Monthly Archives: January 2022

#907: Sum 41 – Never Wake Up

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‘Never Wake Up’ is the third song on Sum 41’s All Killer No Filler album. Hard to come up with a thorough, deep post about it. Reasons being that it’s only 50 seconds long, and I don’t think that its lyrics that you see online are even correct. Well, except for the “I plan on never waking up” lines, that’s clearly what he’s singing there. Despite those things, the track always scratches an itch when it comes on on shuffle or something. There’ll be all these mid-tempo, complex songs playing and this one rolls in with pummeling force from the first second.

From the lyrics that are available online, I’m making a guess that the track is about trying to find the motivation to get out of bed in the morning and failing to do so. It’s a subject that’s touched upon later in the album, arguably in a more fleshed out form. But what this song has going for it is sheer energy and speed. It’s a track to just freak out and lose control to for a short moment before you have to adjust yourself back to reality. I like those guitar chord jumps that happen after each ‘never waking up’ repetition. They didn’t have to be included, but they add that extra kick to the proceedings. And although I don’t have a clue what Deryck Whibley is saying for the majority, it’s always a good effort to try and sing along anyways. The track may make up a small small part of the album’s runtime, but it’s definitely lives up to the killer aspect of its name.

#906: Soundgarden – Never Named

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I wrote a post a while ago about Soundgarden’s Down on the Upside explaining why I thought it was so great and how it deserved to be appreciated just as much the albums that came before in Badmotorfinger and Superunknown. I may have been suffering from a bout of depression during that time. Upside was the soundtrack album to that period of time. Three and a bit years on and in a better state, I feel the same way about it – still my favourite Soundgarden record. I think I made something of a deal on how the songs co-written by Chris Cornell and Ben Shepherd were some my personal highlights on there. Here I am to talk about one of them.

‘Never Named’ is the eighth track on the album. Comes slap bang in the middle of the hour and five minutes it runs on for. Coming after what could be argued to be the two best songs of ‘Blow Up the Outside World’ and ‘Burden in My Hand’ with its irregular time changes and punk-like approach, ‘Never Named’ may seem like a bit of a “wtf” moment in the album’s running. Maybe its placement hinders its accessibility a bit, just a theory. Though as a track by itself, there’s certainly a thrill you can get out of it. Once you get those time changes down and get a feel of how drummer Matt Cameron pulls the track along with his fills, it all falls into place. There a lot of melodic guitar lines that catch your ear and lots of riffage to chew onto, all with Chris Cornell’s trademark vocals in between. Can’t be beat.

And what’s Cornell singing about here? Well, he starts with his old dog in the first verse. When he was young, his dog loved him like a God. But now he’s a big man in this successful rock music group yet he feels small and insignificant, like an insect or a small spot on the ground. That’s really the main message of the song. Being a full grown person, but still feeling like a small child inside. And Cornell takes it further in the choruses by referring to being a baby who looks like a boy. He sings it all very well. As to why it’s called ‘Never Named’, I’m not sure. I want to say the band couldn’t think of a proper name for the track, but instead of calling it ‘Untitled’ they put another spin on it. Probably wrong though, just my thought.

#905: Good Shoes – Never Meant to Hurt You

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Here’s another track by Good Shoes, one that like countless others throughout this series I got to know just by watching MTV2 in the morning. I’ve given something of a backstory as to how I came know the band’s music in the previous post I did concerning them, which greatly decreases the amount of words I’d have to write on here. Also allows me to talk more about the song. I’m by no means a professional, but I’ll try my best.

The track is the tale of a relationship where a girl is infatuated with the man she’s with while he just doesn’t feel the same. The narrator’s remorseful about the way things ended, wishing that things had been different, and trying to maintain the fact that with all that happened no harm was ever meant to be caused. It’s a sad subject. But together with the cutesy stop-motion music video and its general catchiness and urgent melodies, the melancholy tends to float under the radar a little. You can definitely sense a tinge of sadness though. That changes however when after that final instrumental break, the song ends with a joyous repetition of the title.

One thing I’ve noticed about Good Shoes is that there’s barely any bass in their songs, and as a result their tracks can sound very light and easy on the ears, and it also lets those little guitar licks stick out more too. That certain style suits this track perfectly, especially during those instrumental breaks that separates the choruses and verses. I also like singer Rhys Jones’ vocals on this. He pronounces and enunciates words in ways which I don’t think I’ve heard before. He’s not the greatest singer by any means, but there’s a lot of feeling behind it. That’s all you want really. Below’s the album version, which isn’t any different from the video above except that it has the word ‘fuck’ in it.

#904: Kanye West ft. Jay-Z & J.Ivy – Never Let Me Down

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Early memories I have of this track are hearing it play from my old computer’s speakers loudly as my sister ran through The College Dropout album. Would have been back in 2004 when the album was fresh and new, I think she got it for a birthday or something. But while she was watching MTV Base and into hip-hop and R&B, I was into bands and watching MTV2 and other channels of the like. As a result, ‘Never Let Me Down’ was never on my radar. It was always cool when Kanye came out with a new music video or something though.

Nah, it wasn’t until years later that I sat down and properly gave it a listen. I once had a YouTube channel where I would upload albums, back when copyright on there was a lot less strict. The College Dropout was one I put on there, and that allowed to revisit the tracks with new ears. I was 13 at that point, and when it came to ‘Never Let Me Down’ its hook came back to me straight away from those times I heard my sister singing it. Taking ‘Maybe It’s the Power of Love’ by 80s rock band Blackjack and pitch-shifting it to that iconic chipmunk tone that he was all over at the time, Kanye alongside Jay-Z and J.Ivy shift that song’s general message of ‘love conquers all’ to focus on their own respective personal perspectives on things they are thankful for and that have never let them down.

Now I could go all Genius on you and break down every line or whatever. But that’s what Genius is for. I’ll just make known some personal highlights for me from the track. I believe it’s said that when it comes to Kanye, he likes to use vocals as instruments. This isn’t just a new thing that’s arrived. He’s been doing it from the start. It’s clear on here yet again. There’s autotuned vocals, church choir vocals, ‘ooh’ backing vocals that follow the chord progression. It’s a vocal showcase. Then there’s spoken-word poet J.Ivy’s verse that he apparently got on the second take. Quite possibly the emotional centerpiece of the whole track. And although it was recorded for The Blueprint 2, the track was released after Jay-Z had “retired” from the music business, so I think people got excited when he appeared on here with not just one, but two verses. Years have gone on and I’ve seen that fans don’t really rates Hov’s verses ’cause they don’t match the overall tone of the track. I think they’re fine. The way he closes out the track with the sample looping fading out is cold stuff. And Kanye… well, he has a pretty heavy verse too. Pharrell Williams thought so too, judging by his reaction from the video below.

#903: Fleetwood Mac – Never Going Back Again

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I’ve had Rumours in my library since about 2013. Until about last year, maybe even earlier this year, I always thought of ‘Never Going Back Again’ as that nice little acoustic ditty near the start of the album that didn’t amount to much. Just kept the flow of the album moving, you know? But that all changed when I came across a video of Lindsey Buckingham performing the track live at the University of Southern California. I’ll embed the video below, it’s a stunning take. Honestly, I probably prefer that version of the song over what appears on the album. It’s the same song all in all. But through it, I gained a new appreciation.

Like the other Buckingham-penned numbers on Rumours, it’s most likely about Stevie Nicks in some way. But really, the main message Buckingham’s putting out there is he’s been put into these uncomfortable situations in relationships. Been messed around, tossed aside, all those cliché things. He’s been let down and dumped two times (probably more, but that’s how the song goes), and he’s determined not to be put into that position again. Not for a while at least. All this is sung to some very delicate and intricate finger-picking from Buckingham. It’s a style of playing that, judging from the video below, looks very difficult to master. There are plenty of comments online that state the pain and cramps they’ve suffered just trying to get the guitar work right.

In the video below, Buckingham plays the track at a slower tempo and a lower key. Looking at other live takes, that seems to be the way he does it when he’s on the road. Like I said earlier, I may even prefer it that way. It lets the notes ring out for a little longer. But even in the video below, he’s hunched over the guitar fretboard and I want to say is probably concentrating on not trying to mess it up. So I think it’s a testament to his playing that he just does goes through it like it’s nothing on the album. Although I would take a guess that it took a ton of practice.