My Own Way — The Daily Duranie Review

Today, we move on to the second song on the Rio album, My Own Way. As we are sure you know, this song was released as a single before Rio, the album, was released. Despite having a decent amount of success, chart wise, the band has expressed a dislike for this song. They have, though, played it live during the 2006 shows, combining it with the song, Serious. With that background, we review the song to determine if this song is worth the distain that the band supposedly has for it or if it is worthy of the moderate chart success that it had in late 1981.

One clarification we want to make is that when we are reviewing this song (and others) that have many different versions available – we are ONLY reviewing the version that is on the original album. So for example in this case, we are not reviewing the song version that compliments the video, we’re reviewing the slower version that can be found on Rio.

Rhonda:

Musicality/Instrumentation: I have to say that I really like the intro to this song. How can I not notice John’s bass? He has the best bass lines in the business, especially during these days. Naturally Andy’s guitar is right there, and then you hear Nick’s keys and of course Roger’s drums. It’s a great intro section. The song has a noticeable disco-like feel to it, and one can definitely hear the Chic influence in the chorus. It’s a very upbeat, and in some ways I feel as though it’s the type of song that Roger really has to work with the band to keep tempo, because I can hear the surge of potential energy ready to drive this song off at a breakneck pace. There really aren’t a lot of musical changes in the song, staying fairly consistent throughout. They’ve struck a very nice balance musically, and while there is no mistaking Nick’s synthesizers or Andy’s guitar, there is room for everyone to play and be heard and there are moments when each individual instrument stands out – not awkwardly so, but they all have a moment to shine. For example, listening to the song as I’ve done today, I love Nick’s keyboards on this one, and not just the melody lines. They tend to blend in quite a bit until you really sit down to listen, but they add so much complexity to the sound, especially on this song. One thing that I find fairly characteristic of the band during this period of the 80’s is the layering of the different tracks of music. I’m not really sure how to explain this so it’s understood by all – but when I really concentrate and listen, I can hear each individual track, and when you take the time to listen, you hear that while each particular instrument’s part isn’t necessarily difficult or intricate, when you put them together – the sound is complex without being messy – which is both due to the music itself as well as production – but just focus on the music for now. This is key and something that I hope our readers pay special attention – we will reference this in later albums!

Voice:  For most of the song, I don’t mind the vocals. Simon sings clear, he doesn’t sound strained and he is a comfortable part of his range. I don’t hear much of the harmonies that they really start adding to their songs during this period (but there are some when he sings “own way”, but for this song, his voice completely matches the tone and mood they wanted to create. What I have never really loved or even understood has been the spoken words.  I suppose they don’t necessarily take away from the song, but I don’t feel they added continuity or anything – they’re just there so that the Duranies of the world can wonder why.

Lyrics: I like the lyrics to this song. I can remember sitting and listening to this back when I was a kid and thinking about the words – they are easy to miss over the music though, which I suppose might be by design. The message of the actual lyrics is powerful, even though they are delivered in a fun way. I like the idea of independence and finding ones own way in this world. “Number one public figure, what a pain, puts another rattle in your brain”….I can only imagine, but I still like it!  “…running like a fox to keep up with me”… what teenager doesn’t feel like that about authority (and the moment I first heard this song, I was a teenager…so that feeling sticks with me to this day!). Anyway, the themes of being oneself and finding your own way work for me. However…and this is a big however…I have never appreciated or understood the spoken lines that seem way way way ad-libbed. They feel out of place to me, never mind that I never quite figured out what Simon was talking about – at least not until I was much older and was given the secret decoder ring (I’m joking – there IS NO RING.) to decipher what it was all about. “45, tween 6th and Broadway” What?!? “Seven up, tween 6th and Broadway?” Come again?? Of course, how many of us have not gone searching (or at least thought of the possibilities!) for this location in NYC or thought that it was some super-secret message sent just for fans?? Then again, maybe searching for it is what makes us Duranies!

Production: The one production item I hear very clearly is echo. Echo, echo, echo…and it fits.  The only way I can really describe the song’s production is gloss – and it is slick. I really believe the production is what makes this song sound so Chic-like,  and it’s a great sound given the music. It sounds like a great party going on, and that’s what this band was all about – they wanted people to dance to this song, and the glossy production helps get that message across. The one thing I would have omitted is Simon’s spoken lines – but then again, if we did that, we’d never have gone looking for that nightclub in New York City, thus eliminating a great piece of Duranie-lore. We couldn’t have that.

