Windows 8's first theme song makes clear: This isn't your father's Microsoft

The background theme for Microsoft's first ads for Windows 8 make clear that the company is straying far from the middle of the road and tried-and-true for music. The song, "Only Want You" by the Eagles of Death Metal, is about the last thing you'd expect from Redmond.

The music has a raunchy, garage-band sound, rather than the classic rock or anthemic rock you expect in a Microsoft commercial. And it's certainly far away from Apple's precious-sounding, sometimes syrupy music for many of its ads.

This isn't the first time that music of the Eagles of Death Metal has been used in a commercial. Nike, for example, has used them. And a clip of them playing "Cherry Cola" was also used for an ad for the dearly departed Zune. But "Cherry Cola" is tamer than "Only Want You," and the Zune was a niche product, not the centerpiece of the company's future.

It's too early to tell whether "Only Want You," or music like it, will be the main theme for Microsoft's entire $1.5 billion ad campaign. But it's certainly nice to hear something different for a change.

One wonders, though, whether anyone at Microsoft has listened to all the lyrics, which you can read here. If so, what to make of this line:

"Cuz watching you suffer feels much better to me"

Someone jaded might wonder whether that's a comment about watching someone trying to get used to Windows 8's sometimes confusing tablet-oriented main interface. Would I say something so cynical? Heaven forbid!

source:Preston Gralla