I voted on VH1 for David’s videos but I never voted on this either. The fact remains that this single broke records & it wasn’t just because Regie wrote it.

I don’t care what anyone says about this song, I actually like it. In fact, I’ve been putting it on “repeat” on my CD player. You can have a song written by a famous person but if the right person isn’t singing the song–it goes nowhere. So they can praise Regie as much as they want but Cook made this song what it is.

Heh, maybe you would have liked it better if Archie had sung it?

What does Archie have to do with it? This song stinks, that is all. I don’t know why you feel the need to bring up Archie in this discussion that does not concern him in any way, hmm.

This was Cook’s biggest hit and probably the one most people identify with him.

Wasn’t LO an equal hit? TOML was an AC hit, LO was a HAC hit, and both sold platinum. So … just saying. Also, as for what he’s most identified with, TOML or LO/CBTM, that possibly depends if you listen to AC or HAC.

in fact, the great big airplay, and the featuring on Oprah, ESPN, Olympics etc logically reached an audience quite beyond the show. But if one NEEDS to believe that secretly it’s all! not! fair!, then the real culprit for the song’s status is the two million consumers who made the dude a hit, not this one award vote.

Anyway, I kind of love that one line ‘watch all the bitterness buuuuurn!’ 

; )

somewhere in maine’ ¦.Kara is ripping out her hair extensions

LOL!

Kings of Leon won big time as well. So did Taylor Swift. So did Jars of Clay, a Christian act, and Elvis Costello, for a cross over album, and a host of special categories like bluegrass, and Jack White and The Raconteurs and Erin McCarley. The theme seems to be that they wanted to highlight how Nashville is homebase for so many types of acts and songwriters in addition to country, bluegrass and gospel. I think it’s neat.

The song becoming a hit, IMHO, is all Cook, but since it has been such a hit, provides a feel good chance to recognize its writer.

those idol fans ! etc etc etc

Since Cook sold both 1.2 mil of TOML as a single and 1.2 mil of his album, either the Idol “bubble” is huge or he’s got a lot of fans outside it. Either way, he’s good.*

* in fact, the great big airplay, and the featuring on Oprah, ESPN, Olympics etc logically reached an audience quite beyond the show. But if one NEEDS to believe that secretly it’s all! not! fair!, then the real culprit for the song’s status is the two million consumers who made the dude a hit, not this one award vote.

Anyway, I kind of love that one line “watch all the bitterness buuuuurn!”

I ran across this early in January, a commemoration of a different occasion.

I wasn’t sure what The Magic Rainbow was doing here, or where ‘here’ was, but it appeared to be having a very good time.

http://sports.cctv.com/20090105/109951.shtml

I’ve since been told that it looks like clips from the World Soccer Cup on a Chinese website…go figure.

I love ToML- but like “Lie to Me” more. I know they won’t release it, because another ballad in 6/8 is too similar to ToML- but I think of the people who don’t love his rock show (I’ve been 2xs in DelMar and Antelope Valley- and he’s HOT in concert)- Lie to Me and Permanent would be the type of song they would like (people like my 62 year old pretty-hip mom who was heartbroken when he didn’t play ToML at DelMar). I think Lie to Me is beautiful- and would have a long radio life- and he wrote it!

As far as coronation songs go- it’s one of the best (magic rainbows and backstory and all). I still can listen to AMLT and ToML, but sorry to Reuben, Carrie, Fantasia, Taylor, Jordin, and Kris- I don’t listen to theirs anymore. And a smile still comes across my face every time I hear :Invisible- but too bad Clay didn’t put out more commercially viable records.

And I still smile everytime I hear ToML on a tv show- like I think they played it on the finale of America’s Got Talent… and the Olympics… that song reminds me of why I love Cookie- and I hope he finds his audience with his writing voice (as well as his singing voice).

so would ppl like fearbear plz lay off the’ EWW THIS SONG STINKS LIKE HOW COULD IT WIN AN AWARD LIKE, IZ ALL B/C HIS FANZ SPAMMING THAT VOTING SITE LIKE.’ 

thank u.

It’s an opinion, I think I’m allowed to have one? I mean, unless you can prove without a shadow of a doubt that his fans didn’t spam the poll, then go ahead. PS: The song still stinks. Thank you too.

Not every idol success is because of Idols spamming polls. I actually doubt Cook fans had a lot to do with the success of this song.

Well that’s really nice that you think that, but I still think differently.

2) was played in various (popular) american tv shows like ”Opra”, Dancing With The Stars” and ”SYTYCD”and more.

