David Cook performs on Saturday Night Live tonight. Ben Affleck hosts, Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, makes a special appearance
Thanks to Gwen, we have a spoiler for tonight:
Yay! He did, in fact, sing “Declaration†and “Light Onâ€. Here’s more, from rehearsal:
David sang, did not play the guitar. Declaration is a mid range rock song. They really liked it.
The audience responded very well, and after the song David, Andy, Neal, Joey and Kyle stood on stage and hugged each other. They were clearly stoked.
More in comments!
- Tina Fey (Palin) and John McCain on QVC!!! Ha ha ha…
- Ben Affleck as Keith Olbermann = LOLZ!!!!
- David and the band sang “Light On” at show midpoint - He looked a little nervous, but he did a nice job. That transition in the chorus to the softer notes is a tough one… I have to say, hearing the song live doesn’t make me like it more.
- John McCain on Weekend Update - “The Sad Grampa” Heh!.
- “Declaration” was David’s second song — I’m liking this song way more than “Light On”. It’s a melodic straight-ahead rocker–just what I expected from Davd based on his musical influences and earlier work.
You Know What…after the JUMP!!!
Light On:
Declaration:
John McCain and Tina Fey Cold Opening:
John McCain on Weekend Update:
Ben Affleck as Keith Olbermann - The bit about his mother and his cat at the end had me howling…and Ilike Keith Olbermann.
wow, it totally does. i didn’t think of that! And I SWEAR the only reason I know that song is because I used to nanny 2 pre-teen girls when I was in college! LOL
Those choruses are nothing alike. Yes you actually got me to listen to Hannah Montana.
Much like myself, I doubt David has ever even listened to a Miley Cyrus song. So if there is even an infinitesimal similarity, I’m sure it is completely coincidental.
I wouldn’t put David past listening to some Miley Cyrus. He did own some Mariah C. after all.
I seriously believe that any similarity is purely coincidental, though. I refuse to listen to Miley. What she does to music should be illegal.
ah completely coincidental, thought it was funny none the less lol Just kinda laugh at it. lol *pokes peoples humor bones*
You got me to listen to Hanna Montana, and it sounds nothing alike. I do appreciate the creative thinking that went into this comparison, though, not to mention the wealth of knowledge in all things Miley. LOL
As for Searchlights vs. Declaration, I see the similarity between “Declaraaaaaaaation” and “Fallllllllllll forver” but that’s pretty much it.
And for the record, I still love Searchlights more. That might change once I have more than a low quality live audio rip.
Did anyone decipher the clue we got from DCO re. the LO video? Are we actually going to see all of it tomorrow? If so, this might be the first exclusive ever on DCO that wasn’t leaked somewhere else first. LMAO
I take it you’ve never been here. Or, have you?
However, those two parts you mentioned from the choruses are the similarities I think we’re talking about.
Oh no, I have been, but thank you for that link, it brought back fond memories! Funny to think back on how I waited (im)patiently for them to upload more songs. It took them forever to post The Truth, IIRC.
I was refering to Declaration re: the song I need to get a better version of. For AH, I have the Amazon.com quality files from back when the album was available for purchase.
And BTW - have we given up hope that AH will ever be sold legally again?
Just to give a more unbiased perspective (because at this point I love everything DC does), I watched SNL with my mom and aunt. Both are very casual AI viewers who knew who David was, and that they liked his past performances, but that’s about it. Their first comments were “He has a really nice smile” and “Oh, he’s adorable” respectively, but by the end of LO they were both humming the chorus. After “Declaration” they both said they were excited for his CD. These are both women who wouldn’t have known David Cook was releasing a CD otherwise, so SNL won him some new fans!
Can’t say I blame you.
That’s the very first song I fell in love with on AH. I did have a similar instalove reaction to Declaration, which is why I probably made the connection. But yeah, it was only the phrasing on certain words that did it.
“Anyone notice Declaration’s chorus is kinda similar to Best of Both Worlds? lol Thoughy that was interesting.”
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only person to notice that. There’s like 7 notes in each that are practically identical. My roommate was an avid watcher of Hannah Montana, and now every time I get Declaration stuck in my head it morphs into Best of Both Worlds.
