Overwrought holiday film-music battle: Crow Vs. Mayer

The holiday season can always be counted upon for some overwrought, heart-string-pulling flicks -- “A Beautiful Mind,” “We Are Marshall,” “Pursuit of Happyness,” and the list goes on.

This year is no different, and two of them, “Grace is Gone” and “The Bucket List,” have employed two superstar musicians to hammer home their film's messages.

Today we size up Sheryl Crow vs. John Mayer in the battle for the holiday movie season’s most emotionally obvious tune.

First up:

Sheryl Crow's "Lullaby for Wyatt," from emotional tear-jerker "Grace is Gone." There's something clearly important going on here, as evidenced by the the minimally shot video, the distant yet soft violin strings and funeral-ready melody. Watch:

Snap judgment: The delicate melody is easy on the ears, and the acoustic strumming is mournfully inoffensive. The singing is just short of over-the-top, but it's still striving for that  I'm-singing-to-stop-from-crying feel. Crow doesn't have much to offer lyrically in this song -- the main refrain: "love is letting go" -- but a sort of universal sadness is the goal here, anyway.

Next up:

John Mayer is your guy for a heartwarming film about the terminally ill. Mayer is adept like few others at being the pop music equivalent of a Hallmark card. Look at the pretty mountains:

Snap judgment: Slick acoustics and hard-to-argue with pronouncements are Mayer's stock-in-trade. For fans, he likely delivers here, declaring, "better to say too much than to never say what you need to say," a statement that actually says nothing but manages to sound deep. It's gooey, sing-songy earnestness.

Winner (in terms of the better song): Crow's "Lullaby for Wyatt."

Winner (in terms of the Holiday's most emotionally obvious tune): Mayer's "Say"

Both are simple and emotionally manipulative, but Mayer hams it up. "Say" is bigger and warmer than "Wyatt," and it hits the listener like an after-school special.

Comments

[Jess]

im confused...is it bad that sheryl crow won?

[Jordan]

I think you're forgetting Shakira's "Despedida" which was just nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Song category. She's also a huge star who could be in Oscar contention.

[Pete]

These are both beautiful songs. They're not the best, they shouldn't win Grammys, but they're solid tunes. The reviewer needs to go focus on something else. His critique is as empty as what he is supposedly responding to. All Todd Martens is saying is "I don't like these songs." A reviewer needs to offer more substance than that. He's more guilty than these singers of what he accuses them of.

[Jess]

OK First off, It is kinda bad that Sheryl Crow won, I mean I like her but, she wrote a really awful song. Second Shakira???? are u freaking kidding me? SHE SUCKS!!! and btw John Mayer's Say wasn't nominated for a Grammy, but his song that was nominated ( Belief) should win. I like Say so much better because, it is a lament but it isn't a bear your heart on your sleeves kind of song. I forces you to think, and ( not that Sheryl Crow's song has any) it has no profanity wooohoooo you can't say the same for Shakira.

[-TM]

I find Pete’s comment to my post to be obvious and contradictory. He criticizes the songs – says they’re solid but not that great – yet then slams the reviewer, in this case myself, for also saying these songs are not all that good. He says my critique is empty, yet also points out that I’m more guilty than what I accuse these artists of. If my critique is empty, it would lack any accusatory statements, and would fail to generate such a response. In fact, my review is relatively fair, offering two to three sentences per song, and also pointing out what Mayer succeeds at doing. That’s far deeper than simply saying “I don’t like these songs.” But it is fair to say that I do not like this blog comment. I give it an F. Pete needs to go comment on some other blogs.

[-TM]

Yeah, Jess, you're right -- the Crow song is pretty bad. And -- OK, i admit -- the Mayer song stuck in my head a day later. So I'd probably revise it, if given a second chance, but alas, it has since been published.

[amy]

a day later and i'm still annoyed by the Crow song. simplicity can be good or it can be weak and annoying. i find her song annoying - it doesn't go anywhere that i don't expect it to (meaning, i can predict the chord changes before they come and i'm not even a musician). the mayer song is certainly not one of his best but in this "competition" it is the better song.

[Kim]

I don't like the crow song; it doesn't do anything to me. But godspeed to those who get something out of it. I think John's is great. John's my pop culture vice. I feel like criticism of music though is subjective. John's Say speaks to those of us who feel like we constantly say too much to people and fear that we've said too much, so we restor to holding things in at our own expense. I find it an interesting contrast to his much earlier "My Stupid Mouth", and wonder if "Say" is his changed view, that instead of "never speaking out again" he will "say what he needs to say" (they're a bit different in context, but still, we braid our ideas in our minds all the time). At the very least, the reviewer is narrow minded in saying that the line "it's better to say too much than never to say what you need to say" in fact says "nothing". It says a lot to someone who understands. That's the subjectivity of music. This "critique" strikes me as more of a soapbox than a genuine musical critique.

[John Elizondo]

In my opinion "Lullaby for Wyatt" is a beautiful and sober song with great vocals. I saw "Grace is Gone" few weeks ago. It plays over the scene where Cusack's character is driving while his daughters sleep in the backseat. Well, Lullaby for Wyatt fit perfectly with that scene and Crow's performance is absolutely convincing. The guitar picking in the movie version is a little bit different, though. "Say" is also a good song, but slightly too bland and radio friendly for my tastes.