Pop Culture Question of the Day
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The question:
Which is the better Kenny Loggins song in a movie, "Danger Zone" from 'Top Gun' or "Footloose" from 'Footloose?'
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The chorus:
from "Footloose"
I'm turning it loose, FOOTLOOSE/Kick off your Sunday shoes/Oowhee, Marie shake it, shake it for me/Whoa, Milo/C'mon, c'mon let go/Lose your blues/Everybody cutloose.
from "Danger Zone"
Highway to the Danger Zone/Gonna take you right into the Danger Zone
-----------------------------------------------------
The movies:
Footloose - A movie where a bunch of repressed hicks
attempt to join the 20th century against the wishes of the town minister. Waco, Texas much?
Top Gun - A movie where a bunch of hot shot pilots repress their homosexuality while fighting unnamed commie pilots. Oh...and play volleyball. Reagan's 80's much?
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Lyrics that knock each song down a notch or two or three or four:
from "Danger Zone" - pretty much the entire song is provolone, but the below lyric is about as bad as it gets.
Out along the edges/Always where I burn to be/The further on the edge/The hotter the intensity
from "Footloose"
You're playing so cool, obeying every rule/Deep way down in your heart you're burning yearning for the sun" (with extra emphasis on "burning" and "yearning")
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The arguments:
It's hard to separate the songs from the movies because each song is so integral to the movie's existence. However, I'd argue that "Danger Zone" isn't even the most recognizable and popular song from "Top Gun." The main title guitar riff "theme" is by far the most pop culturally relevant theme from that movie.
With the "Footloose" movie, "Let's Hear it for the Boys" and "Almost Paradise" are great songs for their time, but they're not even in the same league as the title song.
Both songs are about as cheesy as you can get, so the cheese levels are virtually tied. Although "Footloose" wins out slightly because "Danger Zone" has some of the cheesiest lyrics and rhyme schemes this side of a 12 year old's diary. I mean, "engine" and "tension" being coupled together says it all. It'd be bad enough if that was the only offense, but you also have to take into account that Kenny Loggins littered his song with the following words; both "overdrive" AND "overload," "edge," and "intensity."
Although it pains me to say this, "Footloose" is more of a multi-layered song than "Danger Zone." "Footloose" can be broken down into different segments that sound moderately different than one another. The melody and chorus for "Footloose" speak for themselves, but then the genius of Kenny Loggins kicks into, to use his words, OVERDRIVE. He adds this bridge-break down segment that's almost like a hip-hop song meets Marine Corps cadence: "You got to turn me around/and put your feet on the ground, gotta take the hold of all." With the rhythm section being moved by a steady "Gotta cut loose--whoa oh oh oh oh." He then adds a voice on top of voice segment that puts the similar voice on top of voice segment from the Beatles "Twist and Shout" to shame. Is there a greater exclamation point in all of pop music when he belts out "I'M TURNING LOOSE" after it builds to that orgasmic climax of a sound? I think not.
Even though I automatically think of a smiling Tom Cruise everytime I hear "Danger Zone," it looks as if "Footloose" is the ultimate victor in this contest. Long live the Loggins and his 80's pop-music masterpieces. Now if I'm comparing "Footloose" to his song "Meet Me Halfway, Across the Sky" from the Sylvester Stallone arm wrestling epic "Over the Top"...now that's a different ballgame.
------------------------------------------------------
pop-culture bonus quote
the below is a Quentin Tarantino/Roger Avery written dialogue about "Top Gun" from a movie called "Sleep With Me."
"Top Gun is fucking great. What is Top Gun? You think it's a story about a bunch of fighter pilots. It is a story about a man's struggle with his own homosexuality. It is! That is what Top Gun is about, man.
You've got Maverick, all right? He's on the edge, man. He's right on the fucking line, all right? And you've got Iceman, and all his crew. They're gay, they represent the gay man, all right? And they're saying, go, go the gay way, go the gay way. He could go both ways.
Duane: What about Kelly McGillis?
Kelly McGillis, she's heterosexuality. She's saying: no, no, no, no, no, no, go the normal way, play by the rules, go the normal way. They're saying no, go the gay way, be the gay way, go for the gay way, all right? That is what's going on throughout that whole movie...
He goes to her house, all right? It looks like they're going to have sex, you know, they're just kind of sitting back, he's takin' a shower and everything. They don't have sex. He gets on the motorcycle, drives away. She's like, "What the fuck, what the fuck is going on here?" Next scene, next scene you see her, she's in the elevator, she is dressed like a guy. She's got the cap on, she's got the aviator glasses, she's wearing the same jacket that the Iceman wears. She is, okay, this is how I gotta get this guy, this guy's going towards the gay way, I gotta bring him back, I gotta bring him back from the gay way, so I'm do that through subterfuge, I'm gonna dress like a man. All right? That is how she approaches it.
...
All right, but the REAL ending of the movie is when they fight the MIGs at the end, all right? Because he has passed over into the gay way. They are this gay fighting fucking force, all right? And they're beating the Russians, the gays are beating the Russians. And it's over, and they fucking land, and Iceman's been trying to get Maverick the entire time, and finally, he's got him, all right? And what is the last fucking line that they have together? They're all hugging and kissing and happy with each other, and Ice comes up to Maverick, and he says, "Man, you can ride my tail, anytime!" And what does Maverick say? "You can ride mine!" Swordfight! Swordfight! Fuckin' A, man!
