Brent Redpath
Aside from lifting, reading, eating and talking, listening to music is one of my greatest passions in life. I see it as a very personal and private passion that I share (usually) with only my subconscious and conscious mind – and a few likeminded friends.
Today though, I am publicly going to express three of my favourite songs based on their lyrical genius. They are songs that hold a special place in my heart and soul. They’ve held up to the rigours of my overcritical mind and that old chestnut time. So with out further ado, here they are:
NEIL YOUNG’S THRASHER:
I think it was either Stephan Still’s or David Crosby who said something along the lines of ”Neil Young’s music is as real to him as a heart-attack”. For me, that sums Young’s music up perfectly. Young’s music is as real as it gets and he has the gift of tapping into something almost metaphysical. It’s as though he doesn’t so much write a song, as he does tap into another wave-length and transcend a story into the world through his guitar, harp and nasally voice.
His song ‘Thrasher’ from his 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps is no exception to this – in-fact it is the epitome of it. In this song Young taps into themes such as the death of traditional farming with the introduction of the modern Thrashing machines and the thoughts of men stuck in their ways.
”They were hiding behind hay bales,
They were planting in the full moon
They had given all they had for something new
But the light of day was on them,
They could see the thrashers coming
And the water shone like diamonds in the dew”
The images this song conjures up in ones mind, from the lyrics, are beautiful. It tells a story of changing landscapes, scenery and lost souls seeking solace ”where the pavement meets the sand”. With talk of burning credit cards and with talk of leaving people who had ”nothing that they needed, nothing left to to find” – it makes you want to do that just that.
You get the picture of someone who needs to find themselves and leaves those who don’t get it behind.
”So I got bored and left them there,
they were just dead weight to me,
better down the road with without that load”
This song not only conjures up beautiful imagery backed by the gentle strumming of a 12 string acoustic, and the howling of a harp; but it tells a beautiful story. The beauty with this song is it just whimsical enough that it can very much tell you your own version based on your interpretation. It it isn’t spelled out in black and white – but is very much grey.
There have been many attempts at analysing the meaning of the lyrics on the internet. Some attempts put very distinct metaphors to the lyrics and associate very clear meanings to them. I find this to be silly, as Neil is all about the source and the ticker in his music and writes straight from what ever creative stream taps into. Which is never clear and always murky.
For me this song is like a dream. You aren’t always sure what it means, but it sure as fuck means something and that something is beautiful. This synergy makes it one of my favourite songs from a lyrical standpoint. Each verse says something different and exposes you to different thoughts, meaning and imagery.
NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS’ MERCY SEAT:
Nick Cave is one of Australia’s greatest strong writers in my opinion. He definitely resigns himself to the creative process and goes where-ever it takes him, which can produce some remarkable things. One of those remarkable things is the song ”The Mercy Seat” from Caves’ 1988 album Tender Pray.
Unlike Young’s song previously, The Mercy Seat tells a very clear story about a man on his way to the electric chair for a crime he didn’t commit and his mental battles with God, justice, truth and of course..death.
The thing that make this song so brilliant lyrically, is the way it depicts the thoughts of a man facing the most dreaded fate of all, death. The man weighs up things like truth, justice and finds himself resigning to his fate, just to be done with it all. While all along insisting he is innocent and that he is not scared to die.
”And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth.
An eye for an eye
A tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I’m not afraid to die”
I imagine that an ordeal such as waiting for your inevitable death would conjure up such thoughts, especially when you are proclaiming your innocence. Oh, but let us not forget about God.
”I hear stories from the chamber
How Christ was born into a manger
And like some ragged stranger
Died upon the cross
And might I say it seems so fitting in its way
He was a carpenter by trade
Or at least that’s what I’m told…”
The brilliant thing about this song is the accuracy that Cave depicts a mans mental state prior to death. The song keeps repeating that he is not afraid to die, that he is innocent and that in a way, he just wants it over and done with.
”into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved, my head is wired
And like a moth that tries
To enter the bright eye
I go shuffling out of life
Just to hide in death awhile
And anyway I never lied”
Yet the poetic cherry on top for this song, is that after verse, after verse of this man erratically professing that he is innocent, that he told the truth and that he isn’t scared to die, he admits climatically that he did in-fact lie. The poetic thing here is that the lie is not that he did the crime after all, but after all this, right before life is stripped from him, he is afraid to die..
BOB DYLANS’ MY BACK PAGES:
You don’t have any credibility in my eyes if you talk about great lyricists of our time and neglect to mention Bobby D. He is a poet and his lyrics, for everyone of his songs, are masterpieces in their own right (well apart from those Christmas albums maybe). There’s no real dispute there.
So how do you choose one song from a man with such a library of lyrical genius and so much renown? Well I guess you choose the song that means the most to you. This can be for a number of reasons. The lyrics themselves can convey a message that is particular relevant to you. Or, the song can bring back memories of a certain time your life. Or, in this case, you can just sit back and admire a masters work and appreciate the craft for what it is.
My back Pages is from Bob Dylans’ 1964 album, Another Side Of Bob Dylan. It has been covered by many artists – from The Byrds, to The Ramones – meaning that I am not the only one who thinks it’s great.
In the song, Dylan rejects some of his early political ideals he held during his early folk protest days. He talks almost of hypocrisy and the ignorance he had to think that he had it all figured out at such a young age.
”Crimson flames tied through my ears, rollin’ high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads using ideas as my maps”We’ll meet on edges, soon,” said I, proud ‘neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”
The power and profundity of Dylan’s words in this song, make it such a moving piece to listen to. It’s as though you can feel the deep internal conflict Dylan is dealing with leaping from the verses.
”In a soldier’s stance, I aimed my hand at the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I’d become my enemy in the instant that I preach
My existence led by confusion boats, mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”
The power for me, comes from the line Dylan tacks onto the end of each verse ”Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”. He is admitting that in his Youth, he was ignorant enough to think that he had it all figured out so vehemently. It takes a deep, reflective and artistic individual to almost mock his younger self in such an emotionally charged and passionate way.
”Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then I’m younger than that now”.
This song really is a masterpiece. Raw and pure artistic expression from the greatest lyricist of our time. Just him and his nasally voice, backed by a few chords on his acoustic, is all that is needed. You can really feel it. It’s real, just as music should be. As real as a heart-attack. Not some surface superficial bullshit, but deep, visceral. From the ticker.
