The news spreads quickly...

"Chasing" Out, "Jeopardy" In as Battle for SOTY Nears End
Tayquan Underwood
Washington Post

In a shocking turn of events, noted musical kingmaker D.M. Call has pulled support for Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" as song of the year and has thrown his influence behind a little known band from Austin, Texas named What Made Milwaukee Famous and their song "The Jeopardy of Contentment." The Post has obtained a private missive sent from Mr.Call to Gary Lightbody, lead singer of Snow Patrol in which Mr. Call expresses his displeasure at learning that when "stripped acoustic, the song was weak." He goes on to say that he has felt cheated and betrayed "like the German pilot in the Three Amigos", referring to a pivitol scene in the movie when a German pilot accuses his boyhood film idol, Ned Nederlander, of using trick photography to speed up his gun drawing abilities on screen. When contacted about the accusations, Lightbody responded, "The indie chicks think I'm hot, and I've got the Gray's Anatomy vote. This just makes the battle all the tougher. However, I don't think that this Milwaukee band has enough time to gather momentum to take this title from me...er...us...I guess I do have a band. Whatever, they're just filler, I'm the songwriter with the tender feelings. Love me."

This comes as shocking news as Mr. Call has routinely defended the song from it's detractors, specifically his wife who let her feelings be known about the song earlier this summer writing, " good song, yes. the lyrics aren't enough. it doesn't grab me. or challenge me. or make me want to keep listening more and more until I figure out the song." That he would turn so quickly from a song over a matter of months, is surprising, but not necessarily out of character. Mr. Call is noted for quick pronouncements of support for songs, and equally noted for pulling back support at a moment's notice. More surprising is that many experts believed Call to be leaning towards Muse's "Knights of Cydonia" off their latest Black Holes and Revelations, especially after Call's brother Matt leaked a phone conversation they had in which Call referred to Knights as a "masterwork...nothing else even compares to this song, what a work of genius. Muse is the leading band of our generation and this is their leading song." Other experts have speculated that Call might be descending into madness, as recent calls to his home have either gone unanwered or were answered with a quick, "I'm not interested" and then ended. At any rate, Call's influence is well known and the waiting begins to see if other noted players in the race for SOTY 2006 start to drift Milwaukee's way.