Compare and Contrast

I have made a few references to "the type of music I would listen to." And on the way home from grocery shopping just a bit ago a perfect illustration was drawn. I was listening to Alt Nation 21 on Sirius and the following song came on...

This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arm's Race by Fall Out Boy (Download zip of song)

Lyrics:
I am an arms dealer
Fitting you with weapons in the form of words
And don't really care which side wins
As long as the room keeps singing
That's just the business I'm in, yeah

This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
I'm not a shoulder to cry on
But I digress

I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate
[x2]

I wrote the gospel on giving up
(You look pretty sinking)
But the real bombshells have already sunk
(Prima donnas of the gutter)
At night we're painting your trash gold while you sleep
Crashing not like hips or cars*,
No, more like p-p-p-parties

This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
This bandwagon's full
Please, catch another

I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate
[x2]

Yeahh…
Whoa-ohh

All the boys who the dance floor didn't love
And all the girls whose lips couldn't move fast enough
Sing, until your lungs give out

This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
(Now you)
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
(Wear out the groove)
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
(Sing out loud)
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
(Oh, oh)
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race

I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate
[x2]

---

Then I switched to 26 - Left of Center - and heard...

Gene Autry by Beulah (Download zip of song)

Lyrics:
Me and Mean Gene's got a beautiful voice
he carries me home on his beautiful horse.
Where she waits, I will ride ride ride
c'mon stranger just sing me a song
And if it's sad, I'll sing along long long
I told you I knew every word

When I get to California,
Gonna write my name in the sand
I'm gonna lay this body down
and watch the waves roll in

and when the city spreads out
just like a cut vein
Everybody drowns, sad and lonely
well everybody drowns, sad and lonely
well everybody drowns, sad and lonely, alright

Sweet dreams and color and sound
Highways in the fog waiting to be found
I'll start gold mines in the sky sky sky
They were clouds just waiting to cry

And with the wind
I'm dancing drift drift drift
in the shapes of the place that I miss

When I get to California,
Gonna write my name in the sand
I'm gonna lay this body down
and watch the waves roll in

I'm gonna rest this weary head
on someone who I think will care
When the stars and the sky start falling
I think you'll understand

That the city spreads out
just like a cut vein
Everybody drowns, sad and lonely
well everybody drowns, sad and lonely
well everybody drowns, sad and lonely, alright

Yeah I'm waiting for something to give
Well I'm waiting, I hope it's not me
Yeah I'm waiting...

---

"Gene Autry" is much more my style, but I love the Fall Out Boy song too - and if you listen then you will understand just how different they are. Profiles on the songs individually will come later.

Cemetery Drive

I have phases where I listen to My Chemical Romance, and last night on the way home from Irmo was one of the times I wanted to rock out to some My Chem. I think it had to do with the fact that I was feeling a little testy and frustrated. But - I am over that now, not bitter, and I don't know.

But, MCR is another one of those bands that really don't fit my M.O. When you look at Leslie you don't think MCR fan, but get "I'm Not Okay" blaring on the radio and I am singing at the top of my lungs. Love that song. And the "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" albums has a lot of good songs on it, but one that I never really remember until it comes on is "Cemetery Drive." It is 3:05 of enjoyment for me.

The cadence that drives the song first catches my attention, and for some reason I have a think for songs that have the word mausoleum in the lyrics. Go figure. I also like the idea of a kiss being referenced as a collision. Often kisses are depicted as sweet and soft, but in real life are often collisions of awkwardness, and just as a car collision can have devastating ramifications so can a kiss. The sort of uncertain nature of "I miss you so far" is appealing to me as well because its like - well yeah, i miss you - but I'm not sure how long it will last, and damn that kiss because if it wasn't for that I probably wouldn't miss you. Makes me think it must have been some damn good kiss. Mmmm.

Lyrics:
Cemetery Drive

This night, walk the dead
In the solitary starlight,
Crash the cemetery gates.
In the dress your husband hates
Lay down, mark the grave
Where the search lights find us
Drinking by the mausoleum door
And they found you on the bathroom floor

I miss you, I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard

And I call you off the run
Singing songs that make you slit your wrist
It isn't that much fun, staring down a loaded gun
So I won't stop dying, won't stop lying
If you want I'll keep on crying
Did you get what you deserve?
Is this what you always want me for?

