Songwriting Analysis / the Musica Universalis

Describing musical ideas is perhaps one of the most difficult uses of language. Unlike thought, music is not linear and occurs on multiple levels of significance and mathematical organization at the same time. Perhaps because of this, and perhaps because good songwriters don’t want to give away too many of their “secrets”, songwriting is most often discussed from a lyric-centric point of view. Make no mistake, lyrics are a hugely important part of any song and can be the difference between whether a melody is catchy or just interesting. Still, the majority of what makes a song work and stick in our brains is the music; the way harmony, melody, and rhythm interact on both a large and small scale. My analysis of songs will be primarily focused on music rather than words and will probably not be that interesting to non-musicians.

[songwriting-analysis]

Talk Dirty to Me

I rewatched the first 20 minutes of Poison’s VH1 “Behind the Music” last night, having somewhat remembered it from when I was a kid. It’s kind of funny that they actually let the critics talk unabashed shit about them on that episode. You don’t get that with Zep or Sabbath even though they were critically panned at their inception. The forced “grunge killed hair metal wahh!!” narrative is very much there, like in most Behind the Music episodes about 80’s bands. There was also some weird subtext about them giving flyers to high school aged fans that probably wouldn’t have gone as under the radar today as it did in the late 90s/early 2000s.

It’s kind of delightful to go back and look at hair metal just past its aristea, when it was at its most excessive, neon, and feminine. It’s funny to think that even when I was a baby, American mass culture was gaudy, tasteless, and fucking weird as all hell. It’s not just 2010-forward. 

It does make me wonder though: Is Poison’s music as soullessly perfunctory as critics allege or is there something to it? Though I’d hate to admit it, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” is one of the better power ballads and has staying power. (It’s easy to say it sucks but go back and listen to how many shitty power ballads have been forgotten.) “Unskinny Bop” is meh. “I Want Action” is a bit substanceless in the same way as Katy Perry’s “California Girls” but it has a good hook (better than the Perry tune.)  Same for “Nothing But a Good Time”. “Talk Dirty to Me” is probably their best tune (in my limited awareness of their discography) but even then it’s a little too on the nose in cribbing tried and true progressions and running through the motions of young forbidden sexuality lyrical content. I would ultimately call it a “good but not great” song. 

I think there is something a little too dialed in for mass appeal in their sound that results in a lack of honesty or authenticity. Sometimes party music doesn’t need to be anything other than party music but it can still have some heart to it like AC/DC or Rick Springfield. Still, if the music was truly secondary to the goal of getting easy pussy, as they themselves claim in Behind the Music, they had a good instinct for trite pop music. None of their hits list ghostwriters so if they did that all on their own (I’m sure the producers helped some), it’s still impressive. You won’t hear many Poison songs in my 80’s rotation and though I might change the radio station for “Every Rose Has Its Torn”, I wouldn’t if “Unskinny Bop” or “Talk Dirty to Me” came on.

[big-massive-cunt]

Tally Hall is the Dadaism of music

Change my mind

[songwriting-analysis]

Tally Hall is eclectic pop/rock. Far too safe and easily digestible to be dada. (I say that as a huge fan. I stopped at Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum on a road trip because of them.) I'd say Mr. Bungle is closer but even that's maybe too palatable. Maybe something with a little less emphasis on form like Aphex Twin or free jazz. Dada is about throwing everything you knew before out the window and making a collage out of the broken pieces without being guided by the previous aesthetic. Honorable mention to King Gizzard as well but they're more of genre hoppers than pastiche makers. Really hard comparison. Thought provoking though!

[songwriting-analysis]

Prompted by the thought that I should've practiced with a metronome more when I was younger, I had a little daydream where I went back in time to install a metronome app on my 2009 phone:

2019 me: [Looking distastefully at 2009 me's salt shaker-size Samsung Juke] Oh yeah, I forgot phones don't really have apps yet.

2009 me: Apps?

2019 me: Yeah, like how you have itunes and Word on your computer, phones will eventually replace computers and become way more expensive.

2009 me: That sucks.

