What song is this?

May 28, 2008 8:29 PM

What song is this? Ethereal and moody vocals (not quite spy, not quite gothic, but leaning ecletic), jazz rock background, sounds a bit like early Goldfrapp, or Morphine, or maybe even Darling Violetta. (All pretty approximate.) Very rough lyrics: I call you Tracy, You get along, You lovely... sing me your song. I call you darling, I know it's strong. I bet... ...and on. Show goes on. Show goes on. I call you ... ... I call you Liza B. I wish I could see That maybe it's only my dream. It's only my dream. Show goes on. Show goes on. I miss... ...queen of bees (beasts?). That honey Suzie, bewitched by me. I think you're... what else can be? ... ... Be my promise breaker, ... delusion maker, ... I wish I could see, It's only my dream. Show goes on, The show goes on.
posted by brownbat to media & arts (16 comments total)

Wow, all my paragraph breaks survived to the preview, but got tossed with the question.
posted by brownbat at 8:29 PM on May 28

Also, how can I edit my posts, so they are less ugly?

(The preview lied to me, I swear.)
posted by brownbat at 9:14 PM on May 28

Can't edit. But you can preserve line breaks if you put them in the "extended explaination" text box instead of loading your entire question in the first box. The first box is supposed to be a teaser so the front AskMe page isn't cluttered with lots of question text.

As to your question, MusicBrainz doesn't turn up anything from an audio fingerprint (and google is useless, as you already know). Closest thing I've heard is Émilie Simon, but yours seems more lo-fi. Where'd you get it?
posted by cowbellemoo at 9:40 PM on May 28

I've heard Jarboe sing like this, and it also sounds a little like the chick from Made Out Of Babies/Battle Of Mice, but I don't think it's either. Sure would like to know as it's pretty awesome.
posted by turgid dahlia at 9:56 PM on May 28

I think before she calls her Liza B., she says something about whiskey sour. Which just makes it even better.
posted by turgid dahlia at 10:00 PM on May 28

It's also vaguely Blonde Redhead. But I'll stop now.
posted by turgid dahlia at 10:01 PM on May 28

It sounds a lot like Portishead to me. Perhaps something by Beth Gibbons?
posted by numinous at 10:16 PM on May 28

Perhaps something by Beth Gibbons?

Certainly not. This singer seems to be a non-native english speaker.
posted by cowbellemoo at 10:35 PM on May 28

I'm 90% sure it's not Portishead, Beth Gibbons or even Goldfrapp. Hope we get an answer as I really like this tune.
posted by dantodd at 11:46 PM on May 28

Could it be Martina Topley-Bird?
posted by tiny crocodile at 12:26 AM on May 29

I can clearly make out a line, "I need your tragedy for me", but no search engines can find anything with that specific line. The singer's intonation reminds me a lot of Bjork, so perhaps she's Icelandic?
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:05 AM on May 29

Definitely not her, but this kind of reminds me of Poe, albeit less produced. I want more!
posted by owtytrof at 8:27 AM on May 29

It's a Japanese-English accent.
posted by herrdoktor at 10:59 AM on May 29

I apologize for messing up the front page, I did all this right on my first question. I feel dumb. Almost feel like folks like me should have to pay again.

Glad everyone likes the song, I found it on the Song Identification Society on Last.fm, he found it on a mix CD someone made for him.
posted by brownbat at 6:41 PM on May 29

User on Last.fm seems to be from Germany, perhaps a German band?
posted by brownbat at 6:42 PM on May 29

While I can't further the conclusion in any way, here's the lyrics as I'm hearing them. Square brackets denote things I'm pretty uncertain on.

I call you tracey,
you get along,
your lovely [witchy], I don't know what this could be.
sing me a song,
I call you darlin'
I know its strong,
bet your [???] pills, again, no idea, could be a specific brand name, if it is pills.
must have gone on and on, intriguing intonation, this is the best I can come up with.

a show goes on,
a show goes on,

I call you frankie,
[well] whiskey [sour/satin/saturn?], yeah, I lean towards sour, but its pronounced properly weird, if so.
I call you [Liza B./laser beam], laser beam only thrown in because it fits phonetically, tbh.
I wish I could say,
that maybe,
its only my dream,
its only my dream,

a show goes on,
a show goes on,

I miss your money,
you queen of [bees/beasts] bees makes more sense, as in 'queen bee'.
that honey suzie,
bewitched by me,
I think you're [maudlin?], this is indistinguishable, to me.
what else can be?
I need your tragedy,
for me,
so be my promise breaker,
your [son-ny/sunday], sunday would seem to make grammatical sense, but there's not a hint of a 'd' consonant sound.
delusion maker,
freak me,
are you [happy?], very muffled, can't really tell.
I wish,
I could see,
its only my dream,
its only my dream

a show goes on,
a show goes on

Anyone able to shed further light? Anyone hearing something different?
posted by Smoosh Faced Lion at 3:01 PM on May 30