Singer-songwriters and their agony
Ok, I must admit that this was inspired completely by two things: a) reading about Shirley's obsession with the song "The Blower's Daughter" (just scroll down to where it says "Listen" and "Cheat") from the movie Closer, and b) hearing about Liz's current obsession with that song and consequently Damien Rice ("can-oo suck-oo my balls-ooroo" [sorry, folks, private joke for the Pup]) first-hand, with her playing the song a few hundred times at home the other night (not really, but it felt like a few hundred times because of this one repeated lyric [more on that later]).
Listening to those 3.5 minutes of singer-songwriter angst made me remember just how much I hate singer-songwriters and and want to bash their guitars like John Belushi in Animal House(and I’m sure many of you know the scene I’m about to mention): he’s at his frat’s party and he sees this one totally hippy-looking dude with 5 or 6 girls huddled around him, and he’s strumming on his guitar and singing a song that went:
At this point Belushi looks at the camera, raises his eyebrow slightly, and grabs the guys guitar and proceeds to smash it against the wall and stairs, shattering it to bits. He then gets this sheepish look on his face, grins and says “Sorry”, and walks away. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about. Beware the ides of March, Damien Rice!
"But why such hatred?" I hear you cry...
First off, if a musician's stage-name is a first name followed by a last name, I will in all likelihood not like him/her (there are, of course, exceptions to this rule). John Mayer? I'll turn his body into a wonderland...a bloody pulp of a wonderland. Martin Sexton and Jeff Buckley? I'll hallelujah all over their candy-asses. Tori Amos? I'll break her CD in half and eat a bowl of cornflakes, girl. Bob Dylan? I'll roll on you like a stone. I've got more, people, but I think you get the idea... (In all fairness there are actually a few Bob Dylan songs I like, but I figured I'd throw that one in there for good measure.)
See, I love music, I really do. I love all kinds of music, too many kinds some people have even said to me, because I can find redeeming qualities in almost every genre. Some people like pop and listen to Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan (by the way, wtf is up with her?! She's frickin' 18!), which I can accept. Others listen to hipster-rock like The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and god knows what other "The" bands are trendy these days, which I can accept. Heck, I can even accept the fact that half of our nation listens to country music trash like Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Shania Twain and anybody else not named Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash (who rock).
I cannot, however, for the life of me understand the appeal that something like Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter" has... All he does for 3.5 minutes (or however long the song is) is strum on his guitar and sing this one lyric over and over again: "Can't take my eyes off of you". In fact, he sings that so often that when I saw the trailer for "Closer" and that song was playing in the background, I thought some dude was playing a lame-o cover of Gloria Gaynor's excellent song "Cant take my eyes off of you"! What a bizarre coincidence... The least he could've done was come up with something more original to whine about!
Another reason I think I hate singer-songwriters is that, for me, it's all about the music, as I was telling Liz last night, and almost nothing about the lyrics, save for very rare occasions (it's so rare, in fact, that I can't even think of one of those occasions right now). Take Led Zeppelin, my favorite band: can you guess what the appeal of songs like "Stairway to Heaven", "Kashmir" and "Achilles' Last Stand" is to me? Let me give you a hint: it's not in lyrics like:
No siree.
Led Zeppelin is my favorite band and those are some of my favorite songs because of the mind-blowing power of their music, the killer guitar-riffs and the unison with which they all play, the fact that they're truly a band. Even in songs like "Tangerine", "All of My Love" and "Going to California", that are very calm and collected by Led Zeppelin standards, what strikes me most is the music, not the lyrics:
This isn't exactly Shakespeare, is it? In fact I think it's more like Dan Brown: you really enjoy what is written (or sung in the case of Led Zeppelin), not because of what is actually written on the page (because, let's face it, "The Da Vinci Code" isn't exactly "Hamlet"...), but rather because of how he conveys those words, with a great background story. Tangerine is a kick-ass song, and it's all in the music, which is what conveys the feeling of the lyrics, not the lyrics themselves. What the hell do the lyrics I just quoted mean? I have no frickin' clue, but I know the music is still great.