2019 me: Yeah, if you think people are addicted to these now, wait five years. By the way, you should never say anything sensitive on the phone or online. In 2013, it'll be revealed that the US government collects pretty much everyone's phone and web data.

2009 me: Wow, that's crazy. I bet that got a lot of people protesting.

2019 me: Not really, no one gives a shit. They've become more gleeful consumers than ever, posting pictures of purchases on instagram and making unpaid advertisements for companies by reviewing them online. Social media has been weaponized to wage disinformation and propaganda campaigns which, in part, led to Donald Trump being elected President in 2016.

2009 me: [looks at 2019 me incredulously]

2019 me: Oh yeah, and it's pretty much acknowledged that we have less than 15 years to address climate change but no one's doing much and that Epstein guy who got an 18-month house arrest last year for fucking kids is part of a pedophile ring that caters to politicians and billionaires.

2009 me: ...Can I have my phone back?

[songwriting-analysis]

5 Ways to Save Money While Traveling

Feed your kids gruel. Children are the least budget-friendly addition you can make to your househould but also the most susceptible to money-saving measures since they rely on you to survive. Rather than acquiesce to little Bobby’s refusal to eat anything other than chicken tendies at a fast food restaurant somehow more overpriced than the one in your hometown, leave the kids with the hotel cleaning lady while you and hubby go somewhere more upscale like Applebee’s or TGI Fridays. Gruel can be made by mixing raw oats with nearly spoiled milk or yogurt and stored at room temperature in leftover Chinese food containers. The kids may not like it but they don’t have to. They owe you forever for bringing them into this world without consent.

Skip having to tip the concierge by asking the locals for help. You don’t need to pay for advice, just ask a local, who will be easily identifiable by the deflated character of the human spirit that comes from excessive toil and repetition. This is best done by getting their attention in a demanding tone of voice while blocking a crowded sidewalk with your oblivious, clearly-from-out-of-town-as-evidenced-by-weight family. Make sure to begin the conversation without really knowing what you wanted to ask in the first place and meandering on aimlessly as the hapless local becomes more politely frantic with the increasing likelihood of losing their job.

Couch surfing and dumpster diving. There’s a whole swath of people out there nowadays who are dumb enough to open up their homes to you under the midguised altruistic notion that you might do the same for them (as if they would ever want to visit Peabody, Indiana). There’s no need to inform your unsuspecting sap that you’re traveling with children as you can easily guilt them into letting you stay. The fact that you shat a kid out into an overpopulated world entitles you and your sticky little snot rocket to be provided for. And local cuisine is still local cuisine whether it’s fresh from the oven or picked out of a rat-infested dumpster alongside the homeless an hour after closing.

Book dangerous travel activities. Incidental travel costs can add up quickly. Between food, fuel, and toiletries alone, you can wind up laying out thousands more than that seemingly affordable Expedia package you booked. But never fear. You can alleviate some of this strain by booking dangerous travel activities like whitewater rafting, hang gliding, or bungee jumping. The more dangerous the activity, the better as you’re aiming for the long-term savings of a fatality rather than the short term expenses of a hospital stay. And should you choose to glue open the caribiner of a particularly bratty kid or wandering-eyed spouse, make sure no one is looking as legal fees can mount quicker than little Bobby’s blood pressure.

Don’t travel. It’s cheaper to stay at home. A stay-cation isn’t a va-cation? A stay-cation is a save-cation. Maybe it’s time to try out that new gastropub your coworkers have been gushing about. Sure, it’ll most likely be as mediocre as everything else in town but at least you can frugally pass out with indigestion while the travel channel bleats in the background.

