Dan Balan aka Crazy Loop: Johanna (shut up!): dissapointed...

looks like the grown-up meaning of the song was intentionally obscured so he could get the kids interested, instead... (and market "Crazy loop" dolls to them)

Delia

P.S. I think it's a mistake -- he is alienating what could be a much larger market for his music D.

Dan Balan aka Crazy Loop: Crazy Loop and Johanna Shut up! (The Power of Shower)

relatively new promotion on Romanian TV

Dan Balan (aka Crazy Loop): The power of shower (Tango)

private performance... D.

(Dan Balan aka Crazy Loop) The Power of Shower: what's going on?

well.. we are well into March and there is some activity on the internet (like people posting videos on you tube) but I don't see much of a traditional buzz from outside of Romania.

Delia

(Dan Balan aka Crazy Loop) The Power of shower: Love is a simple thing

pretty good tempo! (reminds me of energetic Beatles...)

(Dan Balan aka Crazy Loop) The Power of Shower: includes three songs that don't seem to belong in it...

MORE: a bit odd pronunciation for "roses," for instance (17): it's like he's attempting the British accent (not at all unusual for Europeans given that English teachers are much more likely to have been exposed to the British accent as part of their training then to American English)... still, with some exceptions, his accent is surprisingly good in these songs

very dissimilar to Crazy Loop or Johanna -- if I remember right, they were initially meant for Sugar Tunes (his "rock project"): they were available on Dan's MySpace page under "Sugar Tunes"(17, Tango and 24th letter)

Delia

Dan Balan: possible influence (lyrics)

MORE: the English translation can be a problem, especially since it was done a long time ago and some words have acquired very different primary meanings by now... it's actually hilarious, without meaning to be funny, in places...

some of the songs, such as Despre Tine Cant and Oriunde vei fi make me think he is influenced by Eminescu (the kind of romanticism and some specific themes)

Delia

P.S. Eminescu was one of the best and very much loved Romanian poets. D.

(Dan Balan aka Crazy Loop) The power of shower: Uhh -Ahh-Yeah

he's definitely got the sound down right! (there were those who said he sounded odd in English and always will... not when he's singing) D.

(Dan Balan aka Crazy Loop) The Power of Shower: Despre tine cant

interesting... it's a theme that seems to run through quite of few of his songs, including Dragostea din Tei (the confusing -- to foreigners -- "vrei sa pleci dar nu ma nu ma iei, nu ma nu ma iei...": being left behind by somebody he loved deeply -- is this something that actually happened? (may well be...)

Delia

P.S. song is in Romanian (probably will not be included in albums sold outside of Romania) D.

(Dan Balan aka Crazy Loop) The Power of Shower: Famikon

in Japanese...

Delia

P.S. hmmm... looks like it's the Ciao Bambina melody... and now that I think of it, I don't think Dan Balan came up with it in the first place (if I remember right it was a children's song in Romania...I remember something like "ma chiama Rino[my name is Reno]... Ciao, Bambino!" D.

The Power of shower: Johanna (Shut Up!)

MORE: you have to be flexible but in the end I don't think the lyrics are bad at all... I like this part in particular (it conveys a very common situation when someone tells you they got it and that they will stop annoying you and he/she in fact wants to do so ... but it's just a brief stop and then... he/she starts all over again...):

And when she tries to stop
She just stops to start

STILL MORE: just to clarify: the way it is it starts with him frustrated and telling her to shut up, then it goes back in time to tell the story of how it got there and it does that by singing her part, then switches to him briefly talking to the audience and then him talking to her back at the break up scene that started the song

what I'm proposing is: don't change anything in terms of lyrics but have a woman sing the woman's part, then have him sing to the audience and then him sing addressing her...

