Month: April 2010

The A.V. Club – The Big Questions The story of my life: Is there such a thing as an honest song?

“…I’ll admit that the question is fundamentally unanswerable. You might as well ask “How do you quantify honesty?” or “Is anything really honest?” Pondering such a conundrum forces you to assume way too much about the inner reality and deepest intentions of a songwriter. But that doesn’t make it any less fun to bat the question around, especially since music fans, critics, and songwriters themselves take the issue of honesty so seriously…”

Worth the read, but as usual when it comes to issues of black, white, and gray, the author can’t quite manage to get it right.

Nothing’s purely, perfectly honest in the way the author seeks.  Nothing’s completely fake, either.  (There’s the black/white fallacy.)  Everything’s gray, but we can still make meaningful distinctions between lighter and darker gray (the fallacy of gray claims we can’t), and that’s all we need to do the critical work we’re trying to do.

Honesty and integrity are slippery buggers to nail down, but I suggest the real test is the presence, or absence, of a hidden agenda.  An artist who is sending dog whistle messages, or using irony in a way most listeners don’t pick up on, or is presenting fiction as fact, is less authentic than an artist who is not doing these things.  From this perspective, we avoid the issue of privileging either literal or abstract lyrics over the other.

Also, it separates the issue of honesty/integrity/authenticity from aesthetic value; it allows us to say a song lacks integrity and is amazing, or that an honest tune is rotten.

From: howie [mr@mrfuriousrecords.com]
To: Jake [jaywill@almamater.edu]

walking down the stairs first thing yesterday morning, i found myself singing “always on my mind” for no apparent reason. cool! -h

From: Jake [jaywill@almamater.edu]
To: howie [mr@mrfuriousrecords.com]

While working on lessons for my students, ran across an idea. We’re reading/writing over the idea of “Everything I know I learned in kindergarten” and this list spun out of that idea. Some of the first lyrics that popped into my head were h&s. Pretty crazy, because I haven’t spun those discs in a year or so.

Everything I know I learned through song lyrics.

10. You’re going to miss the innocence you’ve known.

9. If you want to end up with more, you should just stay in bed.

8. You’re never too old to come back with, “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.”

7. Sometimes you’re out of your league, like Jordan was with baseball.

6. If I hadn’t made me, I’d have fallen apart by now.

5. You can paint whatever pictures you want to when you’re on your own.

4. It takes a long time to stand, and an hour to fall.

3. We don’t stop until we reach an end.

2. Nobody gives a fuck about an oxford comma.

1. Turns out not where, but who you’re with, is what really matters.

You recognize all/any of these songs? It is pretty strange to think about the lyrics that run through your head at such random times. What would be on your top ten? -jake

From: howie [mr@mrfuriousrecords.com]
To: Jake [jaywill@almamater.edu]

mind if i blog this exchange this weekend? i’ll do my best from memory, then turn to google…

10. reminds me of wilco’s “i’ll miss the innocence i’ve known, playing KISS covers, beautiful and stoned…” from Heavy Metal Drummer.

9. huh, no idea. top google result is an article about how to stay awake all night at a sleepover. can’t find it.

8. Rage, of course! That record *always* sounds great when it comes on shuffle.

7. i’m sure it’s part of some rapper’s verse, but i don’t know who. could be Tribe given our past conversations.

6. yep, Incubus.

5. :-)

4. Don’t know – great line – oh, Elliott Smith, rad. He’s got a thousand great ones.

3. Stop Walking

2. Vampire Weekend

1. oh, I know this… oh, Dave!

here’s a few… don’t know how recognizable they’ll be… just scanning through my library, picking some stuff that always catches my ear or is more meaningful than usual. -h

10. Did you feel the breeze, my love? Summer’s kiss is over baby, over… Do you know the words? Sing along with me, and put on your rose fur coat, baby, ’cause it’s 1973…

9. Handfuls of pills, bottles of pills, now do you see? – this isn’t over yet. This isn’t what I’ve asked for, this is what I’ll get.

8. Hey, Gordon Shumway, what does a guy like you see when you look at me? Is there a geek extraterrestrially, or is the universe full of a bunch of MIBs? Is there a planet you’ve seen where everybody unique is jamming to the same hard geek rock beat? I said, “How do we get there, how do we stay, hey what do you say Gordon Shumway?”

7. I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in and stops my mind from wondering where it will go…

6. She’s got cigarette on each arm / She’s got the lily-white cavity crazes / She’s got a carburetor tied to the moon / Pink eyes looking to the food of the ages

5. This isn’t easy for me to say, Diane / I know you don’t need anybody’s protection / I really wish I was less of a thinking man, and more a fool who’s not afraid of rejection…

4. What is the Black Star? / Is it the cat with the black shades, the black car? / Is it shinin’ from very far, to where you are? / … / Black like my baby girl’s stare / Black like the veil that the muslimina wear / Black like the planet that they fear, why they scared? Black like the slave ship that later brought us here / … / Blacker than my granddaddy armchair / He never really got no time to chill there / Cause this life is warfare, warfare

3. Just the other day you tried to explain / Afraid and wondering what the older has to say about what it is that you are going though / And I would not listen / And it disappoints you, but I hope your wax wings keep the air under you…

2. Mystery achievement / Don’t breathe down my neck, no / I got no trophies on display / I sign them away, I mean what the heck / All of your promises don’t fill me with pride, no / I just want to get out on the floor and do the Cuban Slide, Slide, Slide…

1. I wonder what you’re waiting for / … working for / … living for / … dying for / First wave down / I wonder when they’re coming back / First wave intact

From: Jake [jaywill@almamater.edu]
To: howie [mr@mrfuriousrecords.com]

Nice job! Numer 9 and 7 were the most abstract. 9 is “The Streets” on “It Was Supposed to Be So Easy” one of my favorites from his best album. 7 is “Jurassic 5” from the track “At The Races.” Not sure on the rapper, but I think it is Big Daddy Kane absolutely killing it.

I had a hard time on your list. 7 is The Beatles. Is number one Modest Mouse? 4 is some emcee. 8 I’m thinking must be Arturo Got The Shaft. Feel free to blog it. It’s pretty interesting to look back at the tracks or lyrics that have stuck with you over the years. -jake

See the comments for my key. -h

We’re moving to the mastering process with the first tunes from the Band Formerly Known As Fifty Bears In A Fight.  If you have any awesome band names you’re holding on to, please comment.  This means we’re close to getting the first jams out to you, finally, after two and a half years of work.

We’re also planning for a show in June, probably in Lawrence.  Stay tuned; same bat time, same bat station.  -h