Sooo, going back to Damien Rice: what can we find in his song "The Blower's Daughter"? We've got the line "Can't take my eyes off of you" or some variation thereof sung 18 times, with some guitar-strumming in the background. At least Led Zeppelin has some real music going on behind *lyrical gems* like this one, from "Ramble On":
Mr. Rice can't even say he has a particularly pretty melody going on behind his whining. Maybe it's just that I can't appreciate poetry, who knows... (That's a completely different can of worms, and I feel I can be only so controversial in a single post without risking bodily injury, :-)!)
Anyway, enough bitching for now. I'm heading to my firm's Christmas Party at Cipriani's in about 4 minutes, where I will proceed to stuff myself with filet mignon, cocktail shrimp the size of my fist and Grey Goose tonics. Liz even said that I shouldn't come home early, since she'll be wrapping my gifts (yay!). It's gonna be a big one, peeps...
Afterthought: gee, maybe if Natalie Portman's character in "Closer" had a daughter then she would be the real "Blower's Daughter", get it? Thank you, thank you, I'm here every Tuesday and Thursday. Tip your waitress. Try the veal...
Listening to those 3.5 minutes of singer-songwriter angst made me remember just how much I hate singer-songwriters and and want to bash their guitars like John Belushi in Animal House(and I’m sure many of you know the scene I’m about to mention): he’s at his frat’s party and he sees this one totally hippy-looking dude with 5 or 6 girls huddled around him, and he’s strumming on his guitar and singing a song that went:
"I gave my love a cherry that has no stone
I gave my love a chicken that has no bone
I told my love a story..."
At this point Belushi looks at the camera, raises his eyebrow slightly, and grabs the guys guitar and proceeds to smash it against the wall and stairs, shattering it to bits. He then gets this sheepish look on his face, grins and says “Sorry”, and walks away. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about. Beware the ides of March, Damien Rice!
"But why such hatred?" I hear you cry...
First off, if a musician's stage-name is a first name followed by a last name, I will in all likelihood not like him/her (there are, of course, exceptions to this rule). John Mayer? I'll turn his body into a wonderland...a bloody pulp of a wonderland. Martin Sexton and Jeff Buckley? I'll hallelujah all over their candy-asses. Tori Amos? I'll break her CD in half and eat a bowl of cornflakes, girl. Bob Dylan? I'll roll on you like a stone. I've got more, people, but I think you get the idea... (In all fairness there are actually a few Bob Dylan songs I like, but I figured I'd throw that one in there for good measure.)
See, I love music, I really do. I love all kinds of music, too many kinds some people have even said to me, because I can find redeeming qualities in almost every genre. Some people like pop and listen to Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan (by the way, wtf is up with her?! She's frickin' 18!), which I can accept. Others listen to hipster-rock like The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and god knows what other "The" bands are trendy these days, which I can accept. Heck, I can even accept the fact that half of our nation listens to country music trash like Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Shania Twain and anybody else not named Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash (who rock).
I cannot, however, for the life of me understand the appeal that something like Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter" has... All he does for 3.5 minutes (or however long the song is) is strum on his guitar and sing this one lyric over and over again: "Can't take my eyes off of you". In fact, he sings that so often that when I saw the trailer for "Closer" and that song was playing in the background, I thought some dude was playing a lame-o cover of Gloria Gaynor's excellent song "Cant take my eyes off of you"! What a bizarre coincidence... The least he could've done was come up with something more original to whine about!
Another reason I think I hate singer-songwriters is that, for me, it's all about the music, as I was telling Liz last night, and almost nothing about the lyrics, save for very rare occasions (it's so rare, in fact, that I can't even think of one of those occasions right now). Take Led Zeppelin, my favorite band: can you guess what the appeal of songs like "Stairway to Heaven", "Kashmir" and "Achilles' Last Stand" is to me? Let me give you a hint: it's not in lyrics like:
"There's a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven";
"Oh let the sun beat down upon my face
Stars to fill my dreams
I am a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been";
or
"Oh the mighty arms of Atlas
Hold the heavens from the earth
From the earth
Whoaaaaaaaaaaa."
No siree.
