12 posts tagged “rock”
While perusing one of our best local independent and progressive newspapers, the Independent Weekly, here in the triangle area of NC, which includes Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, I found this terrific local band, who sadly is calling it quits after 5 years. I wish I would have discovered them earlier, but alas, I only moved up here to this mecca of Progressiveness and great music about a month ago. I have noticed over the years that some of the greatest music out there is either local music or independent music or both. This band is no exception. Their name was Nathan Asher and the Infantry and the only song I can find at the moment is titled Turn Up the Faders.
It can be found at Trianglerock.com. Listen to what a beautiful song this is. And mesmerizing!! I love this damn song! And I just wish I could have heard them play it live.
Two of my favorite lyrics from the song read as follows:
"So we take the A-Train into the city,
Sticky seats shake at the station,
Women's footsteps drag,
From the cave of the tunnel dragon,
Into the open high-rises, buildings,
Street urchins come to siege us,
Corner preachers carry Jesus,
Like he carried the cross, toss leaflets.
All this misdirected lust,
All these, all these, all these people,
As dusk turns into evening,
We just get funneled to the clubs. "
And
"I'm in the backroom, drunk,
The stars cut chunks out of the darkness.
It's a portrait of the young artist,
As another target market,
Playing dumb in the club,
Using liquor as a tourniquet,
Let's succumb to our desires,
We'll become just like our fathers,
Bang into each other
Until the lights smother us
And we go under. "
Wow!!!!!!!!! That's all I have to say!! Any band who references James Joyce, I can't recall any other band to do so, has to be cool!! This was not only music it was sheer poetry!! Beautiful stuff!!
Here is what the little blurb at the Independent Weekly had to say about them:
NATHAN ASHER & THE INFANTRY
From: Raleigh
Since: 2004
Claim to fame: Writing songs for self-improvement; playing them big
"Nathan Asher & the Infantry gathered a singer-songwriter with a defiant spirit, his best friend (a keyboard whiz since middle school), a blues harmonica player and the core of a since-forgotten Raleigh rock band named Nova Cancy. Tonight, they'll close out a five-year career with a show at the BERKELEY CAFÉ, which they'll record for future release. The small stage of the Berkeley is an admittedly awkward exit for an act whose intentions and sound always seemed so big: They commandeered a stretch of Hillsborough Street windows for an advertisement and played several Manhattan showcases for record labels. The Infantry's Springsteen-based presence worked best with the big lights and speakers of the Lincoln Theatre, but—after only deciding to end the band three weeks ago—they'll take this exit on Martin Street. 10 p.m."
They also have a myspace page which can be reached through the Trianglerock.com page I referenced above. Or you can reach it directly at Nathan Asher
Enjoy!!! And tell me if you agree what terrific music this is!!
Tell Me Why
A day with no glory
A heart filled with fear
Still repeating his-story to make ourselves clear
A voice is unheard when it shouts from the hills
Your king in his castle never died on these fields
There’s blood on your hands
A smile on your face
A wicked intention when there’s money to be made
A room with no windows and a heart that can’t feel
Shame with no convictions and a view to a kill.
Tell me why?
Why must we fight?
And why must we kill in the name of what we think is right?
No more! no war!
Cause how do you know?
The hate in your eyes
The lies on your tongue
A hand that kills the innocent
So quick to do wrong
Your belly is full while we fight for what remains
The rich getting richer while the poor become slaves
We kill our own brothers
The truth is never told
If victory is freedom then the truth is untold
Surrender your soul just like everyone else
If love is my religion, don’t speak for myself
[chorus]
How do you know?
[chorus]
I’m living this life
I’m given these lies
And how can i die for the name of what you think is right?
No more! oh lord!
How do we know?’
