{"id":5107,"date":"2011-05-05T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T08:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/?p=5107"},"modified":"2011-05-05T09:00:11","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T08:00:11","slug":"fairy-tale-fest-twelve-postmodern-pop-princesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2011\/05\/05\/fairy-tale-fest-twelve-postmodern-pop-princesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Fairy Tale Fest: Ten Postmodern Pop Fairytales For Your iPod, Part One!"},"content":{"rendered":"
On the morning of the Royal Wedding, the street outside BadRep Towers was
saturated<\/em> with grown women wearing plastic tiaras. Rob and I became
vaguely concerned we might get turned into pumpkins or something, and
decided to take refuge in the (weirdly, wonderfully empty) British Museum
for the day to regain a sense of perspective. <\/p>\n
But it seems we’re all in the pink plastic grip of fantasy
princesshood, so I’ve decided to give in for a moment and take a
look at some fairytale-themed pop music – but with a little bit of
smarts and sass thrown in. Songs that turn tropes upside down or inside
out, or give the princesses unexpected vigourous voice. In this
post-Shrek<\/strong> epoch we’re living in, it’s a pretty
well-travelled road, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun.
<\/p>\n
The reliably-entertaining folks over at
Comics Alliance <\/strong>are also having a Princess
Moment<\/a>, which this post is intended as a sort of humorous
companion to. It’s not really an Order of Preference so much
as a Pile of Stuff, because I’m not in the mood today to be
ranking things in a heirarchy. A Pile of Stuff is way better.
<\/p>\n
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: <\/strong>This isn’t, of course,
the be-all and end-all of anything – just a personal take
– so I’d love to hear your own suggestions in the
comments, with no rules on style! The only rules were 1)
fairytale themed; and 2) attempting (if not always succeeding)
to do something interesting. <\/p>\n
PART ONE OF MIRANDA’S PILE OF POP PRINCESSERY, FROM
10 to 6!<\/strong><\/p>\n
10. Janelle Monae:
Sir Greendown<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n
I throw up my hands here – this is a flagrant
excuse for me to talk about
Janelle Monae<\/strong>. Her image is more robot warrior
rock star<\/a> than princess. This track is one of
her dreamier moments, and I admit that aside from
a faintly Angela Carter-esque
meet me at the tower\/the dragon wants a
bite\/of our love <\/em>moment, it’s
actually pretty straightforward
prince-awaitin’ fare – but actually
that makes it a funny little island in the
context of the rest of her work (check out the
bolshy Motown-tinged slice of pure aural glory
that is Violet Stars Happy Hunting!<\/strong><\/a>
and you’ll see what I mean). Monae is
fond of her concept albums, and combines
a sci-fi android alter-ego<\/a> with a deep-
seated love for
The Wizard of Oz<\/strong>. But the
forbidden love of her android persona Cyndi
Mayweather and the human millionaire
Greendown (the storyline of her album and
EPs) kinda is a space-age fairytale. (Oh,
and go and listen to Wondaland<\/strong><\/a>, too.)<\/p>\n
9. Kate Bush:
The Red
Shoes<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Because it’s good to be
obvious. For the unfamiliar, Kate
made an entire album based on both
the
Hans Christian
Anderson<\/strong> fairytale of
the same name (as well as the
1948 film, which also drew on
the same text). The story itself
is unrivalled, if nightmarish,
lecturing Victoriana is your
thing – read
Anderson’s text here and
cringe!<\/a> – but for
Bush it proved fertile
songwriting ground. The
story’s about a girl whose
vain attraction to a pair of red
shoes (RED! IN CHURCH! SCANDAL)
is punished by an angel –
she finds she is unable to take
the shoes off, or stop dancing,
and ends up having to ask the
local executioner to cut off her
feet. Which then chase her
around. Yeah, her disembodied
feet, still dancing, follow her
around and haunt her. In the end
she repents thoroughly
…and dies. As you do. Kate
Bush’s version, on the
other hand, is a hymn to
dancing the dream and making
the dream come true<\/em> and
enjoying your desires, even
so-called dangerous ones. Or
as Prof Bonnie Gordon puts it
in this
essay<\/a>, “by singing
and reclaiming this story
meant to constrain
women\u2019s bodies and their
erotic potential, Bush
confronts and overturns its
original inherent
violence.”<\/p>\n
8. Emilie Autumn:
Shallott<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Ah, Madame Autumn.
Prone to
self-indulgence on
occasion she may be
(The Art of
Suicide<\/strong>
just bores me, for
example) but when
she’s on form,
she’s good
fun. I much prefer
her when she’s
interacting with a
story or old folk
tale trope that
already exists,
like, say, with Rose Red
<\/strong><\/a>from
her debut album
Enchant<\/strong>,
as opposed to
when she’s
languidly
drawling about
how
Dead Is The
New
Alive<\/strong>
on far less
ethereal later
LP
Opheliac<\/strong>.
