Monday, September 20, 2004:
I'm tempted to write that this song is anthemic and move on, but a little voice keeps nagging me to look it up.
dictionary.com: an-them n.
1. A hymn of praise or loyalty.
2. A choral composition having a sacred or moralizing text in English.
3. A modern ballad accompanied by rock music instrumentation.
Let's see: #1? no. #2? no, it's not sacred or moralizing, though it is in English. #3? no, though it is both modern and rock. So on an anthemic scale, where the U.S.' "National Anthem" is a .67 out of 1.0,* this song is a 0.0. Not an anthem, no sir.** But I am enthralled by the measured pace; the background organ, the vocal harmonies, the slide guitar giving just enough. The song builds to a raucous attempt to bang on God's door and force an answer. And, as might be expected, it fades away, dissatisfied, the door unopened.
*"their foul footstep's pollution"? I wondered why people don't sing it all the way through; I guess it's not because of the high notes.
**A 1.0, the anthemest a song could be, would be a ballad dedicated to a god who'd left you, but you had faith he'd return; you would wait until he did; and everyone else is just plain stupid for not doing the same. It would say all this and then fade out with a long guitar solo.***
***It's possible Mother Mary wrote such a song. Well, except for the guitar. And the English. And the romantic bits.... Well, now that you mention it, Leda's looking about as likely, which is to say: not at all.****
****Yes, I've been reading too much Terry Pratchett. I'd recommend Pyramids unless you're not into satires about assassins, chimerical deities, and quantum physics. And footnotes.
[amazon.com]
Lord, Can You Hear Me
Spiritualized -- Lord, Can You Hear MeI'm tempted to write that this song is anthemic and move on, but a little voice keeps nagging me to look it up.
dictionary.com: an-them n.
1. A hymn of praise or loyalty.
2. A choral composition having a sacred or moralizing text in English.
3. A modern ballad accompanied by rock music instrumentation.
Let's see: #1? no. #2? no, it's not sacred or moralizing, though it is in English. #3? no, though it is both modern and rock. So on an anthemic scale, where the U.S.' "National Anthem" is a .67 out of 1.0,* this song is a 0.0. Not an anthem, no sir.** But I am enthralled by the measured pace; the background organ, the vocal harmonies, the slide guitar giving just enough. The song builds to a raucous attempt to bang on God's door and force an answer. And, as might be expected, it fades away, dissatisfied, the door unopened.
*"their foul footstep's pollution"? I wondered why people don't sing it all the way through; I guess it's not because of the high notes.
**A 1.0, the anthemest a song could be, would be a ballad dedicated to a god who'd left you, but you had faith he'd return; you would wait until he did; and everyone else is just plain stupid for not doing the same. It would say all this and then fade out with a long guitar solo.***
***It's possible Mother Mary wrote such a song. Well, except for the guitar. And the English. And the romantic bits.... Well, now that you mention it, Leda's looking about as likely, which is to say: not at all.****
****Yes, I've been reading too much Terry Pratchett. I'd recommend Pyramids unless you're not into satires about assassins, chimerical deities, and quantum physics. And footnotes.
[amazon.com]
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