When I first heard it, I actually thought it was a new Megadeth song, thinking, "Wow, Megadeth is back and sounding really good." Even when he started singing, I thought he sounded like Megadeth, but then as the song progressed, I realized that I was listening to Linkin freakin' Park and was loving it. This song absolutely rocks!!! No DJ, not rapping, just straight up heavy rock and roll. I love this shit!!!
Just look at the anger on Trent's face!! That is exactly how I felt inside! I was screaming inside!!
Their music was decidedly different from Metallica's, being electronic, but it was still heavy, and just had a lot of anger in it. The same anger that I was feeling was being portrayed in Trent Reznor's music. Anger towards religion generally and Christianity in particular. I was beginning to learn that I was not the only one who had these feelings. I was beginning to learn that it was normal to have these feelings and that I was not going to go to hell for having them. But damn, was I angry. I was angry for being lied to all my life. I was angry for the loss of innocence that I felt at finally discovering the truth. It was like discovering Santa isn't real, times 100.
Nine Inch Nails has had a long career and are still going strong today. One of my favorite songs when I was in the Navy and dancing drunk at clubs and chasing skirts was Closer with it's graphic lyrics of "I wanna F*#% you like an animal."
But for our purposes right not, the bands that changed my life, we will only be talking about Pretty Hate Machine and two songs from it in particular. Head Like a Hole and Terrible Lie.
"Head Like A Hole"
God money i'll do anything for you.
God money just tell me what you want me to.
God money nail me up against the wall.
God money don't want everything he wants it all.
[Bridge:]
no you can't take it
no you can't take it
no you can't take that away from me
no you can't take it
no you can't take it
no you can't take that away from me
head like a hole.
black as your soul.
i'd rather die than give you control.
head like a hole.
black as your soul.
i'd rather die than give you control.
[Chorus:]
bow down before the one you serve.
you're going to get what you deserve.
bow down before the one you serve.
you're going to get what you deserve.
God money's not looking for the cure.
God money's not concerned with the sick amongst the pure.
God money let's go dancing on the backs of the bruised.
God money's not one to choose
[Bridge]
[Chorus]
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
[Chorus]
you know who you are.
This one even more so than Head Like a Hole spoke to my anger. Religion? What a terrible lie!!
"Terrible Lie"
hey God
why are you doing this to me?
am i not living up to what i'm supposed to be?
why am i seething with this animosity?
hey God
i think you owe me a great big apology.
terrible lie
terrible lie
terrible lie
terrible lie
hey God
i really don't know what you mean.
seems like salvation come only in our dreams.
i feel my hatred grow all the more extreme.
hey God
can this world really be as sad as it seems?
terrible lie
terrible lie
terrible lie
terrible lie
don't take it away from me.
i need someone to hold on to.
don't take it away from me.
i need someone to hold on to.
hey God
there's nothing left for me to hide.
i lost my ignorance, security and pride.
i'm all alone in a world you must despise.
hey God
i believed your promises, your promises and lies.
terrible lie
terrible lie
terrible lie
terrible lie
you made me throw it all away.
my morals left to decay.
how many you betray.
you've taken everything.
terrible lie.
my head is filled with disease.
my skin is begging you please.
i'm on my hands and knees.
i want so much to believe.
i need someone to hold on to.
i need someone to hold on to.
i need someone i need someone.
i need someone to hold on to.
i give you everything.
my sweet everything.
hey God
i really don't know who i am.
in this world of piss
Like he said in the song and I said in my recent blog posts on this subject, "I want so much to believe." That's what I could not get anyone in my family or those around me to understand. I was not rebelling against anything. I WANTED to believe. I just no longer could. I had grown up.
Here are the very dark, yet beautiful and poetic lyrics:
A blackout in the room again
a busted lip and broken skin.
I wake up in the bathroom
and dare not bother asking
why the mirror's craked and all I see
are shards of glass inside of me.
There's voices there to dare me,
my father's here to scare me.
My mother sits beyond the door she's
curled up crying on the floor,
look at what her son's done.
When the weight of all the world's gone wrong.