*shivers*
Loved Declaration. Band was rocking it out. Can’t wait until the next time we get to see them perform together. Wonder when Cook shows up on AI, will the band be front & center with him? Can not wait.
lol Sam, glad Im not crazy either. lol
I am sorry but Declaration does not sound anything like The best of both worlds. I have listened multiple times and there is not a thing that is similar. They do play some of the same notes like every other song in the world.
I wish I didn’t hear a similarity.
It’s just the notes on the words “this is my declaration” and “you get the best of both worlds” are similar, except Miley has more varied notes and David’s is more simple.
I lurve “See You Again.”
Sue me.
;) (Cookie will always rock both my worlds.)
According to my husband (John M), the “music expert” in our house, the first four syllables of each chorus are similar (the words “declaration” and “best of both worlds”). They use the same rhythm and the same notes, but in a different sequence. He’s 99% positive that he’s heard both of those note sequences before in other songs, because, as someone else said, there are only so many notes to use in songs, so of course they get repeated sometimes, whether the songwriter has heard that note sequence before or not.
So, not so much copying each other as having inevitable similarities. Personally, I couldn’t stand to listen to Miley Cyrus long enough to find out how close the songs are. I give John a lot of credit for braving enough of her to analyze the songs.Listening to Declaration is way, way more enjoyable for both of us. Too bad some of you have apparently had to listen to Miley instead of David Cook!
I have to admit, reading the comments here have made me laugh out loud so much the people in Starbucks, where I am, are staring.
Anyway, the reason being in a span of two days, Declaration has been declared both “too hard for Top 40″ and “practically identical” to a Hannah Montana song. As such, I feel confident in my earlier pronouncement that this song is going to kill on varied formats. People hear different things when they listen to it. Tell me that isn’t songwriting talent!
Personally, I hear similarities but then again similarities in songs isn’t anything new. Whether it’s the same chords in a chorus, the same baseline or the same first 5 notes in an intro. Happens all the time. IMO, it’s closer to the Searchlights’ chorus than Best of Both Worlds but hey, if you hear it, then you hear it.
I am not going to claim to be a Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana expert, nor do I have any intention of trying to become one, but I don’t see the similarity that is being claimed. I first saw this claim on Pulse—I don’t know why I keep checking that out, as it often seems that the majority of people who post on DC threads there dislike him and some even have expressly anti-DC taglines , but dammit, sometimes there’s information in those threads—and just shook my head.
The song I find it most similar to (in my head, anyway) is The World I Know. Which is fine by me. :-)
I already know my brain makes strange connections and segues between songs. If I started out singing TOML, I would end up in “You and Me,” the Lifehouse song. They don’t have anything in common as far as I know except the swirly waltz time. That’s why I guessed TOML would be a waltz on SYTYCD in no time. And I won that bet!
LOL, nobody can make me listen to Miley, not even if she and David sing the exact same song. I don’t want to look at her either, eyes too close.
I remember that! But we got the live version. That site and their newsletter are so made of win. David’s got some really funny friends.
ETA:
I don’t know about Jonas Bros., but Metallica did that. FOB kind of is too, they have “album countdown”, I love it. But that doesn’t seem possible for David at all.
Thanks CathyMK for your husbands analysis. It was interesting to hear. I also find it interesting that this issue was discussed somewhere else before it was discussed here. Curious. I do love the song and cannot wait to hear the studio version. November 18th cannot come soon enough. The record I believe will be awesome.
Amen, sister! Let’s hope RCA is smart enough to release this one (or an even better one) as the next single before too long. I’ve seen several artists with more than 1 single at a time on the iTunes chart over the past several months, so why not David, especially now that TOML is down at the bottom sliding on and off the chart. I think the Jonas Brothers had 4 as “iTunes specials” just before their album came out.
Yeah, I’m gonna refuse to listen to any Miley Cyrus just to see if a handful of notes someone wrote for her are similar to a handful in Declaration. But I doubt the DC and Hannah Montana fanbases are gonna overlap much anyway. The chorus DOES remind me strongly of DC’s Searchlights, and for some reason, I think of Boys Like Girls’ Great Escape too.
I’ve heard so many opinions on Declaration: that it’s about his fans / his lover / Adam / Andrew / his Mom. My take: it’s a song to all of them, all of us, to the world if you like.
It’s my deeeeeeeee-cla-ra-tion! To anyone who’s listening….
