#lo4

Sixpence None the Richer - Kiss Me 1998

"Kiss Me" is a song by American Christian alternative rockband Sixpence None the Richer from their self-titled third album (1997). The ballad was issued in the US in August 1998 and in international territories the next year. It was nominated for a Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 42nd Grammy Awards. "Kiss Me" peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the country's sixth-best-selling single of 1999. Worldwide, the song reached number one on the Australian and Canadian charts as well as number four on the UK Singles Chart, entering the top 10 in 16 countries altogether.

In January 1999, Miramax used "Kiss Me" as the theme song of its teen romantic comedy film She's All That, starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook. The film's box office success helped "Kiss Me" gain widespread mainstream attention and chart success. In Italy, the film was retitled Kiss Me. The song was also included on Dawson's Creek's first soundtrack in April 1999. The original music video pays tribute to François Truffaut's film Jules and Jim, made in black and white and recreating many of the classic scenes from the film. A second music video was released later, that feature the band sitting on a park bench, performing and watching footage of themselves on a portable television or projected on an outdoor screen. Two alternate versions of this video were made with them watching scenes from either She's All That or Dawson's Creek instead.

"Kiss Me" received a total of 85,3% yes votes!

June is not only known for being the pride month but also hosts International Environment Day (05/06) and is the first month of summer. I also was aware of the hate crimes that had been happening during the last year towards people of colour and the movements that have arisen like BLM (Black Lives Matter), Stop Asian Hate between others and this was one of my motivations to raise awareness by creating different posters and posting them on my Pinterest.

As warm weather comes, more people and especially women are ashamed of their bodies by the social paradigm that surrounds them, which causes an increase in alimentary disorders and mental dissisies. Nowadays only 30 out of 193 countries have legalised marriage between people of the same sex and people from the LGBT+ community face a higher risk of being assaulted just for their sexual and gender orientations. The fifth of June was International Environment Day and as I take ESS at school I have become even more aware of the issues that our planet is facing. On top of that, one of my biggest concerns is racism. As an Asian girl, I have dealt with all kinds of comments and been in uncomfortable and very offensive situations and one example of this was when I was coughed on by a couple of kids my age last year in a university fair. I had already experienced certain microaggressions but this really offended me, especially considering that people were starting to die because of COVID-19.

Because of these reasons I was motivated to create different posters. There are way too many movements I would’ve like to reflect in my posters and especially the ones related to antiracism, but I recently heard about how an Asian American woman was assaulted for no apparent reasons. Moreover, an article I read some time ago stated that ‘164% in reports of anti-Asian hate crimes in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same period last year.’ The reason: COVID-19. Reading testimonies from different people or colour really resonated with me and so I centred my poster on the problems the Asian community is facing.

I tried to spread the message in a visually appealing way because there’s a higher probability of people reading them. I’m surprised by the good and quick results my posts have. (Over 100 shares / saves in less than a couple of days). This was mostly a creative process considering how I drew and wrote the text in all of the posters, but even though I enjoyed creating them, the thing I had in mind was to spread the message and raise awareness about these topics.

Rebranded Portfolio 

https://amyblckfrd.myportfolio.com/home

https://www.behance.net/amyblckfrd

Proposed working title: ‘The Gift’

Genre: Thriller/ Horror

Plot:

A psychotic man kidnaps a young woman.

USP:

The story is unique in its exploration of themes including religion and mental illness, and aims to captivate audiences with dialogue driven scenes in one fixed setting.

Premise:

The initial premise focuses on a young woman who has been kidnapped and is being held hostage by a psychotic man. 

Target Audience:

Our target audience is adults aged 18 and upwards who are interested in psychological horror.

Narrative:

The narrative focuses on themes of religion and mental illness and how these can be mistreated and the consequences of it. We researched into the symptoms, causes and treatment for schizophrenia to inform our narrative. The character of Peter’s mental illness and religious beliefs plays an important role in driving the narrative forwards and conflicts with the character of Bethany. 

Message:

Our message is to explore the idea of a worst possible outcome out of the special set of circumstances we are presenting, shown through the character of peter and his mental state.

Peter (young adult male)

Bethany (young female aged around 18)

Character Biographies:

Peter:

Peter is mentally ill young adult male who is socially isolated and driven by extreme religious beliefs. In his own eyes he is a hero and is doing Bethany a favour. He isn’t evil, he’s just the victim of his own mental state who seeks identity through religious beliefs rather than medical assistance.

Bethany:

Boney M. - Rasputin 1978

"Rasputin" is a song by Germany-based Afro Caribbean pop and Eurodisco group Boney M. It was released as the second single from their third studio album Nightflight to Venus. The core of the song tells of Grigori Rasputin's rise to prominence in the court of Tsar Nicholas II during the early 1900s, referencing the hope held by Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna that Rasputin would heal her hemophiliac son, Tsarevich Alexei of Russia, and as such his appointment as Alexei's personal healer.

The song claims that Rasputin was Alexandra's paramour, a widespread rumour in Rasputin's time, with which his political enemies intended to discredit him. It accurately states that the conspirators asked him "Come to visit us", and then recounts a widely popular account of the assassination in Yusupov's estate: that Rasputin's assassins fatally shot him after he survived the poisoning of his wine.