It's gone wrong again.
Gone fucking wrong.
It's gone wrong again.
Well liars they leave a guilty trail.
And let me tell you something people,
I've been lying for fucking years.
That must be why I'm standing in this space.
Disregarding that I've created these monsters
they're on fucking both of my sides,
So I wipe the blood from both of their eyes.
From all four of their eyes.
And while I wait for wounds to heal
I see you by the window sil,
your heart's torn out
a plastic spoon
when honesty lit up that room
so I stole the pillowcase to clean
this mess I've made of someones dream.
Now you've seen what I've done,
when the weight of all the world's gone wrong.
It's gone wrong again
gone fucking wrong
it's gone all wrong again.
This room is old and wise
I fall onto the bed and wonder,
"How did I get here?"
The little boy who would argue with a tree
just fucking thump his head
and he'll turn back to normal.
Now why is that what I see?
Don't bother trusting
don't bother waiting
don't bother changing things that won't give into changing
just let me go away.
I'm packed
whenever
I'm down
whenever.
Let's go.
Yes, let's go
I got the idea for this series from fellow Voxer Jessica. Her blog is at sevenmotions. I think it is an absolutely wonderful idea to discuss the bands that have changed our lives. I think everyone can point to certain bands that have changed their lives, unless they are not really that much into music, except casually. For me, music equals life. I couldn't live without music, couldn't imagine a life without music.
This series will not be in any particular order, chronological or otherwise. The only order will be the bands that pop into my mind when I think about the question of which bands have changed my life.
And the first band, without a doubt is Metallica. May sound slightly corny, Metallica isn't really known for their musicality, but it's true. If one really listens to their music though, one will find them to be extremely well polished and knowledgeable musicians. I first started listening to Metallica back in 1991 when the Black album was released. Enter Sandman was all over the radio and MTV and I just fell in love with it. I loved the heavy crunchy guitars and the anger that was displayed lyrically and in their persona's. It was because of Metallica, and more specifically, bass player Jason Newsted that I developed my lifelong love of bass guitar. I even bought a few bass guitars myself and taught myself to play, mostly Metallica licks, but also Nirvana and others that I will discuss in future posts to this series.
The original band line up back in the early 80's included Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, instead of Kirk Hammet and Cliff Burton on bass instead of Jason Newsted. It was Cliff Burton who wrote a lot of the lyrics, along with Lars Ulrich, in the early days and it was from him, that the following quote comes from, which is one of my favorite quotes of all times. It comes from the song To Live is To Die from the album And Justice For All. It is the sole lyric in the entire song, it is a spoken lyric, the rest of the song being instrumental bliss.
When a Man Lies He Murders
Some Part of the World
These Are the Pale Deaths Which
Men Miscall Their Lives
All this I Cannot Bear
to Witness Any Longer
Cannot the Kingdom of Salvation
Take Me Home
I absolutely love that quote.I have since tried my best to locate the source of that quote, thinking it must be from literature somewhere, all to no avail. It must have been written by Cliff himself, the man, the genius.
In 1986, Cliff was killed when their tour bus crashed and he ended up underneath it. Shortly thereafter, Jason stepped in and proved more than capable of filling Cliff's shoes.
I thought Jason Newsted the greatest bass player there ever was. My musical knowledge at that point being rather limited, I was only 19. I thought Jason the coolest bass player there ever was. I just loved his long flocks of hair and the way it was shaved underneath and the way he would twirl it around and around when playing a particularly heavy song. I was in the process of growing my hair that long, before I ended up joining the Navy in 1993.
Anyway, all silliness aside, Metallica truly did change my life. How? Their lyrics. For the first time in my young life, I was hearing another person, articulate what I had been feeling myself for quite some time. It was a validation for me, that I was not alone. In particular, I'm referring to their anti-war, anti-religion lyrics.
Songs on this album, such as Holier Than Thou, Nothing Else Matters, The God that Failed, My Friend of Misery, and The Struggle Within, really spoke to me and I remember thinking to myself, "I'm right after all, I knew it. I knew religion was bullshit and I'm not going to hell for thinking so. Some lyrics:
The God That Failed
Pride you took
pride you feel
pride that you felt when you'd kneel
not the word
not the love
not what you thought from above
it feeds
it grows
it clouds all that you will know
deceit
deceive
decide just what you believe
I see faith in your eyes
never your hear the discouraging lies
I hear faith in your cries
broken is the promise, betrayal
the healing hand held back by the deepened nail
follow the god that failed
find your peace
find your say
find the smooth road in your way
trust you gave
a child to save
left you cold and him in grave
it feeds
it grows
it clouds all that you will know
deceit
deceive
decide just what you believe
I see faith in your eyes
never you hear the discouraging lies
I hear faith in your cries
broken is the promise, betrayal
the healing hand held back by the deepened nail
follow the god that failed
My Friend of Misery (possibly my favorite Metallica song of all time. One of the best bass lines of all time as well. I learned to play this bass line and it is one of my favorites to play. It is just so mesmerizing)
You just stood there screaming
fearing no one was listening to you
they say the empty can rattles the most
the sound of your voice must soothe you
hearing only what you want to hear
and knowing only what you've heard
you you're smothered in tragedy
you're out to save the world
misery
you insist that the weight of the world
should be on your shoulders
misery
there's much more to life than what you see
my friend of misery
you still stood there screaming
no one caring about these words you tell
my friend before your voice is gone
one man's fun is another's hell
these times are sent to try men's souls
but something's wrong with all you see
you you'll take it on all yourself
remember, misery loves company
misery
you insist that the weight of the world
should be on your shoulders
misery
there's much more to life than what you see
my friend of misery
you just stood there creaming
my friend of misery
And finally, Nothing Else Matters. My theme song at the time, my version of sticking my middle finger up to all those who would want to tell me what to think and how to live
So close no matter how far
couldn't be much more from the heart
forever trusting who we are
and nothing else matters
life is ours, we live it our way
all these words I don't just say
and nothing else matters
trust I seek and I find in you
every day for us something new
open mind for a different view
and nothing else matters
never cared for what they do
never cared for what they know
but I know
so close no matter how far
couldn't be much more from the heart
forever trusting who we are
and nothing else matters
never cared for what they do
never cared for what they know
but I know
never opened myself this way
life is ours, we live it our way
all these words I don't just say
trust I seek and I find in you
every day for us something new
open mind for a different view
and nothing else matters
never cared for what they say
never cared for games they play
never cared for what they do
never cared for what they know
and I know
so close no matter how far
couldn't be much more from the heart
forever trusting who we are
no nothing else matters
After discovering Metallica through the Black Album, I just could get enough. It became my mission to obtain every album they ever made, which took awhile on my meager earnings as a bag boy at a local grocery store.
I could name many other songs from their other albums that spoke to me and changed my life, but I won't. I think you get the point.
I will just leave you with one little funny anecdote that will show just how much I really loved Metallica. My mom and I used to argue a lot in those days about religion, she begging me to go to church, with me refusing. I was raised in church and had since rebelled. I no longer wanted anything to do with church, did not want to set foot in one, felt that I would be a hypocrite if I did so. There were many loud arguments about this between my Mom and I. At one point I told my Mom that Metallica was my church. And I meant it.
Band: Killswitch Engage
Song: My Curse
This song has it all. Sometimes a dude just wants to rock out. This song shows that a song doesn't have to be slow or mellow in order to be melodic. It also demonstrates the heavy/soft dynamic, with the softer part displaying melody. This song just kicks ass!!! And the video is cool as hell too. I love this band!!
