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#1202: Big Boi ft. B.o.B & Wavves – Shoes for Running

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Thinking about how to approach today’s song, I questioned for a moment, “How did I actually come to know this one?” Thankfully, I laid the backstory out in the first post I wrote for a song from Big Boi’s Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors way, way back in this blog’s early days. It’s been more than a decade since that LP was released. It doesn’t get talked about all that much. I remember it wasn’t that widely praised when it first came out too. I’m sure Wikipedia has sources to reviews of the time. I want to say I recall one in particular that put a highlight on the numerous collaborations with indie acts on there. Whether it was spun in a negative or positive way, that’s where you lose me. But one track on there which comes under that collaborative label is ‘Shoes for Running’, the 11th number in the running, featuring B.o.B and Nathan Williams of indie rock band Wavves.

Again I’m speaking more than a decade on, but when I inadvertently found the album on Spotify and played through it that first time, ‘Shoes for Running’ was one of the few on there that stuck out to me. The instrumental, produced by Williams, is quite cheerful and upbeat in nature. People are whistling and a group of children are included in the proceedings. But it runs against the downbeat lyrical content that focuses on the inevitability of death and the poor revolting against the rich. The track has a catchy chorus, one that I witnessed people slating on various YouTube comments and other forum-like places, but to me it was always good. B.o.B might be an artist whose relevance was left behind in the 2010s, but he had his time and he does a fine job on his verse here. And well, I don’t have to say much about Big Boi because we all know. For the longest time I thought B.o.B was singing the verse before the final chorus. I found out it’s Big Boi just recently. The guy could sing too, jack of all trades.

Well, I don’t have much else to say about the tune itself. I can tell you that this’ll be the last track from Vicious Lies… that I’ll be writing about on here. I revisited it relatively recently, and found it was very enjoyable to listen to. I think the dominance of features by indie acts over other hip-hop artists is what may have turned some people away. There’s also the very obvious attempt at the radio-hit song with ‘Mama Told Me’ with Kelly Rowland. You could probably miss me with that one. But all in all, Big Boi doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. Fine hooks in every tracks. I wouldn’t say it beats Sir Lucious Left Foot…. But I think its due time that people at least gave Vicious Lies… another go if it’s been a while.

#1143: The Beatles – Run for Your Life

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I don’t care what anyone says. I really like this song. The Beatles’ ‘Run for Your Life’ has gained a bit of a stink amidst the Internet community in recent years. People hear the song’s first line and are immediately shocked. Appalled. “I’d rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man.” Gasp. “What? Oh, my God.” Then come the rest of the lyrics that detail this girl’s low survival rate at the hands of the song’s narrator who will kill her if she even dare tried to leave him. It strikes a chord. Then add in the whole ‘John Lennon beat women back in his day’ statement (which is true and is bad, but the guy’s dead – can’t get any more cancelled than that) and people have a field day with criticising it. Then there’s the argument that it doesn’t bring the most satisfying end to the band’s Rubber Soul album. That’s a notion I would be fine with agreeing with if I cared that much.

The track was the first to be recorded for the album in October 1965. Not much is known of how John Lennon came to write the words, but the opening line (stated in the above paragraph) was taken from the Elvis Presley song ‘Baby Let’s Play House’. I assume that everything that followed was made just to match the tone of that source of inspiration. Backing up the threatening lyrics is an upbeat performance by the four band members. Lennon’s vocal performance is one that I thoroughly enjoy too. He’s backed up by the harmonies of McCartney and Harrison on the choruses, which aid in building that sort of tension within the song, that’s then resolved in the slide guitar and rhythm guitar riff that arrive after each iteration. A piercing bluesy guitar solo adds the icing on the song’s cake. In the end, George Harrison really liked ‘Run for Your Life’. Lennon not so much. He would later state that it was his least favourite Beatles song. In fact, I’d probably say the reason the track was chosen as the album closer was because he thought it was the worst one out of all the songs they’d recorded for the album, rather than thinking it would be a good way to finish things off.

I dunno. I think at the end of the day, it’s just a song and shouldn’t be taken so literally. I mean, are there people living today who could very much hold the values and ideals held by the narrator of the song? I wouldn’t doubt it. And that sucks. But at the same time, it’s so outrageous coming from the Beatles that you almost sort of have to laugh at it. Is Lennon writing about himself? Don’t think you can objectively say no. But I think once people learn about Lennon’s history, they hear the track and judge the dude’s character solely based on it. A whole hypocrisy argument comes in because Lennon was the peace guy, even though this song was written years before he became the figurehead of that specific movement. Maybe it’s me who’s making a big deal out of all of this. I’m just writing about what I’ve seen, I swear. Whatever view you may hold on it, I’m gonna carry on listening regardless.

#952: Eels – Novocaine for the Soul

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‘Novocaine for the Soul’ is the first song on Eels’ debut album Beautiful Freak and was the band’s first released single back in ’96. It introduced the world to the detached outlook on life taken by frontman Mark Oliver Everett, commonly referred to as E, a theme would carry on throughout a lot of the band’s work. As a ’90s baby myself, I wouldn’t have come across the song until way later, most likely when its video showed on MTV2 out of the blue one day. The visual of the three band members floating in the air was quite the suitable accompaniment for the music, even if the video static censoring of the word ‘fucking’ in there is a bit much. I’ve had the imagery from the video in my head whenever I hear this one.

What the narrator is this track is asking for when they refer to ‘novocaine for the soul’ is basically anything meaningful to get at the least a bit excited about. I don’t know if the opening lyrics are ‘iconic’, I think that’s words thrown around a lot these days. But an opening line of “Life is hard, and so am I/You better give me something so I don’t die,” that’s a pretty good way to start things off in my eyes. Sets the scene straight. He’s a simple man who doesn’t want to die too soon. He knows he’s gotta go someday, but before then could someone give him something to be happy about. There’s a whole bunch of sarcasm going on, but it’s also very sincere in its ways which was what the ’90s in music was all about when it comes down to it.

Track’s got a nice groove, one that I don’t think you’d usually expect from the usual alternative rock of the ’90s. The three-piece of £ on guitar, Tommy Walter on bass and Butch on drums really lay down that foundation. What properly sets the track apart is the inclusion of these grand strings that appear throughout. Not sure whether it’s a real string quartet or a string-setting on a Mellotron. If it’s the latter, they certainly sound very real. Think that may be down to Jon Brion’s hand in the production. Looking at the things he’s worked on, he’s always been handy in getting some good-sounding strings on a song.

#851: They Might Be Giants – Money for Dope

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They Might Be Giants’ album Join Us turns 10 years old this July. Those years have flown by, and yet at the same time I can nod my head and say, “Yep, it’s definitely felt like 10 years have passed”. Either way, the LP’s up there as one of my favourites by the band. Not just because I’m reminded of that day in 2011 when the album was out after months of anticipation, but because a lot of the songs are pretty great too. Some songs didn’t make it on there, and months later those tracks appeared on a cutting floor/rarities compilation titled, Album Raises New and Troubling Questions. ‘Money for Dope’ was one of those songs left off Join Us. A shame ’cause… it wouldn’t have been too out of place on there.

Now, there’s not much of a narrative thread or story in this track. What ‘Money for Dope’ is is essentially a sort of shopping list for very oddly specific things set to a rhythm and a climbing/descending melody, from both John Linnell vocal and Danny Weinkauf’s bass line. From the first second, Linnell throws items from a walking stick to rubber gloves to needle-nose pliers and much much more. What matters the most though is that money for dope for some reason. Why Linnell wrote this song isn’t really known, the same can be stated for many other They tracks. What I do know is that the phrase ‘money for dope’ was sung by John Lennon in his own track ‘Gimme Some Truth’, so I’d like to think that John Linnell was listening to that song one day, heard the phrase in it and was just inspired to write his own track revolving around it.

There’s not much else I can say about this one. The band have never played it live, I guess they don’t care about it that much. Hopefully my insight can provide some sort of entertainment while you listen to it. I can think of one or two tracks on Join Us that this one could have replaced, but that’s neither here nor there. I do like the way John Linnell sings the last ‘dope’ on the track. He elongates the word, raises his pitch and then ends on a really low note. Quite cool. At least that’s what I thought when I properly noticed it for the first time all that time ago. Now I just appreciate it as a fine way to end the track. Underappreciated one right here.

#774: The Who – Love Ain’t for Keeping

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The Who’s 1971 album Who’s Next opens with two intense rockers. ‘Baba O’Riley’, one of the band’s most iconic songs, and then ‘Bargain’, a five and a half minute powerhouse of hard rock. So to slow the momentum down just a bit, ‘Love Ain’t for Keeping’ arrives as a bit of a country-folk acoustic number, steady to the ear and much easier to take in in comparison to its predecessors.

I’ve always been fond of this one. It’s only two minutes and ten seconds, probably gets a bit shafted because of all the other songs on the album too. But it shows that The Who were as great in their softer approach to their music rather than the usual balls to the wall performances. Keith Moon on the drums plays with just enough restraint and keeps control of the song’s rhythm alongside bassist John Entwistle, and Pete Townshend plays the acoustic guitar in both channels, covering the rhythmic role in the left and lead guitar lines on the right. I think the overall highlight of the song are its vocals. They’re a highlight on many a Who song but it’s a glorious feeling when Roger Daltrey comes in with the first ‘Layin’ on my back…’ line that opens this one, especially with the natural reverb that occurs when he drags out the long note. The three-part harmonies during the instrumental nearing the end are amazing too.

So what it’s about? Judging from the lyrics, I say it’s about a person living in the countryside feeling fine and wants to make use of the good times they have by making love. It’s not meant to be kept, after all. If you think this track is boring, there was another version of the song made with guitarist Leslie West during the sessions for Who’s Next. It’s a lot more like the Who performances you may know and prefer. Townshend also takes the lead vocal here. I think it’s okay. I’ll stick with the one that appeared on the album.