[songwriting-analysis]

Pizza Tourism Pt. 1: Howard Beach

#1) New Park Pizza

Just a classic fuckin New York slice. Thin floury crust, sweet sauce, and goldilocks amounts of cheese. Very neighborhoody feel to the restaurant and you could tell they were well liked. 4/5 stars

#2) La Villa

Hidden in a mini mall. This might've been the best slice of the day. The basil was on fire and they really mastered the art of crunchy exterior crust that blends into softness on top to perfectly accent the cheese (see also L&B Spumoni Gardens). A bit oily but the good stuff. The sauce was more chunky than thin which I appreciated. Very clean establishment. 4/5 stars

#3) Gino's

I knew upon sight that I wasn't going to like this but soldiered on anyway. It immediately revealed the sad, dumpy pallor of cafeteria ass Mcshitfuck pizza. Artless and by rote, I would accept this as good had I found it in Minnesota or an airport. I take that back, I've had better pizza at the Chili's in Miami International. The grandma was better than the regular slice but the crust was overdone. The decor of the restaurant was much nicer than it's product though they had a broken wooden bench outside that someone fatter than myself will eventually snap in half. 2.5/5 stars.

[songwriting-analysis]

I love how news organizations have realized that the best way to get interactions on social media is to shitpost.

[songwriting-analysis]

A Bushel and a Peck - Frank Loesser - Guys and Dolls

This is such a weird, fun little song with almost a country or nursery rhyme feel. The melody is extremely triadic, arpeggiating the underlying chords so simply that it’d be boring rendered by most people but Frank Loesser ain’t most people.

Loesser begins with an upward arpeggio starting on the 3rd of the G chord: (B ^ D ^ G) “I love you”. He reiterates, “a bushel and a peck”, reiterates again, “a bushel and a peck and a”, then BOOM we jump to the V chord and get our first rhyme while the melody switches to a downward chordal jump, “hug around the neck” (F# v D). More reiteration on the V chord, “a hug around the neck and a”, Now we loop back down to the I chord but the melody leaps up to preserve the mi do downward chordal jump, “barrel and a heap a” (B v G) “barrel and a heap and I’m” (E ^ A) outlining the II chord as well as doing a micro ii-V-I (E ^ A v D ) on the V chord “and I’m talkin in my sleep” (F# v D) going back to the V chord for our next rhyme.

In those 8 bars we see the harmony jump to strong chords to strengthen rhyming moments, the melody alternating between upward and downward leaps, and no scalar motion at all until “about you” in bar 8 setting up bar 9’s IV chord. NYC Frank stops posing as a country bumpkin for a moment and lets his jazziness shine for four bars before returning to his original “I love you” (B ^ D ^ G) motif, “a bushel and a peck” and then something weird happens: The melody which has been diatonic up until this point becomes chromatic “ya betcher pretty neck I do” (A# B A# B A# B A G.) The area around the 3rd isn’t particularly strict harmonically so it’s not too dissonant and the chromaticism sweetens the melody a bit while providing contrast to the wide intervals of the earlier bars. On a side note, it’s really nice that the 3 (B)s following the chromatic (A#)s all have the same vowel sound “BEH(t) / PREH(ty) /NEH(ck),”

Loesser then takes his little chromatic two-step on a tour of the G arpeggio with the “Doodle oodle oodle”s that close out the verse. The last “oodle oooh” has the same notes and rhythms as the “about you” in bars 8 / 9 though hitting half a beat earlier.

Throughout the whole thing, scale degrees two (A) and six (E) are used sparingly. Scale degree four ( C ) is rarer, used once amidst the “doodle oodle oodles” and again as a stepping stone into the next verse “cause ( C ) I (B)”. A great lesson that comes up time and again in good songwriting is: If you don’t absolutely need a note for your melody, DON’T FUCKING USE IT. It will be that much more impactful when you do.

Pay attention to the base and apex notes of each measure and the notes that get repeated the most. There’s a lot of hammering down the home triad. Most of the measures use only 2 or 3 notes which makes the movement of the “bet your pretty neck” and “doodle oodle oodles” more interesting. The melody almost abhors scalar motion, doing mostly chordal leaps and incorporating chromatic twists when it wants to shorten the range between notes. We really only get the scalar “mi re do”s and “ti la sol”s in the middle four bars and as a punctuation at the end of each eight bars, reinforcing the form just like the V chord does for the rhymes.

With a melody this simple it’s hard to get down to the nuts and bolts of what makes it catchy. I’d argue that it has something to do with the see-saw, give and take quality of it.

