have voted for The Stones. If it were body of work, Stones easy. This is why the AM World Cup has been so great, so many times I have voted for artists I normally would not have voted for other artists based on the songs, this is another one of those matchups. I am impressed Otis made it so far, having his big gun left for the finale.
Much props going out to Listyguy for a great tournament, this has been a lot of fun.
Also, it's amazing that Otis Redding got to the final without playing his one automatic win song. I think any other Redding song would lose to Satisfaction easy.
Anger against serenity, dissatisfaction against satisfaction, my vote goes to Otis calmly sittin’ on the dock of the bay.
Many thanks for this great game, Listyguy.
Well played to get this far, Stephan and Schwah. And thanks Listyguy for an exciting World Cup. Coming into this final, Team Otis haven't needed to overexert themselves and they're saving their best performance for last. Team Stones, on the other hand, have had to play at their best before and now their legs are getting just a little bit tired. So my vote goes to Dock of the Bay to clinch the Cup for Otis.
Sittin' is a good song, and to get to the finals without playing this song is amazing. In hindsight I shouldn't have played Gimme Shelter the first week, but I overestimated The Kinks.
It's an easy choice for me though, because nothing in the Otis song comes even close to the spectacular delivery of "And a man comes on to tell me/How white my shirts can be. But he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke/The same cigarrettes as me."
Anger against serenity, dissatisfaction against satisfaction, my vote goes to Otis calmly sittin’ on the dock of the bay.
i vote for Otis too, but i don't think serenity, satisfaction and calm accurately describe the narrator's state of mind...more like resignation, defeat, failure, possibly racism and even suicide
Good point here, Greg, I was probably thinking about the feeling the music itself transmits (at least to me). But of course the lyrics talk, as you said, about defeat and resignation. Possibly he was dealing with the great expectations that were raising around him at the time.
If you don't mind I'm going to post a comment taken from SongMeanings.net: "I love this song but it isn't a happy song at all. In my opinion, it's about someone very depressed reflecting on his life and trying to find himself. He speaks of loneliness, having nothing to live for, and nothing changing. He is unable to meet other people's demands or the standards they created for him (I can't do what ten people tell me to do). I think he's trying to find meaning in life or possibly the meaning of his life specifically. As he watches the tide roll away, he might be wishing he could go away with them and disappear like the waves."
So, Greg, I agree with you and with kilihila (the one that made that comment at SongMeanings.net), although I never though that this song could suggest suicide. But reading again the lines "Sittin' here resting my bones / And this loneliness won't leave me alone / It's two thousand miles I roamed / Just to make this dock my home" I found a poetic way of suggesting it.
exactly. that's what makes it such a brilliant song, i think. the music sounds so uplifting (there's whistling!), but it's about a man who, at least for the moment, has given up. i'm sure schwah will have a thing or two to say about it!
Not that I love this song, but it's for sure better than the overrated Satisfaction. I think all the other Stones songs played in the game are better than it...
I have 6 Stones and 6 Redding songs in my top-500. "Dock of the Bay" is not one of them. "Satisfaction" is... but the Otis Redding version.
I like "Dock of the Bay" a lot, but don't love it. I miss the dirty R&B. Redding knew this was going to be a pop smash... and it is a fairly poppy tune.
As for the theme and feel, I guess I see the song as a bit schizophrenic and at odds with itself. Redding brings a Southern languidness to ths song that is different from the high energy work that preceded it. And it's expressed (and sung) beautifully. Lazing in the morning sun, watching the ships come in and out. It's pleasantness personified.
And then from out of nowhere... "I've had nothing to live for/Looks like nothing's gonna come my way." WHOA! That took a quick turn for the depressing. Redding, in other songs, often expressed lonenliness ("This loneliness won't leave me alone") and feelings of being put upon ("I can't do what ten people tell me to do"), but I don't remember any other of his work involving such a feeling of resignation. It doesn't quite match the pleading, driven, high energy Redding that I love. But how auto-biographical can this really be (as Cropper, who helped fill out the lyrics, has claimed), since Redding was clearly determined and excited that, as he predicted, this was going to be his first #1 record?
All that said, there is a real beauty in the tune. Actually, my esteem for the song has grown somewhat in recent years as it has become one of my go-to lullabies that I sing to my youngest daughter.
I've said before on these boards that I don't find the famous riff from Satisfaction to be as hot shit as everyone claims it to be. (Love the fuzzed out guitar sound, though.) Jagger and Redding are both top-5 vocalists for me, but Redding does the job better in "Dock of the Bay." Jagger's heights are to come.
Otis Redding (Sitin’ on the Dock of the Bay) def The Rolling Stones ((I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction) 15-6
There you have it. Otis Redding defeats the Stones in painless fashion to win the 2011 AM World Cup. We’ll see both teams (and hopefully both managers) back for the 2012 Cup.
Thanks! I had a blast, and admit to having some silly little bit of pride in winning the tournament. I do think Redding might have had an easier road than others to get there, but winning those first two group stage matches allowed me to save one of my big three singles until the end.
What I was particularly happy about was that I won with an artist with "only" five AM3000 songs. And I didn't even pick two of them.
Enough boasting (although if I had any Photoshop skills, I'd superimpose Redding's face over Iker Casillas', lifting the cup... with Steve Cropper, Booker T, Isaac Hayes, and Donald Dunn celebrating alongside).
Most importantly, big thanks to Listyguy for running a really fun tournament. It had the most important element: I got to discover new songs I liked. But it also nicely and organically bridged the gap between people wanting to play a game strategically and wanting a game representing what people's actual tastes and preferences are.
Yes, it was a great game. I jumped in too late (I was busy previously with the 60s poll) but I've enjoyed it a lot. Can I volunteer as Bowie team manager for next edition?