Tag Archives: my ipod

#782: Jay-Z – Lucifer

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Welp, you’re gonna have to do with this live performance of today’s song; its studio version can’t be found anywhere online. Streaming platforms are the way to go here: Spotify, Apple Music, or preferably TIDAL in Jay-Z’s case. This appears to be the first Jay-Z song I’ve covered in this long, long seven year list I’m in the process of doing, so I’ll just give you my small and insignificant thoughts on the man. I’m not the biggest fan. He’s regarded as one of the best rappers of all time, that’s fine. What do people think of when Jay-Z comes to mind? Probably Beyoncé. But then there’s his voice. Again, one of the most iconic voices behind a microphone. When he starts rapping, you instantly know it’s him. Have I ever wanted to listen to that voice on a regular basis? Can’t say yes. But the man makes good music, I can see that.

‘Lucifer’ is the 12th track on The Black Album, a record released back in 2003. That album was promoted to be Jay-Z’s last before going into retirement, and there was this whole documentary on the making of the Black Album following Mr. Carter as he worked with Kanye West, Rick Rubin, Timbaland and many more producers to get the job done. Alongside fellow album track ‘Encore’, Kanye West produced ‘Lucifer’ taking a sample of Max Romeo’s ‘Chase the Devil’ and layering a piano riff and a whole lot of percussion on top. Jay-Z raps about sinning under the eyes of the Lord, and seeking revenge on the killers of his late friend and hip-hop legend The Notorious B.I.G. The final verse is also dedicated to Robert “Bobalob” Burke who was killed in 2003, and Jay-Z prays to God that Burke is allowed into heaven because, even though he may have sinned in his lifetime, he was an overall good man. The match of Kanye’s production with Jay’s vocal here is just perfect. It wasn’t the first time the two collaborated, but everything from the groove to Jay’s confident delivery works too well. Well, the kick drum may be a bit overbearing to some, I don’t know.

My sister got The Black Album, I want to say in 2004, and I have vivid memories of that ‘LUCIFER-LUCIFER SON OF THE MORNING’ sample blaring from the computer speakers as she played it on Windows Media Player. I think that’s just been ingrained in my head ever since. I also like the song ‘Change Clothes’ from the album; that song features the one and only Pharrell Williams. I would suggest listening to the album as a whole. Below is a clip from the aforementioned documentary, showing Jay-Z and Kanye West working on this song together in the studio.

#781: Tame Impala – Lucidity

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Going through Tame Impala’s Innerspeaker many moons ago, I didn’t think ‘Lucidity’ was anything special. Unlike ‘It Is Not Meant to Be’ or ‘I Really Don’t Mind’, which I thought were great from first listen, ‘Lucidity’ didn’t have that feeling you get when you stumble upon something special. It has a good driving tempo, nice swirling psychedelic guitar effects, and falling-down-the-stair drum fills that make for a very active listening experience. Still, I more or less left it for another day and went about listening to other stuff.

One day I saw that the track had a music video. I was on my Tame Impala tip, still discovering who the band was and finding out more about Kevin Parker’s work, so I had a look. I think it was through watching it when the track suddenly clicked. It’s one of those videos that make such a perfect accompaniment with the music that you can’t imagine one without the other. The video is filmed by a camera that was attached to a huge weather balloon. Once the balloon’s let go by Parker right at the beginning, the video follows the balloon’s journey into sky and eventually into space before it comes hurtling down towards the ground again. Its erratic movements and motions work too well with the song’s rhythms and lyrics where mentions of floating and reaching the sky arise in the verses. The track’s lyrics were written in the mixing stage of the album so whether there should be a serious effort for interpretation is up for debate. However, I take it that the song is simply about a person who suffers from lapses in concentration and in that state wishes to get to a clearer mind space. There’s not a very linear narration to it, so it’s hard to tell.

So that’s all the songs from Innerspeaker you’ll see on here. Shout out to ‘I Don’t Really Mind’ though; that should have got its own post… but I think I suffered from a lapse of concentration there myself. If you would like to see more about the video for ‘Lucidity’, Tame Impala luckily uploaded a ‘behind the scenes’ video on the making of it some time after the track’s release as a single.

#780: Coldplay – Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love

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A trick that Coldplay utilised on their 2008 album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends was merging two completely different songs together to make one long track. Two of them, ‘Chinese Sleep Chant’ and ‘The Escapist’, were hidden as they weren’t shown on the tracklist. For whatever reason though, the band decided to show that ‘Reign of Love’ was a song that was meant to be shown to all; it enters the frame as the long fade out of ‘Lovers in Japan’ is still happening. The two songs were then placed together, slap bang in the middle of the album.

