Something For Everybody

Some of you are going to furrow your brows and shake your heads despairingly at me when I say this: I only know the name Baz Luhrmann from 1996's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and this season's Moulin Rouge. I associate obnoxious, brash colors and clever interpretations and swift moving cameras with Luhrmann. I know little to nothing of "La Boheme" or Strictly Ballroom or "Haircut". Of course I know "A Midsummer Night's Dream", but not the 1993 production that inspired some of this music.

I'm hopeless, I know.

"Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" and "When Doves Cry (Extended Mix)" are easily the two most easily recognized tracks on this album. Although, I can say proudly, that I knew "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps", so there. Long rumored to be based off of a Kurt Vonnegut commencement speech (but later proven to be from a Chicago Tribune article by Mary Schmich), this is a song I was convinced would be more popular than it was. I mean all of the Top 40 and pop stations were playing it (exhaustively) when it was released, but as quickly as it was all over the place, I remember it disappearing from radio radar. Which is a bit of a shame. The cynic in me tries to shrug the song off as contrived, but I can't help thinking that Luhrmann's wayward experiences are a great guide. 

I have a soft spot for the extended mix of "When Doves Cry" because it's my favorite Prince song. Ever. Plus, this kid, Quindon Tarver can sing. I always loved the way it was slipped into Romeo + Juliet in a gospel setting without losing it's mixed up foundation (that is, the music underneath the lyrics being mixed up, not the whole Prince - The Artist Formerly Known As Prince - Now Known As Prince mix up).

This would be an album I'd throw in before getting started on a day of spring-cleaning. Which is to say that there really isn't anything that jumps out and is able to keep me throughout the whole CD, but that's perfectly fine. After all, it's supposed to be something for everybody. In that way, it's perfect.