I love you (A) UP

a bushel and a peck (A) UP

A bushel and a peck and a (A) UP

hug around the neck (B) DOWN

A hug around the neck and a (B) DOWN

barrel and a heap (A) DOWN

A barrel and a heap and ( C ) UP

I'm talkin' in my sleep (B) DOWN

It’s like taking a winding road that crosses back over its best parts before getting to its destination.

http://schools.peelschools.org/sec/cawthrapark/studentlife/musical/Documents/A%20Bushel%20and%20a%20Peck.PDF  (sheet music for your references. For the purposes of my bar #s, pretend the 4 bar piano intro doesn’t exist.)

[songwriting-analysis]

Meaningless opinions from 2017 that will change in 2018

1. Favourite Riff?

Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath from the album Black Sabbath

2. Favourite Guitar Model?

Gibson SG

3. Favourite Musical Decade?

1960′s

4. Favourite 60s Band?

Jefferson Airplane since Beatles is a cliche answer

5. Favourite 70s Band?

Black Sabbath, a cliche answer

6. Favourite 80s Band?

Van Halen vs. Hall & Oates, a battle royale in my imagination

7. Favourite 90s Band?

Nirvana or Failure

8. Favourite 2000s Band?

The Thrills

9. Favourite Album?

Fantastic Planet or Abbey Road

10. What was the greatest year for music?

1825 or 1967

11. Fenders or Gibsons?

Why not both?

10. Favourite Guitarist?

Matt Pike

11. Which side of the Atlantic (Britain or America)?

Britain for music

12. Rosewood or Maple Fretboards?

Rosewood with humbuckers. Maple with single coil

13. Greatest “1 album” bands?

The Rockwells

14. Crosby, Stills or Nash?

Young

15. Favourite Rolling Stone?

Most of those songs were collaborations. There’s a lesson there, kid.

16. Favourite Guitar Solo?

“Dirty Blue Balloons” by Failure

17. Who have you seen live?

Less than I should have but more than some

18. Greatest modern blues/rock guitarist?

Who cares?

19. Favourite drummer?

Ringo Starr

20. Favourite Bass Player?

Dennis Dunaway and Gene Simmons are both underrated. The Jacos, Jamersons, and Chris Squires of the world don’t need any more praise.

21. Favourite Keys Player?

Thelonius Monk

22. Favourite Male Singer?

Freddy Mercury

23. Favourite Female Singer?

Carmen McRae for voice alone. Neko Case as a songwriter

24. If you could own one famous guitar?

How about you give me an unknown one that sounds better?

25. Favourite Beatle?

Paul

26. Favourite Singer Songwriter?

Elliott Smith or Hank Williams

27. Electric or Acoustic?

Until 2014, acoustic. After 2014, electric.

28. Dylan, Electric or Acoustic?

Acoustic

29. Band you wish would/could reform?

Time is.

30. Top 3 dead musicians you wish you’d seen?

Time is.

31. Most underrated guitarist?

Eddie Hazel

32. What would your first piece of advise be to new guitarists?

The guitar is an extension of your penis/clit. Don’t wank it, tickle it til it spews.

33. Big venues or small venues?

Medium sized venues. The space needs to be big enough for low frequencies but not so big that the venue exerts too much influence on the sound.

34. What posters are on your walls?

None anymore. :-(

35. Vinyl or Digital?

Vinyl for sound quality. Digital for everything else.

36. Most Overrated Guitarist?

SRV

37. Which song do you wish you’d written?

Footloose

38. Which concerts do you wish you’d seen?

I wish I saw the Thrills when they toured the US but I was still in high school.

39. If you met your hero what would you say to them?

Thanks for doing good work but I have better things to do than jerk you off right now.

40. Flatpicking or Fingerstyle?

Apple or Orange?

41. Open tunings, yay or nay?

Yay

42. Favourite classic blues song?

If rock & roll is dead, jazz and blues have long since turned to dust.

43. Pick a King, Freddie, BB or Albert?

Eric Clapton ripping them all off

44. Who’s the most influential guitarist?

Hendrix or Chuck Berry

45. If you could play any song?

Dopesmoker. It’s not too difficult, just a lot to learn.

46. Who’s music has taught you the most?

Beethoven. It’s ‘Whose” btw

47. Best cover of a song?

Too many to choose. Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” is a good choice.

