Music Being Emo
How do you make a song sad? Bit of piano, down tempo, warbling strings if you're really in the mood? Or angry guitar and screaming, raging, PAINED falsetto? It depends on the artist, audience and style. Lyrics also have a lot to do with it.
At worst these emotional cues, simple enough to trace back to the messages that our minds infer in them, can just be pulled out of a hat to throw together a "sad enough" song and sell some records. Coz every pop singer tends to stick to a ratio of one ballad every couple of upbeat songs in releases. Kind of run-of-the-mill, right? At best though, they can really be moving, and all the more so when it's not a pile of cues you already know but a song that could be about something else... but isn't. And some of the best emotional touches in songs are ones where it's pared back and withheld somewhat, so you feel the punch in this vocal struggle between saying and not saying.
Well, some awesomely sad (or pretty powerful, anyway) moments follow:
Ani Difranco - Dilate
Ani's lyrics are pretty amazing pretty much all of the time... when I first heard her I was amazed, coz here I was having grown up in late-90s creative ghettos where the nearest thing to her sound was Alanis Morisette, and girls with guitars was a bit of a cliche by then. And her lyrics were so much more of that, but pared down, and so much stronger. It's like poetry, spot on and evocative like words in songs oughtn't ever be, lest our brains either explode completely or just grow apathetic.
Dilate has so much in it as a song, that the only expression and image that it brings to my mind is a deadpan stare, full of despair, resignation, snarky black-humoured burnt pride. The look of one who knows enough to expect shitcakes from the world and yet always manages to be a little more disappointed. And when this person who's responsible for all that looks her in the eyes he knows all this, and she knows all this, you just have this look. LOOooove it.
Brand New - Jesus Christ
I'm not religious in the traditional sense, I don't really like the heavier rock sound that Brand New do. I heard this song on t61 and it was really quiet, and kind of builds this momentum of a conversation that's scarily honest, of the lost at 3 am on a cold night unable to sleep kind. And the beat travels more like harder rock songs do, which gives it something an alt-indie-folk-hipster band more at home in mellow sounds probably couldn't do. For a punk-pop act their voices are hushed till the end and that also kind of rocks... the punch is delicate, and that makes it all the more furious. Pretty much the first verse gets me, and it's a heckuva struggle even if like some suggest it's not his. These lines come back and back and keep this song on my lil' mp3:
Jesus Christ, I'm alone again
So what did you do those three days you were dead?
Because this problem is going to last
More than the weekend
Bump of Chicken - Taiyou
Under the guise of uptempo interesting-ish alt-rock tunes these guys plummet listeners to surprising depths and then drag us back out again. They are usually angrily, passionately willing to hope in the face of a faceless, meaningless reality and that strikes right close to home for a lot of people. Their stories are mostly full of heart and their message, usually to themselves as much as others, is to keep going somehow. To be real, to find meaning, realise your truth and forgive yourself your own shortfalls, in a world that offers you none of that.
Why I have apprehensions about this song is because I'd taken to the idea that it was another help-you-out song... that it was way bleaker and darker than the music promised (as usual), yes, but that they sang hopeful words of advice to an un-named other that they themselves wished fervently to believe. This is the standard BOC song; this is why they warm the cockles of a lot of disenfranchised, lost and searching hearts. Japanese is vague like that, and a few crucial cues can change the subject / narrator / object completely.
So actually, Taiyou is a song about the narrator that, trapped in his vague dark world, destroys the one thing that had any promise of helping him out. But it's more than that... because every line of meaning is a metaphor one step away from one or another telling detail of a chilling reality. Another evocative story, but instead of giving hope to a past self or chasing a best friend's train on bike promising to see each other again, it's a mute bleakness that seeps out and penetrates everything. I don't know how this song can be sung with a straight face or straight voice.
It really worries me that people say their next album's dark bits are even darker. Because if BOC can't keep hopeful, how on earth are we supposed to?
New page of Visual Diary... mix of uni notes, ideas & fanarts. :>
-----------------------
Collaboration! Vera, Marijka, Virginia & me.
--------------------------
So I'm collecting albums these days. It's part of my post-splendour new music kick, though not all of it is new.
Right now: Grabbing Angus & Julia Stone's Down the Way and A Book Like This.
Most Recent: Brand New's The Devil & God Are Raging Inside Me, basically got because I found myself falling for their track "Jesus", and so I expected the rest of it to be that mellow... and it wasn't.
Just Worn In: Elbow Discography. I really loved Elbow's Seldom Seen Kid, which I'd discovered on the plane back from Queenstown a year ago. Finally I got to grabbing all of their stuff. Just now, just today (well last time I was all-nighting a project), I finally wore all these songs in like a new shoe and now I really, wholeheartedly enjoy all of them. Which makes me a fully-versed Elbow fan, I guess.
A discography by an artist is a big gamble, and undertaking it depends on your willingness to still love that artist after hearing tens of hours of material that might span decades. Even if you love one album cover to cover and want to hear more, getting the entire catalogue of their work is a BIG step, and it usually shatters your preconceptions of what they're about. No matter how much I loved the Pillows while I was at RMIT, I've still to get through their entire 15-year back-catalogue, and the old stuff sounds REALLY aged (1990 for god's sake!).
It's a gamble, because sometimes you WILL hate an artist you're meant to love, not for lack of trying.
It's like that if you decide to try out an artist, too. Do you go for the newest album? The best-selling? The most acclaimed? What's a good "in", after you've heard a song or two or just read a review that tickled your fancy?
Well I can't say that I'm any better at the game after a few weeks of heavy collecting. But it's still fun, and I'll stick with it until it stops being so. And hey, you can just delete stuff that you don't like. :>
So anyway (while I'm procrastinating), here's a list of my inbox atm:
Tame Impala- Innerspeaker (A bit cool, better live)
Angus & Julia Stone - A Book Like This, Down The Way
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible, Funeral (heard someone raving about them across the room, grabbed 2 albums from either end of the career I think? still undecided :/)
Arctic Monkeys Discography (Retrospectively realised these guys are awesome.. but... I'm still a little overwhelmed with a wall of rock-sound after all this indie tripping.)
Bliss & Eso - Running on Air (I really enjoyed Flying Colours, rhymes are a bit juvenile sometimes but that's part of the FUN. And their samples are wicked, and include Kasey Chambers....WAITWHAT?)
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (You gotta expect something awesome from a guy who locks himself up in a cabin in the wintery woods and, while hibernating, puts together a soulful healing album. It's lovely, even the tinniness of homebrew recording is.)
Brand New - The Devil & God Are Raging Inside Me (I thought I'd like the later album better, but the song that got me interested was my "in" on this album. Like a few tracks now, not sure I'll ever like some others. Heavy rock sound, I'm just not in the mood for it)
Elbow Discography (love it! Covers the same ground as Coldplay but not radioplay-murdered, and his voice is LOVELY.)
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (I liked Demon Days once I wore it in, and a lot of people didn't... I think less people will like Plastic Beach, but I've kind of been on an electro-kick. It hit the spot for me. These cartoons are friggin' COOL.)
Jamie T - Kings & Queens (He sang that Sticks & Stones song, ya remember? One of my first albums after Splendour and every minute hit the spot, esp. in contrast to Tame Impala. I've overheard it now, and his slummy brit-rap is really hard to understand sometimes, but it's kinda more poetic than just rap about being young and getting drunk/high a lot (looking at you Eso).)
MGMT - Congratulations, Oracular Spectacular, Climbing to New Lows (HMM I was really into MGMT for a week there, and Congratulation's hard to hear if you like OS a lot. I got sucked into thinking about it as a Take That Stupid Fans album, like a lot of ppl did, but reading some heartfelt interviews kind of warmed me to it. And by that point I'd worn all the songs in. I've got some ANCIENT tracks from their uni days, too. Heheheheh...)
Mumford And Sons - Sigh No More (I think everyone has to have this album, if they're into indie music in 2010? Like Angus & Julia Stone? I really like it, some of the lyrics are a bit hmmm for me, but their raw energy and passion is lovely. But uh, really..."folky".)
