As stated at the beginning of this blog, this is mainly for my own amusement, so I don't really give a rat's if having three "3 Songs" posts in a row is boring, I find it weirdly entertaining. It's like pitting the songs together to see who survives. Ben Folds went down surprisingly quick. Shame. Anyway:
Song #1: Do It Anyway by Ben Folds Five (Unnamed Album, 2012 (I hope))
As of June 2012, this is the first song to have been released off of BFF's upcoming 4th album. I've got it pre-ordered, and I can't recommend it enough. Anyway, "Do It Anyway":
Now, musically, this is pretty average Ben Folds, a reliance on piano with whatever the rest of the "Five" have to contribute. This song seems much angrier than a lot of Folds work, but I suppose its hard to write a song with an instruction as the title and not seem a little forceful. Really, nothing that stands out in regards to the piano of Folds.
Vocally, this song still seems forceful and strict, basically shouting at the audience at several points, which can work in certain circumstances, but doesn't really match what I have come to expect from Folds or his Five. Still, nothing far from the Folds standard.
Lyrically, this is one of the simpler songs I've looked at. Guess what? Folds wants you to do it (it being anything) Don't want to? Do it anyway! Here are some circumstances in which you should do it anyway (insert song lyrics here). Done. That's not really fair, though. The actual lyrics aren't as nearly as much a narrative as my favourite BFF songs, but they still saying something, rather than the majority of bullshit pop nowadays. Decent, but far from their best.
Song #2: You're Lookin' Fine by The Kinks (Face To Face, 1966, Track 12)
By this stage, I imagine anyone reading would have gathered quite an idea of my play-list. Apparently, I like a lot of Ben Folds and a lot of The Kinks. Yep, that would be about right. Anyway, I actually downloaded Face To Face, as it contains one of my all time favourite songs, "Sunny Afternoon". "You're Lookin' Fine" just happens to be on the same album. This song was neither a single nor a hit, so there isn't much on it, but since when has the fact that nobody gives a shit stopped me from doing anything?
Musically, this is superior to "Waterloo Sunset". The comparison has to be drawn, as both songs have been discussed. The music is pretty 60's standard, with a few touches that keep it above standard. Overall, the music has a somewhat confusing mood. The opening and ending make it seem a chilled, relaxed piece of album filler. In-between, however, the song takes a bit of a turn. The mood doesn't really change from cool and relaxed, but the vocals really get in the way.
The vocals are just horrid. I like a lot of The Kinks work, and I like aspects of this song too, but the vocals are far from good. They sound strained, pained and brutally forced. In a harsher, more emotive song that may be understandable, as the lyrics really mean something to the singer, but unless Ray Davies is trying to say something between the lines here, the forced, jarring vocals are just irritating. By this stage, if I had an audience, I'd be expecting hate mail or something.
Finally, the lyrics. Now, my belief is that lyrics for pop music have slowly been going down the drain for the past 60 years or so. Of course, there are exceptions, such as Gotye's brief and fantastic stint at the top of the pop chart in America, but overall...things aren't so good. With this said, "You're Lookin' Fine" isn't bad by modern standards. If most modern pop artists made a song with these lyrics today, it would be a considerably step up. However, I pride myself in possessing music which has at least some lyrical complexity. This song, even by modern standards, is incredibly shallow. There are 25 lines in this song. Of these, 9 are the line "You're lookin' fine". 7 more are variants of the phrase "I feel alright". That leaves less than 10 lines to get the point of the song across. By no means am I saying short songs, or songs with less lyrics naturally have less meaning or complexity. Just this one. The entire narrative of the song can be summised by restating the title.I was once told in a discussion of Coldplay that the majority of artists today have meaningless lyrics. That was depressingly accurate, perhaps through history as well as today.
Song #3: Meet Me In The City by Gomez (Split The Difference, 2004, Track 9)
Two days ago I went into my beloved money-sink shop, a second-hand CD store called Flipside. I traded in a few CD's and had a few bucks to spend. I came across some fantastic albums and a few I'm starting to regret buying already. One album, however, is...interesting. I found an album called "Split The Difference" by a group called Gomez. Now, the word Gomez triggered something in my brain, and I felt I'd heard a song of theirs before and liked it. Two days later and I still have no idea what that song was and I'm starting to thing I may have miss-heard "Gotye" at some point. Still, I now have their album, and as it was in the "3 for $10" I have no reason to feel ripped off. Now, "Meet Me In The City".
Now, I am yet to hear the album in its entirety, as it went on an MP3 player which is constantly set on shuffle, but I don't mind what I've heard so far at all. This particular song certainly warrants a few listens. At first it sounds like a cacophony of random noise (like (insert overrated, unpleasant musician here)), but after a few listens, it really comes into its own. Despite a lot of noise, at its heart this song is cool and bluesy. I really get the image this song is trying to paint, which it does much more with music than with lyrics. The sound seems to be the atmosphere of some conversation between a couple, both intruding upon and influencing the pair. It honestly sounds like the lyrics and music, whilst occurring simultaneously, have no previous association, just tying to cope with each others existence. Really fascinating.
The vocalist of this track knows exactly where he stands: secondary to the music, and the song succeeds because of this. Many songs do poorly because the artist at some point incorrectly decides that a song needs more or less input from the vocalist. This is not to be confused with lyrics. Lyrics are different. I mean making the vocals louder or more subtle, more blatant or kept to the background. Anyway, this song does it very well, with the music dominating the vocals at the beginning with the vocals taking over by the end. Well done, I must say.
The lyrics here are few, but unlike the previous song, it does not suffer for this. The lyrics are only as descriptive as they have to be, telling the story of a man meeting up with his girlfriend in "the city", only to end up pleading for her not to leave him. The vibe of the entire song is that the narrator is a little intoxicated, although this is never stated, its just my read on it. My theory is the entire song is a telephone call, occurring in a loud bar in New York or Chicago or London, with the narrator battling with the sounds around him, whilst fighting his own slightly skewered senses, all while trying to talk to his girlfriend, attempting to be heard and make sense despite everything. Really well done, I must say.
Winners:
Commentary: Well, these songs vary, well and truly, in calibre. The first and last are pretty good, but the second is possibly the worst song to appear on a "3 Songs" post so far.
First Category: Music:
This is a tricky one due to the nature of the songs. BFF is out pretty quick, due to the fact I know he can do a hell of a lot better. In the end, its a pick between classic, British, catchy beats or a mess of music that is clearly trying to do something different. In the end, trying new things successfully should always be picked first, so "Meet Me In The City" by Gomez wins this, with "You're Lookin' Fine" by The Kinks a close runner-up.
Second Category: Vocals:
Again, a close pick between two artists, Gomez and Folds. If you have to ask why "You're Lookin' Fine" isn't here, you clearly missed the point of my discussion of it. In the end, I'm going to have to give this one to Gomez, for the simple reason they aren't fucking screaming at us every now and then. Really, just listen to "Whatever and Ever, Amen" and tell me if at any point it sounds like Folds is trying to reach out of the speaker to tell you to do something. Not going to bother? I rest my case. Gomez first, Folds second.
Third Category: Lyrics:
This is honestly the easiest pick so far in "3 Songs" posts. Folds. Easy. The lyrics are terrible in "You're Lookin' Fine" and are secondary in "Meet Me In The City". Folds at least has a point. Folds first, Gomez the only other contender.
Winners:
1. "Meet Me In The City" by Gomez
2. "Do It Anyway" by Ben Folds Five
3. "You're Lookin' Fine" by The Kinks
Commentary welcomed. Hate mail tolerated.
H. Rourke
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