In 1970, The Carpenters released their hit album, Close to You. In 2003, the album was ranked number 175 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The song I love most on the album is "(They Long to Be) Close to You", the duo's first blockbuster hit.
Here are some neat song facts and a playable version of the song. Interesting fact: Richard Chamberlain, of Camelot, was the first to sing this song. Here's what Wikipedia has to offer.
Not only is this song popular in the US, but it is also a sensation in most Asian countries. When I was in China, Stef and I hit up this great karaoke bar with some complete strangers and guess what their favorite song was . . . you guessed it, "Crose to You".
I can still remember the first time I really appreciated this song; it was while watching a Korean movie I had checked out from Clean Flix (before they were put out of business) back in 2005. The title was So Close; it was about revenge, naturally. I defy you to find me a Korean movie that isn't either about a heartbreaking romance or involving a convoluted revenge-plot of pure evil. Actually, now that I think about it, the movie was filmed in Hong Kong, so it wasn't Korean. Doesn't matter. Anyway, the film really inverted my reality when they started playing (They want to be) Close to You during one of the film's major fight scenes.
If you are allergic to violence, don't watch the following clip. If you are feeling brave today or feel somewhat desensitized to senseless violence (aka bullets graphically entering bodies), maybe this will support your decision to watch–––the assassin girl only shoots people in the leg. (8 people in the leg, to be exact; it actually becomes pretty humorous after the 5th or the 6th time.) What makes the clip that much more wacky is that the dialogue is in Italian with Korean subtitles.
And that is what made the Carpenter's version of Close to You my favorite song. Pretty random, huh? Well, I'll bet your weren't expect this!
Thanks, once again, to xkcd for helping to make unusual situations that much more awkward. Note: if you hold the mouse over the comic in the website, an addition message appears.
I would have loved to see a video of you and Stef singing Kareoke to that in China.... "crose to you..... oooh"
ReplyDeleteOh, that was bizarre! Now finally I know what you have been doing with your last 7,028 hours! Viewing and chronically all these phenomena in various tongues!
ReplyDeleteI too would love a gander at that China video of you and Stef.
ReplyDelete