Popworldcupjustice: France vs Honduras

FRANCE V HONDURAS

Guest referee:
Charlie Lyne — Freelance journ­al­ist and filmmaker

 L’entourage — ‘Mourir Demain’

THE SONG ISN'T ON YOUTUBE AND THE SOUNDCLOUD LINK DOESN'T EMBED BUT IF YOU CLICK HERE YOU CAN HEAR IT OKAY.

“Mortality is a slippery subject: any sig­ni­fic­ance it may hold for one person may well be lost on the next. And so, by its very nature, 'Mourier Demain' (or 'Die Tomorrow') by the French rap group L'Entourage must surely be a work rife with internal conflict. After all, L'Entourage are a twelve-strong ensemble, and to presume that Fonky Flav's under­stand­ing of death will neces­sar­ily align with Jazzy Bazz's is to make fools of us all. Sadly, my rudi­ment­ary French denies me full com­pre­hen­sion of the song's com­plex­it­ies, but I am struck by one par­tic­u­lar sentiment expressed by the group's resident joker Deen Burbigo in 'Mourier Demain''s second verse. Deen insists that, were he to die tomorrow, he would first put out a call on Twitter (to his 43,738 followers) for a back rub. I find this paucity of ambition dismaying. For one thing, I suspect Deen could happily secure a massage from a fan any day of the week. Delaying such a minor piece of grat­i­fic­a­tion until the eve of his death seems downright perverse. For another, I hate to think of Deen's unwitting epitaph: a trifling last request for the digital stim­u­la­tion of his spine, forever preserved on an archival Twitter feed.”

 Banda Blanca — 'Swing Latino'

“One group who could not be accused of thematic overam­bi­tion is the Honduran eleven-piece Banda Blanca. Their chart-topping hit 'Swing Latino' retreads that most familiar of pop song­writ­ing grounds: the appear­ance of a woman who is currently dancing. Their choice of imagery, however, is a far cry from the simple jelly-based metaphors of so many English-speaking per­formers. To Banda Blanca, a woman in motion variously resembles 'una culebra' (a snake), 'una mecedora' (a rocking chair) and 'loco esta por un demente que salio del manicomio' (the inpatient of a psy­chi­at­ric hospital). Despite these vivid analogies, 'Swing Latino' is a frus­trat­ingly static song that lacks the lyrical drive needed to sustain its repet­it­ive, Microsoft Songsmith-esque harmonics. For all their descript­ive powers, the members of Banda Blanca never even explain the root of their interest in this mystery chica. Are they lusting after her, or simply admiring her ability to get down à la both serpents and home furnishings?"

Charlie's full time score:

France 2 — Honduras 1

Now you can vote for your own favourite.

Next up: Argentina vs Bosnia and Herzegovina