Tag Archives: light

#1173: Supergrass – Seen the Light

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My old TV, provided by Virgin Media, had this feature where you could go into its guide and select a variety of music videos if ever you wanted to watch them. It was pretty cool. Television hadn’t yet got to the point where you could easily hook up your laptop right up to the big CRT screen. And if it had, I couldn’t anyway because I didn’t have a laptop. But it was neat to be able to watch whatever music video that tickled your fancy, in very, good quality, and in full screen without a problem of adverts or buffering and all the like. And it was through that that I came to know ‘Seen the Light’, a track from Supergrass’s 2002 album Life on Other Planets, which was also released as a single in early 2003.

As you’ll see above, the video doesn’t feature a physical presence of the band in any way. They must have been out on tour promoting the album or something. But is instead a clip consisting of followers going crazy over their apparent leaders, whether it be the congregation in a church or rabid fans at what appears to be a Fabian show. The video’s also made so it looks like various characters within it are miming the lyrics to the song. It’s a weird one, but also quite funny. And I guess it all ties in with the song’s lyrical matter too, which concerns the moment of joy and rapture that has been felt among the people now that their eyes have ‘seen the light’. What that light is isn’t really specified. But what matters is that there’s a sense of happiness and freedom, now that it’s been found.

I’m sure I’ve made some statement in the past referring to how this specific album by Supergrass is where they really wore their glam-rock influences on their sleeves. It’s apparent throughout the whole record, and ‘Seen the Light’ is one prime example. The way Gaz Coombes enunciates his lyrics (“Now that our eyyyyes have seeeeen the liiight, uuuuuuh”) the general tone behind the music. It’s a clear Marc Bolan/T.Rex tribute. Not that I’m complaining though. The whole track is a feel-good affair filled with very humorous moments, like the freaky/weirded out guitar(?) solo, a ‘baa’ from a sheep that makes a random appearance and an Elvis Presley impersonation, again by Coombes, that caps the whole track off. Fair to say, I think the group were in very high spirits when they were recording this.

#1105: Kings of Leon – Red Morning Light

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Every once in a while I’ll write about a song on here that I have to owe to a video game for cluing me in to its existence. The majority of the time it’s been through the FIFA series, which between 2002 to about 2013 introduced me to so many artists and genres from the West to the East that really shaped my musical interests in my childhood/adolescence. FIFA 2004 was a big, big game in that regard. Heck, I have a tag dedicated to it. And today brings yet another song included in the game’s soundtrack. Before booting up the game, I know for a fact I had no idea who Kings of Leon were. But then the opening chords to ‘Red Morning Light’ started blasting out the speakers during its introduction, and that was it. A brand new song in the head of a nine-year-old kid.

Well, I don’t think it was as instant as that. I was probably marvelling more at the skill moves of Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho. But through playing the game, probably almost every weekend in 2004 (at the max, any moment I had free time), I got accustomed to hearing the track at random points when I was navigating my way through the menus. The little tag would pop up showing the song information when it started playing. “Red Morning Light” by “Kings of Leon” on the album Youth & Young Manhood. Ah, so that was the band’s name. One to remember. Like the songs from the game I’ve written about before, I eventually got to singing along to it. I at least tried. Not that I got every word correct because Caleb Followill kinda blends one word into the next and slurs and mumbles his words throughout. But the chorus was always the best part, “And I say na-na hey, hey, you’re giving all your cinnamon away-hey.” I didn’t know what it meant. Still don’t now, really. But it was good, good stuff.

So, to keep things short, ‘Red Morning Light’ was the first song by Kings of Leon that I’d ever heard, and it’s thanks to FIFA 2004. When I finally received the game as a gift, 2004 had been a thing for four months. I got it as a birthday gift, you see, even though I really wanted it the Christmas that had gone. The band had gained their big following over here in the UK, and they were probably well on their way to working on their second album. As a result, the Aha Shake Heartbreak era of the band is the one that properly introduced me to their music. The video for ‘The Bucket’ came on TV one day, and it was like, “Oh, Kings of Leon, it’s those guys.” Then they never really disappeared from that point onward. I’ve been able to listen to Manhood, and it’s not my favourite album of the band’s, I have to admit. Not that it’s bad. There are at least two of the band’s that I think are better. But for the band it all began there and with ‘Red Morning Light’ as the opening track, so I have to give it props just for that.

#1104: The Strokes – Red Light

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Just the other day I was writing about another song from this album. Ah, well. These sorts of things are expected to happen on this blog. I pretty much explained my thoughts on The Strokes’ First Impressions of Earth in the ‘Razorblade’ post, so it leaves me with little to go with when it comes to writing this first paragraph. From what I know as a faraway Strokes fan, I believe the making of this album and the touring schedule for it was a time of growing tension between the band members – the outcome being that First Impressions would be the band’s “most recent” effort for a few years as they embarked on a hiatus. All of the members went on their solo tips. And those years really had us wondering. Would the Strokes ever get back together? Well, we all know they did when Angles came around in 2011. They almost had us, though.

‘Red Light’ is the last song on First Impressions…, bringing the band’s longest album to a close with a track about, I think, falling in love (true love, at that) and all the feelings that come along with it. Obviously when you hear the phrase ‘red light’, you can either think of the traffic signal or the red-light district. I’m sure that its usage was very much tongue-in-cheek in part by Casablancas. But I’m also sure that generally the track is very sincere in its tone. Casablancas had recently got married in the beginning of 2005, and lines like “Two could be complete without the rest of the world” and the sorta cheesy “All the girls could never make me love them the way I love you” could only reflect what he could have been feeling at the time. As well as that, ‘Red Light’ seems to also be a bit of a commentary on how life is sort of boring because everything that’s had to be invented now exists and the world seems to revolve in an eternal state of indifference. His own tired attitude to being the frontman of a rock band who’s constantly gaped at seems to take its toll too. Some contrasting frames of mind going on in this tune for sure.

All this being said, I do find myself singing along to the guitar lines during the verses, or that climbing/descending bassline that occurs at points throughout the track, rather than the words themselves. They’re all written by Casablancas. How he thinks all of these things up, I don’t know. But those melodies in those are just as infectious as that of the lead vocal line. Always like a track with a good finger-clicking, swinging tempo too. The first time I ever heard ‘Red Light’ was back in 2005 when MTV2 was showing a performance of The Strokes live in the channel’s studios, an exclusive in the lead up to the release of First Impressions…. They played ‘Red Light’, and the kid who was 1 years old (this is me) thought there was something cool about the song at the time. It’s never lost its touch. But that’s just how The Strokes roll, isn’t it? Always liked how it all ends on a dull thud rather than this big finish too. So understated but somehow also very emphatic.

#742: The Used – Light with a Sharpened Edge

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It’s been a while since I’ve discussed The Used on here. The last time I did was concerning the song ‘Hard to Say’ from In Love and Death. Though that is still my favourite album by the band, I removed that track from my iPhone quite a while ago. Plus there’s something about the tone of my writing before that two year break I did from here that I cringe about. Seems to me like a completely different person.

In that post I say “I don’t know how it happened, but I somehow listened to [this album]”. Thinking about it now, I remember exactly how I came across Love and Death. The video for ‘Take It Away’ was on MTV2 once upon a time and I thought it was one of the greatest songs I’d ever heard, being the teenager I was at the time. I downloaded the album not too long after. It was my go-to for a some time. Now, there are a few songs that I can’t make it through seriously. There are some tracks on the record where a lot of screaming is involved and I’m not emotionally attached to those in the same way I was in my adolescence. But some songs on there are just great and I have no problems with listening to them today. Two of them I’ve already written about. ‘Light with a Sharpened Edge’ is another.

This is my favourite track from that album. It’s that piercing guitar riff of the introduction that just gets me every time, it’s an instant hook. It’s in 6/8 (or 3/4, however you want to look at it). The strings on here are a thing of beauty. Vocalist Bert McCracken sings really nicely on top of it, easily reaching those higher notes with the natural register of his voice. Again, it’s another case where I’m not too sure what he’s singing about. Skimming through the lyrics in my head as I type, I’ll say it’s him having some sort of self-identity crisis and trying to find a place for himself in this world. And another thing I’ve always admired about this album is its production. It is an emo album to the full; there’s no two ways about it. But there are these little oddities and samples thrown into each track that make themselves apparent with each listen. Very atmospheric too. If there was another album I would compare it to – t’would be Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance. The same themes of love and death are explored in both albums. They were released a few months apart from each other. It’s a strange coincidence. I’ve always preferred The Used’s album by a mile.

#634: The Beatles – The Inner Light

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George Harrison began work on what would be his debut solo album in late 1967. Those sessions resulted in Wonderwall Music, released a year later. He travelled to Bombay in order to work with some musicians, and back to London to record some vocals. In that time, today’s song – ‘The Inner Light’ – was recorded. It was the last of Harrison’s songs during his time in the Beatles to explore the Indian influences that had been something of a trademark for him since 1966.

There’s a lot of information on its Wikipedia page that I don’t want to regurgitate. I’ve basically come to take it as an ode to meditation. Feeling content and peace within yourself and those around you. He took a lot of the lines from the Chinese Tao Te Ching text, putting a glorious melody on the words which are backed by a strong harmonium drone and floating Indian flutes.

Upon completion, it was made B-Side to ‘Lady Madonna’ and released in March 1968 while The Beatles went to India for some Transcendental Meditation. It was the first Harrison song to appear on a single. Harrison was proud of it, Paul McCartney held it in high regard. It worked out well in the end. For the song at least – the band were never quite the same from this year onwards.