Just as I find myself more and more fascinated with words and the various combinations in which we assemble them, I realize that I'm falling more and more for music with a literary edge. Used to be I just liked music that sounded good; now I'm drawn to the stories artists portray through a combination of lyric and tune (I think I just didn't give enough of my attention to the words of songs when I was younger. My mistake.)
I post on Sufjan Stevens a lot because he is so amazing at this sort of craft. He grabs my initial attention with a gentle hook or a lovely orchestration, but then he wrenches at my gut with soul-stirring revelations and beautiful tales of real, human emotion. This stuff usually captivates me so intensely because it is stuff I can relate to; I see the beauty in the world that some artists sing of. I feel the hope, the longing, the joy, the pain that they sing of.
That being said, I think Josh Ritter is one of the most brilliant songwriters of this generation. His music is wonderful - I think it can be dubbed 'folk,' though musical genre descriptions are way too broad these days - but the real kicker in his music is his words.
My personal association with Ritter began last year, when I bought his latest album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter (which I bought, interestingly, because some critics compared him to Sufjan.) I liked it a lot but probably didn't give it the proper attention I should have. Then, this April, I was fortunate enough to meet and talk with Josh after his show in Athens. The guy was so genuine and kind (the dude hugged us all), and his show so incredible, that I started digging deeper into his work.
The more I listened to Ritter, the more I realized that he is a genius (which very well could be true considering, according to his bio, both of his parents are neuroscientists.) His lyrics are mesmerizing, complex tales of hope, loss, love, and so much more, but the words don't get you on first listen; as with poetry, you really have to dissect what he is trying to say. When you do this, you find some startlingly profound stories drenched in raw, human emotion.
I could go on and on about how captivating literary music like Ritter's is for me, but you probably get the idea. It kind of goes back to my theory that the defining characteristics of our world are love and beauty; some artists seem to have figured this out better than others.
I'll leave you, though, with lyrics and a video of one of Ritter's songs, 'Girl in the War,' from his album The Animal Years. I have my own theories on what it's about, but feel free to craft your own; after all, as with poetry, figuring out what it all means is half the fun.
"Peter said to Paul you know all those words we wrote
Are just the rules of the game and the rules are the first to go
But now talking to God is Laurel begging Hardy for a gun
I got a girl in the war man I wonder what it is we done
Paul said to Peter you got to rock yourself a little harder
Pretend the dove from above is a dragon and your feet are on fire
But I got a girl in the war Paul the only thing I know to do
Is turn up the music and pray that she makes it through
Because the keys to the Kingdom got lost inside the Kingdom
And the angels fly around in there but we can't see them
I got a girl in the war Paul I know that they can here me yell
If they can't find a way to help her they can go to Hell
If they can't find a way to help her they can go to Hell
Paul said to Peter you got to rock yourself a little harder
Pretend the dove from above is a dragon and your feet are on fire
But I got a girl in the war Paul her eyes are like champagne
They sparkle bubble over and in the morning all you got is rain
They sparkle bubble over and in the morning all you got is rain
They sparkle bubble over and in the morning all you got is rain."
No comments:
Post a Comment