Songs Without Words

Stephanie - Lindsey Buckingham
From Buckingham Nicks (1973)

Denise at 16 - Al Stewart
From Bed-Sitter Images (1967)

I think these songs both aim to capture the same sentiment; if not that of a first love, then a love of exceeding novelty and sweetness. They're both acoustic instrumentals, they're both from their respective artists' first albums, and they both make me feel . . . wistful? Bittersweet? I can't find the right word, but it's an extraordinary emotion. Sometimes lyrics are simply unnecessary - what words could create the moods of these songs? I also wonder about the title characters, what they look like, how they act - perhaps Stephanie is a little more bubbly, and Denise a little more coy.

Stephanie is from Buckingham before he joined Fleetwood Mac, off of his and Stevie Nicks's album (still unreleased on CD!). Denise is from Stewart before he achieved his limited fame in the 70's playing "historical storytelling" songs - a decision I wish he hadn't made. Songs about Sir Richard Grenville and Jean-Paul Marat can be fun, but from a songwriter of his calibre I prefer a tender song about a pretty girl. Sufjan Stevens, you'd be wise to listen.

Silver and Gold

Well-Heeled Men - Josephine Foster & The Supposed
From All The Leaves Are Gone (2004)

Sounds like: Vashti Bunyan + Incredible String Band + Jefferson Airplane + Weird. Be not afraid of the weird - there are layers of awesome hidden underneath.

My favorite part (guilty as I am to admit it) is that awesome section after the first chorus, with the snare drum and the triumphant/menacing guitar, like the title characters marching into hell.

Any Time Is A Good Time For Being With You

This is the right song at the right time.

This Heart Is A Stone - Acid House Kings
From Sing Along with Acid House Kings (2005)

Rob Halford + Words = Fail

48 hours ago, my knowledge of Judas Priest consisted of the following:

1. "You've Got Another Thing Coming" is a great song
2. "Breaking The Law" is a fun song
3. Lots of people like them, and
4. Their lead singer, Rob Halford, is gay (notable only in context of his hyper-macho surroundings).

Figuring there was no time like the present to familiarize myself with these iron titans of metallic might (note to self: no more metaphors ever) I went out and got British Steel, their classic album from 1980. After repeated listens my conclusion is as follows: they're not very good. I mean, the singing and shredding is more than proficient, but the songs are, for the most part, forgettable and the riffs sound like they were all written in the same afternoon.

However, one track in particular stood out to me as a worthy candidate for a feature post here, a song by the name of "Rapid Fire." First off, musically this song is one of the better ones on the album. It sounds exaaaaactly like "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead (not featured here due to a rule I just made up: if a song is in Guitar Hero, it isn't featured here) but slightly worse in every department. Still, "Rapid Fire" came out half a year before that song did, so you gotta give Priest at least some credit - it's pretty thunderous, the solos in the third verse pack some serious whoopass, and Halford's yell at the end is truly blood-curdling.

But the music is not what grabs me here, oh no no no. The lyrics. The lyyyyyyyrics. Oh my god. I mean, I don't normally ask a lot from metal lyrics - generally anything that mentions death and swords and fire and motorcycles will suffice, bonus points for Tolkien references - but this song . . . it enters a whole new realm of awesome stupidity. I think I'm intrigued most by the weird mixture of lines that actually do kinda work followed by lines that are so absurd they border on surreal. I'll point out my favorites and leave it to you to enjoy the rest.

