Tag Archives: man

#877: Bob Dylan – Mr. Tambourine Man

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The original. ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ was released as a track on Bob Dylan’s fifth album Bringing It All Back Home, the first of two records he would release in 1965. Three weeks after its release, the track gained a ton of popularity when it was covered by The Byrds. The band’s cover was a number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and essentially launched folk rock as this huge movement in music, going on to influence a large number of their peers and bands in the years to come.

I’ll say it now, The Byrds’ cover will get its own post in a couple days. Might as well get that admission out of the way. I like both takes of the song quite a bit. Though while I probably sing along to the Byrds, I pretty much just listen to Dylan’s original. There are only four verses in it, but they contain a lot of words – the majority of which I haven’t memorised. But sometimes all you can do is listen to Dylan here. You have to remember this guy was 23 years old when he wrote this, and yet there’s so much imagery and poetry in his lyricism. His rhyming patterns just remind of all those poems I had to read when studying English back in the day. There’s so much to unpack, and yet it’s all just about this character who Dylan seems to admire for their musical abilities. Well, that’s one way of looking at it anyway.

It’s kept quite simple musically. Bob Dylan plays the acoustic guitar and the harmonica during those instrumental breaks alongside an electric guitar countermelody supplied by folk musician Bruce Langhorne. It is said that he was the inspiration behind ‘Tambourine Man’, as he would play a Turkish frame drum during performances. Keeping things stark and light on the ears really allows Dylan’s voice to come through, and it’s difficult to not get lost in the words. You may make fun of the way he sings it all, but who doesn’t when it comes to Bob Dylan songs. I know it’s something I’m prone to do. Can’t help it. But again, it’s all about the feeling rather than the quality of his singing. There’s plenty of that here.

#841: Deerhoof – Milk Man

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I was really into the NME back around 2007. I was well into my first year of secondary school, and my musical tastes were being shaped by whatever what was on FIFA games and MTV2. NME appeared to be the magazine that gave a lot of coverage to what was playing on that channel. So, if I wanted to know more about that music and those bands, the NME was the way to go. In those years, the publication had its own web/internet radio station on their website which anyone could click on and start listening to. The only reason I know today’s song, ‘Milk Man’ by Deerhoof, is because it played on this station. From what I remember, it was played twice. The second time, I made sure I made note of what the song was called and who it was by. Lucky for me, because after that second time I don’t think the song was played on there ever again.

So, yeah, this is the only Deerhoof song I know. I tried to get through the Milk Man album years ago, but don’t think I could make it past the second song. I remember it being quite noisy. I should give it another go someday. But the ‘Milk Man’ song I could listen to all the time. When I was 12 in 2007 and heard the guitars opening the track with their little stop/starting riffs, I knew even then that it would be a song to remember. Quite cliché to say, but I mean it sincerely. The noise kicks in for those driving breaks before transitioning into the quieter verses where bassist and lead vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki comes into the frame. Her voice is perfect for the track. And her Japanese accent makes the lines so much more fun to sing. The drums are something to look out for too. Drum rolls and erratic hits on the snare are abound. Drummer Greg Saunier goes even wilder during live performances.

The track isn’t about anything deeper than what it describes in the lyrics. It’s about the Milk Man, who you can see on the album cover, who has bananas embedded in his arms, wears a mask, and wants to play happy music with the boys and girls. It’s an introduction to the character, and the album is meant to be a story about what he gets up to. I can’t get more into it than that because I haven’t heard the whole record. This is something that needs to be personally rectified.

#804: Gorillaz – Man Research (Clapper)

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Gotta say I miss the times when Gorillaz made music like this. Damon Albarn’s taken his virtual band into quite poppy territory, but there’ll always be those featured guests that still give the material a bit of its edge. I prefer the Gorillaz tunes where Albarn never sounded the same on each track. Where he would barely enunicate any of the words he would say against a strange experimental soundscape, or use some production effect to make his voice sound different. A prime example of the former occurs in today’s track, ‘Man Research (Clapper)’ from the band’s debut album from 2001. Now you’ll either just get your standard Albarn vocal with that effect that makes it sound like he’s talking from a loudspeaker. But anyway, let’s talk more about the song.

What is ‘Man Research (Clapper)’ about? I don’t think anyone truly knows. You can search up the lyrics online. I’ve seen them and, though they somewhat resemble what Albarn could be saying in this song, I don’t think they’re correct. The song samples ‘In the Hall of the Mountain Queen’ by Raymond Scott, which is on his album Manhattan Research Inc. That is where the Gorillaz song takes its name from. That still doesn’t get us any closer to the song’s message. I could only say that I think ‘Man Research’ is connected to ‘Clint Eastwood’ because both songs include the lyric ‘I got sunshine’. It also comes straight after ‘Eastwood’ on the album. And I’ve always thought that song was about drugs. So, I guess that’s what it boils down to, everybody. ‘Man Research’ is about drugs. See you and good night.

I’m just kidding. I’ve never thought about the song’s meaning that much. I need something to discuss on here. Anything with a strong melody’s alright with me. Although Damon Albarn sounds a bit far gone on this one – if that was his intention, he succeeded – the way he ‘sings’ alongside that incessant kick drum always sounded good to me. That ‘yea yea yea’ chorus is very memorable, whether you like it or not. For the last minute and twenty seconds, Albarn become slightly unhinged with every ‘yea yea yea’ repetition to the point where it sounds like he’s either in pain while delivering his vocal or even crying. It’s a bit of a freakout. And it’s those types of strange moments from Gorillaz that I miss. They’re not so strange anymore.

#803: Blink-182 – Man Overboard

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Blink-182 fans know that ‘Man Overboard’ could have been on Enema of the State, the 1999 album that essentially propelled the band to the masses and provided pop-punk anthems like ‘All the Small Things’ and ‘What’s My Age Again?’ It didn’t make it though. The band worked on the song, they made a demo and everything, but couldn’t get the lyrics down so left it on the shelf. A year later, the group released a live album to keep fans happy while they waited for a new studio release, and there ‘Man Overboard’ was in its final form as the ‘last’ track. It precedes a large number of hidden tracks of fart and sex jokes.

The song’s about the band’s original drummer, Scott Raynor, who left/was fired because of his alcoholic tendencies. Well, it hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s more or less what it’s commonly agreed to be about. The song’s title compares the whole departure issue to the moment when a person calls the titular phrase after falling off a ship. Because it doesn’t appear on a ‘true’ Blink album, I think the track is overlooked in a way. Bit of a shame because it’s a really good one. It’s a great show of alternating Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge vocals with Travis Barker going mad on the drums, as was the usual for a long time in the band’s initial run. Fast-paced pop punk with an almost child-like taunting tone to it is how I would describe it in short.

The music video caps off the Enema era humorously. It parodies the videos of that album’s singles, but in the place of the band members are little people. A great way to look at the recent success, and I guess ring in what was then the new millennium.

#802: R.E.M. – Man on the Moon

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I downloaded the Automatic for the People album years ago. A website said that it was a very good record. I didn’t really pay much attention to it though. 2018 was the year I really got into R.E.M., and I went through the band’s whole discography in about two weeks. Automatic was an obvious standout. ‘Man on the Moon’ is the tenth track on there.

Drummer Bill Berry came up with the main chord progression of the verses (a slide from C to D) while strumming a guitar alongside the band’s usual guitarist, Peter Buck. The story goes that Berry reached for something and inadvertently changed the chord he was playing. Buck went ahead and developed upon the idea. Singer and lyricist Michael Stipe heard the music they had come up with, and for a long time had some trouble coming up with words to accompany it. In the end, he chose to write about comedian Andy Kaufman, his career highlights and compares those conspiracies about his death with those about the moon landing. The word ‘yeah’ also appears a lot in there because Stipe was inspired by Kurt Cobain’s use of it in Nirvana songs.

Notable highlights in this song for me are the three way harmonies of Stipe, bassist Mike Mills, and Berry. Those vocals were a staple in the R.E.M. catalogue from the band’s first album. After Automatic they weren’t utilised as much. Whenever that ‘Andy did you hear about this one’ pre-chorus starts with Berry on the lower harmony and Mills on the high with Stipe in the middle, it always feels like this huge change in motion from the preceding verses. Peter Buck’s slide guitar during these parts are quite nice too. Released as the second single from the album in 1992, it was part of a run that cemented the hold that R.E.M. had on the alternative world on the time. I’ll never really know how big the band were then. I hadn’t been born. But from what I’ve read, they were a huge deal.