Day 305: Somewhere along the line, the definition of the word "ballad" got high jacked. My understanding is that the original meaning of the word ballad is, briefly, a song that tells a story (and not, a crappy song-long written by some hack like Michael Bolton.) Everybody loves a good story, so I thought that I would spend a few days sharing with you some of my story-telling songs. I would like to start today a little bit on the darker side with "Bullies On Vacation" from the Verve Pipe's 1993 indie release Pop Smear. Much like yesterday's Dixie Chicks song (and I never though I would be uttering those words in this context), this Verve Pipe song seems to be all about sweet, sweet revenge. Brian Vander Ark sets up the scene vividly as a man on a cruise ship that runs into his former boyhood bully. The bully does not seems to recognize his former target, and the storyteller hatches a plan to turn the tables, "I can taste the anger and the hate, I have come to set the record straight. Twenty years seems long enough to wait... Cruising with my nemesis on high seas. Five drinks, he doesn't recognize me... My act of concern is just to tease. I'm about to send him to his knees." The bully then seems to break down with a story of a terminal disease and for a moment the story teller seems to balk at his course of action. But, in the end, he leaves the bully "conquering the sea." I guess the last 2 songs have taken a bit of a violent turn. But once again, I think that is the power of music. It allows us to explore certain feelings in a safe and sometimes even fun way. I am sure that virtually no one would actually advocate the murder of a bully or an abusive spouse, but sometimes it just feels good to think about bad people getting what they deserve. I think that we all can drink to that.
08/02/2015
Day 306: Back in March I painted the band World Party as a One-Hit-Wonder. I believe that in spirit that is more or less true, but I would like to offer up today a 2nd song from them, a little ballad called "Is It Like Today?" The song is an epic tale that spans centuries and almost has the feel of a long game of Sid Meier's Civilization. It talks about the Babylonians, Greeks, and (I suppose) the American's conquest of the moon. All in all, the song seems to be an examination of man-kind's search for meaning in life, with clever lines like, "Blood just looks the same when you open the veins. But sometimes it was faith, power or reason as the cornerstone. But the furrowed brow has never left his face." It is like a 5 minute lesson in history and philosophy, which I like pretty much any day of the week.
08/03/2015
Day 307: Yesterday's song took us on a tour through history, but today's song seems to focus on a singular historical event. The song is the dark and tremendous "Family Snapshot," from Peter Gabriel, and the event seems to be the Kennedy assassination, told through the eyes of the assassin. The song has an intense build up as the man behind the gun waits in his place for his target to arrive when we get a glimpse into the mind of the killer and his motivation, "I don't really hate you. I don't care what you do. We were made for each other, me and you. I want to be somebody. You were like that too. If you don't get given you learn to take. And I will take you." After the bullet flies, Gabriel changes the point of view again to the killer as a boy; "Lonely boy hiding behind the front door. Friends have all gone home. There's my toy gun on the floor. Come back Mom and Dad, you're growing apart. You know that I'm growing up sad. I need some attention. I shoot into the light." Straight up briliant... and chilling.
08/04/2015
Day 308: It appears that my choices for ballads all seem to revolve around some sort of criminal behavior. The same seems to be true of today's yarn, "The Wanted Man," which happens to be the Closing track for the very good 1991 album "Native Son" from The Judybats. The song not just a story, but also a bit of a mystery about a man who rides his horse to a remote train station only once a year. The music gives a odd, train-station sort of vibe as the lyrics build to the reason the man keeps coming to the station, "Hold the yellowed letter gently as I can. Read the faded writing From the girl back East, all sweat and hope. It says, 'I am scared. They still search for you. No more contact. It's the best thing to do. If I come some year soon. It will be the tenth of June, My love." I won't spoil the ending this time, but I do love the way Jeff Heiskell's lyrics paint a vivid picture yet still leave so many intriguing questions. What was the man's crime? Will his love ever come? Did she just play him for a fool? Good stuff. As far as ballads go, this one is on my most wanted list for sure.
08/05/2015
Day 309: As I close this short chapter on musical story telling, I though that I would break away from the pattern of criminal behavior with a song that is instead about war, but in a happy way. No. Really! The song is "All Together Now" from the Liverpoolian band The Farm. The Farm was best known for their One-Hit-Wonder "Groovy Train" from their 1991 album "Spartacus," but today's song was actually their first single, and in my opinion, their best song. The song relays a true story about trench warfare soldiers in World War One. As the stories go, near Christmas Day in 1914, soldiers from both side left their trenches to greet each other, talk, exchange gifts, and even engage in a game of football or two. It was said that in some places, the soldiers refused to continue fighting after the unofficial truce "expired." Singer Peter Hooton captured the spirit of these events perfectly with his lyrics, "Remember boy that your forefathers died. Lost in millions for a country's pride. They never mention the trenches of Belgium, when they stopped fighting and they were one. A spirit stronger than war was working that night, December 1914 cold, clear, and bright. Countries' borders were right out of sight. They joined together and decided not to fight. All together now... In no man's land.... The boys had their say, they said no. Stop the slaughter and let's go home." It is just a beautiful tribute to the human spirit and its triumph over evil and hatred, at least for a little while. But The Farm also admits that the peace did not last with another of my favorite lines, "The same old story again. All those tears shed in vain, nothing learnt and nothing gained. Only hope remains."
The last two songs have had one other thing in common other than being ballads. They also happened to be the final song on each album. They are both Closers. I have always had a theory that the final song on a album should have a certain feel to it that is a little unique compared to the other songs on the album. Tomorrow, we will start to explore this concept in more detail as I reach the home stretch of this little project.
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