-Brilliance
------------------------------------------------------
til next time
matt out
Which is the better Kenny Loggins song in a movie, "Danger Zone" from 'Top Gun' or "Footloose" from 'Footloose?'
-----------------------------------------------------
The chorus:
from "Footloose"
I'm turning it loose, FOOTLOOSE/Kick off your Sunday shoes/Oowhee, Marie shake it, shake it for me/Whoa, Milo/C'mon, c'mon let go/Lose your blues/Everybody cutloose.
from "Danger Zone"
Highway to the Danger Zone/Gonna take you right into the Danger Zone
-----------------------------------------------------
The movies:
Footloose - A movie where a bunch of repressed hicks
attempt to join the 20th century against the wishes of the town minister. Waco, Texas much?
Top Gun - A movie where a bunch of hot shot pilots repress their homosexuality while fighting unnamed commie pilots. Oh...and play volleyball. Reagan's 80's much?
---------------------------------------------------
Lyrics that knock each song down a notch or two or three or four:
from "Danger Zone" - pretty much the entire song is provolone, but the below lyric is about as bad as it gets.
Out along the edges/Always where I burn to be/The further on the edge/The hotter the intensity
from "Footloose"
You're playing so cool, obeying every rule/Deep way down in your heart you're burning yearning for the sun" (with extra emphasis on "burning" and "yearning")
------------------------------------------------------
The arguments:
It's hard to separate the songs from the movies because each song is so integral to the movie's existence. However, I'd argue that "Danger Zone" isn't even the most recognizable and popular song from "Top Gun." The main title guitar riff "theme" is by far the most pop culturally relevant theme from that movie.
With the "Footloose" movie, "Let's Hear it for the Boys" and "Almost Paradise" are great songs for their time, but they're not even in the same league as the title song.
Both songs are about as cheesy as you can get, so the cheese levels are virtually tied. Although "Footloose" wins out slightly because "Danger Zone" has some of the cheesiest lyrics and rhyme schemes this side of a 12 year old's diary. I mean, "engine" and "tension" being coupled together says it all. It'd be bad enough if that was the only offense, but you also have to take into account that Kenny Loggins littered his song with the following words; both "overdrive" AND "overload," "edge," and "intensity."
Although it pains me to say this, "Footloose" is more of a multi-layered song than "Danger Zone." "Footloose" can be broken down into different segments that sound moderately different than one another. The melody and chorus for "Footloose" speak for themselves, but then the genius of Kenny Loggins kicks into, to use his words, OVERDRIVE. He adds this bridge-break down segment that's almost like a hip-hop song meets Marine Corps cadence: "You got to turn me around/and put your feet on the ground, gotta take the hold of all." With the rhythm section being moved by a steady "Gotta cut loose--whoa oh oh oh oh." He then adds a voice on top of voice segment that puts the similar voice on top of voice segment from the Beatles "Twist and Shout" to shame. Is there a greater exclamation point in all of pop music when he belts out "I'M TURNING LOOSE" after it builds to that orgasmic climax of a sound? I think not.
Even though I automatically think of a smiling Tom Cruise everytime I hear "Danger Zone," it looks as if "Footloose" is the ultimate victor in this contest. Long live the Loggins and his 80's pop-music masterpieces. Now if I'm comparing "Footloose" to his song "Meet Me Halfway, Across the Sky" from the Sylvester Stallone arm wrestling epic "Over the Top"...now that's a different ballgame.
------------------------------------------------------
pop-culture bonus quote
the below is a Quentin Tarantino/Roger Avery written dialogue about "Top Gun" from a movie called "Sleep With Me."
"Top Gun is fucking great. What is Top Gun? You think it's a story about a bunch of fighter pilots. It is a story about a man's struggle with his own homosexuality. It is! That is what Top Gun is about, man.
You've got Maverick, all right? He's on the edge, man. He's right on the fucking line, all right? And you've got Iceman, and all his crew. They're gay, they represent the gay man, all right? And they're saying, go, go the gay way, go the gay way. He could go both ways.
Duane: What about Kelly McGillis?
Kelly McGillis, she's heterosexuality. She's saying: no, no, no, no, no, no, go the normal way, play by the rules, go the normal way. They're saying no, go the gay way, be the gay way, go for the gay way, all right? That is what's going on throughout that whole movie...
He goes to her house, all right? It looks like they're going to have sex, you know, they're just kind of sitting back, he's takin' a shower and everything. They don't have sex. He gets on the motorcycle, drives away. She's like, "What the fuck, what the fuck is going on here?" Next scene, next scene you see her, she's in the elevator, she is dressed like a guy. She's got the cap on, she's got the aviator glasses, she's wearing the same jacket that the Iceman wears. She is, okay, this is how I gotta get this guy, this guy's going towards the gay way, I gotta bring him back, I gotta bring him back from the gay way, so I'm do that through subterfuge, I'm gonna dress like a man. All right? That is how she approaches it.
...
All right, but the REAL ending of the movie is when they fight the MIGs at the end, all right? Because he has passed over into the gay way. They are this gay fighting fucking force, all right? And they're beating the Russians, the gays are beating the Russians. And it's over, and they fucking land, and Iceman's been trying to get Maverick the entire time, and finally, he's got him, all right? And what is the last fucking line that they have together? They're all hugging and kissing and happy with each other, and Ice comes up to Maverick, and he says, "Man, you can ride my tail, anytime!" And what does Maverick say? "You can ride mine!" Swordfight! Swordfight! Fuckin' A, man!
-Brilliance
------------------------------------------------------
til next time
matt out
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