Once again, from wikipedia:
"Man in Black" (or "The Man in Black") is a protest song written and sung by and about Johnny Cash, originally released on his 1971 album of the same name. Cash himself was known as "The Man in Black" for his distinctive style of on-stage costuming. The lyrics are an after-the-fact explanation of this with the entire song as a protest statement.
Here are the lyrics:
Man in Black
Well, you wonder why I always dress in black
Why you never see bright colors on my back
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.
I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down
Living in the hopeless, hungry side of town
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime
But is there because he's a victim of the times.
I wear the black for those who never read
Or listened to the words that Jesus said
About the road to happiness through love and charity
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.
Well, we're doing mighty fine, I do suppose
In our streak of lightning cars and fancy clothes
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back
Up front there oughta be a Man In Black.
I wear it for the sick and lonely old
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold
I wear the black in mourning for the lives that could have been
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.
And, I wear it for the thousands who have died
Believing that the Lord was on their side
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died
Believing that we all were on their side.
Well, there's things that never will be right, I know
And things need changing everywhere you go
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.
Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day
And tell the world that everything's okay
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.
I have recently been getting into Bob Dylan and I have been listening to his early music. It is really eery how his music is so totally relevant to our day. It is as if we, as a society, just don't seem to learn from the mistakes of our past. It has been said that those who fail to pay attention to their history are destined to repeat it.
So I just want to post two songs that really speaks to me and I think everyone should listen and weep for a dying society. Apparently, we don't learn from our past, and there truly is nothing new under the sun. It's just as was said in Richard II by Shakespeare,
"devouring pestilence hangs in our air
and thou art flying to a fresher clime"
No one cares, as long as it's not happening here. And then when it does, such as at Virginia Tech we all act shocked. Death and destruction is sown overseas and when the chickens come home to roost... well... we reap what we sow.
The first track is "It's alright Ma (I'm only bleeding). According to wikipedia:
The following are the lyrics"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is a song by Bob Dylan. It first appeared as the penultimate track on the second side of his album, Bringing It All Back Home, released on 22 March, 1965 by Columbia Records, although Dylan performed it at least as early as 1964.
It's alright, Ma(I'm only bleeding)
Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.
Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool's gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.
Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.
So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.
As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred.
Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Made everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.
While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.
An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.
Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.
You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks
They really found you.
A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not fergit
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.
Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.
For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.
While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him.
While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.
But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.
Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.
While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.
My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards
False gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
What else can you show me?
And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.
Masters of War. According to Wikipedia:
Masters of War is a song by Bob Dylan, written in 1963 and released on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. It is an adaptation, with new words by Dylan, of Nottamun Town [4]....
Dylan spoke to USA Today's Edna Gundersen about the song in late 2001, the day before the September 11th attacks. In the article, Dylan is quoted as saying that the song "is supposed to be a pacifistic song against war." It's not an anti-war song. It's speaking against what Eisenhower was calling a military-industrial complex as he was making his exit from the presidency. That spirit was in the air, and I picked it up."
Masters of War
Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud
You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead
n music, a melody, also tune, voice, or line, is a series of linear events or a succession, not a simultaneity as in a chord (see harmony). However, this succession must contain change of some kind and be perceived as a single entity (possibly Gestalt) to be called a melody. Most specifically this includes patterns of changing pitches and durations, while most generally it includes any interacting patterns of changing events or quality. "Melody is said to result where there are interacting patterns of changing events occurring in time."[1]
What does that mean? To me, in Rock music, it means playing individual notes in succession, as opposed to playing chords. When done right, it can evoke all sorts of emotions. The video above is a perfect example of this.
This song is also a perfect example of the use of noise as music. While Sonic Youth were definitely not the first to use noise, a lot of 70's music contained outer space type sounds, they definitely perfected it to an art form.
In future posts, I will posts other songs that I think are perfect examples of melodic music.
ps. I just took another listen and this song just brings tears to my eyes. I also love the old flash back home videos in the video. Very moving and makes me think of my own childhood too many years ago.
Enjoy!!!
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