An old old old Green Day song today. “Green Day” is a track from the band’s first album 39 Smooth released in 1990 when they weren’t signed to a major label and didn’t have Tré Cool as their drummer. Weird to think, huh? But it’s very true.
You may think it a bit strange to have a song with the same name as the band itself. I know I did for a long time. But it was after realisation that the track was probably written whilst the band weren’t known as “Green Day” but by the name of “Sweet Children” initially. It’s known that the group changed their name to the former just because it sounded better – which I’m sure we can all agree on – and the context behind it is pretty funny too. When you smoke weed, it’s a green day.
And so, that is what this song is about. Smoking weed. Seeing strange things whilst under the influence. All set to an unpolished production of punk rock. Niiiice.
“The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” is one of the most confusing Weezer tracks to exist. It can also be considered to be their most epic, depending on your taste. Lyrically, the song finds Rivers Cuomo at the height of hubris. In every line he is adamant on telling you he’s the best, no one can tell him he’s not the best, he will show that he is the best if you don’t believe him, he’ll mess with you if you get in his way leading into the final verse in which he defiantly declares that he is the song’s title, and it is his destiny to give to the world.
The other thing about this song is, for every verse that is delivered the band sing in a different style ranging from rap, to Slipknot, to Beethoven and Bach. Quite the mindfuck. Though it does make for an adventurous and unpredictable six minutes of your life. On listening to it years ago, I still have the thought that what happens in this just shouldn’t work. I shouldn’t like this at all. But it does. And I do. It is weird.
So either Rivers had just cracked during the writing of this, or it is the sign that the man is some sort of crazy genius.
No post yesterday. Got back home from university. Was very tired as a result. Nice to be back though. Let’s carry on.
Happyness are an indie rock trio from South London who I first heard about through NME. Basically what you see upon clicking on that link is a very nice description of the band and the page where I listened to “Great Minds” for the first time. For some reason, I remember immediately dismissing it. Reading what bands NME considered Happyness to sound like made me think the band was trying too hard. Thought the title was a bit much too. What the fuck. That was shallow of me. Very poor.
Instead, I actually listened to the track and found out that it is actually a very enjoyable listen. It is a perfect blend of deadpan but relatable lyrics with sweet, sweet melodies and chill vibes that make for some easy listening. All executed under two minutes too. Somewhere I read the track ties with the album’s apparent concept of a person born on the same day as Jesus Christ….. You can look that up of you want, I’m just okay with listening to the music if that’s alright.
The Fall Be Kind EP was released in November 2009, months after the release of their critically acclaimed Merriweather Post Pavilion – an album which was virtually appreciated by everybody and seen as one of the best of the year. Fall Be Kind carried on the sample-heavy aesthetic that was established on the preceding album, and it begins with the ethereal and unpredictable “Graze”.
The track opens with sudden bursts of various wind instruments and a swelling bass that fades in and out amongst Avey Tare’s reverb-coated vocal, as he sings about, what sounds like, the processes inside our heads and what the environment seems to feel like as we wake up in the morning for the start of a new day. It is not soon after that a cello can be heard melodically weaving its way amidst the beautiful atmospheric sounds. Panda Bear then comes in to contribute a more sombre and philosophical tone with a verse concerning his thoughts about fame and being in a band as minor-key arpeggiated piano chords slowly come into the mix.
Afterwards, Avey comes back repeating the song’s first lyric “Let me begin”, the wind instruments fade out to give way to some upbeat rim-shots which signify a change in the song’s music. And what happens? Happy-go-lucky pan-flutes that sound like background music to a weird cartoony school for elves and dwarves take over. All you can do is laugh. Not because it sounds silly, though it may do on the first listen, but because it shouldn’t work in context with the rest of the song. But it just does. Amazingly. With booming drums and abrasive synthesizers Avey and Panda sing as one during the coda to bring the stellar opener to an awakening finish.
A great opener to the EP, the tracks sets the tone for the remaining twenty minutes though on its own it still leaves you wanting more. It’s quite hard not to expect “What Would I Want? Sky” to come in straight after that transition. That song is for another day.
“Gravity’s Rainbow” was Klaxons’ first ever single released in early 2006. After the arrival of their debut album in January of the following year the song was released again; not as the rough version that I had become much acquainted with by that point but as the version that appears on Myths of the Near Future, with an updated video and everything.
Taking its name from a Thomas Pynchon novel, the track is a love song but with some sort of space/time travelling twist put on it. The lyrics sound as if they are randomly put together, though filled with many references concerning exotic locations, time, and mythical characters which all lead to the uplifting and inviting chorus you’ll be able to decipher just what the song’s going on about after a few listens. Led by dainty piano riffs mixed with warping guitar fills “Gravity’s Rainbow” sounds like a dangerous ride with the space-time continuum. A thrilling ride, but one that assures you that everything will be alright in the end.
One other thing, the title isn’t actually sung in the lyrics. It is, however, in one of the verses of “Atlantis to Interzone“. Take from that what you want.
The Music in My Ears 