Today we are going to be DEBUNKING THE BIGGEST MYTH ABOUT WEDDING SONGS!!
I (Lexi Ross, lead singer of Celestial Band) wish I had a dollar for every time I heard people say. “Oh well that’s a good song, but you can’t do that at a wedding, because it’s about X, Y, Z (fill in the blanks).”
WRONG FOLKS! Here’s a little secret that we’re just about to unpack. You actually can play songs that aren’t about love at your wedding. Let me give you some examples….
Picture of the actress Bette Davis, who the song ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ was based on!
‘Jessie’s Girl’ by Rick Springfield
“Jessie’s Girl”.. Ahem!!! “Jessie was a friend, Jessie was a good friend of mine, Jessie’s got himself a girl, and I want to make her mine”. WHAT IS THIS SONG ABOUT? Well, it straight out sounds like debauchery. It’s basically a guy saying that he wants to steal Jessie’s girl, and have his way with her. Guess what folks? This is one of the most popular wedding songs of all time… Scandalous much?
‘Superstition’ by Stevie Wonder
Let’s take another example, Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’. Now firstly let’s just acknowledge that a wedding is the type of event that is traditionally riddled with superstitions. ‘Something borrowed, something blue?’ You feel me? Now let’s examine the lyrics in Superstition:
“When you believe in things that you don’t understand then you suffer, superstition ain’t the way. Oh no no noooo.”
Okay, so this guy is totally anti superstition, is he also anti traditionalism? Isn’t that what weddings are all about though? But he’s saying that “aint the way?” HAAAALLLPPPP
‘Jolene’ by Dolly Parton
Let’s do more examples this is fun… One of our favourite Celestial Band songs to perform live, is the timeless Dolly Parton song ‘Jolene’. Now seriously, read the words to this song. It’s about a desperate woman (maybe Dolly?) begging Jolene not to take her man.
“He talks about you in his sleep,
There’s nothing I can do to keep,
From crying when he calls your name, Jolene.
And I can easily understand
How you could easily take my man
But you don’t know what he means to me, Jolene.”
So if all wedding songs had to be 100% ‘wedding approved’ and ‘wedding appropriate’ we wouldn’t be able to sing Jolene. We really hope no Brides are feeling like the writer of this song, by the time they get to their wedding day… You wouldn’t want to still be having issues with Jolene and your man, by that late stage of the game.. #awkward.
‘Bette Davis Eyes’ by Kim Carnes
Our next example is ‘Bette Davis Eyes’, this song makes an enormously popular dance floor tune! It also goes down well at our Corporate Christmas parties, and other Function Band Melbourne gigs as well! So let’s just explore the meaning of ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ for a hot minute. Now you might have a different interpretation. But in our opinion its about a kind of mischievous, seducing, somewhat sexual and precocious woman. Who happens to have eyes that look like the famous actress Bette Davis.
“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.
All the boys think she’s a spy, she’s got Bette Davis eyes.”
And the lyrics get even worse:
“She’ll expose you, when she snows you, hope you’re pleased 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”.
So back to original question, are the lyrics appropriate for a Melbourne wedding? Or any type of wedding for that matter? Well, theoretically it could be suggesting that the Bride is going to be ‘ferocious’ and ‘precocious’ and ‘exposing’ the groom. It sort of sounds like the Bride is going to be a real little handful, if you take the messages literally. However, people don’t read into it as much as we think. Once again folks, this song goes to show, you can play just about anything at a wedding! A lot of the time, guests don’t even think too deeply about the lyrics of the song. They’re too busy drinking, dancing, socialising, being uncomfortable in their heals, or yelling out song requests for us to do on the fly! A wedding audience generally just wants to hear songs they’re familiar with. Catchy tunes they know and love! Whether we’re singing about debauchery or being jealous of ‘Jolene’, its kind of redundant information to your lovely wedding guests.
‘Bad Guy’ by Billie Eilish- 4 Piece Bands Melbourne
So finally, we’ve spoken about ‘Superstition’, ‘Jolene’, ‘Bette Davis Eyes’, ‘Jessie’s Girl’, and we have one final song to mention. This song will probably only be relatable to our super millennial, ‘new school’ wedding-couples-to-be. We want to talk about Billie Eilish for a quick moment…
Billie Eilish has some awesome songs; my personal favourites include “When The Party’s Over’ and “Everything I Wanted”. But… let’s just remember that as the Best Wedding Band Melbourne, we like to play lots of up-tempo and high energy songs. So, as a live music band, one of our favourite songs is fast becoming…. “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish! This is an extreme example, that wedding songs do not have to be all about LOVE. Okay, LOTS of the songs ARE about love. But you can definitely sneak a few in which are just about.. well.. other stuff!
“So you’re a tough guy
Like it really rough guy
Chest always so puffed guy
I’m a bad type
Make your mama sad type
Make your girlfriend mad type
Might seduce your dad type
I’m the bad guy….. Dah!”
Sorry for anyone that doesn’t like this song, but our whole wedding music band loves it! We recently learnt it and played it at the Melbourne Wedding & Bride Expo. One Bride that booked us said she absolutely loved our acoustic version of this song. So, we’ll definitely be playing at her St Kilda wedding in April 2021. This song is modern, it’s funky, its catchy, and it sounds amazing live. Similar to ‘Bette Davis Eyes’, ‘Bad Guy’ is all about the female being mischievous, borderline narcissistic and seducing. She’s implying that the guy thinks he’s ‘tough’, but she’s the type that could even seduce one’s father!
4 Piece Bands Melbourne
Thank you so much for bearing with us while we prove our point that ALL WEDDING SONGS DON’T HAVE TO BE ABOUT LOVE!
If you’ve seen a few of our Celestial Band videos, and your lightly contemplating booking our live music band for your wedding, well.. We’d love to come! We have a range of services that make us the perfect live music group to handle your wedding entertainment Melbourne. This includes providing you with a beautiful Acoustic Duo featuring singer Lexi Ross, play as a live 4 Piece Bands Melbourne, and DJ at your event.
Let us know what exactly you want on your wedding day and we’ll provide you with the right package, at a very reasonable price. Get the best of everything; DJ, a 4-piece band and Acoustic Duo. In our classic 4 Piece Bands Melbourne you’ll have the following:
- Lead Singer Lexi Ross
- Lead male Guitar player/ singer
- Singing Bass player
- Singing Drum player
One of the key points of difference about our Celestial Band formation, is that most of our small group of 8 performers sing. Have you ever seen a singing Bass player or a singing Drum player? Well, you’ll see us do that when your hire our music entertainment group for your special day!
We can’t wait to perform for you! Email Lexi on lexi@celestialband.net or even better call or text 0467375489.
