Thunder Road - Part 1: Magic In The Night

To celebrate my 300th post on this blog I presented “Thunder Road” by Bruce Springsteen.  I felt that post did this song justice embracing all of what this song meant to me by letting the song speak for itself.

Lately I’ve felt myself drawn to this song. It’s like I need this song in my life right now. Maybe it’s my grandmother dying, becoming comfortable being thirty, or the other changes in my life. I’m not sure. But I’m finding what I’m searching for in my life in this song now more than ever.

I have hesitated to write about this song because it so magical and I fear that I lack the skills to really articulate everything that this song is about. It’s time to not be afraid and to look deep within this song. To know what a song is about is to know what it means and it is within this meaning that we find ourselves.



It starts with an invitation, a guitar and piano ascending carefully, dancing and flowing in and out of each other. “Thunder Road’s” introduction is one of the most famous album openings. As the first track on Springsteen’s pivotal album Born To Run, “Thunder Road” was the entry point into a universe of characters that would encapsulate everything that is rock music.

With each line Springsteen paints a vivid picture. The sound of a screen door, the waving of a vision of grace as Mary comes into our world. Originally, this girl was Angelina and then Christina but in the end Springsteen settled on Mary. This name brings forth images of the innocent virgin carrying an unimaginable burden to the mother watching her only son suffer. These visions mix together with a girl standing nervously facing the road ahead.

One of the ways that you know that you are in love is when love songs begin to make sense. As our unnamed protagonist identifies with Orbison’s song for the lonely we know there is something immediate and powerful about his feelings. He begs for her not to leave him because he “can’t face myself alone again.” She’s turned him home and he’s tried to imagine his life without her that he can’t.

She has doubts. Maybe she’s not that young girl, the idea woman. He begs her to have faith and believe in him. When he says that she “ain’t a beauty,” he isn't saying that he doesn’t think she’s pretty. Instead he’s embracing what she is, not the woman she wishes she could be.

The song starts by setting a scene and switches perspectives through Orbison’s song to this man speaking to a girl. These words reveal a vulnerability and a passion. He’s trying to convince her to come with him because there is something that she brings to the way he sees himself that he can’t live without.  Also, he believes there is something that he can give her that no one else can.

In the opening of "Thunder Road," our main character embraces everything that this girl is, her doubts and her fears because he has faith.  He knows that there is something there between them and that there is magic in the night.

8th Grade Playlist: #2. 50 Ways To Say Goodbye by Train

I asked my 8th graders to share me songs by their music heroes.  Here are my reactions to these songs.

Sometimes we forget that pop music can be funny. Growing up in the maelstrom of gangster rap and grundge music, I remember music getting really dark and serious. Even now, sometime it seems like pop musicians feel that the only way to be taken seriously is well to have music that is not all really all that much fun.

This is one of the reasons I love PSY's “Gangnum Style.”



People laugh at the ridiculousness of this music video and revel in it. It’s a breath of fresh air, but the thing is, most music videos of the 1980s were just as silly as this one and just as fun. Also “Gangnum Style,” is a great song.

When one of my 8th graders sent me “50 Ways To Say Goodbye” by Train, I was dreading having to listen to this song. Look, I acknowledge the catchiness of Train’s music but the nonsensical lyrics of “Hey, Soul Sister” drive me crazy (here is my post about that song). Well, my student made the effort to e-mail me about this song and it deserves my attention so here we go.



Wait a second, David Hasselhoff!! I LOVED this guy on Knight Rider. There’s a mariachi band and there’s lead singer Pat Monahan dropping any level of pretention and hamming it up for the camera! This is awesome AND the lyrics totally make sense.

Okay, the story is that a guy gets dumped and because of the shame and hurt, he can’t bear to tell his friends the truth so he makes up ridiculous explanations for his ex-girlfriend’s absence including being eaten by a lion and getting hit by a purple Scion.

Genius.

Look, this is exactly what great pop music is all about. Train is incorporating some cool sounds like a Mariachi band ala Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire.” Then they took a very sad and difficult feeling of being rejected and turned in it into a hilarious anthem.

Sometimes the only way to deal with difficult emotions is to make a joke out of it and Train effectively does this helping us work through these emotions by reflecting the ridiculousness of this reaction. At the same time Train makes us feel better about the impulse of hiding the truth by letting us know that we are not crazy for feeling a need to hide being dumped from our friends.

Train, you totally redeemed the nonsense of “Hey soul sister, ain’t that mister mister” with “She'll think I'm Superman, Not super minivan.”

Nicely Done.

. . . but we still got some work to do to get passed "Meet Virginia."

You Don’t Bring Me Flowers by Neil Diamond and Barbara Streisand

I love Neil Diamond. That guy is the man. How can you hate on the guy who wrote “Sweet Caroline,” possibly the greatest sing along song in pop music history? I love his duet with Barbara Streisand “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.” But man, I hate Barbara Streisand.

Okay, maybe hate is too strong a word. Part of my dislike comes from the insane way that people who are fans of Streisand worship her. In addition, her ridiculous diva attitude doesn’t make her the most likable performer but I can admit, at her peak she could really sing and her duet with Neil Diamond is one of the most beautiful and unforgettable songs you’ll ever hear.

Neil Diamond wrote "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with several collaborators in 1977 and in the next year Streisand covered the song. Gary Guthrie, a disc jockey, took these two versions and edited them together as a going away present for his wife that he had just divorced. This version gained such interest that Diamond and Streisand recorded a studio version of the duet. It was this version that became a number one hit and led to one of the greatest Grammy performances of all time.



I mean what color is Barbara wearing? What is the deal with that pantsuit? Oh lord check out the size Neil’s lapels and man that bow tie is small. Laf, Neil is SO wearing old man paints that go above his belly button and . . . um. . . . oh my God, they are walking towards each other. Neil, why don’t “used to be’s” count any more?!? . . . then Barbara touches his hair and wow . . .

The presentation is SO 1980 and the production of the strings is not hip or modern but there is something beautiful about the performance and this song.

This is one of those few breakup songs that is completely devoid of anger.  Anger is not really an emotion itself. Rather it’s an expression of an emotion. Often when you are sad that is expressed through anger and the beauty of “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” is that we get to true emotion at the heart of the situation, sadness.

“You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” paints the picture of a beautiful relationship by showing us what isn’t anymore. If you transformed all the negatives into positives you would have one of the most romantic and beautiful love songs, instead we have a heartbreaking realization of what has been lost.

Diamond doesn’t try to out sing Streisand, instead he does what he’s best at, a more conversational style with a deep baritone letting Streisand soar above him and juice the passion and pain out of every single note. It’s a big contrast of styles but it works so well together.

The line, “you think I could learn to tell you goodbye” always gets to me because that truly is one of the hardest things to do in life because when you say the words and the person leaves, they are still with you. Feeling someone in your heart and not feeling their physical presence is one the most depressing things in life.

However while this song is sad, there is smile deep within.  It's like by going through journey these two people are reminded how beautiful love can be and even though they lost this love, there's hope in the future.  This is best explained by Butters Scotch:

“I love life . . I’m sad but at the same time I’m really happy that something can make me feel that sad. It’s like, it makes me feel alive. It makes me feel human. The only way I could feel this sad now is if I felt something really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good. So I guess what I’m feeling is like a beautiful sadness.”

She by Elvis Costello (from Notting Hill)

She is song of contradictions, embracing the complexities, the mystery and haunting power of a woman. Reminiscent of Billy Joel’s “She’s Always A Woman” (which I discussed in this earlier post), Costello performs a portrait that is beautiful not despite of its contradictions but because of them.



Originally recorded in 1974 by Charles Aznavour, “She” was a major hit in the United Kingdom reaching the top of the charts



Costello recorded the song for the 1999 film Notting Hill starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.



Modernizing the orchestral background creating a richer and warmer texture, Costello sing brings his punk rock-new wave edge to the song expressing the lyrics with a complex sense of frustration and wonder that perfectly reflects the film.

Notting Hill on the surface seems like a typical romantic comedy. Charmingly befuddle William Thacker (Hugh Grant), a small time book seller meets a huge Hollywood actor, Anna Scott played by Julia Roberts and they fall in love. Like a reverse Cinderella story the Princess makes the commoners dream come true. However this film is so much more than that.

Director Robert Mitchell creates a deliberately passes this film, has Julia Roberts have shockingly little dialogues and steers clear of the conventions that have made the Romantic Comedy the bane of the male movie going population.

William while at odds by the Hollywood lifestyle isn’t impressed by it. He has a sense of security and predictability in his life that Anna doesn’t.  Anna is insecure and venerable who is simply “just a girl standing in front of a boy asking her to love her” as Anna tells William in the end.

The trailers does a horrible job expressing the mood of the film. Rather check out this amazing scene which shows the passage of time simply through the changing weather as William walks down the street.



“She” bookends Notting Hill serving as both the introduction of the Anna Scott and closes the film celebrating the love the William and Anna find (yes, I spoiled the ending for you, two characters in a romantic comedy fall in love in the end)

The amazing part is how the song transforms through the course of the film as we take the journey with characters and resonates with us long after the film is over.  This is a rare example of when two art forms complement each other, trying them together in our memory creating an experience that makes us willing to a watch a Romantic Comedy. 

BP Protest song: God’s Counting on Me, God’s Counting on You by Pete Seeger

“The oil spill makes me wish for the first time that Superman actually existed. It would take him approximately 10 minutes to plug it up and another 30 minutes to clean it up the spill . . . sigh . . .”
-my facebook status during the second week of the oil spill in the Gulf.

One of the most disheartening sites in recent memory was flying into Panama Beach, Florida and seeing oil floating on the top of the water. At first, there was a sense of disbelief and then a sinking feeling of horror.  Diana’s cousin was getting married down there.  In all the excitement, I almost forgot about the whole oil spill until walking on the beach and seeing tar balls collecting on the sand.

It’s hard for me to know how to feel about all of this. Being angry at BP, politicians and whoever else we can blame this catastrophe on really doesn’t get us anywhere. Where do we look for guidance? Yesterday I found some answers in a man who has acted as the consciences of America for generations, Pete Seeger.

Pete Seeger is 91 years old and one of the most influential American musicians.  Without him there would we wouldn’t have Bob Dylan, Springsteen, the conscience of rock music and the spirit of hip-hop. Continuing the tradition of Woodie Guthrie, Seeger is a cultural treasure carrying on  some of our most important songs like “We Shall Overcome” . . .



 . . . and composing some of the most powerful songs like “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?”



What does this old man have to tell us about the oil spill? Simply that we can get through this if we join together.



There’s some political shading in this song,  “drill baby drill turns to spill baby spill."  But it's more humorous then critical and “it’s time to turn things around trickle up, not trickle down,” isn’t so much political but a call to all of us to change our way of thinking.

Like “We Shall Overcome” this is a song for the people, and it warms my heart how Seeger teaches the song to the audience as he performs.  Sometimes we forget that protest music isn’t so much about anger but calling people to change and there’s no better way than to encourage people to change through optimism: “Don’t give up, don’t give in, working together we all can win.”

The chorus ends with the statement, “hoping we’ll all pull through” and if after 91 years, Seeger is still believes in all of us, than who am I to become disheartened?

My favorite part of this song is the last verse: “when we sing with younger folks, we can never give up hope.” It’s so true. Sharing music, songs and life with young people rejuvenates you like nothing else and maybe that’s why Seeger is still active in his 90s. 

I don't know if we're all to blame for this disaster but as Seeger suggest we all have a role in the solution.  When Seeger opens the songs singing "God's counting on me, God's counting on you,"  he's not talking so much about God but about us counting on each other.   If we come together and face our problems not with anger but with hope we will pull through.

Thanks for the hope Pete.

Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley was the first great American rock star. He defined the teen idol, revolutionized rock music and left an everlasting impact on our culture. However, for a period he became irrelevant.

One of the first pop artists to expand into film (now a common occurrence), Elvis started out showing impressive range in “Love Me Tender.”



However his films quickly became jokes, the music he created which accompanied his film were no longer on the edge of rock’s development. Elvis, a man whose bottom half of his body was censored during television performances because of the suggestive ways his hips moved became about as threatening as the Jonas Brothers.

In 1969, Elvis decided he needed to make a change. He put together his legendary comeback special and jumped back into the studio. What emerged was From Elvis In Memphis, his first album not related to a film in eight years. It was country, gospel, soul, rock and most of it was Elvis. Distilled down to what made him change the world, Elvis gave us one last reminder of the power of his voice with his final number one hit before he died “Suspicious Minds.”



Like a great Motown song, the background instrumental and vocal singers are so well-crafted and full of soul, a monkey could record the lead vocal and this song would still sound awesome. The twirling guitar that opens song, the gliding strings lines, the pulsing horns in the second verse, the rolling bass line and the snap of the hi-hat rhythm all combine like ingredients in a stew. Every single piece can be easily separated and identified for their individual greatness but together they create a masterpiece of sounds and colors that doesn’t so much emote feeling but lives and breathes life.

The back-up sings act as a Greek chorus with the sounds of a gospel choir. They are haunting as they lead into the second chorus building up the exclamation “Yes I’m CRYING!! Ok, so I guess I was exaggerating a little bit, if a monkey did the lead vocals, this back-up singers would not save this song, but you get the point.

Elvis sings best when he’s in pain. The slight hiccup in his voice with the Shakira-like moan that he glides through the notes with are melodramatic but come across as genuine and heartfelt. His baritone has so much tone and depth, it’s like there’s a cathedral reverberating inside his body before his voice pours out of him. When Elvis sings “you can’t see the tears I feel I’m crying,” his voice slides down these pitches and even though his girlfriend can’t feel the tears he is crying, we can.

Emotionally “Suspicious Minds” sticks with us because it’s about something that we all struggle with in our lives, trust. When you trust someone you are taking a chance, but you need to take that chances or else you are destined for disappointment.

People act the way that we expect them to and if you believe that someone will betray your trust, chances are they will. Real love can only develop from believing that someone can be trusted and having that trust fulfilled. It’s not an exaggeration to be as torn as Elvis is when dealing with the way someone thinks.

How we perceive the people around us, shapes our interactions and “Suspicious Minds” reminds us how powerful and painful lack of faith can truly be.

Shed a Little Light by James Taylor

“Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King. . . ”



Honoring Martin Luther King Jr. is honoring his beliefs, his methods and his dream. It is saying that we continue to believe that all men are created equal, that violence an inferior way of promoting change and that a world where our children are not judged by the color of their skin but rather the content of their character is worth believing in.

With this day we say that we admire best among us not because of economic success or physical prowess but rather because of service to society. And in honoring Martin Luther King Jr. is believing as James Taylor sings, “we are bound together in our desire to see the world become a place that our children can grow free and strong.”

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is affirmation; it’s a statement of values, a declaration of what it means to be American. This day reminds me that deep in our hearts, we want something better and we are all working together for a common dream.

This day is also a reminder of the nature of change. No great steps in freedom have come about organically. Everything from gaining the right to vote for women and minorities to desegregating schools have come about through the work of tenacious and dedicated citizens who refused to accept the status quo. If there is something in this country that you think is unfair and unjust then you need to do something about it, because if you don’t the worst thing of all will happen:

Nothing

Martin Luther King Jr. Day’s most important message is that we still have a lot of work to do. As James Taylor sings, “We are bound together by the task that stands before us.” There is still discrimination in America. My personal belief is that the battle over same-sex marriage is a Civil Rights issues and if you disagree, I respect your opinion. Beyond this one issue, there are gross inequalities in people’s access to education, jobs and housing throughout America. While I respect individual’s rights to bigoted, the shocking amount of ignorance and stereotyping in our America is a reminder that the Civil Rights act is meaningless if we do not enforce in our every day actions.

“Shed A Little Light” by James Taylor is how I like to think about Martin Luther King Jr. Day. While it reminds us of who we are, the beliefs that bind us and the tasks ahead it is also a celebration of how far we’ve come in such a short period of time in our great country. Yes, “there is a feeling like the clenching of a fist” but there is also the light that washes over “the darkness and the mist, and though the body sleeps the heart will never rest.”

When I turn my thoughts today to Martin Luther King, I feel proud that we value this great man, that we believe in his dream and that we are bound together in hope and love.

Suite: Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby, Stills & Nash

“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” live performance at Woodstock

When I was in elementary school and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” would come on the radio I eager anticipate the “doodoodoodoo DOOT! Doot doot doo Doodoodoo” at the end. I could always recognize this song because of the incredible harmonies, beautiful melodies and poetic lyrics, but I just wanted to get to the end section. Part of what I annoyed me back then was that I couldn’t really predict when that section was going to come. I’d expect it after a certain phrase, but I would be mistaken. After being mistaken a couple times, I woudl become more impatient with the song. When the ending finally came, I felt like I had been through an ordeal like the way Peter from “Family Guy” felt after watching the extended version of the “Maude” theme song.

Actually, this's EXACTLY how I felt.

What I didn’t appreciate back then is also one of the most amazing things about Crosby, Stills & Nash’s most famous song. “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” takes the classical form of the suite into popular music creating a set of four related songs to create a singular music experience.

“Form” in music is a used to describe how the different sections in a piece of music and how the composer arranges these sections. Form is a musical device like melody, harmony and lyrics, which add to the overall expression of a song. The way a composer arranges different sections and the overall length of a song have a significant effect on the way that we understand music.

Crosby Stills and & Nash is one most and enduring supergroup in Rock. The collaboration of these three musicians has been so successful that many know them more for their work as a supergroup than their previous work that made them famous.

David Crosby as a founding member of the Byrds helped create the sound of the 1960s, contributing his songwriting skills and adding vocal harmony to songs like, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” Stephen Stills along with Neil Young formed Buffalo Springfield, a band responsible for one of the most important protest song "For What It's Worth."

Graham Nash as a member of The Hollies was part of the “British Invasion,” a movement of British band onto the American popular music scene started by the Beatles. Nash, contributed to many of The Hollies hits helping create their unique vocal harmony heard in their hits like “Bus Stop.”

The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and The Hollies may not seem like a big deal to us now, but they were important bands of the 1960s and it truly was a momentous thing to for the strongest creative forces of these three bands to come together.

In classical music, a suite is a piece of music that consists of several shorter pieces. During the baroque era, suite usually contained dance music. As classical music developed, the suite form expanded to included different kinds of music.

Crosby, Stills & Nash stick to this classical definition of suite including four shorter pieces that all have a dance feel to them. Each of these sections contrast but also work together to create a unique musical journey.

The first section feels like a standard 1960s mid-tempo rock song. It has some folk flavor to it and predictably follows a verse-chorus song form. This up-beat song contemplates the difficulties in the relationship but is also reaffirming in the challenges. This section is like the beginning of a movie setting up the status-quo with hints of the journey to come.

The second section starts with “Friday evening, Sunday in the afternoon, what have you got to lose?” This section is slower and more contemplative reflecting on suffering and despair in the lyrics. He thinks about leaving concluding “what have I got to lose?” while still wondering if she will come see him after he ahs left.

After the second section slows down the song, the energy in the song seems to dissipate like train coming to rest. However, right when song feels like it’s about to end the song starts up with a Indian influenced raga-like section. The rising voices look outwards in contrast to the second section pondering the beauty in nature. The rising melodies conclude with one of the most beautiful uses of alliteration in popular music “lacy, lilting, leery, losing love, lamenting, change my life, make it right, be my baby.” This conclusion leads directly into the last section a pure expression of joy.

The ending of this song used to feel like a pay-off to me because it finally came, but now that I’m older I enjoy the journey leading up more. Sometimes it takes more effort to focus on the journey and not rush ahead to the ending. There are times when I read a book quickly just to get to the ending, but I’m always left feeling a little hollow. The journey is what makes the ending more meaningful.

It’s not the fact that Peter finally hears “and then there’s Maude” that makes the joke so funny, it’s the fact that we see his smile slowly fade as the song continues to string him along transforming his anticipation into rage.

Cat's in the Cradle by Harry Chapin

“Cat’s in the Cradle” live performance

Whether we like it or not, most of us are more like our parents than we’d like to admit.

If you spend enough time with a friend, you pick up their mannerisms and perspectives. For many of us there is no one that we’ve spent more time with in our lives than our parents. It’s only logical that in many ways we are like our parents.

I’m in my late 20s, and I’ve noticed my friends and I seem to talk about our parents more than we did in college. College creates the illusion that you are on your own, when most of us truly aren’t. When you get out to the real world, many of the safety-nets of college are gone. I never realized how much my parents and college took care of for me until I truly had a place of my own and was working a job full time.

Living life as an adult has made it easier for me and my friends to relate to our parents. I’m paying bills just like they are, dealing with taxes and having to make difficult decisions just like they did when they were my age and continue to make at their age. When my dad was 10 years old, he may have been very much like me when I was 10 years old but I didn’t know my dad when he was a kid so I don’t have a frame of references. However, I have seen my parents go through life as adults so when I make decisions and do “adult” things the similarities come across clearly.

“Cat’s in the Cradle” explores the idea of children taking after their parents from the perspective of a father. Harry Chapin’s most memorable song is one of those songs in our popular culture that goes against what we expect. There are not that many songs that deal with the idea father and son relationships.

The father in “Cat’s in the Cradle,” is simply too busy to spend time with his son. In the first two verses of the song, the father misses the son learning to walk and talk. Later the son asks to play ball but the father says he is too busy and promises and that there will be time later for them to get together and have a good time.

The son grows up and goes to college. When he visits his dad, the tables turn as the father wants to spend time with the son, while all the son wants is to borrow the car and go out with his friend. The father retires and the son gets married and has kids of his own. One day the father calls his son and asks if they can get together and the son answers that there is too much stuff going on with his family and job to see his father.

There is no anger between the son and the father in this song. There is a feeling of disappointment when the son is turned down and later the father. The son states in the first too verses that “I’m gonna be like you dad.” His “smile never dimmed” when the father says he is too busy. There is a sense that the son understands even at a young age that the father would truly like to spend more time with the son but feels that he simply cannot. When the son later says he is too busy to see his dad, he reassures his dad that “it’s been sure nice talking to you.” Even though the son states that he is too busy, he feels a need to express to his dad that it’s been nice talking.

The father realizes that the son’s declaration, that he will grow up to be like his dad comes true, but not in the way that the dad imagined. The dad seems to mourn the fact that the son grew up to be like the father focusing on the fact that the son just like the father simply doesn’t have time to spend with him.

Instead of anger, there is a feeling of guilt that the father holds. He feels that he let down his son by not taking the time to spend time with him. The fact that his son throughout his life never seemed to get anger at his dad only make the guilt worse.

Even though the father’s realization is depressing, the song ends on a sense of hope, “when you coming home son? I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then son, you know we’ll have a good time then.” I like to think that after the father made his realization that he talks to his son and they both make an effort to change not only for each other but also for the son’s children.

Many credit “Cat’s in the Cradle” for having a life-changing effect. This song has helped people realize the power they have in their children’s lives and the inevitability that we all have in following in our parent’s footsteps. .

Harry Chapin, said that he thought “Cat’s in the Cradle” was a scary song. At it’s heart, it’s a disturbing idea that the worst of us will be passed down and that we are destined to repeat the sins of our fathers.

I chose to look at this song another way.

I have no doubt that most of who I am, I got from my parents. I like to think that I’ve reciprocated back to them the best of what they gave me. As dark as “Cat’s in the Cradle,” is, it comforts me in the idea that in the inevitability of picking up negative things from our parents; we also pick up things that we admire about our parents

When I listen to this song, I am reminded that the things I admire about my father truly are within me. Whenever I do something or say something that reminds me of my dad at first, I’m a little freaked out, but then I smile to myself laugh and thank God that he is always with me.

Trapped by Jimmy Cliff/Bruce Springsteen

"Trapped" Jimmy Cliff live performance
“Trapped” Bruce Springsteen 2008 live performance
"Trapped" Bruce Springsteen Born In the U.S. A. tour live performance

You never know what you are going to get at a Bruce Springsteen concert. With over two hundred songs in their repertoire, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have a remarkable amount of songs that they can perform. In the earlier days, Springsteen would throw out random songs to his band to play on stage that they often had never rehearsed just for the fun of it.

At age 59, an age when most people decided to play it safe, Springsteen has started taking request. Since the beginning of the Working On A Dream tour, Springsteen has taken time during each show to collect signs from the audience that have requests on them. Some of these signs request old Springsteen favorites while other signs ask Springsteen and the E Street Band to play songs that they have never played before. These performances have a garage band-like energy as the band rocks out to songs from “Wild Thing” by the Troggs to the Clash’s “London Calling.”


During last Tuesday night’s performance at the United Center, Springsteen again took requests. He played “Candy’s Room” responding to birthday wish on a sign and rocked out to “Mony, Mony.”

Any doubt that I had whether Springsteen and the E Street Band was actually playing some of these request for the first time ever were blown away as I watched Springsteen try to figure out what key to play the song. He asked Steve Van Zandt, one of the guitarists in the E Street Band to find the starting chord from a snarled tone that Springsteen kept repeating. Once they settled on the key, he warned that the song may “have a weird part in the middle.” If you ask anyone who saw the E Street Band on Tuesday, they will tell you the performance of “Mony, Mony” was awesome and that the rocking bridge was one of the highlights of the evening.

Out of all the songs that request that Springsteen played there was only one that I didn’t know. Now listening to songs that you don’t know at a Springsteen concert in the United Center can be challenging. It is be difficult to know what Bruce is singing with the speed that he moves through lyrics in some songs and the mediocre acoustics of the United Center. Because of this, I highly recommend that if someone is not familiar with Springsteen’s music and is going to one of his concerts, that they prep themselves and get to know a couple of his more regularly performed songs to enhance the experiences.

So when Springsteen pulled out a sign from his stack that he had collected that had the word “trapped” on it and the crowd went berserk, I was baffled.

Honestly, when I heard the chorus with the word “trapped” being repeated, I thought it was lame. Bruce usually has more subtle and creative ways to describe the feeling of entrapment. I thought the rise through the chorus was powerful and the sudden drop into the verses was effective but overall, the song did not feel significant.

When I woke up Thursday, two days after the concert, one line from “Trapped” kept rolling around in my head: “And it seemed the game I played made you strong.” On the way out the door to go to work, I hesitated and went to my computer to see if by some chance I had a recording of “Trapped.” I did have a live performance of it that I never got around to listening to. After a quick internet search, I found out to my surprise that Bruce did not compose the song and that it was originally written and performed Jimmy Cliff. I downloaded the song from itunes, loaded it on my ipod and ran out to my car.

For Springsteen, a man that rarely performs music that he does not compose, it seemed odd that “Trapped” which he featured in his Born In U.S.A. tour would play such a prominent role in his catalog. Well, after listening to Jimmy Cliff’s recording of the song it made perfect sense.

Jimmy Cliff is a reggae artists and one of most revered Jamaican musicians. He is best known for his cover of “I Can See Clearly Now.” Jimmy Cliff’s composed and recorded “Trapped” for his 1989 album, Images.

Listening to Cliff’s performance the optimism of the song seems to shine through the song. The relaxed reggae beat and Cliff’s gentle soulful voice expresses a sense of calm reflection. Springsteen’s voice on the other hand seems to dwell on the darkness of the situation and feelings of regret which permeate his interpretation.

Cliff is able to express similar feelings to Springsteen but with fewer words. Maybe that is what attracting Springsteen to this song. With all that is going on in the world, sometimes Springsteen’s metaphors are not as powerful as a man singing the word “trapped.”

It’s funny how it took listening to the original recording of “Trapped” to fall in love with Springsteen’s recording. Sometimes people you meet simply make sense when you get to know their parents. In a similar way sometimes it takes getting to know the original recording of a song to find meaning in a different version.

Part of me wishes I had known “Trapped” before I heard Springsteen perform it live, but I’m glad I came to love this song as I did. As great as it is to fall in love at first sight, it’s even more rewarding to change how we feel about things in our lives, giving us confidence in our lives that no matter what how we feel in life we are never trapped in our emotions.

Karma Police by Radiohead

“Karma Police” music video
“Karma Police” live performance

The Beatles recorded some weird stuff.

There’s “Revolution 9” made up of sound clips, tape loops and reverse sound effects and the Indian-inspired “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Both of these songs represent the musical experimentation that was prevalent throughout the Beatles’ career.

The musical legacy of the Beatles is as much in songs like “Yesterday” as it is in their more progressive work. The Beatles continue to influences musicians combining musical ideas from the Beatles with their unique perspectives. While most bands draw their inspiration from songs like “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” Radiohead’s music grew out of the less popular and more progressive songs like Happiness is a Warm Gun.

Radiohead is not a mainstream band in the sense that you hear their music played on most radio stations. However, they have an enormous fan base and receive great admiration from critics and other musicians who recognize the high level of musical invention in their music. Many of their songs feature complex meters, adventurous harmonies and song forms that are both inventive and original. Radiohead continue the Beatles musical experimentation for future generations pushing popular music to new creative heights.

For many people, including myself it was “Karma Police” that introduced me to Radiohead. In 1997, I was a freshmen in high school and my daily dose of music videos from and MTV provided entertainment but didn’t musically challenge my ears. So when I saw the music video for “Karma Police” for the first time I was stunned.

First off the music video plays like a David Lynch film. The video starts with someone getting in a car and chasing a person down a road. The lead singer Thom Yorke is in the back seat, barely mouthing the words of the music as the car continues to chase this man. After a while, the man falls down, turns around and like a scared child the car backs up revealing a trail of gas from the car's broken gas tank. The man lights the trail of gas on fire, the car speeds backwards and we are in the car as it is engulfed in flames.

Yeah, that made for some messed up dreams for about a week.

The song itself is similar in form to later Beatles’ songs like “Hey Jude." In “Hey Jude” there are two distinct sections, the “Hey Jude” part and the “Na, Na, Na, nanana Na” section. There is some transition between these sections but it’s pretty abrupt and unlike a verse chorus form the music from the first section never comes back. "Karma Police" does the same thing building up slowly to the second section providing a sense of arrival and release.

“Karma Police” is a dark song. The bare piano, the plodding guitar and Thom Yorke’s vocal performance all create a feeling of despair. This song feels like walking into an abandoned apartment building and it’s within this feeling that Yorke sings with devilishly sarcastic tone accusing others of crimes that are never revealed.

The first section of the song is a call to the “karma police” to arrest a man and a girl for messing with the narrator. His descriptive of the man who “buzzes like a fridge” and the girl with “her Hitler hairdo” are slightly demented, a little funny and depict our narrator as being psychologically unbalanced.

“This is what you get, when you mess with us” builds into the second section, which features one line that is repeated: “and for a minute there, I lost myself.” This man realizes how caught up he was in revenge that he wasn’t acting like himself.

I don’t really like dark music, but there is revelatory about “Karma Police” and much of Radiohead's music. Through the bleakness there is true human emotion that wallows in the depths but often reaches grand heights. The music takes us somewhere and even though you may not want to go to the place the music leads, being part of the journey is amazing experience.

Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer in this interview talked about how he never really liked “reset” television. Shows that end exactly in the same place where they start every week. A lot of music is similar where nothing changes within the narrator from the beginning to the end of the song. Often the same sections in the beginning of the song return and are exactly same. Sometimes this is great but other times our soul thirsts for more.

Like the Beatles' more experimental work, Radiohead does not always create the most accessible music, but I encourage you to give this band a try. If you dive into Radiohead and let them take you away, you may hear sounds that aren't pretty and you may hear words that are disturbing but I promise you that it will be an unforgettable journey and you will be amazed at the places that you will go.

Power of Love by Huey Lewis & The News

“Power of Love” music video

After my mom told me that my uncle had died of Parkinson's disease last July, I became flooded with feelings and thoughts. It's almost debilitating and only through time and self-reflection did I reach a sense of clarity. After nine months I think about my uncle every so often but in general I feel that I have "gotten over" his death.

Before my uncle's death I knew Michael J. Fox had Parkinson's and I had seen him do interviews in support of stem-cell and Parkinson's research. Even my uncle had Parkinson's I didn't really think much of this. Recently Fox has been making the rounds around talk shows promoting his new book Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist about his life with Parkinson's disease. His words and his life now mean something very different to me now that my uncle has passed away.

At first it was my uncle losing his balance, and then it was missing easy shots on the tennis court. Though it was probably, a gradual development to my young eyes it seemed like all of the sudden he was stuck in his recliner unable to walk. His clear articulate voice became garbled and his ability to even reach out his hand became almost impossible. Maybe it was the fact I myself was getting bigger, but it seemed that my once tall and athletic uncle was shrinking.

His brain gradually lost control of functions until he needed to be fed through a feeding tube, needed help to breathe and then finally, well things just. . . stopped.

I was born in 1982. Things seemed simple during that decade. We had a grandfather-like figure as the president and images of economic success seemed to permeate our culture. For a kid growing up it truly did seem like morning in America. My uncle hosted family get-together, we would go out on his boat and well, everything just seemed right. I was too young to see the other side of the coin, the economic hardship and problems at home and abroad. America had a sheen to it that like memories of a childhood that only seems to get brighter in the distance.

For myself, one of the most endearing films stars of the 1980s is Michael J. Fox. The image of him riding his skateboard to school as Marty Mcfly in the beginning of Back To The Future with “Power Of Love” playing in the background is one of my favorite scenes in film.

Back To The Future directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg featured Fox as a teenager who unwittingly travels back in time, meets his parents as teenagers, has to fight off romantic advances from his mom (hilarious), coaches his dad onto how to get with his mom, all while trying to get back to the future. This mixture of science fiction and teenage adventure was an enormous success and spawned two successful sequels.

After the success of their third album Sports, Huey Lewis & The News composed and recorded "The Power Of Love" for Back To The Future. This song was featured in the opening skateboard ride to school and was also the songs the Marty's band auditions with to get into a battle of the bands. Even though studio execs were disappointed that this song did not have the title of the film in the lyrics, they loved the song and it became a number one hit and was nominated for an Academy Award

Huey Lewis with his 80s mullet and clean image was about as threatening as a puppy dog In the 1980s when Springsteen was dealing with social issues, Madonna was pushing sexual boundaries and Michael Jackson was extending the musical possibilities of pop music Huey Lewis & The News were simply creating fun, relatable and catchy pop music.

"Power Of Love" is a celebration of all the things that love makes us feel and do. Lewis contemplates the good that love does, making men sing, correcting mistakes and also the bad making men weep and keeping people home at night. He concludes in the chorus that love may save your live and that love makes the world go round.

When I see Michael J. Fox talk, it makes me sad at first knowing how much he has changed from that character rocking out to “Power Of Love.” I’m reminded about my uncle and how the disease slowly debilitated him and the last time I saw him before his passed away.

The last time I saw my uncle before he died, I remember feeling very awkward. I didn’t know what to say or what I should do. He could barely mumble and he was immobile. It’s a horrible feeling worrying about your own emotions in these situations but I did. I wasn’t extremely close to my uncle and it wasn’t until after he died that I understood all that he did for my family and felt a deep sense of gratitude. I wrote my aunt, his wife a letter after died telling her how much all that he did for my family meant to me, but I never told him.

For the past couple months I didn’t know what to do with this feeling and it wasn’t until a recent Michael J. Fox interview that it all kind of came together. He talked about how the Parkinson’s made him appreciate his life more and make every moment count. I may not have made every moment with my uncle count. I can’t do anything about that but what I can do is make his passing mean something in my life. In the way, that Parkinson’s made Fox relish every moment with his family, my uncle’s passing can serve as a reminder of what is truly important in my life. Also, there will always be “Power Of Love” to remind me not only how great it was to be a kid in the 80s but to have my uncle in my life.

November Rain by Guns N’ Roses

"November Rain" music video

"November Rain" live performance

What makes a song epic? Is it the length, the instrumentation or is it simply the way the feelings that are expressed? The definition of what is epic is not a technical or an objective idea but rather a term that is thrown around to describe a song that stands out capturing something extraordinary.

Throughout the history of rock music, there have been many songs that people consider “epic.” People often thing of epic songs as being long and containing multiple sections like Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin. I’m not sure what song I would consider the most epic song but I do know the one song that introduced me to this potential in rock music and that was “November Rain.”

In 1992, when Guns N’ Roses released “November Rain” it blew my mind. At that time I was ten years old and wasn’t interested in rock music. The other songs by Guns N’ Roses seemed too “hard,” too much like “noise” (my opinion has since changed) and I ignored most of their music. However, “November Rain” was different. Maybe it was the piano, or the slow build but the song felt different. Some may have viewed the first section of this song as not rocking as hard as their other music but for me it was exactly that reason which was why it appealed to me.

Coming out of a time when rock stars seemed more concerned with how big they could tease out their hair, Guns N’ Roses rejuvenated the rock scene. Axl Rose’s raspy rock voices, the lead guitar player, Slash’s aggressive sound and mind-blowing technique along with the rest of band created some of the most interesting and refreshing music in rock. “November Rain” was featured on Guns N’ Roses’ third album Use Your Illusion I.

“November Rain” is an insightful and honest contemplation of the hope, doubt and reality of love. The song begins like the sun rising. Synthesized strings grow with the first chord of the electric guitar glistening in the light. Against the back drop of a synthesized flute, Axl’s voice enter which could not be more real.

When rock singers sing they often put a slight edge in their voice as they reach high notes. Axl has that edge in his voice throughout his entire range. There is a maturity in this voice like a man who has lived a life of pain and although the voice is ragged, it has a sort of elegance as it flows through the melody line.

In the first section main section of the song (the first 6 minutes and 45 seconds). Axl slowly builds with a deliberate and contemplative pace.

When I look into your eyes, I can see a love restrained,
But darling when I hold you, don't you know I feel the same.

'Cause nothing lasts forever and we both know hearts can change,
And it's hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain.

The song opens with a request to love in the present. Axl expresses empathy throughout the song as he does in the second line. The theme of destiny are introduced with this idea of change. The words “November rain” appear for the first time symbolizing the inevitability of change and candle is the love that must fight against this. In this next section, Axl reflects on the relationship and elaborates on this idea of destiny.

We've been through this such a long, long time just trying to kill the pain.
But lovers always come and lovers always go
and no one's really sure who's letting go today, walking away.

If we could take the time to lay it on the line,
I could rest my head just knowing that you were mine all mine.
So if you want to love me then darling don't refrain,
Or I'll just end up walking in the cold November rain.

Axl asserts that if we embrace the future, the reality of the fact that things are uncertain and hard then people could love each other. If she doesn’t love him now, he’ll end up walking the November rain which changes from the broad idea of destiny to personal loneliness.

Then the song takes different turn, the song washes out into a mixture of harmonic colors as Axl asks if “you need some time alone.” He comforts his love saying that everyone needs some time alone. These lines have a sense of sadness as we often take it personally when someone we care about says they need to be alone because at these time we often don’t want to be alone. By washing out the sound, the song provides more contrast and drama as it builds into the next section. Guitars explode in broad strokes of musical color as Axl sings reassuring his love in a more assertive and aggressive way.

I know it's hard to keep an open heart, when even friends seem out to harm you.
But if you could heal a broken hear, wouldn't time be out to charm you?

After “harm you” a mourning guitar lick reflects the struggle in the lyrics which foreshadows the end of the song. The song builds to the first guitar solo of the song, which expresses the time alone that Axl previously sings about. Like the music that came before the solo doesn’t feel rushed or hurried. There is not of showing off in the solo and like great Jazz solos, Slash doesn’t try to fill every beat with something but instead sustains notes artfully developing simple melodic ideas.

Axl follows this going back to the “need some time” section flipping it from “you” to “I” which Slash immediately follows by another shorter guitar solo. The guitar is another voice in this song expressing the longing and solitude of the song. Both guitar solos act as subtext creating space for us to reflect on the song and contemplate the feelings within the song. The end of this section pulls together these feelings coming to a conclusion in a powerful statement of destiny.

And when your fears subside and shadows still remain
I know that you can love me when there's no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness we still can find a way
Nothing lasts forever even cold November rain

Axl assures us that we can move past fear in our lives but reminds us that it always leave shadow in our lives, the memory of that fear. He assures that through that darkness, they is a way to love. This section ends with the most powerful line of the song stating that nothing last forever. November rain first symbolizes the destiny of change and then reflects personal loneliness. Axl discounts these things in this section saying that these things don’t last forever. However, in this reassurance saying that “nothing” last forever he is also embracing the idea that their love will not last forever.

After the triumphant ending of the first section, a hurried and frantic piano enters followed by raw guitars and a demonic guitar melody. A distorted and angry voices growls “don't you think that you need somebody, everybody needs somebody
you're not the only one.” Instead of a comforting reassurance of these feeling an angry voice that violently tries to convince that loneliness is universal. Axl expresses a level of optimism in the first section and then shows us the other side, the pessimism, the darkness and the doubt. Does this symbolize the relationship that Axl sings about in the first section ending or is this what Axl believes about the destiny that we all have to face?

This song moves through time with a deliberate pace and feels like it’s long without feeling drawn out. The different sections of the songs seamlessly move into each other and the guitar solos come in the perfect place to give us a change in the sound and time to reflect. Even though the song feels epic, it doesn’t tell a grand story but instead is personal and reflective. In this way the epic nature in “November Rain” becomes a personal journey speaking to fears and question that we have in our own lives.

Nothing lasts forever but that is what gives things meanings and makes us cherish the times that we have. This realization may seem to limit us but when we accept it, it frees us from fear and doubt and in that, through our lives, through love that we find ourselves.

Love Child by the Supremes

I took a sociology class my freshmen year at Northwestern University. One of the books I read for this class was Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier. This book documented the life of homeless people in New York City and explained how they handled different aspects in their life like how they made money found food. One aspect that I never thought about was their romantic life. I just assumed that homeless people didn’t have boyfriends or husbands. I didn’t really think that someone who get their food from a trash could have a sex life, but they do.

Duneier discuss where homeless people find places to be romantic, make love and how these relationships in many way are not that different than the relationships of those of us who are fortunate enough to live comfortably. However, like most things for people who are in poverty, romance and sex is more challenging and in some ways is not as enjoyable.

Everything from fancy dinners, sexy underwear and romantic vacations all contribute to people’s enjoyment of each other. One of the less apparent advantages but important ones is birth control. Whether it’s condoms or pills, these things all cost money. If those things fail, people of means have much more resources and options when it comes to abortions and putting children up for adoption. The lack of options of people in poverty and the fear of an unwanted baby drives the narrator in “Love Child.”

I always found “Love Child” to be one of the most intriguing songs that the Supremes recorded. The Supremes set the standard for what it meant to be a girl group. Motown built up the Supremes with an image of high-class elegance singing some of the best crated pop songs in music history. Most of the songs are relatively light in their subject matter, contemplating idealized romantic love through a variety of situations.

After two failed singles, Berry Gordy the owner of Motown records got a group of songwriters called The Clan to work on a new hit single for the Supremes. What they created was not a song about romantic love but a song about a woman trying to explain to her boyfriend why she doesn’t want to have sex with him. Can you imagine pitching this song idea to a pop radio station? The subject doesn’t sound like something that most people would want to listen to but “Love Child” holds as the Supremes best selling single, outselling all of their other 45 releases. It was so successful it knocked off The Beatles’ enormous hit “He Jude” off the number one spot on the pop charts.

Diana Ross, the lead singer of the Supremes takes on the roll of a woman who was born a “love child.” This is another term for a child born to unwed parents. Her mother was poor and Diana’s character grew up in a tenement slum. She describe is the first verse how she never knew her father and that she carries the guilt from her mother about the fact that she has no name. In the second verse Diana, describe starting school in a second hand dress. There is pain in not having the things that her friends had but what is even more painful is the guilt that she carries.

This first hand experience as a “love child” motivates Diana’s character to try to convince her boyfriend to hold off making love because the possibility of creating a “love child” that they will both end up hating this child. Diana’s character asserts that if she has a illegitimate child that it will carry the same shame and guilt that she carries.

There are attitudes in our society about children born out of wedlock, but I wonder if the level of shame and guilt that Diana’s character experiences comes more from her mother than society. Diana’s character herself feels ashamed of her own existence and this is one of the most shocking things about this song. She talks about a “love child” as being “never meant to be” and if there is any doubt that she is referring to herself, she sings in the end of the first chorus “take a look at me.”

“Love Child” ends with a declaration of love. In an earlier section she explains to her boyfriend that she wants to please him and that she needs him which is followed by talking about a the love child they may create. So when Diana starts signing “I’ll always love you,” my initial thought was that she was singing to her boyfriend. In declaring that she loves him, maybe she is attempting to assuage his advances by expressing a level of commitment that would make up for not making love. The more I listen to this song, the more I think that she’s probably not singing to him, but to herself and to her child.

As Diana sings “I will always love you” it sounds more like a desperate cry than a declaration of romantic love. After telling herself and her future child how much she thinks they are both mistakes, she realizes how wrong she is and tries to convince them otherwise. Was she being so negative as a reflection of how she truly feels or in an effort to convince her boyfriend not to force her to have sex? Either way by the end of the song, with the back-up singers reminding us that the being a “love child” is on her mind, she sings about love, apologizing to herself and her future child.

