#BattleOfTheBands: Misery Business

Time for another Battle of the Bands!   I’m hoping this one has a better turnout than the last. This one definitely rocks a little harder than the previous two battles.



A little background on the song:

"Misery Business" is a song by American rock band Paramore and serves as the lead single from their second studio album, Riot! (2007). The song impacted radio on May 22, 2007. "Misery Business" peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 26 (for the week of January 12, 2008), making it the band's highest-charting single until "Ain't It Fun" reached No. 10 in 2014. It also peaked at No. 3 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Misery Business" was the group's first charting single in the UK with more than 20,000 copies created within less than a year of the song's debut. It also succeeded in many countries including Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. The song is considered the band's "breakthrough" hit and is credited with introducing the band to a mainstream audience. The video for 
"Misery Business" was the third to be directed by Shane Drake for the band, and Alternative Press named "Misery Business" the Video of the Year in 2007.

On July 25, 2015, the song was certified triple-platinum in the United States, the first of the band's songs to have sold three million units.

On September 7, 2018, Hayley Williams announced during a concert that the band will play the song "for the last time for a really long time", mainly due to a line from the second verse that was deemed sexist and anti-feminist.

The phrase, "Misery Business", was first heard in a Stephen King adaptation psycho-thriller film, Misery (1990). The origin of the song is ambiguous with Williams giving conflicting explanations. The Fueled by Ramen website reports that Williams wrote the song based on feedback the band received after a question she posted on the band's LiveJournal asking what people were ashamed of. However, on the band's blog, Williams claims the song was written about a past experience involving a male friend who she felt was being manipulated by a girl, and later on when Williams and her friend began to date, she penned the lyrics to "finally explain my side of the story and feel freed of it all". Later, Williams addressed the lyrics in the chorus:

But God does it feel so good

'Cause I got him where I want him now

And if you could then you know you would

'Cause God it just feels so

It just feels so good

Williams joked on Twitter on May 27, 2013, that it was about London's Heathrow Airport.


As a reminder for you seasoned readers and to help out those of you who may be new here

Here is how a battle works:

Step One - Listen to each of the contenders. TRY not to be persuaded by the videos

Step Two - Pick  the contender that you prefer the most (not just the one with the name you are familiar with) Pick ONLY from the contenders provided in THIS battle.

Step Three - Comment  with your selection. The comment section has been set up so that anyone can leave a comment. I do ask that you please include your name, should you use the anonymous feature.

Step Four - Visit Stephen’s blog to check out his battle and for a list of other bloggers that have battles going on. We each have different battles, so please be sure to visit everyone. I'll provide a link below the videos to Stephen's blog for your convenience.


Now that we’ve got the formalities out of the way, let’s get to it!


Contender #1 -  Halocene featuring Jonathan Young




Contender #2 - Machine Gun Kelly & Travis Barker




Now, to repeat myself:

YOU DON’T NEED TO BE FAMILIAR WITH AN ARTIST OR A SONG TO KNOW WHICH ONE YOU PREFER. You only need to listen to the videos and choose which one sounds better to you.  There are no right or wrong votes, unless you vote for someone not listed as a contender or don’t vote at all.


For those of you who may be interested in joining in our fun - The battles take place twice a month. Once on the 1st, and again on the 15th. Some participants have chosen to participate only once a month - and that’s okay - we’re just happy to have you join us! Your battle can consist of covers of the same song, different songs with the same title, or even a themed type battle. We just want you to join in the fun!  Catch the link to Stephen’s blog to join in - all you need to do is drop him a comment on his blog stating you’d like to participate and he’ll add you to the roster of participants.

I’d like to encourage you to visit the other bloggers participating in the battle of the bands blog hop as well.  We’ve all put a lot of time and effort into putting together these battles and they are a lot of fun. Each blogger has a different battle taking place. You can find a current list of participants on Stephen’s blog (don't forget you can also request to join the battle of the bands blog hop by simply commenting on his blog that you'd like to join us). 


Alright now… Cast your votes for Halocene featuring Jonathan Young or Machine Gun Kelly & Travis Barker!
Voting will end on Monday, April 20 with results being posted on Tuesday, April 21.