48. If Clapton is God then who’s Jesus?

God doesn’t let his children fall out of windows.

49. Why did you start playing your instrument?

I thought it was cool.

50. Favourite Eagle?

Leave the Eagles in the 70′s where they belong.

51. Favourite Les Paul Player?

Matt Pike

52. Favourite Stratocaster Player?

Hendrix.

53. Hollow bodied guitars, yay or nay?

Not for me but if that’s your bag, go for it.

54. What youtube comment really bugs you?

What the fuck kind of question is that?

55. Best person you’ve seen live?

New York Philharmonic or the Melvins

56. Best musician’s autobiography you’ve read?

Songs are more informative.

57. Band you’d most like to see?

Right now, Monolord or Electric Wizard

58. Favourite Stones’ Album?

Let It Bleed.

59. Favourite Beatles’ Album?

Abbey Road

60. Favourite Eagles’ Album?

Again, why are you referencing the Eagles along with the Stones and the Beatles? Have some respect.

61. Favourite Led Zeppelin Album?

II

62. Favourite Led Zeppelin Member?

John Paul Jones for being a great musician without being a terrible human being.

63. What band do you not listen to enough of?

Yours

64. What band is your guilty pleasure?

I don’t feel guilty about any of my musical tastes but if I did Max Martin songs and a lot of 80′s stuff.

65. What is your opinion of (insert bandartist)?

Terrible.

66. What is your opinion of (insert guitarist)?

Wonderful.

67. Beatles or Stones?

Beatles

68. Clapton or Hendrix?

Hendrix

69. Favourite ex-yardbird?

Jimmy Page

70. Favourite driving song?

Dopesmoker

71. Favourite Cream Song?

Sunshine of Your Love

72. Jack White or Dan Auerbach?

They are to legitimacy what Stranger Things is to the 80′s

73. White Stripes or Black Keys?

Neither but White Stripes I guess

74. What bugs you the most about your favourite artists?

In any time period, people who excel at selling themselves tend to do best. In the 1960′s a lot of hypocrites did this with flower power. At least in the 80′s they were transparent about their motivations.

75. Is Blues dead?

Yes. Long Live the Blues

76. Who would be in your ultimate band?

Boring.

77. Who do you wish had collaborated on a whole album?

I want to hear Bitches Brew with Hendrix on it.

78. Favourite cheesy but brilliant song?

How Will I Evaaaaaaaaaaaaa Eva Surviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive?

79. Favourite love song?

Can’t Take My Eyes off You

80. Greatest solo career?

Michael Jackson

81. Which musician have you learnt the most from?

John Cage

82. Worst musician’s autobiography you’ve ever read?

83. Best greatest hits album?

Rick James

84. What song is stuck in your head?

“Tom’s Diner” has been stuck in my head since the 90′s

85. What song makes you cry every time?

None

86. Telecaster or Stratocaster?

Tele

87. SG or Les Paul?

SG

88. Favourite Telecaster Guitarist?

Syd Barrett

89. Favourite SG Guitarist?

Toni Iommi

90. Favourite Firebird Player?

I don’t know who the fuck plays those.

91. What’s the most unusual guitar you’d buy?

One of the Electrical Guitar Company guitars made of metal. Ken Andrews and King Buzzo both have them and I’m that level of basic bitch.

92. What’s your earliest classic rock or blues memory?

My parents saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. I first saw them on the Muppet Show.

93. Best music documentary you’ve seen?

Show don’t tell

94. Best live concert video you’ve watched?

Not sure. The Sweeney Todd movie with George Hearn and Patti Lupone is up there.

95. What band t-shirts do you own?

I care less about that than the poor schlub who has to scroll past this cares about my opinion.

96. Own anything signed?

Sondheim vocal score to “Into the Woods”

97. Do your parents like this music?

I think so

98. Where would you most love to play a gig?

Somewhere “acoustically perfect”

99. If you could attend one festival?

I hate crowds. You can play in my living room though.

