Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Ben's brother stutters



This is a really cool song with a very cool BritPop/Rock sound. Check out Ben's brother's website and MySpace. I am wondering whether someone of them is stuttering or not. I am convinced they will hit the chart, if they haven't already. Just look at their very professional website, they are surely getting pushed by a record company.

Thx to Einar for the tip!

15 comments:

Saurav said...

Quite heart-touching, and a feel good song. Emotions are well perceived in the voice. Can't beat it!

Hetal said...

very touchy song
Thank you so much Tom :)

Daniele Rossi said...

I really like the chorus!

Leys Geddes said...

This is a British band who recently asked fans to record themselves singing (and stuttering) their stuttering song on YouTube. I sent the band a message saying that their song mocked PWS and they replied that it did not and, what's more, one of the band members once had speech therapy. So I replied saying that 'instead of using his understanding to help others to understand, you have given the impression that stuttering is simply a kind of passing nervousness which can be cured by a lover’s kiss. I wish it was that easy! So, now, whenever people sing along with the song, or upload stuttering videos, as you suggested, they will be mocking those who really do stutter, but who can’t do anything about it. As a result, stuttering will be falsely glamorised, trivialised and even further misunderstood...stuttering is not just unsexy, but can be as destructive as many other disabilities. Try imagining how wrong it would have been to mock a mental condition, an eating disorder or a substance addiction and then suggest that it could be cured by a kiss'. I'm waiting on a reply to this. What is even more interesting, however, is that the song was used in a recent TV ad in the States for Dentyne Ice. So I wrote to Cadbury Adams, who market Dentyne in the US, on the same lines, and I'm waiting on a reply from them too.

Einar said...

Leys,
your reply reminds me a bit of the discussion that occured in the 80's when the film "A fish called Wanda" came out, ie some people complained about the movie and said that it would be making fun of stutterers... When in fact it was not making fun of stutterers, but raised public awareness and understanding of the subject. I think the same thing applies to this song. We stutterers should feel grateful when the issue appears in the media (be it film or music) and not see mockings and false statements where there aren't any! Come on, it's just a emotional romantic popsong, nothing else!

Leys Geddes said...

Well, einar, maybe I am being small-minded; and that's one of the reasons I put up this blog - to check it out. But I do think we need to keep an eye on 'stammering in the media'. So I will take 'Wanda' as an example because I think it did nothing good for PWS: it was yet another movie which enouraged audiences to laugh at PWS and did nothing at all to increase understanding of the condition. Can you tell me why the scriptwriter gave Michael Palin's character a stammer? It might just be that we have allowed the world to laugh at and mock stammering for so long that it has become a norm.

Tom Weidig said...

I don't f***** care. It's a very good sound (though a bit copied from Creep/Radiohead), and I never listen to the words anyway! :-)

Einar said...

Michael Palin's father stuttered, and after the movie Palin founded a center to support stuttering children.
http://www.stammeringcentre.org/s-The_Michael_Palin_Centre

We all know about the seriousness and tragedy involved with stuttering. However if one is able to look at the subject from various perspectives (including humour) then one proves true pride and self-trust. But just like beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, humor is with the listener, so it's up to each individual to decide... All I can say is I absolutely love "A fish called Wanda" and I like that song.

Einar said...

This is the "official" version of the song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP8-eAM5Ivw
Just a medley of all the fan videos... Not bad, but a bit weird, if u ask me... A real professional video with real actors, a good idea and a sentimental story would probably be more appropriate than this bunch of wannabes, but still has its charm...
What I like about this song is the lyrics, this expression of loneliness due to distance and feeling of shame resulting from stuttering and then this message of putting love and understanding first ("kiss me again") despite differences.And I find it true, from my experience total love and understanding can really reduce or even make stutteirng disappear temporarily.. Well, I don't know, just touchy... Kiss me agaaaaain, cos only u can stop this st-st-stu... ;-)

Anonymous said...

hahahhahahahahahaa!!!!! I think you guys argueing about this is way more entertaing then the song!!!!!!! But i still love it. thanks,took forever to find it. I would see the comershal all the time untill it was stuck in my head.

Anonymous said...

I thought that people who stutter didn't stutter when they sing???

Anonymous said...

this song is absolutely brilliant! if you are offended by this, you must also be offended by the stuttering in "my generation" which was put in the song to make fun of one of the bandmember's brother-which was admitted later. i really don't think that this was to make fun of people with speach problems. if he said that he was shaking, do you think that people with cerebral palsy would get on their high horse? re-lax!!!!

Anonymous said...

You know since you are obviously do not have speech problems i don't think you have an ounce of idea of how stutteres feel by this song
I have an older brother who stutters and he probably wouldn't admit it but this song probably does get to him
I know it got to me
go listen to that insensitive-Brilliant song
You know the music people listen 2 shows alot about themselves

Anonymous said...

Check out Ben's Brother's widget. It has a contest on it where you can enter to win a flyaway to a music conference in Austin Texas.

Anonymous said...

I started stuttering when I sang this song,should I be worried