Artist: Blood Sisters
Title: Ring My Bell
Date: May 5, 2005
As a clarinetist, I’ve been playing in a symphonic band for 9 years now, and whenever I tell my friends about an upcoming concert, the first thing they always say is “oh, i’m busy with [insert lame excuse here].” In any case, the second thing they always say is “have fun,” but playing my clarinet is not “fun” in the little-f sense of fun. It’s hard work, and it’s very taxing, both physically and mentally. It’s not “amusing” or “entertaining,” but I would argue that what they really should wish me is to have “Fun,” which is what it really is–something that’s entertaining on a much deeper level, something that stays with you long after “fun” has worn off. It’s the quest for perfection, the thrill of making real music.
Back to GTA: the game manages to incorporate this idea of Fun by paying attention to details. The world that the developers at Rockstar have created is all-encompassing, and behaves in many respects with rules of its own (that are not too different from those of the real world). There is such a tight integration between the story lines, the radio, and the cities themselves that you can’t help but really believe that this is the world. In particular, the radio is amazing for the brilliance of the DJ scripts, the chats on the talk-radio stations, etc, and even the music that plays is chosen carefully to accurately reflect what you might hear were you to drive around in San Andreas.
Finally, to the main point of this blurb: the Blood Sisters song. Playing on K-Jah West (the counterpart to K-Jah from GTA 3), this song is a cover of the semi-famous dance tune by Anita Ward. After listening to several different versions, I must say that this version is by far the best one (even better than the original, showing that sometimes covers can indeed be better than the original…I’ve found this to be true with other songs as well, such as Nirvana’s cover of David Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold The World’). Although the song drags a little at the end (it’s more than twice as long as the original pop-3 minute version!), the strong beginning and great singing more than makes up for it.
As anyone who’s met me for more than 10 minutes knows, I’m a huge fan of the Grand Theft Auto series of games. There are many reasons for this, but I think the primary one is that this is a game that is both fun and Fun. What’s the difference? Well something “fun” is amusing, entertaining in the short term. Rockstar has talented game developers in that they understand that a game’s primary responsiblity is to have strong gameplay (NOT graphics, as many believe). Therefore, the missions in GTA (including the main storylines, the side-missions, the extras, the open-ness of the cities, etc.) are almost all fun and interesting. However, what even fewer game developers manage to do is make a game that is also “Fun.”
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