3) and radio station are STILL playing it

i would like to say ,as a cook fan, i had nothing to do with it winning this award, and that I don’t even like the @*&%$$ song!
so would ppl like fearbear plz lay off the”EWW THIS SONG STINKS LIKE HOW COULD IT WIN AN AWARD LIKE, IZ ALL B/C HIS FANZ SPAMMING THAT VOTING SITE LIKE.”

thank u.

My favorite Magic Rainbow Moment (aside from David’s performance at the finale) was when they played the entire song at Citizen’s Bank Park during the World Series last year. (Yes, thanks for asking: The Phils are defending their title this year!)

I was raised in the Philadelphia environs and was a big fan of the Phillies, but I’ve since moved elsewhere and now root for another team. However, much of my family is still back in the Philly area and are HUGE Phillies’ fans. It’s neat to see this confluence of favorites, sports and music.

really? eww. LOL, well gotta hand it to those idol fans they really know how to spam the polls.

Not every idol success is because of Idols spamming polls. I actually doubt Cook fans had a lot to do with the success of this song. The reason it did so well is because people outside of idol embraced it and radio loved it. A lot of Cook fans were never crazy about the song and never did that much to promote it. I think people outside of Idol liked it more because they don’t associate it with a cheesy coronation song and they don’t realize that it’s completely against Cook’s style. I never liked to watch Cook perform it live because there was such a huge disconnect between the artist and the song. However, when I listen to it on radio, it sounds like a decent song (and the voice is a standout). Perphaps if I knew nothing about the singer, I might see it differently. It was really gorgeous as a background to the Olympics montage and I actually thought it sounded beautiful when the kids sang it in All My Children. It’s also a perfect montage song for lots of events.

All I can say is that some not-so-great songs just strike a chord with people and this is one of them. Lesser songs have won bigger awards so it’s all good IMO.

ETA: I can’t imagine David having a say in the release of CBTM…in fact I still don’t know how they got him to even agree to have it on the album. It’s a pretty song, but very boring (unless it’s live and David does the singalong). I’m not sure how he felt about LO. I think it’s a very good song, mainly because of his singing and I think the video is well done. However, there is always something off whenever they perform it live (except for the time he did it acoustic). The band just never kills it the way they do with the other songs on the album, which makes me think that it might not have been his choice either. If Cook likes a song, he always brings out the best in it when he performs it live.

Yay for ToML. Yay for David Cook. And Yay for Reggie Hamm. Seems like Hamm’s career had a phenomenal renaissance with this song. He got a publishing deal and was able to get back into the industry. It’s a feel good song and people seem to really love it. Olympians and the like.

This is one of the saving graces of ToML’s success. The AI voters, and David Cook’s performance, really helped to resurrect a career that had stumbled because of some unfortunate developments in Regie Hamm’s family’s life. Sure, AI was largely responsible for selecting the song, but I still think that it would not have been as popular had Archie sung it because the interpretation needed a harder edge to sell it mainstream.

ETA: lurchcat, me, too! And I fault RCA for releasing LO/CBTM so many months apart, and not picking either a more upbeat song (Declaration) or a prettier song (Lie). I wonder if Cook got any say in the matter’ ¦

I thought I read that David had no say on what singles would be released. That’s what really sticks in my craw. They had this proven songwriter, who had won a regional award for his self-produced, self-written CD and they STILL wouldn’t promote HIS material and give him the courtesy of even releasing and promoting ‘“ promoting is the important part ‘“ just ONE of the songs he wrote or co-wrote. I will never believe there wasn’t an agenda there. It’s been almost a year and only two singles. It will never make any sense to me.

LOL, well gotta hand it to those idol fans they really know how to spam the polls. this is a horrible song and it being song of the year makes you wonder just how bad was the quality of music that year, LOL.

Heh, maybe you would have liked it better if Archie had sung it?

I’m a self-admitted *huge* Cook fan, but I didn’t even know there was a poll, so, no, I don’t think this one was spammed by Idol fans.

The song itself is kinda cheesy, but it hits all the right sentimental notes, and David’s interpretation, for whatever reason, transformed it into something that resonated with a lot of folks. My favorite Magic Rainbow Moment (aside from David’s performance at the finale) was when they played the entire song at Citizen’s Bank Park during the World Series last year. (Yes, thanks for asking: The Phils are defending their title this year!)

But to the people who have only ever heard the two radio singles, LO plus CBTM does not give them an adequate representation of the record, or David’s songwriting efforts, or the concert experience, or’ ¦aaRRRrrrGGGggg.

Yeah, that’s the frustrating thing to me… I mean, people clearly like those songs and the shows I’ve been to people know every word and sing along with them both. But in my small little sampling the lady who sat beside me in Radford *clearly* was not expecting what she got from David at that show but man, when he did Light On? Big grin, singing, happy swaybot lady appeared! The two ladies in front of me looked perplexed by the whole thing and asked “Isn’t he going to play Always Be My Baby?” Now, I wish he *would* do that acoustic now and then because it’s purty but… I think he’s definitely had to go out and lay down what he wants to be and I’m sure some of the Idol fans have been lost in the process, especially ones who hadn’t heard any of his previous work to get a better idea of who he is musically.

And MJ, I agree, people outside the Idol bubble don’t know that coronation songs are generally throw-away crap, so he definitely is identified with the song in a lot of cases (and for a coronation song this one is REALLY good, lol).

I just watched the finale video again yesterday and I love his smile right before he has to say “magic rainbows.” Hee.

Kudos to Cook!

P.S. Please, compared to NoBo and This Is My Now, this is the best song ever written.

ETA: lurchcat, me, too! And I fault RCA for releasing LO/CBTM so many months apart, and not picking either a more upbeat song (Declaration) or a prettier song (Lie). I wonder if Cook got any say in the matter…

I think that’s a big impetus behind the tour-that-does-not-end and the smaller venues, trying to lay it out there what he really wants to do.

*nods* The tour was a nice statement making tool for the band. It sucks, though, that they almost had to do that to counteract the choices RCA made in releasing and promoting singles. While I’m like 100% posi in my own delusional world that Declaration was the best choice for the lead off single from a thematic tone setting, radio ready predicting, and statement making POV, I’ve always liked LO. Not a bad start- the lyrics are devoid of magical sparkly things, it’s a decent power ballad, had some grit to it, some nice guitar work, a tie in with Cornell, and an opportunity for a great rock vocal by DC, yada yada. It’s the one two punch of LO followed by CBTM as the sole releases from the record (and technically one two three if you include Rainbowz, although I still think after 8 seasons most people realize that there’s a coronation tune foisted upon AI winners unwillingly, at least in a tangental pop culture awareness way even if they don’t watch) that didn’t make the boys’ jobs easier, you know? A cumulative thing. Most rock bands play a ballad or three, so I’m not anti-ballad as a single per se (flove Avalanche myself.) I’m also not really concerned about people who might assume, based on Cook’s time on AI where there was a mix of plugged in and acoustic performances alike to clue them in, that Cook wouldn’t mix up his set lists with harder stuff and ballads. But to the people who have only ever heard the radio singles, LO plus CBTM does not give them an adequate representation of the record, or David’s songwriting efforts, or the concert experience, or…aaRRRrrrGGGggg. Yeah, THAT again. Been there, said that. Bring on record numero dos and further evolution.

It’s really not hard to believe, after all the success this song has had, that maybe there are many people out there who love it and aren’t hardcore David fans.

So true, and since the single sold over a million copies, and is still getting radio play, the win can’t be dismissed as merely “fan spam”, not in this particular case. I’m the first to dismiss polls that are spammed by fans, but I think this song has a wide audience.

I actually think David’s album has songs for the TOML audience. Lie, Avalanche, Permanent, I Did It For You, CBTM… I don’t think they would be much of a shock to those who like TOML.

LOL I still want to hear Always Be My Baby. What he did with that song!

They have played it once in the US tour, I thought they were going to add it now and then, especially play it in those fairs. But has never happened after that one time.

Folks who aren’t Idol fans don’t make that distinction

You’re right. I forget that a lot of people don’t watch the show.

But yeah, I’ve run into it at a couple shows where people are expecting Always Be My Baby and Time of My Life and get a rock show and they are surprised

LOL I still want to hear Always Be My Baby. What he did with that song!

As for associations, I have no issue with it. *shrug* David Cook has other songs on radio. And will continue to do so. It’s the beginning of his career, and hardly the end. As he develops more of a sound and identity for listeners, they’ll see it evolve.

Wonder how Kara must feel that her song is arguably the worst coronation song ever written. And I thought “This is My Now” was bad.

Very true, but most people realize it’s a coronation song that the winners are required to sing. Anyone who watches Idol anyway, which probably includes a lot of AC listeners.

Folks who aren’t Idol fans don’t make that distinction–that’s where the problem lies. The song was played on the Olympics, on a couple of dance shows, on the radio station that might be playing in a person’s office. People whose first association with David Cook who heard this song got the wrong idea.

I’ve grown to love that song like the step-sister you didn’t want and resented but then learned she was an awesome person. I remember at the win how Cook snickered a bit right before singing that magic rainbow line. I though, “Poor guy, saddled with that.” I was mentioning to my sister, who hates all things American Idol, a few weeks later about those two unfortunate words, and well she loves rainbows and magic ones are even better…but then she’s a lesbian and has a different perspective on rainbows.