Here’s
Shallott<\/strong>,
in which
the famous
tragic
lady of
Arthurian
legend and
Tennyson’s
poem gets
a soapbox
of her
own.
Driven to
distraction
by sheer
boredom,
preternaturally
aware that
her life
story’s
already
been
written
for her,
archly
quoting
her own
poem, and
almost
determined
to die as
flamboyantly
as
possible,
Autumn’s
take on
the Lady
may be
angsty,
but
she’s
also
deliciously
sarcastic
–
now
some
drama
queen is
gonna
write a
song for
me!<\/em>,
she
spits.
Worth
braving
the
gothic-girl-lost
frills
and
flounces
for.
<\/p>\n
7.
CocoRosie:
Werewolf<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
When
I
saw
CocoRosie
live
a
year
or
two
ago,
they
took
the
stage
in
fake
moustaches
and
proceeded
to
blow
me
away.
Lyrically,
only
they
know
what
Werewolf<\/strong>
is
really
about,
but
I
love
the
sudden
changes
of
direction,
the
stream-of-consciousness
narratives,
and
the
thoughtful
melancholy
that
hangs
around
my
speakers
in
clouds
after
the
music’s
stopped
playing.
Corny
movies
make
me
reminisce
\/
They
break
me
down
easy
on
this
generic
love
shit
\/
First
kiss
frog
and
princess
…
I’m-a
shake
you
off
though,
get
up
on
that
horse
and
\/
Ride
into
the
sunset,
look
back
with
no
remorse…<\/em>
<\/p>\n
6.
Skye
Sweetnam:
Part
Of
Your
World<\/EM><\/strong><\/p>\n
I
wanted
to
include
a
Disney
cover-
something
done
as
a
pop-punk
number
with
a
gutsy,
bouncy
female
vocal.
In
my
head,
with
a
change
of
context,
some
spit
and
elbow
grease,
the
song
might
come
out
kinda
like
the
Disney
Princess
version
of
No
Doubt’s
Just
A
Girl<\/strong>.
<\/p>\n
A
survey
of
YouTube’s
trove
of
punk\/rock
Disney
covers
reveals
a
really
male-heavy
bunch
of
bands.
(Ladies,
where
are
you?
Where’s
my
hardcore
cover
of
Bibbidi
Bobbidi
Boo<\/strong>,
eh?)
This
was
the
closest
match
for
a
female-voxed
attempt
at
this
song
(Ariel’s
big
ballady
number
from
The
Little
Mermaid<\/strong>)
that
YouTube
could
offer
me
–
I’d
have
preferred
something
rougher
round
the
edges,
but
it’s
still
good
fun.
Avril-esque
Skye
Sweetnam<\/strong>,
then:
she’s
supported
Britney
live,
provided
Barbie’s
singing
voice
on
a
Mattel
DVD,
fronts
metal
band
Sumo
Cyco<\/strong>
–
VARIED
CAREER
TRAJECTORY
–
and
overall
sounds
like
Bif
Naked<\/strong>
on
a
sugar
high
(no
bad
thing
in
my
book).
Album
B-side
Wolves
and
Witches<\/strong><\/a>
is
also
sugary
fun,
if
lyrically
a
bit
join-the-dots.
<\/p>\n
Haters
should
note
that
Miley
Cyrus<\/strong>
has
also
had
a
crack
at
this
song,
and
by
God,
she
phones
it
in
like
nobody’s
business,
making
Skye’s
effort
sound
edgier
than
Stravinsky’s
Rite
of
Spring
by
comparison.<\/p>\n
SO!
Readers.<\/em>
Could
you
do
better
than
Skye?
Dust
off
your
Fender.
Record
it.
Get
in
touch.
And
I
will
lavish
THE
FAME
OF
BADREP
upon
you.
Provided
you
don’t
sound
like
a
cat
in
a
tumble
dryer.
(Possibly
even
if
you
do.)
Extra
points
if
you
do
Gaston<\/strong><\/a>
from
Beauty
and
the
Beast<\/strong>
as
a
B-side.
No
wildly
feminism-relevant
reason.
I
just
like
it.
(I
use
antlers
in
all
of
my
DECCCC-o-rating…<\/em>)<\/p>\n
On
that
note,
come
back
tomorrow
morning
for
Part
Two<\/strong>,
in
which
we
discover
why
Nicki
Minaj<\/strong>,
Paramore<\/strong>,
and
…
Benjamin
Zephaniah
<\/strong>(trust
me,
he’s
relevant)
are
rubbing
shoulders.<\/p>\n