Some Songs Considered

“Waiting for the Great Leap Forward” – Billy Bragg
(Words/music: Billy Bragg, available on Worker’s Playtime, Go! Discs 1988) 

My instincts want me to use “Waiting for the Great Leap Forward” as a way to look back at the past year of blogging.  When I started writing this blog, I did it as a way to explore my taste in music.  I’ve been secure in my taste, meaning that I like the things I like proudly with or without the validation of others, for a while now, but I wanted to go deeper and try to figure out why I liked the things that I like.  In that sense, Bragg’s ode to contradiction seems strangely appropriate to a point.  “Waiting for the Great Leap Forward” hinges not only on the allusion to the failed economic and cultural renewal plan in 1950s China but on his appropriation of the cliché “one step forward, two steps back.”  He lists a series of moments where advancement and regression converge – events where the opposite outcome – whether intended or inevitable – becomes prevalent.  The power of Bragg’s song, both in the original version and in the continually updated lyrics since – is that he confronts his own contradictions in addition to the glaring dissonance in our culture.  Whether it’s growing old, adapting to technology, or the accidental isolation of fame, Bragg ponders where and how he fits in to a changing world.

After a year of writing about songs that cover a significant portion of my taste as well as my personal listening history, I’m left in a similar position of confusion.  In some cases, I have a better handle on the kind of things I like, none of which surprise me.  Still, I’ve found that I’ve raised more than enough questions, whether directly or tangentially, to offset any “progress” I might declare (or, at least, “progress” I had in mind at the beginning of the year).  However, this isn’t a failure; after all, this isn’t the kind of thing with tangible results.  Instead, I feel even more curious at this point than when I started.  That, coupled with the list of songs and songwriters I haven’t touched yet, is enough for me to want to continue with this in 2010.  The job feels incomplete not because I failed to find what I was looking for, but because I’ve found that there’s more to explore.  Where I once imagined writing some kind of dossier of my introspection, I’m finding that the act of considering and writing about these songs is what I wanted all along – that the small epiphanies about a forgotten favorite or a new perspective on a personal memory are the reasons I sat down to write in the first place.

Which brings me back to the song – even if the piano chords are slow at first, Bragg and friends eventually kick into gear.  For his mixed feelings about progress, Bragg isn’t moping about failure.  Instead, he’s forging on the same way he has for the better part of three decades now, still singing “Waiting for the Great Leap Forward” just with different details.  On a much smaller scale, that’s what I’m hoping for – continuing along with different details, hoping each day to figure out something else, or get a little better at what I’m doing.

More on Billy Bragg: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

“Timeless Melody” – The La’s
(Words/music: Lee Mavers, available on The La’s, Go! Discs / London Records 1990)

That quote “talking about music is like dancing about architecture” bothers me mainly because it’s out of order.  It should be “talking about music is like designing a building about dance” – with the “less artistic” medium being used to convey the “more artistic” medium.  Regardless, I see truth in that sentiment, even though I spend a chunk of time every day writing about music.  Even on my best days, where the words come together in just the right way, I wouldn’t dream of one of these blog posts replacing a song.  That’s part of the reason why I have the song at the top of the post – it comes first.  I’ve used this space to defend writing and discussion about music because songs aren’t these static, one-sided pieces of work.  There are a number of different ways to approach a song, think about it, and process it, and the problem with writing about it is that it usually only tackles one way of entering a song.  The beauty of art, songs included, is the different levels and entrances into it, leading to as many different interpretations as people who encounter it.  I think that the reason that many of us (well, me at least, I’ll let everyone else speak for themselves) gravitate towards music rather than some other art forms is that it hits us on a level that other mediums don’t reach as easily.  I’ve experienced profound moments of connection and enlightenment through books, film, visual arts, and even architecture, but music touches a nerve more frequently than all of those combined.  In my case, melody, harmony, and rhythm know the roadmap to my soul.

“Timeless Melody” captures the experience of listening to a great song as well as any song I’ve heard.  The “even the words they fail” me line touches on the hours I spent making mixtapes – sometimes to capture a specific mood or feeling, sometimes to introduce a part of myself to someone, and sometimes even to learn something about myself.  I especially love the way Mavers describes (gasp! he’s writing about music!) the way music intertwines in our lives by freeing us from our “memory chains.”  The pun on chord/cord really drives this home too, describing the way that we emotionally wrap ourselves in songs for myriad reasons.  For me, when a song snakes in, it becomes part of that memory chain, adding another link (and often, an entire new strand of associated memories).  Most importantly, Mavers’ song does all of this while crafting an impeccable pop song.  From the opening scuttle through that irresistible melody that carries this treatise about the power of music, Mavers makes the most of his three minutes of pop bliss.  Ultimately, even with well written lyrics, the words give way to the melody and rhythm, letting the song dance around our hearts, build skyscrapers in our minds, or paint vivid portraits of our favorite melodies. 

I don’t dance, I don’t draw blue prints, but I do spend a lot of time thinking about music, and writing and talking about how it affects me only broadens my appreciation of it.  Whether you come by here just for the songs or you come by to take part in the discussion, I’m just happy to share.

More on The La’s: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm