The Music Court

So, I am finally back from the outer space of anesthesia and I have walked in here just to see that wierd look on all of your faces. Okay that was stupid I will just shut my trap. Anyway, time for the lyricist of the day #99. WOOHOO. Let’s see here are you people ready for the pick? Well here we go. Let’s take a look what digitaldreamdoor picked.

Digital Dream Door’s #99: Matt Bellamy of Muse

My Pick: Ray LaMontagne

Okay, don’t hit me I tried. I really tried agreeing on this one. While I was easy to shoo away Axl Rose in the last one because face it people he is not good, this decision was tougher. I have a lot of respect for Muse and their music. I even profiled one of their lines in the lyric of the day from “Knight’s of Cydonia.” But, this is the problem. One of their lines. Most of Bellamy’s other lyrics are not that great. They tend to be predictable and not tremendously engaging. He is definitely good, one of the better ones today. But, in the list of top 100 he falls short. I’d give him like 105, but this is top 100, the cream of the crop, the best of the best. If you don’t impress me I ain’t giving you the call. So, without further ado,  I shall give my reasoning for picking Ray LaMontagne, the soft-spoken musician from Nashua, New Hampshire, who now lives in Maine. He has picked some fun places to live.

Okay, here is why I picked him and it is not because I like him because I like Muse too. Stupid conspiracists out there who think I am biased. It’s funny how paranoid I come off on the blog. People must think I’m at home with tin foil on my head because the googooplacans from Cybornian are attempting to feed my mind with anti-Matt Bellamy ideas. Well, that may have been the dumbest thing I have ever written but I obviously digress. Here are some lyrics that will change your mind too.

“Such the lazy Jackstraw,
Always late for tea
Never bothers to ring lately

Says the silly Sparrow,
‘There’s gossip in the grain,
Have you heard the…Oh you don’t say.’

‘Someday,
Someday,
A snow shall fill the trees
You’d best make warm the eves.’

Grown callous is the old Crow,
He’d mock even the sun,
Eyes as black as blood
Bone crack in the craw

He’d say,
He’d say,
Always a ‘Never mind’
Always a ‘Never mind’

Truth be:
The Beggar that holds his tongue,
Dines on none but air alone”

– “Gossip in the Grain,” by Ray LaMontagne released as his third studio album in October of 2008

This is the entire song from the raspy musician whose voice really is grainy. The song itself is beautiful, a true rustic beauty. The lyrics also propel him to the perfect #99 spot for him. In future years he does have room to move up, but now he fits this role well. Let’s break down the song. Their is wonderful symbolism throughout this song, mainly with the silly sparrow and the old crow. The silly sparrow who seems optimistic and the old crow whose grown callous and always says “Never Mind.” To me this sounds like a delicate admission from LaMontagne. What if the Sparrow is LaMontagne and the old crow is everyone who brought him down. His abusive, musician father who prevented LaMontagne from starting to play music at an earlier age because he was turned off to the concept. School, which proved to be a breeding ground for fights and a longing to leave. He, the Sparrow, has finally received that snow and realized that beggar’s can catch more then air looking up at the sky. You see why I like him better?

I’m guessing after one look at the title of this post confusion washed through your body and you felt cold and scared. “Where is the song title,” the question shivered from your mouth as your teeth chattered. Okay, none of that happened but in case you were wondering lyric #47 starts a brand new ball game of lyrics of the day. Why? I was getting a little bored of random songs. So, without further ado, I will reveal to you the new format.

It is nearly impossible to take all of the rock lyricists who have ever written a much sought after first word down on a piece of paper and rank them. Think about it. How many rock songs are out there? How many of these songs have poetry behind the guitars, the drums, the keyboards? The answer is a lot and I have to give my total props to the list compiled by Digitaldreamdoor of the top 100 lyricists of all time. I guess by now you know where I am going with this. For today, and the following lyrics of the day I will follow their list loosely from 100-1. What I mean by loosely is, if there is someone at a spot that I do not believe should even be on the list I am going to replace their name by someone not on the list who I think deserves it more. Easy enough? Oh yeah, the way the posts will work is a little information about the lyricists and then a segment from what I believe to be there best work. Shall we begin?

Digitaldreamdoor’s #100: Axl Rose

My Pick: Robin Pecknold

Immediately a change in the list. As we go through the lyricists lower down on the list you will see the majority of the changes. Not saying the lyricists replaced are poor with words, but, the ones that I replace them with are, most likely, rising younger musicians. So is the case with #100. Axl Rose never really hit it off for me. Guns & Roses, in my opinion, was made mainly by the excellent guitar playing of Slash, rather then the lyrical prowess of Rose. “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Sweet Child of Mine,” they all are rather corny and, in some cases, grotesque. How can I give credit to a lyricist who wrote,

“Welcome to the jungle
Feel my, my, my serpentine
I, I wanna hear you scream”

It just ain’t happening. I mean I am all for metaphors but I mean come on. That is a horribly noticeable metaphor. Axl Rose you are not a hard man to read. So, instead of Axl Rose’s insipid lyric, let us focus on lyrics that thrive on taste. Lyrics that are wonderfully pastoral and make you want to go outside, rather then looking out for the jungle that is Axl Rose’s no-no zone.

Robin Pecknold is the singer/guitarist/lead song-writer of the relatively new band Fleet Foxes. The only reason why he is not on this illustrious list of song writers is because the last time the list was updated was in 2005. Pecknold is only 23 right now and his band did not come to fame until 2007. See the time problems? If the list was continually updated Pecknold may be at around 80 but I am not changing the order just some of the named.

Pecknold, who has admitted suffering from social anxiety, is indeed an eccentric person and this is portrayed in his lyric. He comes from a music background in Seattle, Washington, proving that awesome bands will always come out of a place that rains coffee everyday. His father played in an underground Seattle band entitled The Fathoms (not to be confused by the Boston band of the same name). This Fathoms played a similar style of music to The Dynamics, an interesting soul/horn mix. Pecknold’s sister is also a rock critic for the magazine Seattle Weekly. I love Fleet Foxes who describes their music as, “Baroque harmonic pop jams.” The oddness just emits itself from their instruments. But, it is their elaborate vocal harmonies mixed with the rustic, bucolic feel that drifts into awaiting ears that makes them so good. Man, I am running out of adjectives. Anyways, on to my favorite lyrics. Soon you will see why Robin Pecknold is kinda much better then Axl Rose.

“I was following the pack
all swallowed in their coats
with scarves of red tied ’round their throats
to keep their little heads
from fallin’ in the snow
And I turned ’round and there you go
And, Michael, you would fall
and turn the white snow red as strawberries
in the summertime..”

“White Winter Hymnal,” by Fleet Foxes (written by Robin Pecknold) off of their debut album Fleet Foxes

So, let’s see. “Welcome to the Jungle, We have fun and games,” compared to this beautiful imagery. I think it is a no brainer. How about you?