Overall: I have always struggled with this song in one way or another. To begin with, I don’t understand why there are two completely different speeds to the song depending on what version you’re listening – and I don’t know which version the band prefers. That might by why I’ve heard Roger talk about this song as though it’s the naughty child because it can’t seem to behave properly. I’m not one for flat-out disco, but I think that the version we’re reviewing from the album is truly more pure pop (of it’s time). On the same token I really do love specific elements of the song, such as John’s bass groove in the opening, the guitar in several parts, Nick’s synths during each verse…but combined together as a song, it’s never reached out and grabbed me. It is the sort of song that is meant to be danced to, and remixed to death, so for that matter, it has done it’s job well.

Cocktail Rating:  3 cocktails!

Amanda:

Musicality/Instrumentation:  The very first thing that I notice with this song is that there is no real lead in. As soon as it starts, the instruments are all there, including the obvious bass and guitar. For the verses, the music seems to remain pretty constant with little changes to the notes being played. The sound is generally upbeat with the guitar working to make it so along with the layer of Nick’s keyboards. Then, of course, as the chorus kicks in and it really pushes the upbeat, pop sound up a notch. Clearly, the goal here was to make people want to get up and dance! The predominant sounds are no longer the deeper bass but more of Nick’s keyboards. Nothing in the song seems very complicated on the surface, but I’m amazed at all of the little, additional sounds that were included probably by a certain Mr. Rhodes. When you listen to this song and pay real attention to it, those extras are clear, present and definitely add to the fun atmosphere. Of course, in typical Duran song fashion, there is a bit of bridge in which the music changes about 2 and a half minutes in. At that time, Simon, of course, starts his lyrics-but-not-really-lyrics part before the song returns to the original form. This song isn’t that different than many of their previous ones in that it definitely works to create an atmosphere. While the atmosphere might have been dark and haunting for something like Nightboat off their first album, this song just scream fun and silliness.

Voice:  For the majority of the song, through the verses and chorus, this is classic LeBon at a comfortable range and able to carry through the song’s overall upbeat nature through his voice.  In this way, Simon does act as another instrument. If he sang this song as he did many of the songs on the first album, he would be creating a mixed message. Instead, his vocal quality matches the instrumentation even as the song moves from verse to chorus and back again. Even the addition of the “yay, yay, yay” fits the overall feeling of the song. Of course, though, what stands out in this song is Simon almost speaking lines that can’t really be described as lyrics. Those lines are different than anything we have heard up until this point in their catalog. The same can be said at the end of the song when again Simon seems to be almost speak singing random thoughts. Would those lines be better if they were sung like the rest of the seem-to-official lyrics? I don’t necessarily think so. They were different so the vocal quality of them should be different, too. What I will say is that they don’t necessarily enhance the mood of fun and silliness in the way that the rest of Simon’s vocals do.

Lyrics:  Strangely enough, I have never really thought so much about the lyrics to this song.  I suspect that part of that reason is that the lyrics aren’t supposed to be the focus. The upbeat pop instrumentation is supposed to be what we pay attention to. That said, as I look at the lyrics, there are many that I just shake my head at in a “I have no idea what the heck that is supposed to be mean” way. For example, “Take another green but it’s not the same” is a lyric that I have no real clue about. I could make some guesses. Is green a reference to drugs? Money? Not sure. Of course, despite the lyrics being less than clear, there is a general vibe created, which is one of carefree youth who is doing whatever he wants and isn’t too concerned with others. He doesn’t care about that baby that just lives a day. He isn’t worried about flying or what people say about him. He is going to do what he wants and doesn’t think that people could keep up with him even if they wanted to. This message, of course, fits with the instrumentation. As we now know, the other spoken lyrics are a reference to a nightclub in New York City (45 between 6th and Broadway). The party continues after dark, apparently.

Production:  In many ways, this song definitely fits in with the production of the rest of the Rio album. It also fits in with the first album in that all instrumentation is there and accounted for. It is a song that truly oozes an atmosphere of independence and good times. Yet, there are elements that I wonder about. How did those extra lines of Simon’s come to be? Were those necessary? How was it decided that most of those extra, non-typical lines would be almost spoken? On one hand, I get how those would help to create this “I don’t care what people think” attitude that comes through. On the other hand, at times, I found those distracting from the fun instrumentation.

Overall:  This song definitely screams independence and a carefree attitude. This song shows that Duran is very capable of creating a mood with a song that is just inescapable.  That said, I can’t help but to feel that it just feels a little too forced, a little too perfect. It doesn’t feel as natural as their other songs, especially of this era. I’m still not sure about those additional lyrics. To me, while I’m sure they were added to show that a spontaneity, they just feel silly, pointless. If you don’t pay that close of attention, though, and don’t think too much, the song can and does just play as a fun, pop song.

Cocktail Rating:  3 cocktails!