I miss you, I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard

Lay down, way down
Way down, way down
Way down, way down
Way down, way down

I miss you, I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard

I miss you, I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard
Made it so hard

Lay down, way down
Way down, way down
Way down, way down
Way down, way down

Way down

Watch on YouTube

Teardrops on My Guitar

I have been over my real "country kick" for awhile now, but happened to have it on Sirius 60 - New Country this morning on the way into downtown and heard the new Taylor Swift song. Something about it hit me, and I am sort of shocked because she is a chick, and I generally do not like girl singers (no matter the genre.)

But, it was an immediate download and I swear I have listened to it 10 times this morning. It's a sort of melody that puts goosebumps on my arms and a sweet voice that soothes my ears. I cannot say I am exactly in a situation similar to the story the lyrics, but there are hits of it that I can relate to well.

Lyrics:
Teardrops on My Guitar

Drew looks at me.
I fake a smile so he won't see.
What I want and I need
And everything that we should be

I'll bet she's beautiful.
That girl he talks about,
and she's got everything
that I have to live without

Drew talks to me
I laugh 'cuz its so damn funny
But I can't even see
anyone when he's with me

He says he's so in love,
he's finally got it right.
I wonder if he knows
he's all I think about at night.

He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar.
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
He's the song in the car I keep singing,
don't know why I do.

Drew walks by me.
Can he tell that I can't breathe?
And there he goes, so perfectly.
The kind of flawless I wish I could be.

She better hold him tight,
give him all her love,
look in those beautiful eyes
and know she's lucky 'cuz..

He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star
He's the song in the car I keep singing,
Don't know why I do.

So I drive home alone,
as I turn out the light,
I'll put his picture down
and maybe get some sleep tonight.

He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar.
The only one that's got enough of me to break my heart.
He's the song in the car I keep singing,
don't know why I do.

He's the time taken up,
but there's never enough.
And he's all that I need to fall into.

Drew looks at me
I fake a smile so he won't see

I Constantly Thank God For Esteban

I found two things that surprised me last night. There is a male on the face of this planet that has the following things in his 6 disk changer...

- Rascal Flatts
- The Killers
- Lionel Richie's Greatest Hits
- Nelly Furado
- Guns N Roses Greatest Hits
- Panic! At THe Disco

And that I was so impressed with the variety of music that I lent my burnt copy of Say Anything's "...Is A Real Boy"

It took just hearing three or four seconds of one of those Panic! songs to know that was what I needed to listen to on the way home, and I surely rocked out on my way back to the ponderosa. For some reason when I think of things to listen to on the iTurk Panic! skips my mind, but gosh - all the songs are so good. The different ups and downs of each song, almost like different movements within one piece. Strong lyrics, great - pure vocals floating over a very tight and creative instrumentation.

The song in for this post makes me move my hands in bizarre ways as I sing along in the car, and the beginning has the very fluid vocals over the driving pulse of drums and guitar while later it just makes you want to move. All of their songs make me want to move. I would love to see them live, and will travel wherever I have to when they start touring again.

For now I leave the lyrics...

Lyrics:
I Constantly Thank God For Esteban

Give us this day our daily dose of faux affliction
Forgive our sins
Forged at the pulpit with forked tongues selling faux sermons.
'Cause I am a new wave gospel sharp, and you'll be thy witness
So gentlemen, if you're gonna preach, for God sakes preach with conviction!

Strike up the band!
Whoa-oh, the conductor is beckoning
Come congregation, let's sing it like you mean it
No. Don't you get it, don't you get it? Now don't you move.
Strike up the band!
Whoa-oh, the conductor is beckoning
Come congregation, let's sing it like you mean it
No. Don't you get it, don't you get it? Now don't you move.

Just stay where I can see you.
Douse the lights!
We sure are in for a show tonight

In this little number we're graced by two displays of character,
We've got: the gunslinger extraordinaire walking contradictions
And I for one can see no blood from the hearts and the wrists you allegedly slit
And I for one wont stand for this if this scene were a parish you'd all be condemned.

Strike up the band!
Whoa-oh, the conductor is beckoning
Come congregation, let's sing it like you mean it
No. Don't you get it, don't you get it? Now don't you move.
Strike up the band!
Whoa-oh, the conductor is beckoning
Come congregation, let's sing it like you mean it
No. Don't you get it, don't you get it? Now don't you, don't you move.