Led Zeppelin is my favorite band and those are some of my favorite songs because of the mind-blowing power of their music, the killer guitar-riffs and the unison with which they all play, the fact that they're truly a band. Even in songs like "Tangerine", "All of My Love" and "Going to California", that are very calm and collected by Led Zeppelin standards, what strikes me most is the music, not the lyrics:
"Tangerine, tangerine
Living reflections from a dream
I was her love, she was my queen
And now a thousand years between."
This isn't exactly Shakespeare, is it? In fact I think it's more like Dan Brown: you really enjoy what is written (or sung in the case of Led Zeppelin), not because of what is actually written on the page (because, let's face it, "The Da Vinci Code" isn't exactly "Hamlet"...), but rather because of how he conveys those words, with a great background story. Tangerine is a kick-ass song, and it's all in the music, which is what conveys the feeling of the lyrics, not the lyrics themselves. What the hell do the lyrics I just quoted mean? I have no frickin' clue, but I know the music is still great.
Sooo, going back to Damien Rice: what can we find in his song "The Blower's Daughter"? We've got the line "Can't take my eyes off of you" or some variation thereof sung 18 times, with some guitar-strumming in the background. At least Led Zeppelin has some real music going on behind *lyrical gems* like this one, from "Ramble On":
"T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor
I met a girl so fair
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up
And slipped away with her her."
Mr. Rice can't even say he has a particularly pretty melody going on behind his whining. Maybe it's just that I can't appreciate poetry, who knows... (That's a completely different can of worms, and I feel I can be only so controversial in a single post without risking bodily injury, :-)!)
Anyway, enough bitching for now. I'm heading to my firm's Christmas Party at Cipriani's in about 4 minutes, where I will proceed to stuff myself with filet mignon, cocktail shrimp the size of my fist and Grey Goose tonics. Liz even said that I shouldn't come home early, since she'll be wrapping my gifts (yay!). It's gonna be a big one, peeps...
Afterthought: gee, maybe if Natalie Portman's character in "Closer" had a daughter then she would be the real "Blower's Daughter", get it? Thank you, thank you, I'm here every Tuesday and Thursday. Tip your waitress. Try the veal...
posted by Luis at 6:14 PM
2 Comments:
ok first of all i found this page trying to find the name of a song off the almost famous soundtrack which i now know is tangerine. Dont get me wrong i knew it was led zeppelin just wasnt sure the name. Where was i going with this? I totally get what youre saying...that in songs like tangerine its not so much the lyrics that captivate you but the sound of the music that portrays what the lyrics are trying to say. I can relate to that bc ive loved that song not knowing the name or really barely any of the lyrics which is obvious.."tangerine tangerine....". HOWEVER! Your opinion is just half of it. OK so there are amazing songs that take you over bc the actual sound of them was coming from a band of guys working together to produce a potential materpeice. like KC the sauce. damn its good. Before i go any farther let me add that bob dylan is my favorite artist with led zeppelin # 2. Now the other half: What about all the songs that can captivate you bc of the lyrics that you can apply to your life or the ones that you cant believe someone was brilliant enough to put together into a logical song. When it comes to the sound coming from a song....I'd take led zeppelin. When it comes to the ability to relate to a song and live by the lyrics...I'll take bob dylan.
Wow, never thought a ~4 year old blog post would result in a comment, :-).
See, for me it's never about the lyrics; I don't think I've ever connected with a song because of the lyrics. Maybe "never" is too strong a word, and possibly it's happened once or twice (I can think of at least one song that made cry due to the combination of words/lyrics, "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables", from the first time I heard Les Mis), but what tends to move me in the music itself, and not so much the words. Maybe this has to do with what side of my brain is the dominant one, I don't know...
My current favorite band is Iron Maiden, which I really started getting into a few months after writing this blog post, and while their songs are powerful and kick-ass (funny story about that in a minute), their lyrics ain't nothing to write home about, perhaps with the exception of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", but then again we largely have Samuel Taylor Coleridge to thank for that, ;-).
So, the funny story: we were driving sometime last year and "The Trooper" came on (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9txCNYmmRY0, if you've never heard it), and Liz started getting really pumped up. She turns to me and says "Is this what it feels like to be a guy? I feel like I want to fuck something or kill something...or both!" This is one of the many many reasons why I love her, :-).
Anyway, thanks for your comment, Mr./Mrs. Anonymous!
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