Diana Ross stretches her dramatic abilities as a singer in “Love Child.” In earlier songs written for the Supremes, Diana’s thin, gentle and conversational voice worked in those songs. She doesn’t have a large range, or a great degree of variety in her tone but “Love Child” she approaches a level of rawness, expressing an internal struggle as she pushes her voice creating a level of intensity that drives the song as much as background instruments.

The Andantes, Motown’s session singers sang on this record instead of the Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, the other two members of the Supremes. The Andantes begin the song singing on “oo” while softly rising. Then right before Diana enters they sing a high tense “ah” that comes across like a woman screaming. This happens a couple times during the song expressing the turmoil in the main character’s mind and makes it clear to the listener that there is a level of pain to be dealt with in this song.

Sometimes I wonder, what is the point of a song like “Love Child.” It’s not especially happy and it doesn’t put me in a great mood to listen to it. I’m sure some people who feel like Diana Ross’ character can relate to it, but I don’t really relate to most of this song. Is this song suppose to make me feel bad about poor people motivating me to go help them? I don’t think so, and that’s one reason why I like this song. It’s not preachy but instead it’s an interesting examination of a human conflict. These kinds of stories come from all different place, sometimes it’s from Green Bow, Alabama with a guy names Forrest and other times it comes from a tenement slum. What great stories do is help us know another person for a moment and in that experience we feel things that we don’t normally do, and get perspective on our lives.

It’s important that we are aware of the struggles of others, not so that we can feel guilty all of the time and spend our lives doing charity work. We all should work to help others but people’s choices about charity are their own prerogative. However, it is essential that we are aware of struggles like the one in “Love Child” because it is through understanding each struggle that we realize that there is no individual experience but only a shared humanity that binds us, challenges us and brings us closer to each other and ourselves.

Not Ready To Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks

"Not Ready To Make Nice" music video
"Shut Up And Sing" film trailer

Multiple choice:

If a popular singer that you like makes a joke about a politician that you support, which is an appropriate response?

a. disagree with the comments but still support the artist’s
b. boycott the artist’s music and dispose of any of the artists merchandise that you may own
c. send a threat stating you will shoot the artist dead during a performance

If you chose “a,” I agree with you as I look to musicians for their art and not their political opinions. If you chose “b,” I disagree with you but I completely respect and understand your choice to not support someone that makes statements that you disagree with. If you chose “c,” then I am concerned about your lack of moral judgment and strongly suggest that you seek professionally help for your inclination to threaten people’s lives for what they say.

In 2003, after the United States invasions of Iraq, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks stated in front of a live audience in London, “Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” Natalie Maines made her comment during a time when President Bush had some of the highest approval ratings of any United States president. At that time, few Americans spoke out against the war in Iraq and unlike now when it almost seems fashionable to criticize President Bush, it was not common to make jokes about the President.

I’m not going to get into my opinion about Bush or the war in Iraq, that’s not the point of this post. But what I do what to point out is the shameful reactions by many Americans who disregarded the Natalie Maines rights to free speech. Yes, freedom comes with responsibility and as much as Natalie had a right to make her comment, people had a right to disagree, but no one had the right organize illegal radio boycotts and send death threats to the Dixie Chicks.

In reaction to all the fervor and criticism the Dixie Chicks did what they did best, create music. In 2006, the released the album Taking The Long Way which featured songs reacting to the controversy including “Not Ready To Make Nice.”

“Not Ready To Make Nice” is a song that refuses to be ignored. The lyrics are direct and raw. The background instruments have a clarity and immediacy that instantly draws the focus to the singer. The song takes us on a journey through Natalie’s feeling playing with our expectations of the tradition song form. The song starts with a first verse, then a chorus and then the second verse. Halfway through the second verse the music changes and it builds to a climax at the end of the verse. This leads into an instrumental break that brings soars into the following chorus. Climaxes in popular music are more often in bridges or choruses. You can make the argument that the build up in the middle of the second verse is actually the bridge. If that is the case, it is still unusual, as this bridge cuts the second verse short.

One of the key instruments in the building to the climax is the violin. It starts playing long notes and then transitions into chords on every other beat. Next, the violin plays these chords on every beat and finally the chords double in their speed. Right before the instrumental break slowly another violin line enters with a long note, getting louder and releasing into a soaring melody. When chords are played on a violin, they have an aggressive almost grainy quality to them and when they speed up it creates an driving tension making the release of the following violin melody line that much more satisfying.

Natalie Maines has a big voice. She sings with so much resolve that it seems to lack restraint at times. But moments like this build up to the climax remind us of the skill in her singing. When she starts “I made my bed. . .” she sings the notes with a certain swing by giving push to the certain words (i.e. made, baby, no). She keeps her voice gentle and open until she hit “sad, sad story” when adds an edge of insistence to her voice. Natalie hits the first syllable of “daughter” pulling the pitch flat on purpose. Instead of resolving the note by raising the pitch up into tune, she stays flat on that pitch creating tension between her voice and the harmony. She continues to maintain this flat pitch while adding a slight edge to her voice. Instead of emphasizing syllables with a push as she does earlier, she starts emphatically punching words out turning her swing of her voice into a declaration.

She twists the word “send” mixing her singing with a tortured scream. Finally, she raises the pitch back up in this line but maintains the intensity. “Write me a letter, sayin’ that I better” are closer to being spoken then sung. Natalie lightens up her voice lifting at the end of both of these lines before slamming down on “shut up and sing.” At this point, Natalie has reached the height of her intensity and the instrument take over the final steps to the climax. Natalie begins singing “over” with a harsh scream like tone, which opens up and clears to a full and pure tone as she resolves the held note downward.

The lyrics in this song are clear and direct. If know the story there is no doubt what she is talking about. Even if you don’t it is still a powerful statement about regret, resolve, independence and empowerment.

The Dixie Chicks represent the best in popular music. They are true musicians. All three play their instruments at a high level and are accomplished songwriters. They are true artists. There music shows invention, development, courage and an uncompromising dedication to creating genuine and meaningful art. And they are inspiring people, who have accomplished amazing feats in their music but feel their priority in life to each other and their families.

In 2006 Academy Award winning director Barbara Kopple released her documentary on the Dixie Chicks, Shut Up And Sing. This film followed the Dixie Chicks from before the comment on push was made all they way through the making of Taking The Long Way. This is a phenomenal film that I recommend to everyone. This film is not just for Dixie Chicks or music fans but for anyone interested the power of friendship and witnessing three phenomenal woman working through an unimaginable situation.



Martie’s comments twenty seconds into this clip sum up what is so powerful about this group and “Not Ready To Be Nice.”

Martie, Natalie and Emliy, you are my heroes and thanks for never giving up and sharing your music and yourselves with the world.