Artist: Bright Eyes
Album: Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
Track: Take It Easy (Love Nothing)
i'm really loving this new album. it is very unique. which leads me to say (again) that conor oberst is the most talented lyricist of the modern music scene. i know that music tends to be crap nowadays...but i think hes got something most bands don't have. i think that 'something' would have to be defined as creativity, innovation, and just plain balls. he puts 'it' out there. 'it' being his heart and soul. he will tell 'it' like 'it' is. on top of that he will be both frank and poetic about putting 'it' out there. i'll try and use the song i'm listening to as an example...heres the last stanza:
Now I do as I please and lie through my teeth
Someone might get hurt, but it won't be me
I should probably feel cheap but I just feel free...
and a little bit empty
No, it isn't so hard to get close to me
There will be no arguments
We will always agree
And I will try and be kind when I ask you to leave
We will both take it easy
But if you stay too long inside my memory,
I will trap you in a song tied to a melody
and I will keep you there so you can't bother me
i especially love the last three lines where he attempts to correlate his song writing to memory. almost as if his songs are his memories. he can capture his memories in song and subsequently recall them when he sees fit. but those memories that he doesn't want to recall...are simply left in the melody of the song. i find it to be fascinating how such abstracts are practically personified in the form of a song...all the while...being part of a song.
even outside of conor oberst...the music is amazing. the technoesque beats of 'digital ash' are catchy. i love how 'arc of time' makes me want to do a righteous drum solo. the electronic sound is very fulfilling but i still prefer the classic bright eyes sound that is known for having innovative acoustic melodies backed by harmonic orchestra sounds. the piano is more than nice too.
maybe i'm embellishing...who knows? maybe i look into music too much. maybe music isn't worth as much as i think it might be. perhaps lyrics in general are more along the lines of 'brain farts' as opposed to asides of the soul. perhaps music isn't as personal as i think it is. maybe music just toys with the soul. is it a waste of time to look past the literal? should we augment thousands of lines of lyrics to fit our lives? is it worth it?
we probably won't ever know. i think music follows closely with poetry. many people say that song lyrics are poetry put to music. having written a few songs in my day...i would agree...but i'd also reverse the roles. often times the lyrics are music put to poetry. which can greatly effect the overall meaning and sentiment that is packaged with your words. like i said before, we won't ever really know what the author meant to write. we can only use our imagination to fantasize about what they could have possibly meant...and attempt to relate this to our own perspective on the concept of existence.
if you have some time...feel free to leave me some input on the concept of music/songwriting/bright eyes/understanding poetry or song.
anywho...this weekend i again took part in several aggie events. i went to the basketball game where we outscored tech. it was a very exciting game. it was senior bobby leech's final home game. he was honored with a righteous jersey at the beginning of the game. at the end of the game, the crowd was chanting for antoine wright to give us one more year of basketball. i hope he does. he is amazing. i have this feeling that wright and future freshman recruit martellus bennett could do some serious damage. i hope we get another big man to help outstanding joseph jones out though. he is an excellent player...but another guy to get boards couldn't hurt right? pic of the game:
i also went to an aggie baseball game where we played washington. we won, of course.
another pic:
baseball is kinda boring to me. but i still hope we have a great season!
anywho, like i said before...looking forward to Northgate Music Festival. I hope to get a lot of pictures from that fun weekend loaded up. We'll have to see.
My speech exam went all right and my management exam went all right. This week I just have to write a paper and prepare/give an informative speech. I plan on getting it done by Wednesday afternoon. Then, thursday through saturday night it's the music festival. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
enjoy yourselves!