Passion Pit - Manners (Another post-splendour one. Seeing them live was fun as... they kind of filled the hole that Congratulations didn't)
Philadelphia Slick - Culture Industry (Heard some of their raps on T61 and really enjoyed them... looking forward to this)
School of Seven Bells - Disconnect from Desire (They had 2 albums, not sure if I got the right one? Love the atmosphericness of it, but some tracks are hard to tell apart. Not worn in yet)
We Are Scientists - With Love & Squalor (HAHAHaha IDK if you should invest in music just because you like the videos. I like a few tracks, but it's that harder rock sound that I'm not feeling atm, and kinda simple.)
I picked up a lot of awesome tracks while I was bumming around Japan, and I'd like to apply my amateur translation skills to some of them. A bit of practise, and a bit of sharing with people what's so great about these songs without the barrier of language.
"Sayonara Color" by Super Butter Dog (a band) / Hanaregumi (a solo artist), is a really simple but sweet song. It was one of the first I heard and totally (or 90%) understood, so it had an impact on me. I'm not sure how much mainstream success Hanaregumi has had (at least a bit), but his sound is very Jack Johnson. He makes relaxed, thought-out tunes to warm and mellow the cockles of your heart.
---------------------
Soko kara tabidatsu koto wa
Totemo chikara ga iru yo
Namikaze taterareru koto
Kirau hito bakari de
You'd need a lot of strength, you know, to take off from where you are now With so many people out there who hate to see things stirred up
--
Demo kimi wa sore de ii no?
Raku ga shita katta dake na no?
Boku o damashite mo ii kedo
Jibun wa mou damasanai de
But... is that really ok for you?
Did you just want to make things easier for yourself?
You can lie to me all you like, but
Don't fool yourself anymore
Sayonara kara hajimaru koto ga
Takusan arunda yo
Hontou no koto ga mieteru nara
Sono omoi o boku ni misete
There are so many things
that begin with a goodbye
If you've found the answer, then
tell me what you're thinking
--
Jibun o tsuranuku koto wa
Totemo yuuki ga iru yo
Dare mo hitoribocchi ni wa
Naritaku wa nai kara
It takes a lot of courage, you know,
to overcome yourself.
Because nobody wants to
end up all alone
--
Demo kimi wa sore de ii no?
Yume no tsuzuki wa doushita no?
Boku o wasurete mo ii kedo
Jibun wa mou hanasanai de
But... are you really alright with this?
What happened to those dreams you had?
You can forget me if you like but,
Don't let go of yourself again
Sayonara kara hajimaru koto ga
Takusan arunda yo
Hontou no koto ga mieteru nara
Sono omoi o sutenai de
There are many things, you know
that start from a goodbye
If you've found the truth,
don't throw those thoughts away
Sayonara kara hajimaru koto ga
Takusan arunda yo
Hontou no koto wa mieterun daro
Sono omoi o kienai de
There are so many things
that start from a goodbye
I know you've found your answer, so
don't let those thoughts fade
Sono omoi o boku ni misete
Tell me what you're thinking
----------------------
Sayonara Colour while being simple has this implication, that this guy is giving advice to his girl at a point where she's deciding where her feelings lie. When I first heard it, I read it as each verse telling her, "there's a lot of scary and hard things out there", but each chorus saying "but is where you're at now really okay?", like he was convincing her what she was trying not to see was that she needed to leave. It was really poignant, because here he is saying saying "you can lie to me all you like" to make his point, saying that she has to figure herself out and listen to that truth rather than going with the easy/safe thing.
Except, with a closer look, he could be asking, "but is leaving really okay?" Which makes the "tell me the truth" lines a bit more poignant, like he's asking her each chorus, which way are you going? And his position seems more undecided. In english it's the difference between "But is THIS really okay?" and "but is THAT really okay?". I just kinda left it awkward so you can make up your own mind.
The clip (J-clips are always weird, low-budget and not necessarily tied to the song) has old people, and thinking about it it could be a parent's advice to a child, too.