Rapid Fire - Judas Priest
From British Steel (1980)

• "Forging the furnace for the final grand slam" - Uh oh. Firstly, forging the furnace? What? Isn't this kind of like saying "digging the shovel" or "running the feet" . . . or something? Also, the phrase grand slam only look slightly out of place until you realize that they don't have baseball in the UK, which then makes it look reaaaly weird. What sort of grand slam are they referring to, exactly? My money's on the one in contract bridge.
• "Leaving a trail of destruction that's second to none" - Hm, this is what I meant before. "Trail of destruction" is very appropriate. But "second to none"? Are Judas Priest trying to sell me a car or something? I don't think trails of destruction are easily compared and contrasted, anyway.
• "Shattering blows crashing browbeating fright" - Browbeating. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I always figured that word meant mild intimidation, as in: I was browbeaten by the chess club president into playing the 3rd board. Whatever, it's practically Shakespeare when placed next to this one . . .
• "Fast devastating and desolisating the curse" - Yes. You read correctly. Desolisating. Rob Halford made up a word in his song. I assume he meant "desolating" or something like that, but . . . I just stare in awe at this line. I tip my cap to it. I salute it. Congratulations, Judas Priest; thanks to you the English language has indeed reached a new nadir. Never before has subtraction by addition been made so painfully clear.
  
• Oh whatever, I can't even bring myself to look at the third verse after that. Have fun with the rest of the song. If you need to reach me, I'll be bludgeoning myself unconscious with Samuel Johnson's dictionary.

*Extra-Super-Special Bonus Video: Observe how High on Fire handle the aforementioned problem: incoherent yelling!

The Blacksmith

I'm going to give this site another try, I think. It's summer, I'm alone, I'm bored, and I'm listening to lots of music. So: Time to impose my obsessions on an unsuspecting (and nonexistent) public.

The Blacksmith is a traditional English folk song, around for a while but first written down by my homeboy Ralph Vaughan Williams*. I like folk and folk rock a lot, and realized today that I have 3 versions of this song, so I thought I'd do a little compare and contrast action.

First off, the song itself rules; check out the uneven lyrical lines of six and five alternating syllables, the weird shifting time signature, and that haunting melody. As far as the lyrics go it's a pretty straightforward tale of unrequited love. The one line that's always intrigued me is

And if I was with my love
I would do my duty

I wonder what duty she's referring to here. Maybe I'm just a moron. Anyway, on to the songs.

The Blacksmith - Steeleye Span
From Hark! The Village Wait (1970)

• Steeleye Span is one of my favorite folk rock groups - mainly due to lead singer Maddy Prior, who has an ability to blend a gutsy delivery with a really beautiful tone.
• For me, though, the hero of this version is bassist Ashley Hutchings (formerly of Fairport Convention) - his playing is like a gliding counter-melody throughout the song, and he gives this version a real smoothness.
• Also, pay attention to the tricky drumming. Count along, I dare you.
• This version has a real cool groove to it, which I like. But all told, I think it's my least favorite of the three.

The Blacksmith - Steeleye Span
From Please to See the King (1971)

• Yup, they recorded a second version a year later, and it couldn't be more different. Slower and waaaay creepier. Between these albums Span lost some people and gained some others - most notably . . .
  
• Martin Carthy on guitar. Check out that gorgious, chilling chiming sound he makes in the beginning. Awesome.
• Oh hoh, there are also no drums on this version, leaving it to Maddy to guide the song with her vocals. I get the impression that she's really playing her character in the song instead of just telling us the story.
• Other things to note - screechy violin solo, way way cool a cappella breaks, eerie organ drone after the first verse.

The Blacksmith - Planxty
From Planxty (1973)

• Here's a straight up Irish folk angle on the song, and while that first version swings and the second one echoes, this one jangles.
• Man, the picking here is just tremendous. The mandolin is all in the left channel, and the bouzouki (yup, the bouzouki) is all in the right, which really lets you hear the manic interplay between the two.
• Is that a bagpipe you hear come in at 3:20? If Planxty were Scottish, yes. Since they're Irish, you get uilleann pipes.
• And you've just got to love that instrumental break at the end. The players start in on this cool melody completely separate from the rest of the song, and then the drums kick in . . . it's very nice.
• See them play it live here.
  

I'd love to hear what anyone thinks.

*Just for those who may not know, pronounced "Ray-f." Crazy English people.

Elna Baker

Dragnet Fugue