"Rasputin" rose to the top of the charts in Germany, Austria, Belgium and Australia, and went to No. 2 in the UK, Argentina, Finland, Spain and Switzerland. It enjoyed great popularity in the Soviet Union, however it was omitted from the Soviet pressing of the album and Boney M. were barred from performing the song during their ten performances in Moscow.

It's pretty safe to say this song put a impressive and unbeatable record in the amounts of votes and reblogs! 💖 This is currently the most liked song on this poll blog with a whooping 94,8% total yes votes.

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rockband Nirvana, released as the lead single from Nirvana's second album, Nevermind (1991) on September 10, 1991, but it did not initially chart, and it sold well only in regions of the US with an established Nirvana fanbase. The single was intended to be a base-building alternative rock cut from the album, and was not expected to be a hit; the follow-up "Come as You Are" was planned as the single that could cross over to mainstream radio formats. However, campus and modern rock radio stations placed "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on heavy rotation. Danny Goldberg of Nirvana's management firm Gold Mountain said: "None of us heard it as a crossover song, but the public heard it and it was instantaneous … They heard it on alternative radio, and then they rushed out like lemmings to buy it." Having sold over 13 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling songs of all time. The success propelled Nevermind to the top of several albums charts and is often marked as the point when grunge entered the mainstream. It was Nirvana's biggest hit, charting high on music industry charts around the world in 1991 and 1992, and was number one on the charts in Belgium, France, New Zealand, and Spain.

The lyrics to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" were often difficult for listeners to decipher, both due to their nonsensicality and because of Cobain's slurred, guttural singing voice. This problem was compounded by the fact that the Nevermind album liner notes did not include any lyrics for the songs aside from selected lyrical fragments. This incomprehensibility contributed to the early resistance from radio stations towards adding the song to their playlists; one Geffen promoter recalled that people from rock radio told her, "We can't play this. I can't understand what the guy is saying." MTV went as far as to prepare a version of the video that included the lyrics running across the bottom of the screen, which they aired when the video was added to their heavy rotation schedule.

The guitarist and singer, Kurt Cobain, described "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as an attempt to write "the ultimate pop song", inspired by the soft-and-loud dynamics of the Pixies. The title derives from a phrase written by his friend Kathleen Hanna, the singer of the riot grrrl band Bikini Kill: "Kurt smells like Teen Spirit." Hanna was referencing the deodorant Teen Spirit, but Cobain misinterpreted it as a revolutionary slogan. When Cobain presented the song to his bandmates, it comprised just the main guitar riff and the chorus vocal melody. Bassist Krist Novoselic dismissed it as "ridiculous"; in response, Cobain made the band play it for an hour and a half. Eventually, Novoselic began playing it more slowly, inspiring drummer Dave Grohl to create the drum beat, which drew from disco artists such as the Gap Band. As a result, it is the only song on Nevermind to credit all three band members as writers.

The music video depicts a high school pep rally which ends in chaos, inspired by Jonathan Kaplan's 1979 film Over the Edge and the Ramones' film Rock 'n' Roll High School. It won two MTV Video Music Awards, and was in heavy rotation on MTV throughout the 1990s. Amy Finnerty, formerly of MTV's programming department, said the video "changed the entire look of MTV" by giving the channel a whole new generation to sell to. In 2000, the Guinness World Records named "Smells Like Teen Spirit" the most played video on MTV Europe. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was met with acclaim and described as an "anthem for apathetic kids" of Generation X. It was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal and Best Rock Song. It was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". In 2017, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" had reached two billion Youtube views by June 12, 2025.

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" received a total of 93% yes votes! 🥳🎉 Previous Nirvana polls: #118 "The Man Who Sold the World", #367 "Drain You", #637 "Rape Me".

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) 1983

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is a song by British synth-pop duo Eurythmics. It was released in January 1983 as the fourth and final single from their second album of the same name. It was their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in March 1983, and number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 six months later; it was their first single released in the US. According to Dave Stewart, their record label RCA Records did not think the song was suitable as a single in the US as it lacked a chorus. After a radio DJ in Cleveland kept playing the song from the album, and it generated a strong local response, RCA decided to release it in the US. The song also peaked at number one in Canada, and reached the top ten in a number of countries including Australia, West Germany, Spain, and South Africa.

With Annie Lennox appearing with orange cropped hair and wearing a man's business suit in the accompanying music video, the BBC stated Lennox's "powerful androgynous look" was the music video that "broke the mould for female pop stars". In 2020, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2023, it was selected by the US Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart wrote the song after the Tourists had broken up and they formed Eurythmics. Although the two of them also broke up as a couple, they continued to work together. They became interested in electronic music and bought new synthesizers to play around with. According to Stewart, he managed to produce the beat and riff of the song on one of their new synthesizers, and Lennox, on hearing it, said: "What the hell is that?" and started playing on another synthesizer, and beginnings of the song came out of the two dueling synths.

According to Lennox, the lyrics reflected the unhappy time after the breakup of the Tourists, when she felt that they were "in a dream world" and that whatever they were chasing was never going to happen. She described the song as saying: "Look at the state of us. How can it get worse?" adding "I was feeling very vulnerable. The song was an expression of how I felt: hopeless and nihilistic." Stewart thought the lyrics too depressing and added the "hold your head up, moving on" line to make it more uplifting.

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" received a total of 96,7% yes votes and is the new most liked song on this poll blog, beating A-ha's long reign! 🥳