‘Lovers in Japan’ is the upbeat, optimistic, us against the world type track. The sort of theme that’s been a constant in the band’s discography from about X&Y onwards. Chris Martin sings to lovers, runners, and soldiers telling them to carry on doing their thing in this crazy world we’re living in. Then he turns it round into a first person narrative in the second verse, telling his baby that they’re going to run away from all of their troubles with dreams of getting to Japan. Chris Martin’s lead vocal is probably one of his best performances, containing great melodies throughout. The track also possesses one of Coldplay’s best choruses. That’s just my opinion, though. ‘Reign of Love’ is the comedown. A beautiful, piano-led track with these twinkling loops and a subtle bass that lay the comforting backdrop to Martin’s restrained vocal. Looking briefly at the lyrics, I think the track captures a narrator who has fallen in love so hard that they’re like a prisoner in its grasp. I’ve gotta say I’ve never paid too much to what the lyrics are because the matching of the melody with the production is 10/10.

‘Lovers’ was released as a single in late 2008, a few weeks before the Prospekt’s March EP came out. In this format, it was unveiled with a new mix known as the ‘Osaka Sun Mix’ and this was what was also used in its music video (below). For a long time, that the version of the song I listened to. Upon rediscovering ‘Reign of Love’ it had to go. There are some minor differences between the ‘Osaka Sun Mix’ of ‘Lovers’ and its original album version. I’ll let you listen and find them out.

#779: The Beatles – Lovely Rita

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That’s right. It’s another Beatles song. That’s the way it goes sometimes. There’ll be that rare time when two consecutive songs will be by the same artist/group in this thing. Though this might not have been the case for this particular instance if it happened a few years ago. I really didn’t like ‘Lovely Rita’ for a while. Every time Paul McCartney came in with that ‘Luh-vly Rita, meter maIIIID’ line it was an instant skip. There was something that was too sweet and upbeat that didn’t sit right with me, and its original 1967 mix didn’t do it much favour either. I would much prefer ‘Good Morning Good Morning’ or ‘Fixing a Hole’ to it. But then there came a time when I listened to Sgt. Pepper in full one day and came to really like the song. It’s weird how that can happen.

No one really knows how or why Paul McCartney wrote this song. There is a story that he got a parking ticket from a traffic warden which gave him the inspiration, but he denied it even though he did say that the woman ‘looked like a Rita’ to him. There’s also a theory that he heard the term ‘meter-maid’ for the first time while in America, and just the combination of those words set him off. Whatever the origin is, the result is a throughly enjoyable song. There’s nothing wrong with a very upbeat track once in a while. And while, I guess, I used to solely focus on McCartney’s vocals on there I never paid attention to the fantastic groove that the song is held on thanks to his walking bassline. That’s really the main musical element that should be paid attention to, then everything else falls into place. John Lennon and George Harrison’s backing harmony vocals work wonders and producer extraordinaire George Martin plays the piano solo in the middle. It’s all a very joyous occasion.

Thank goodness that the 50th Anniversary Remix of Sgt. Pepper. was released in 2017. I think there are a lot of people who’ve got rid of the initial 2009 remasters that contained the dated 60s mixes. I’m still so used to them though so I listen to them regularly, though there’s no denying that the reissue is much better. Below is the song’s original stereo mix.

#778: The Beatles – Love You To

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The Beatles’ Revolver is an album that I’ve admired for so long now, it’s hard to recall when I had that ‘eureka!’ moment where I suddenly enjoyed each of its fourteen songs or even how I felt when I listened to the album for the first time. I know that I did go through it initially in 2009/10 when I was on my Beatles discovery phase, but I don’t think it was an album that struck me as a special one on the first listen. Through subsequent listens each track slowly became a lot clearer in terms of rhythm and melody and all that good stuff, but I have the feeling that George Harrison’s second song on the album ‘Love You To’ was one that I had to get my head around.

When listening to Revolver for any new Beatles follower, ‘Love You To’ will stick out immediately. Well, ‘Eleanor Rigby’ too, but definitely ‘Love’ because the band aren’t playing as a group. It’s more George Harrison and a lot of Indian musicians with Paul McCartney on backing vocal and Ringo Starr on the tambourine. It’s a real trip, but it’s merely a sign of the musical headspace Harrison was in at the time. He had fallen in love with the sitar and the music of India in general, and wrote this song in order to showcase his new interests. Experimentation with LSD may also have played a part in his new influences. It’s a song in the key of C and I’m sure that’s the only chord the song stays on throughout. That is known as a drone, for anyone who may be getting into music theory or something.

The song is of the the existential/philosophical type judging by its lyrics. Harrison, who was only 22 going on 23 when he wrote it, goes on to sing about how time’s going too quickly, how life is short and how people can be quick to take advantage of you if they get the chance. But while this is all going on, he just wants to make love as much as he can with the time he has. I’ve sometimes wondered why the track is titled ‘Love You To’; the phrasing doesn’t make sense and even so, the phrase doesn’t appear in the lyrics. If it was called ‘Love to You’ it would be a different story. Though I’ve realised now that it may be a play on the words ‘Love Me Do’, the very first Beatles single out only four years earlier. So strange but commendable how much the group changed it that time.