That's right! We're going in for a fourth!
Song #1: Brimful Of Asha by Cornershop (When I Was Born For The 7th Time, 1997, Track 2)
Sadly, this is the only song by cornershop I'm familiar with, but from what I've read, they're a fascinating group. They even did a collaboration with one of my favourite poets, Allen Ginsberg. I must track some oftheir stuff down. To no surprise to anyone who has so much as looked at the list of blog posts to your right, I have reviewed a lot of Triple J compelations, but I don't believe that I've gone pre-2000 yet (with the obvious exception of the All Time album). This song just happens to be on one of them.
The music is absolutely fantastic, showing the upbeat, lively and enjoyable melodies coming out of both Britain and the 1990's. The guitar is the stand-out on this as well as an instrument I cannot identify for the life of me floating in the backgroud, which makes this song seem much more complex than first appearances. Upon first hearing this song, I was absolutely in love with the tune, which is incredibly catchy. I cannot for the life of me work out why I've never looked into Cornershop before. Also, the inclusion of violins near the end is a very interesting choice.
Vocals here are fantastic, fitting the mood set by the music. Both are designed, to my ear, to sound imperfect. This is a good move, as it makes the music much more "relateable", by which I mean something easily enjoyable without analysis...which I'm doing anyway. Defeating the point? Why yes!
In regards to the meaning of the lyrics, I'm not even going to try to explain in depth. An individual calling themselves "splitpeasoup" has done a fantastic explanation of the topic, which can be found here. In short, it's about a singer in Bollywood. Yeah, I'm cutting a lot of corners here. I'm willing to get into something I have no expertise about, but I'm not going to get into something I don't even understand the basics of. However, the repetition of "45" and "Everyone needs a bosom as a pillow" is enjoyable and upbeat. Yeah, I haven't got much. It's good. Done.
Song #2: English Civil War by The Clash (Give 'Em Enough Rope, 1978, Track 2)
The same day I found the Gomez album, I also found "Give 'Em Enough Rope". Now, I adore The Clash, as do seemingly many of my favourite artists. Both Ben Folds and Urthboy have covered Clash songs ("Lost In The Supermarket" & "London Calling" respectively). Although I feel a large amount of albums deemed "the best ever" are extremely overrated, I have no doubt that "London Calling" is exactly where it should be in the public opinion.
First of all, music. I think it is impossible to look at any Clash song and not detect anger (or at the very least passion) in every element of their songs, the music in this particular track included. The track is actually based musically on the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" from the American Civil War. This is a very interesting idea, which I'll look at further in lyrics. The music is of course heavily adapted by The Clash to fit their purposes. I'm not sure how much guitar there was in the American Civil War tune, but The Clash added more anyway. Angry, loud and historically based. What's not to like?
In regards to vocals, Strummer fits the mood of the song perfectly, anger, passion and very English. The one issue I have with it is that at certain points it's... how to put this politely... a little difficult to get what the hell he's saying. I understand the message of the song and all, but there is so much accent in every word I don't know how it would be possible to have a regular conversation with Strummer. Anyway, the mood of the song fits the vocals, so there's no real problem.
The lyrics are probably the most discussable aspect of music by The Clash, especially in regards to a song called "English Civil War". By the way, if you think this song might be about the literal Civil War fought in England, you either don't know anything about The Clash or you're an idiot, or possibly both. The song is actually about tensions building around the rise of the political right in Britain in the late 1970's, with a character (creatively named Johnny) becoming involved in the conflict. The entire thing seems to be a scathing attack on political right in general, and considering Thatcher took power the next year, he was fucking right to be attacking them. And, yes , The Clash broke Godwin's Law by comparing the British political right to Hitler. I think.
Song #3: Mansard Roof by Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend, 2008, Track 1)
I don't believe I've discussed Vampire Weekend at length before, but I must say I adore this group, even though they screwed up the "All-English" thing I had going in this 3 Songs. They are among the cheeriest, liveliest, most enjoyable groups I have ever had the pleasure of hearing and "Mansard Roof" just happens to be one of my favourites. I must stress that this group following The Clash is completely coincidental, despite the fact that The Clash released an album named "Sandinista!" and Vampire Weekend released an album named "Contra". Google it if you don't get the meaning of the terms, or don't find it entertaining. Or stop reading, if you think I'm the reason you're not entertained. Which could well be the case.
Let's start with the music. Lively, catchy and memorable. I have not the slightest complaint, although, besides drums, I could not name a single instrument being played. Oh, I think that's a violin. Maybe. Absolutely fantastic.
Vocally, this song matches the music very well, as Koenig has a strange voice, something I imagine in conversation would not sound musical, and manages to bring the song back to earth a little, as I imagine a singer with a "pop" voice would have just made the song too fantastical, not allowing for anyone to take the song seriously.
OK, this is going to be "fun". In short, I have no idea what the lyrics mean, or at least no firm ground on which to base any theories. Reading around online, there are three main theories:
1. An environmental message, I honestly think someone just came up with this idea because they use the word "garbage" at one point.
2. The Falklands War. This makes a bit more sense, as the song has the line "The Argentines collapse in defeat" and also "The Admiralty surveys the remnants of the fleet." I get the logic, but I don't really know how to feel about a song which makes abstract reference to a small scale conflict which occurred several decades ago and had no real historical significance in the long run, really. Just why
3. My personal favourite,but with far less evidence, is that the song is a series of observations. I don't get how the last verse figures in, but the first two sort of fit.
My personal opinion is that the song is just a piece of poetic observations of a series of objects and events. Perhaps akin to a train of thought piece. They started with a Mansard roof, and ended up in Argentina. I don't get it, but I've made some pretty weird mental connections in my time, so I'm not one to judge. As a final note, there are not many lyrics. The first and second verses are identical, and there are only three verses. I understand that the music was the focus, but I really wish there had been more lyrics to help listeners get it.
Winners:
Overall, this is almost certainly the best three songs I've analysed together so far. Again, I was really hoping for the all Brit thing, but never mind.
First Category: Music:
Honestly, I don't listen to The Clash for their music as much as their lyrics, so they are out of the running for this with that track.Between the other two, however, it's a tough pick. Both are incredibly lively and catchy, and there isn't much to separate the two if vocals and lyrics are taken out. However, I think Vampire Weekend deserve this one, with Cornershop as the runners-up
Second Category: Vocals:
This is the easiest by far. The Clash are out because of the incomprehensibility of several lines, which I find slightly infuriating. Really, it's down to my preference of Tjinder Singh of Cornershop or Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend. Although I love a lot of the work of Vampire Weekend, I have to say in a track to track comparison, Singh wins. Koenig is a reasonably close runner-up.
Third Category: Lyrics
Vampire Weekend is out instantly. Despite some fantastic imagery, the lyrics are just too ambiguous for my tastes. The Clash and Cornershop are both reasonably upfront about what they're saying, really leaving it up to a preference of Indian cinema or British politics in the 70's. I have a hell of a lot of difficulty picking this one, but I've got to go with The Clash on this one, just because of the use of a traditional theme to draw upon the ideals of the general public. I like that idea very much. Cornershop is of course the runner-up.
Overall:
1. "Brimful Of Asha" by Cornershop
2. "Mansard Roof" by Vampire Weekend
3. "English Civil War" by The Clash
.... The Clash came last?
H. Rourke
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