X - "Turn My Head"
Camper Van Beethoven - "Civil Disobedience"
This song from Camper Van Beethoven's 2004 reunion album New Roman Times, is a good one. But it doesn't really sound like CVB to me. In fact, every time I hear it, I think it's actually a Cracker tune. It's got David Lowery's unmistakable voice, but the straight-ahead rock sound doesn't echo the ska/punk weirdness that made Camper Van Beethoven so unique. But, whatever the name of the band, I do like the results. And even though I've heard this song quite a bit (12 times by iTunes' calculations), I wasn't really sure about its shadowy message of disobedience. A quick check of allmusic reveals that New Roman Times is a "a loosely connected semi-rock opera telling the story of a Texas teenager who joins the military after a 9/11-like event, becomes disillusioned, and joins an anti-government militia..." Huh, you don't say? This revelation sort of highlights the way I listen to music. I admit, lyrics tend to wash over me. I feel guilty about it, but sometimes they become background to the music. It's doubly strange because I think of myself as a literary person, so you'd think I'd be more attune to the words. There are exceptions, naturally, and this blog has actually forced me listen harder to lyrics because they can be a real source of inspiration. But somehow they still remain second-class citizens next to the music. Does anyone else feel this way?
Danielson - "Cast It At The Setting Sail"
Paul Westerberg - "My Dad"
Tom Waits - "All The Tome"
Miles Davis - "Pee Wee"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 7
Total minutes of music (approx.): 34
Song with the most previous plays: "Civil Disobedience" - 12
*How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Well... since I sent so much time blogging about my dog K.C.'s little incident yesterday, I figured I'd snap a pic of her this morning so anyone interested can see her "new" ear. My poor Franken-pooch.
*Back by popular demand. Okay, one person demanded, but you have to reward loyal readers. Thanks, Sarah.
3 comments:
I think the overall package of music, lyrics, aesthetic, etc. is what makes rock music so interesting. I, like you, often see the lyrics as the background. However, I sometimes really get into a good political protest song or a songwriter's clever wording. I will say that a great song can have suspect lyrics, but a song with clever lyrics and substandard music is unacceptable.
I never pay attention to lyrics. Whenever words and possible meanings have been pointed out, I'm generally either pleasantly surprised or not very interested. It's rare (although I can think of a couple of exceptions) that I like a song just for the words. If something's particularly clever or memorable, well, that's a bonus to a song I liked already.
Heck, yeah! I give the return of the rating a solid 10. Everything's right with the world again :)
Depends on the music - lyrics are paramount for artists like Elliott Smith and the Mountain Goats, whereas the instrumentation comes first with Yo La Tengo, Built to Spill, Morphine, etc. My wife's tastes lean heavily toward the lyrics side, while I'm somewhere in the middle.
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