100. What’s the thing you last learnt on guitar?

“All I Want For Christmas Is You”. Speaking of, why wasn’t “Whitney or Mariah?” one of these questions? (My answer is Whitney btw.)

[songwriting-analysis]

Bono: 'Music has gotten very girly'

The U2 frontman says there needs to be more outlets for 'young male anger' in music.

Sidestepping the whole discussion about gendering music, I just find it really funny that his criticism of contemporary rock--that it’s inoffensive and not angsty--is one that could be just as easily leveled against his band. You could even call them a catalyst for it. 

U2 was a great band in their time but looking over their singles, pretty much any one of them could be played in an elevator without a rider batting an eye. There’s an angsty song here or there but by and large their catalog is about as palatable, affirmative, and inoffensive as a rock band could be. They’re one of the most emulated bands in Christian praise & worship music and their musical preference for atmosphere over raw power is closer to contemporary indie than the Who, who Bono lists as an example of the male bravado missing from today’s music. 

Well, I guess there’s lack of self awareness and then there’s Bono’s lack of self awareness where you’re so high on your own taint fumes you don’t realize you’re rubbing shit all over your nose.

[songwriting-analysis]

Feels Porn

One interesting development I've noticed in the evolution of social media: feels porn videos. The teenager whose recently deceased dad left him a guitar. A military dad surprising his daughter by coming home from deployment early. A kid breaking down in tears over bullying at school. 

With the possible exception of the military dad, those are situations I'd be uncomfortable being around in person, let alone broadcasting to millions of people on the internet. What does it say about our society that our first impulse at moments of emotional upheaval is, "Can I film this to get attention on the internet?" and, more troublingly, that we're getting increasingly good at parceling visceral emotional reactions into contextless videos of short duration? 

This is the next level of bread and circuses. This is something that can be weaponized to convince people to believe all sorts of things as opposed to just convincing them not to believe like we do now. For now it’s just slightly creepy that you decided your teenage son’s tears over his deceased father’s gift should be broadcast to millions.

[amusementforme]

[songwriting-analysis]

As fun as it is to make fun of the one group it’s politically correct to lambast, what’s the implication here, that non-white kids have an inherent street savvy and would know the difference between flour and cocaine? That seems far more racist than meritorious of PC points for taking potshots at gullible white kids.

[songwriting-analysis]

The Law of Hipsters

In the 21st Century, the term “hipster” initially defined a new breed of scruffy, flannel and skinny jean totting urban denizens who repurposed the most cringe worthy aspects of 60′s-90′s fashion to display their uniqueness and depth of character. Over time, hipsterdom became the predominant cultural trend and such attire was co-opted by the masses. This forced the uniquest of gentrifying edgelords to try so hard that they all blended into a horrific fashion smoothie of Road Warrior chic and H&M catalog. In short, standing out is the new conformity.

The term was always several years behind whatever trend/movement it meant to define and ranged from somewhat to very pejorative. I live in Brooklyn so believe me I know about hipsters. Shit, back when the hipster movement was still nascent, I initially hated this Proust-totting, skinny jean and flannel wearing kid who turned out to be a great guy. Now that the term is some years past it’s zenith, I still hear it used mostly in the pejorative so let me just say:

If you’re complaining about hipsters, 9/10 of 10 times, you yourself are a hipster. The word has been devoid of meaning for years now. It’s a lazy, catch-all insult. In 2017, “hipster” is just the average person projecting the annoyingness of their own vocal fry and meticulously crafted air of carelessness onto others with no fucking self awareness whatsoever.  If you complain about people complaining about hipsters, you’re also a fucking hipster. Oh wait, that’s me? Guess what? I’ve long since come to terms with being lumped into that group; with the fact that 99.9% of people look and act like twats to the casual outside observer. It’s the rest of you self-denying “hipsters” that bitch about it as if you’re somehow exempt that stick in my craw.

when will game of thrones and the walking dead go away. when will this wave of cynical grimdark “only the strong survive” fiction finally end. why is star trek about explosions now. please give me the power to destroy this disgusting redpill bro nerd culture that is wallowing in its cheap easy discomfort and gratuitous shock value and refusal to move forward with society

[caffeinosis]

Don’t like, don’t watch, for ffs

[capricorn-child]

#also can we stop acting like only dudebros like ‘grimdark’#because women only like fluffly cute stuff#i don’t even think that is the point of got or twd by the way#sorry but the way this post is phrased rubs me the wrong way (via @caffeinosis)

PREACH. IT.

