Tag Archives: about

#1332: R.E.M. – Talk About the Passion

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I remember a time when I really didn’t understand what was going on with ‘Talk About the Passion’. I was going through Murmur for the first time in 2013 or something. That was a moment in my life when I was listening to music, but was trying to listen to it like some kind of critic. Looking at the words and trying to understand what they really meant. I think I was really into Pitchfork and trying to make a way into music journalism around then. ‘…Passion’ came round, and I think I had a feeling that it was being pretentious with the French lyrics. God forbid a band try and be creative with the words they use in their songs, right? Because I didn’t understand the words, I think I wrote it off and the rest of the album. I was missing something internally when I was 18. But fast-forward to the end of 2017, when I was 22, when on a whim I went through Murmur again and found myself having a new favourite album. You guys know. I’ve written about six other songs from the LP on here.

When I was early twenties, I think I’d began to just take music for what it was if I was listening to it for the first time. Taking into account the overall sounds and how they made me feel. Wasn’t a conscious thing, think it just turned out that way. And I remember Murmur making me feel really good. When it came to ‘Talk About the Passion’ that time around, as soon as the opening guitar riff played for the first time, it was like, “I’m probably going to enjoy this one too,” after having already been impressed by ‘Radio Free Europe’ and ‘Pilgrimage’. ‘Laughing’ not so much, I’ve never been able to get into that one. I think Michael Stipe’s vocals are a highlight in ‘…Passion’. His delivery of the titular phrase throughout is one with a lot of warmth and sincerity. That cello adds another dimension to the proceedings. Makes it all sound much more emphatic. And the combination of it and Stipe wailing in the distance as the song closes on a fade-out adds a sweet bow to it all. Makes sense that it was released as a single in its time, but it’s also kind of a bold pick for one as well.

I’ve always sort of thought that ‘…Passion’ was kind of a religion song. Same way I think ‘Pilgrimage’ is too. Like, talk about the passion. What passion? The passion of Christ? I guess that could work. “Empty prayers.” Prayers have to do with religion too. But apparently Michael Stipe described the song as being about hunger, which is where the “empty mouths” thing comes in. So it’s a track about people praying for food, having a intense need for it and wondering how long they have to wait until it arrives. “Combien de temps” does sound much cooler than “How long”, gotta say. Plus, it has the right number of syllables to fit in the music, so you can probably see why Stipe went with the choice of phrasing. Yeah, this is a good song right here. At least, I think so. I don’t think I can say it’s my outright favourite on Murmur. But put it on and I’ll be singing along to it. And if any song can do that to me, then it’s done its job.

#1233: The Who – So Sad About Us

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Another track from The Who’s A Quick One. ‘So Sad About Us’ is a number that I don’t think I paid much attention to when I first heard that album way back in the early 2010s. Other cuts like ‘Boris the Spider’ and ‘See My Way’ were much more to my liking. The latter’s considered to be one of the weaker songs on there, but I’ve always dug it. But at that time, ‘So Sad About Us’ had its own Wikipedia page, so I gathered it must be quite important in some way. According to it, the song’s one of the Who’s most covered songs, with people like The Breeders and The Jam having their own takes on it. It wasn’t until I saw a live performance of the track the Who did (below) maybe only a few years ago that I thought I should maybe give the album version another listen.

Before The Who started getting into making albums with concepts in mind, the music becoming sort of artsy and extravagant as a result, their first two records showcased Pete Townshend’s abilities to write “simple” catchy 3-minute power pop wonders. You think of ‘My Generation’, ‘Substitute’, ‘The Kids Are Alright’. Things of that nature. ‘So Sad…’ falls into that category. It’s a strong performance by the four respective band members, and is more of their straighter numbers by Who standards. The rhythm section is usually the highlight in many a Who song, but I’d say ‘So Sad…’ relies more on the clanging guitar chords and the vocals/harmonies carried out by Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle.

It’s a break-up song, a topic that you rarely ever find in The Who’s catalogue, from the point of view of a narrator who’s upset by the whole situation. No malice is felt toward the other person. There’s no sense of bitterness. Just an honest account of acceptance that time has run out and the relationship is over. The track is two verses, a bridge and a repeat of the first verse surrounded by a memorable refrain of la-la-la’s, but to spice things up a little there’s a key change that occurs nearing the end. Just a general fan of how the song’s executed, to be honest, there’s not much else I can say. Although it’s one of their most covered tracks, I still feel like it’s underappreciated in the grand scheme of things. I’m sure there are a lot of people who don’t know about the song’s existence. But it does, and it’s great.

My iPod #500: Brakes – Heard About Your Band

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500 posts. That’s crazy. I never thought this would be something I’d still have the energy and commitment to carry on two years later, and yet here we are. I’m proud. Thanks to anyone who has liked, given a comment, or simply checked the blog out. You are part of the reason I choose to do this. A big part nonetheless.

And so the band that has the privilege of having the half-thousand song that I am going to discuss is Brakes. Or BrakesBrakesBrakes, if you are situated in the USA. “Heard About Your Band” is a song from the Brighton band’s debut album Give Blood, released ten years ago in July. The album was recorded in a mere eight days in January 2005, and most of the tracks on there were recorded live and in one take. There are some cuts where the band will finish one track, and you’ll proceed to hear them tuning their guitars and sorting themselves out before going straight into the next one. Many of the songs are under 3 minutes. The shortest is seven seconds. And with a wealthy amount of sixteen tracks, Give Blood doesn’t even reach half an hour in duration. It’s very efficient. It is a belter.

“Heard About Your Band” is the fourth track in, and is about singer Eamon Hamilton’s experience of listening to this guy incessantly rabbiting on his band, and his stories of meeting all these female icons like Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and ‘the girl’ from Sleater-Kinney. Of course, Hamilton is sarcastic throughout his lyricism; he clearly doesn’t give a shit about what this person has to say, but his vocal performance with his gravely yelps and frantic ad-libs make him sound like he’s so excited about the whole ordeal. In the end, he dismisses with a pissed-off sounding “Whatever, dude” and the track comes to a close a minute and ten seconds in.

A great thing about the album is that the tracks don’t go on longer than they should do. All the good parts are crammed into maybe 1-2 minutes, which makes for some enjoyable listening. “Heard About Your Band” is no different.

That’s 500 done. Here’s to the next 500. Keep on reading.

My iPod #387: Dr. Dre ft. Eminem – Forgot About Dre

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“Forgot About Dre”. Well, everyone knows this one. So I probably won’t go deep into it. It’s a classic, really. A guy in a film rapped a verse of it on the radio which got people talking for a bit, so there’s that too. That’s how much it means to people.

At the time the song was released as a single, Dre had just released his second album “2001”. This album came seven years after his debut. People probably talked about when his next album would come out in the years between, or fenerally started to actually ‘forget about Dre’. Well, Dre’s here to remind you just how much he’s influenced the game. He might be older, but you still don’t wanna mess with him. This is the OG straight outta Compton who isn’t afraid to express himself.

Oh, and Eminem chips in a verse to reinforce this message too. And this is Eminem in his prime too, so you know you’re in for a treat.

My iPod #385: Feeder – Forget About Tomorrow

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“Forget About Tomorrow” is a song from Feeder’s album “Comfort in Sound”. I don’t have that album, though. It was thanks to the almighty “Singles” compilation from 2006 that I was able to hear the song and admire its beauty.

I always thought that “Tomorrow” was a sad track, only because of its album’s context (I think I went into depth about that already, either in the “Come Back Around” or title track entries, so have a read of those if you want). But in fact, it’s very uplifting. The rising, heavy string section drives the track onwards as Grant Nicholas sings about feeling content with everything surrounding him and generally seeing things a lot clearer than before; as a result he can’t think about tomorrow due to the elation.

Quite emotional to say the least. On “The Singles” this track is followed by “Tender” which is another track guaranteed to bring on some feels; hopefully, you feel better after listening to this one.