Thanks to P4K for turning us onto new disco princess Cloetta Paris, an indie-kissed dance-pop Swede in the mold of Sally Shapiro. This tune’s icy coo inspires giddiness…
But her relatively untrodden MySpace page turns up a little gem of a take on the theme to ’80s classic St. Elmo’s Fire, your favorite movie title track and ours. So pop quiz, hotshot: What was songwriter John Parr referring to when he sang about the Man In Motion’s “pair of wheels”? (HINT: Had nothing to do with Demi’s jeep.)
Wiki says that singer John Parr’s motivation came from “a young man who had recently become paralyzed.” So while it’s popularly thought that he’s singing about Demi’s ride, the “pair of wheels” was actually a reference to the kid’s wheelchair. Apparently Parr was “not particularly thrilled” to be working on the film. Writing a movie title song about something entirely unrelated was his way of sticking it to ‘em, or something. Too bad it worked so perfectly, John. Even though he clearly says “pair of wheels” … never underestimate our ability to misconstrue lyrics.
Anyway, check Cloetta’s cute cut of the song in question. Vocoder at the end = silly.
Couldn’t find an appropriately sized Paris pic for the post (the only time we’ve ever said that) — but here’s the next best thing.
And this promising trailer makes fair use of the tune, too. Reagen-era goodness all over the place.
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can we get an okkervil river “premature evaluation”?? i wanna know what other people think of the album closing on sloop john b
Just a nitpick, but the name of the movie was “St. Elmo’s Fire.” The name of the song was “Man in Motion.”
There’s a completely awesome Brian Eno song called “St. Elmo’s Fire” that I avoided for years because I thought it was the awful “St. Elmo’s Fire” movie song.
To Nick:
Give us a few days! Just got it. Working through a bunch of new albums.
To Stu:
I thought it was “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion)”
I used to avoid Brian Eno ’cause I thought he co-starred in that awful garbageman movie with Charlie Sheen.
A wheelchair.
I used to love Brian Eno because I thought he was the guy who sang “Naughty Naughty.”
Stu; you should check out Uilab’s version(s) of Brian Eno’s “St. Elmo’s Fire”. (UI and Stereolab collaboration from a few years back).
well i love music