[songwriting-analysis]

^^^ When you try to use ideology to write something off then someone else uses a different interpretation of the same ideology to write off your writing off of that thing. 

[songwriting-analysis]

So 20 years later is it finally appropriate to discuss the fact that the hook to “The Impression That I Get” by Mighty Mighty Bosstones is pretty much directly lifted from “I’ve Done Everything For You” by Sammy Hagar / Rick Springfield? Sure the rest of the song is different but the tempo is pretty much the same and in both instances, the hook is the payoff of the entire song. 

Don’t believe me? Compare them for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0zwYNPPD2g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIGMUAMevH0

[songwriting-analysis]

I was really disappointed to find out that Elisabeth Moss is a scientologist. That’s such an early season Peggy Olson thing to do.

[songwriting-analysis]

Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You (2013) - Review

Neko Case has been one of my favorite artists since high school. Given that she’s .05-1 generation older and wiser than me, it’s probably good that I’ve had a few years to mature and reflect on this album.

Musically, this is a stronger offering than 2009’s Middle Cyclone even with fewer standout tunes. The 3 A.M. doom-folk of Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (2006) has yet to be topped but where Middle Cyclone meandered toward the end, TWTG… roars uphill like a freight train. The album vacillates between sparse, contemplative songs and brusque toe tappers though in typical Case fashion, there’s plenty of musical and lyrical crossover.

The precarious harmony of ‘Wild Creatures’ seems an odd opener compared to the perfect microcosm of her songwriting offered in ‘Night Still Comes’ but the theme of motherhood may have something to do with that. The accumulating wiry energy is juxtaposed perfectly by the cathartic downhill release of the closer ‘Ragtime’. The whole thing feels deliberately crafted, even when giving free rein to the mad, reverby noodling of M. Ward’s guitar. While on earlier albums the backing band seemed to stay within the lines of her songwriting, the playing here is more loose, almost improvisational, like a band that had enough time to grow comfortable interpreting the songs.

In terms of musical content, there’s not a lot new here. Case still loves her minor IV chord like no other, her sound still vacillates between folksy acoustic and electric country (with the notable exception of ‘Man’). Harmonically, she’s actually a bit less adventurous than on Middle Cyclone. There’s less stylistic variation between the songs this time around but on the whole a greater eclecticism and variety of arrangement.

The train beat of ‘Bracing for Sunday’ crescendos masterfully into ‘Nearly Midnight, Honolulu’, an a capella earth scorcher that’s just as uncomfortably intimate as the experience it describes. Between this and ‘Where Did I Leave That Fire?’ Case has abandoned the chains of “this is my song and here are the sections” and embraced the value of pauses, drones, and other formal embellishments to sweeten the impact of harmonies and phrases. ‘City Swans’ might have one of her best grooves yet. ‘Afraid’ is delightfully serene in execution but probably the clunker of the album, a bit too plodding and on-the-nose melodically.

The production is warmer and more open, far more vintage and less compressed than Middle Cyclone but with modern enough EQ for each instrument to speak. The analog hiss and compression gets in the way of songs like ‘Calling Cards’ and ‘Afraid’ but in general benefits the album. The production on ‘Man’ seems out of place, lacking the warm midrange of the rest of the album and with a bit too much static from the console. Case’s music is often belligerent and unapologetic but this album seems to reveal a new patience and resilience--as if a new day dawned inspiring her to make musical soul food--and it’s well represented in the sonic warmth of the production.

The overall vibe harkens back to Blacklisted. She’s grown a lot as a songwriter since then but the songs on TWTG… come across as direct and unadorned in contrast to Fox Confessor and Middle Cyclone which were both fairly deliberate and at times baroque. For lack of better vocabulary, there’s a level of twang here that hasn’t been matched since Blacklisted. Her past few albums pushed the boundaries of folk/country/alternative and on this one she’s taken a step back to her roots while still utilizing the unique sound she’s carved.