He wrote a ton of songs right after Idol right? He said there was a 2 week span that he felt all the pent up songwriting during Idol just poured out, and I have a feeling that Declaration is one of them. He spoke about “exhaling” and “feeling validated about choosing this path (being a musician)” and “getting a new lease of life”. Being an Idol contestant was both grueling and isolating, when he got off Idol he discovered that as the American Idol it was going to be even harder. I think that David finds inspiration from everything: his family, friends, co-workers, fans….
You’re my inspiration, As I stand alone against the world
These are the people who cheered for him, cried for him
Cause you love, And you bleed
And he has repeatedly mentioned being so touched and amazed by it - he said in one interview that he is a little freaked out at how much people have invested in “some guy who just sings on a tv show”. But he also says that he doesn’t know what he’ll be doing 5 years from now, but that he knows he’ll always be a musician (note that he doesn’t say: singer / rockstar (!)) and that he’ll be happy doing whatever he’s doing - a capacity to find happiness is the mark of a truly free soul.
And you stole my soul to set me free
And he wants to shout it out to the whole world
It’s my deeee-cla-ra-tion
So there!
I can hear echoes of this message throughout the whole song, but some of my favourite lines:
That I wear your heart (meaning our hearts / the listener’s hearts - everyone who invested in him) upon my sleeve
Sometimes I think you never see, the only truth I see, Is you, It’s you (I like the play of words here)
And are there any words to say, That would ever mean enough,
When the light runs from the day, Will the darkness be too much, Will I ever be enough
(he wears his own heart on his sleeve here….)
daenarys I tend to agree with your interpretation :)
If anything because:
“I’m taken just the way you are,
Imperfect words inside imperfect song”
I took to mean maybe AI isn’t the way he envisioned getting here, but here he is and it’s working out pretty well so far! (Also…shout out to ToML? which certainly has imperfect words in an imperfect song, but represents such a wonderful thing that we fans have learned to love it)
And
“Will I ever be enough?”
Sounds to me like he is talking about all the expectations being put on him since he became famous so fast and in such a way.
“Anyway, the reason being in a span of two days, Declaration has been declared both “too hard for Top 40″ and “practically identical†to a Hannah Montana song.”
LOL, Hey now, I didn’t say the whole song, I said 7 notes of the song. That’s a very small part.
And I hope the former claim is more correct, that ups it’s cances of being played on a station I listen to.
Another comment on the tv critic’s blog I read, about SNL:
I had no idea who David Cook was ….if I had known he was the AI winner, I would have fast forwarded…..after hearing him, I think I am going to get his album…he was great.
I’m loving all the positive feedback from the uninitiated, because things tend to get a little murky fangirl land. I didn’t realize though that there was still such a strong perception that people coming out of AI are not really legit.
Great analysis, daenarys. This line really gets me thinking…
I know he’s talked about being realistic, knowing that winning AI is not a magic ticket, etc. So “will the darkness be too much, will I ever be enough” could be asking, “How would I really feel if I step off that stage and it’s the last time I feel this way? How would I feel if it all ends tomorrow?” Or it could also be about the day to day weirdness of his new situation, where one minute he’s on stage and basking in the all that positive energy (light) from the audience, and then the next minute, when he leaves the stage, he would kind of have to decompress and go back to being just Dave until the next performance. Kind of the dichotomy of being David Cook, The American Idol, and just Dave, goober from the Midwest, and not letting the fame consume him…
I had the great honor of meeting David (albeit for a few short minutes) at the end of the Carrie Underwood concert on Nov 5. I was a little star struck to be honest! He told me (after watching Carrie’s concert) “I’ve got a lot of work cut out for me!” How humble of him! I told him I thought he and the band rocked on SNL and that he was going to be awesome. He smiled and told me “Thanks”. Although our conversation was short he seemed almost in awe of what he had just experienced (watching Carrie). Now this is only my opinion of what I felt his mood was, only he can really say. I think anyone would be in awe of her after the 5 minute video they played of all of her successes (Winning AI, Grammys, CMA awards, platinum records, etc). I think that would put a lot of pressure on him as to what is expected of an AI winner. Anyway, my point is, the lyrics of “Declaration” perfectly encompass the short conversation I had with him!
BTW you can read my story on david-cook.org under the title “I met DC @ the Carrie Underwood concert!”