Just stay where I can see you
Douse the lights!
We sure are in for a show tonight
Just stay where I can see you
Douse the lights!
We sure are in for a show tonight

Stay where I can see you
Douse the lights!

Strike up the band!
Whoa-oh, the conductor is beckoning
Come congregation, let's sing it like you mean it
No. Don't you get it, don't you get it? Now don't you move.
Strike up the band!
Whoa-oh, the conductor is beckoning
Come congregation, let's sing it like you mean it
No. Don't you get it, don't you get it? Now don't you move.
Don't you move
Don't you move
Strike up the band!

Admit It!

I put the Say Anything album away for a bit purposefully not listening to it for awhile. And last week when I pressed "CD" and then "Disk 2" in the Jetta I was greeted by the familiar sounds of an album I love. Normally I would not listen to music like Say Anything. It is a little grungier than I prefer, but something about the well orchestrated intensity of these songs and the powerful lyrics is moving for me. It hits me in such a way that the first thing I IMd Matt that morning was... "Listening to Say Anything is like a rock album making love to me." Yeah - it is an interesting statement. As I recall, he simply responded with "Whoa." (Which is a common lyric on the album actually.) I think that track 13 on the album is probably the most lyrically complex and profound for me. So it is what I have highlighted here today. And in making this post I checked their site and am pleased to see new dates for a co-headlining tour with Saves The Day. (Wow, have not listened to them recently, but did see them open for Weezer back in 2002. Awesome show, the Weezer part - not Saves the Day.) Key dates for the tour include...

- May 4 : The NorVa
- May 8 : Tremont Music Hall
- May 8 : HOB

Lyrics:
Admit It!

Admit it!
Despite your pseudo-bohemian appearance
And vaguely leftist doctrine of beliefs
You know nothing about art or sex
That you couldn’t read in any trendy New York underground fashion magazine
Prototypical non-conformist
You are a vacuous soldier of the thrift store Gestapo
You adhere to a set of standards and tastes
That appear to be determined by an unseen panel of hipster judges (bullshit)
Giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to incoming and outgoing trends and styles of music and art
Go analog baby, you’re so post-modern
You’re diving face forward into a antiquated path
It’s disgusting, its offensive, don’t stick your nose up at me

Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself
Whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah
Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself
Whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah

You spend your time sitting in circles with your friends
Pontificating to each other
Forever competing for that one moment of self-aggrandizing glory
In which you hog the intellectual spotlight
Holding dominion over the entire shallow pointless conversation
Oh, we’re not worthy
When you walk by a group of quote-unquote normal people
You chuckle to yourself patting yourself on the back as you scoff
It's the same superiority complex
Shared by the high school jocks who made your life a living hell
And makes you a slave to the competitive capitalist dogma
You spend every moment of your waking life bitching about

Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself
Whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah
And I say yeah, what do you have to say for yourself
Whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah

Cause I’m proud of my life and the things that I have done
Proud of myself and the loner I’ve become
You’re free to whine, it will not get you far
I do just fine, my car and my guitar

Proud of my life and the things that I have done
Proud of myself and the loner I’ve become
You’re free to whine, it will not get you far
I do just fine, my car and my guitar, yeah

Well let me tell you this, I am shamelessly self-involved
I spend hours in front of the mirror, making my hair elegantly disheveled
I worry about how this album will sell
Because I believe it will determine the amount of sex I will have in the future
I self medicate with drugs and alcohol to treat my extreme social anxiety

You are a faker (admit it)
You are a fraud (admit it)
Yeah, you’re living a lie (hey) living a lie (hey) you’re life is living a lie
You don’t impress me (admit it)
You don’t intimidate me (admit it)
Why don’t you bow down, get on the ground, walk this fucking plank (yeah!)

Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself
Whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah
And I say yeah (what do you..)

Proud of my life and the things that I have done
Proud of myself and the loner I’ve become
You’re free to whine, it will not get you far
I do just fine, my car and my..
Guitar, guitar go!

I drift drift drift drift drift yeah
I drift drift drift drift drift yeah oh

And I am done with this
I wanna taste the breeze of every great city
My car and my guitar
My car and my guitar
So you'll come to be, made of these, urges unfulfilled
Oh no no no no no
When I'm dead I'll rest
When I'm dead I'll rest lay still
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest