The City Veins

I think that it was when I started listening to more classical music, and opera, that I decided that I wanted more of a link between the words and the music in my (our) songs. One might think, “of course there should be a link between the music and lyrics. What kind of idiot are you?” Well, it is not something that Aaron and I have ever really done, so leave us alone.

An obvious example of what I mean is “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” by Meatloaf. The first part is loose and fun. It gives an air of innocence, recalling scenes in movies of teenagers by lakes in the 50s. I personally picture the lake in the movie Pleasantville during the opening. In the second part, the band goes into 70s disco era. Which undercuts the innocence of the first part, and gives a much more suggestive dirty feel to the song. The music then builds to a crescendo, with the girl dramatically breaking in. Notice how forceful the band is during the woman’s part compared to the man’s. The the song keeps moving up a step at a time, heightening the intensity and putting more pressure on the boy. Until he finally cracks, and the music becomes almost manic to mimic the boys mind set.

The link between the words and music in “Paradise” is overt. One doesn’t really need to know anything about music to understand how the band is reinforcing what is being sung. A subtler, and more effective, example is “We Use to Vacation” by the Cold War Kids. You can download the song here at the always fantastic Daytrotter. The song is about an alcoholic father. In the verse, the father describes the things that he has done while drunk. The music features a descending bassline over a minor chord. The bass goes from the root, to the major 7th, minor 7th, and then the 6th. This is similar to the first four bars of “My Funny Valentine” or all of “Dear Prudence” by the Beatles. In “We Use to Vacation” the dark feel from the minor key, plus the descending bassline just show how bad the father’s alcoholism is. I think that the music is pushing him towards “rock bottom.” The chorus then moves to the related major key, and gives the impression of hope when the father sings “I made a promise to my wife and kids.” The music gives the impression that he is serious and earnestly trying to change, which makes the “It sounds so soothing” line all the more tragic.

Photo by Flickr user hi-tekznolgik.

This blog will be an interesting illustration of what lyric writing has been like for me for the past few weeks…

As Charles has alluded to several times, our band has a difficult time with lyrics. I suppose as the lead singer I should take up the responsibility of writing lyrics because I will be singing them, and over the past few weeks I’ve been writing like Earnest Hemmingway in heat. Yes, there have been some struggles, but for the most part I think I’ve been moving along swimmingly. And that, my friends, is rare for a man of few words and a limited vocabulary.

The problem is I have some pretty limiting self-imposed restraints to lyric writing. Here, let me list them:

1) I will not write about love or girls, sex, booze, or drugs.

There are many reasons for this set of restraints, the most obvious being that every good song written on these subjects has already been put together. I really cannot offer any insight that wouldn’t be specific to myself and thus, boring for everyone else.

2) I refuse to put myself into my lyrics.

It is self-indulgent and narcissistic to write about your problems and actions. I have enough ego to go around; I do not feel the need to convince others that I am important. In the event that a first person narrative slips into the lyrics, it is never the intention that the content represent my life or those around me. Not that this comparison is prefect, but it’s similar to the process by which Eminem uses first person narrative. I would prefer to tell a story of reprehensible action and morality through the eyes of the perpetrator, and that is the instance in which the “I” can be useful.

3) I would always prefer philosophical exploration over subjects of other sorts.

This is possibly the least “rock” thing anyone could ever say, but the bands I respect most (The Clash, Radiohead, Q and Not U) are very philosophical, although in entirely unique ways. Radiohead are really constantly exploring the metaphysical, while both Q and Not U and The Clash are exploring ethics. The best lyrics that Charles or I have ever written were borne of existentialism. The trick is not to over-do the philosophical rhetoric, and that is not always the easiest thing to do. While it may seem self-indulgent and pretentious to try to take on these subjects, it’s more of an attempt at something difficult than an assertion of my intellectual superiority. And while I often fail to effectively tackle these subjects, I still find the process fulfilling.

So after I finished writing the lyrics to “Oh, Backwards” and “Friends Like Us” (new song we start our sets with), I ran out of quick ideas. So, like any good liberal, I turned to the New York Times for content.

One of my favorite philosophers and film-makers, Errol Morris(Mr. Death, Vernon Florida, Fog of War), writes a blog for the NYT. Errol Morris is an epistemologist, constantly trying to answer the question of what constitutes knowledge. His first film, Vernon, Florida, explores a town in which the entire citizenry is running an insurance scam by intentionally cutting off their fingers at the digits. His most recent blog in the New York Times explores the variety of ways one can light an object in a photograph, and how difficult it is to trace the origin of that light back from the finished product given the number of variables involved. It’s difficult to summarize, but it traces back to Errol Morris’ fascination with the flimsy reliability of sensory perception.

To make a long story short, I am working on turning this into a song, the basic outline of which is currently in the works. I have always thought that there is nothing more interesting than those who dogmatically believe X, Y and Z are true, even in the face of visual evidence to the contrary. Somewhat conversely, I also think believing anything dogmatically which is SUPPORTED by visual evidence is fascinating (and possibly misguided) because our sensory perception is so often wrong. To me, this process is song-worthy.

This will be the rare instance in which the lyrics and the music are constructed at the same time. We’ll see how it goes.