Lyrically, TWTG… dwells on many of the same themes as Middle Cyclone: subverting gender norms, Nature’s vengeance against Man’s folly, Case’s emotions embodied in natural phenomena. Some themes that run throughout her career: birds, rustic imagery, the ability of the past to sting in the present, and some new ideas like what exactly it means to be a “man”.

There’s new resilience but also moments of exhaustion and tender reminiscence that weren’t present on earlier albums. Case has always been keen to brood over the past but in contrast to the metaphysical melancholy of ‘I Wish I Was the Moon’ or ‘Vengeance is Sleeping’, songs like ‘I’m From Nowhere’, ‘Calling Cards’, and ‘Afraid’ convey a sense of peace, acceptance, and camaraderie that starkly contrast the violent assertions of otherness and bravado on earlier albums. While Case’s humorous moments are often sardonic, ‘Where Did I Leave That Fire?’ has one of the best punchlines ever and even expresses levity. Is this what it means to be sailing so long you become the shore?

Also new is a growing tone deafness to the gulf between herself and her audience. ‘I’m From Nowhere”’offers an interesting perspective on success and how it’s scrutinized by those who tried but didn’t make it. Case chastises “armies of those who once played in a band and wasted it complaining like a trust fund kid” either unaware or unfazed by the irony of going on to complain that, “You say I’m lucky to be here but I’ve been driving for 21 days.”

In ‘Local Girl’, she begins with a “get off my lawn” moment toward youthful joy then crafts an anthemic chorus calling out small town residents who lie about someday, almost spitting out the line, “You’re on a first name basis.” First off, who doesn’t lie about someday? It took me six months longer than I intended to finish this review. Secondly, perhaps she’s forgotten that, in spite of her tremendous talents, she is lucky to be here. I know plenty of talented songwriters who never made it out of first-name-basis land and live quiet lives with less bitterness than exudes from her music. This isn’t new for her though. Past albums are littered with references to old flames that fell to the siren song of domestic complacency but on TWTG… the feeling seems to codify into an outright disdain that’s off-putting to those of us who haven’t achieved as much as her. Yes, she’s in the top percentile of songwriters and put in the work to get where she is but even with all of that, anyone successful still has luck to some degree in a musical environment as saturated as the current one.

That said, this may be the first album where Case begins to pick up her dusky reveries and transform them into something positive: a better self for tomorrow. She may still be bitter in many regards but expresses the most gratitude since ‘At Last’ and far more consistently. Though she’s still fighting hard, it appears that holding out for that teenage feeling might not be so necessary anymore. At least as far as she’s conveyed musically, she’s much happier and more grateful here than ever before. We’re just grateful you’re still making amazing music Neko.

[songwriting-analysis]

RIP Josh

I hardly knew ye. Having only met you twice last month, it’s almost sadder to have gotten a snapshot of you at twilight. You were extremely intelligent--in spite of your misogyny--but also unmotivated, almost 40 with no career, still being scolded by your father for smoking in the house. You lived off friends, girlfriends, and finally your dad. You tried being a cabbie for two days but it was too seedy for you. Were you lazy, crippled by depression, or just unlucky? Probably some combination of all of those. There was a dark, profound pain in your eyes. It pleaded for recognition in stark relief to your quiet temperament. I saw myself in that sadness but only now do I see how far it extended. It’s doubly sad for your family to bury you for the same reason as your brother. 

 You weren’t the first person I know to OD and you won’t be the last.

It now seems appropriate that we sat out there in the cricket-soundtracked darkness smoking, drinking, and conversing of society’s ills. Your family bears some blame for enabling you, society bears some for the socioeconomic climate that catalyzed this epidemic, but you bear the most for never putting that perceptive noggin to use. You were so smart and you squandered it. Maybe you never had a chance and I’m not giving you a fair shake but I don’t recast the dead as saints and I’m certainly not going to make excuses for you. The people around you probably did that your whole life. Now you sink into the ground to rot and fester but I’ll keep rising for work each day, my mind retaining the sad insistence of your eyes.