"The Weary Kind" - Ryan Bingham

Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart

I'm not a huge fan of movies, I don't have a video store membership and I've been to the movie theater maybe 3 times over the past year. Once in awhile a movie does come out that catches my attention, and so I finally got around to watching "Crazy Heart". Despite success at the award shows this movie seems to have flown under most people's radar. 

My favorite types of movies are the ones that give a very real picture of human existence. Movies that are raw, ugly and believable. Jeff Bridges has done for "Crazy Heart", what Mickey Rourke did for "The Wrestler". These once infamous, aging celebrities portray characters that seem to mimic their own careers. They play talented, faded stars who are working towards a comeback.

"You make me want to be a better man"

?Bridges embodies the character of  hard-living, broken down, country music star, "Bad Blake". Blake finds his salvation after meeting a music journalist, Jean Craddock (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal). Bridges gives a hauntingly authentic performance as an alcoholic, rough around the edges, musician. After falling in love with Jean, Blake decides to get sober and re-launch his career. I'm more of a realistic romantic, my favorite movie line of all time is from Jack Nicholson's character, in "As Good As It Gets", "You make me want to be a better man". This quote reminded me of Bridge's character. He's not an overly romantic, good looking or charming man, but he is willing to be a better person for the woman he loves. That to me - speaks volumes over any diamonds, poetry or flowers. (SPOILER) The movie ends with Blake sobering up and regaining some of his old glory. His career and bank account are revitalized after penning a song for uber popular Country stud - Tommy Sweet (played by Colin Farrelll). The song he writes is "The Weary Kind". As was Springsteen's anthem "The Wrestler", the theme song for "Crazy Heart" is a perfect match.

Ryan Bingham

Bridges performs the guitar and vocals for the song but it was written for the movie by Ryan Bingham. At only 29 years old Bingham took home an Academy Award, Golden Globe and an AMA for his song "The Weary Kind". Don't let Bingham's boyish good looks fool you - his voice has the weight and depth of a man much wiser. The first time I listened to Bingham sing I was immediately reminded of Tom Waits. My favorite description of Tom Waits voice was by critic Daniel Durchholz, who said Waits voice sounded, "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car." Through my research (ahem.. googling) I found another comparison between Bingham and Waits by Texas Music Magazine, who wrote that ,"Bingham talks and sings with a whiskey-and-cigarette throat that screams hard living. Hard in a way that can make a 29-year-old sound like a 50-year-old Tom Waits."The movie "Crazy Heart" and the song, "The Weary Kind" really do go hand in hand. You have to listen/watch one to fully appreciate the other.

Your heart�s on the loose

You rolled them sevens with nothing to lose
And this ain�t no place for the weary kind

You called all your shots
Shooting 8 ball at the corner truck stop
Somehow this don�t feel like home anymore

And this ain�t no place for the weary kind
And this ain�t no place to lose your mind
And this ain�t no place to fall behind
Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try


Your body aches�
Playing your guitar and sweating out the hate
The days and the nights all feel the same

Whiskey has been a thorn in your side
and it doesn�t forget
the highway that calls for your heart inside

And this ain�t no place for the weary kind
And this ain�t no place to lose your mind
And this ain�t no place to fall behind
Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try

Your lover's warm kiss�
It�s too damn far from your fingertips
You are the man that ruined her world
Your heart�s on the loose
You rolled them sevens with nothing to lose
And this ain�t no place for the weary kind

"Bette Davis Eyes" - Kim Carnes

Oh eighties

I just realized that in all of my time as a "blogger", I have yet to write about a hit from the Eighties. In my opinion the Eighties was the MOST significant music era. Bands like Heart, KISS, Bon Jovi, Madonna and Guns N' Roses reigned supreme. Music from the Eighties has a certain "je ne sais qoui". Songs like "Don't Stop Believing" can make you scream your vocal chords hoarse while songs like "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" can bring tears to your eyes. Songs today never match the intensity and power of those Eighties hits.

Last night I was sitting at The Cactus, (A bar, not a plant),  listening to the live entertainment (who is amazing by the way - check him out), when he started to play "Bette Davis Eyes". I've heard this song countless times but always seem to forget about it. This morning I finally remembered it when scanning through my cell phone notes, (yes, I keep notes in my phone on songs I want to download). Every once in awhile you stumble on a song that just does it for you. This song has literally been on repeat for the last five hours of my life and I'm still loving it.

The ever so lovely Bette Davis

The song was originally written in 1974 by Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss, but made famous by Kim Carnes in 1981. For those of you who don't know, Bette Davis was an actress most famous in the 1930's for playing a variety of roles - mainly strong, liberated women. While not traditionally beautiful she did possess huge, doe-like, bedroom eyes. Jack Warner described Bette as "having a magic quality that transformed this sometimes bland and not beautiful little girl into a great artist." Davis has commented, "Hollywood always wanted me to be pretty, but I fought for realism." This is further proof that beauty without personality is meaningless. Being yourself will make you more beautiful than any makeup or hair product ever could. Eye candy is nice but let's be honest, at the end of the day it's not as fun to take home a trophy as it is to take home someone that can make you laugh.

This is how I bend over

Davis actually wrote Carnes and the writers of the song to let them know she was a fan of the song, and thanked them for "making her a part of modern times." Although I always prefer men over women vocalists Carnes and her raspy growl perfectly suit this song. The song describes a femme fatale, with "Greta Garbo's stand off sighs" and "Bette Davis Eyes"." The woman in the song is "ferocious", "precocious" and "can make a pro blush". Although the song isn't about Bette Davis it certainly describes the type of woman she was known for being. It talks about a woman that uses her sexuality to her advantage - something I think every woman should do. I believe you get a better response from people by wearing a push up bra rather than burning one. Shake your head if you want but I've never been a girl that has gotten into the women's liberation movement because my motto has always been, "Do what you can with what you have." ;)


P.S. Found an amazing cover of this song by Brandon Flowers (Killers) --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kg8hxn8myw



Her hair is Harlowe gold

Her lips sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold
She's got Bette Davis eyes


She'll turn her music on you
You won't have to think twice
She's pure as New York snow
She got Bette Davis eyes

And she'll tease you
She'll unease you
All the better just to please you


She's precocious and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
She got Greta Garbo stand off sighs
She's got Bette Davis eyes


She'll let you take her home
It whets her appetite
She'll lay you on her throne
She got Bette Davis eyes

She'll take a tumble on you
Roll you like you were dice
Until you come out blue
She's got Bette Davis eyes

She'll expose you, when she snows you
Off your feet with the crumbs she throws you
She's ferocious and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she's a spy
She's got Bette Davis eyes


And she'll tease you
She'll unease you
All the better just to please ya


She's precocious, and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she's a spy
She's got Bette Davis eyes


She'll tease you
She'll unease you
Just to please ya
She's got Bette Davis eyes

She'll expose you, when she snows you
She knows ya
She's got Bette Davis eyes