Him to her:

Shut Up
Shut Up
Shut Up
Shut Up

Her:

Feel me
Touch me
Gimme some more

Please me, please me
stop at the store
And make me nicer, brighter, wiser
Buy me some more, more, more

Feel me, touch me, gimme some more
Call me, text me, answer the phone
And make it faster, faster, listen
Talk to me more, more, mo mo more

Him to the audience:

And when she tries to stop
She just stops to start

Him to her:

Big love needs time, shut up

You better save Big love
For the linden trees
And let me live my life
Shut Up
Shut Up
Shut Up
Shut Up

Johanna, why don’t
Pop, shut it Up
Why don’t you kill me
Pop, shut up
Why don’t you feel me
Pop, shut up
Pop-pop, shut up
Pop-pop, shut up

Shut you Up
Shut you Up
Tup-tu-ru-ru-ru
Tup-tu-ru-ru-ru
Shut you up
Shut you up
Tup-tu-ru-ru-ru
Tup-tu-ru-ru-ru

Her:

Feel me
Touch me
Gimme some more

Please me, please me
stop at the store
And make me nicer, brighter, wiser
Buy me some more, more, more

Feel me, touch me, gimme some more
Call me, text me, answer the phone
And make it faster, faster, listen
Talk to me more, more, mo mo more

Him to the audience:

And when she tries to stop
She just stops to start

Him to her:

Big love needs time, shut up

You better save Big love
For the linden trees
And let me live my life
Shut Up
Shut Up
Shut Up
Shut Up

Johanna, why don’t
Pop, shut it Up
Why don’t you kill me
Pop, shut up
Why don’t you feel me
Pop, shut up
Pop-pop, shut up
Pop-pop, shut up

Shut you Up
Shut you Up
Tup-tu-ru-ru-ru
Tup-tu-ru-ru-ru
Shut you up
Shut you up
Tup-tu-ru-ru-ru
Tup-tu-ru-ru-ru

EVEN MORE: best way to make it clear (as far as I can see): have a woman sing the woman's part (there would be no confusion, then) D.

MORE: why is it so difficult to understand what he means? -- not maintaing the same voice throughout (switching from him-talking to her-talking with no clue given is probably most confusing... again, this is *common* for Romanian songs... but if you are not at all familiar with them or with the culture (3rd paragraph, my "creative translation")... it *seems* to not make any sense...) D.
....
cultural issues, again... (the thing is that... it *does* make sense! but, you have to know *how* to find the meaning)

re: befuddled reactions to the lyrics

Persian1010 (19th comment)

yea i love him but oh my god this song doesnt make any sense. first he says feel me touch me give me some more..then please me stop at the store!?? what does that mean. then buy some more lol. then text me answer the phone and make it faster?? that definitely makes no sense. he tells her to talk to him more, then he says shut up. and his cd name is dumb the power of shower????....

Delia

P.S. as I was saying, it *does* make sense... it's about getting frustrated with somebody you used to like very much, somebody that has just become impossibly demanding so you end up having a bad fight and breaking-up... (pretty common situation, regardless of culture) D.

781 Utube entries

MORE: 786??? this is just seconds apart... not bad:)... D.

MORE: 782, now...

for "Crazy Loop" and it's not even February yet(when the album will be released outside of Romania) D.

Cazy Loop: performance in Romania

MORE: I'd stay away from playback if at all possible... D.

pretty lively!

Delia

P.S. wondering if the performance would have been different in the West (it would probably help to take different expectations into account) D.

thanks, Crazy Loop! :)

thanks for the correction!

Delia

P.S. feel free to email! (dperiod@comcast.net) I checked-out your blogger profile but it was empty...D.

Johanna (Shut Up)

MORE: live performance (but not the singing... couldn't possibly, he appears exhousted from all that jumping around...) D.

another one of Dan's new songs: interesting! was it a good decision to sing falsetto? hard to tell... there were some big successes, such as the Bee Gees but they didn't fare well for the long run -- people ended-up being embarrassed by having *ever* liked them; the lyrics are still... an acquired taste... for Westerners, I would think... D.

Dan Balan: looks like he's done it again!

EVEN MORE

MORE: #1 in Romania

at least in Romania... looks like Crazy Loop has been received very well... surprise, surprise... or not? I thought it would be cool if it happened but... I didn't exactly see it coming:) ... hmmm... he certainly seems to have done a lot of promotion work!

Delia

P.S. we'll see what happens when "The Power of Shower" (The album which includes the single Crazy Loop) is released in Europe, Japan and America in January-February (25 countries! looks likes he's got the business side of this under control...) D.