Feel the need to express my relief at a brush with death on here today.
I was crossing the road near my house when a car jumped a red light and went straight through the crossing that I was walking on.
It was strange to feel like I had just avoided some major injury, although I was listening to my MP3 player so the first I knew of it was when I heard an engine coming towards me that shouldn't have been. It wasn't like I saw it all and had to see life flash before my eyes.
After the relief subsided, I had a moment that revealed what a music snob I am.
'At least I was listening to something amazing' was my thought. Not quite sure where the idea that listening to a great song makes being hit by a car any better, but then my mind works in strange ways sometimes.
The track in question was 'City of Blinding Lights' by U2.
Time for a slightly morbid discussion perhaps.
Music to have a brush with death to?
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Times Like These
Just to prove that I've been working on some other articles and youthwork session that may or may not end up being published this year, thought I'd share one with you that didn't make the cut. It's my attempt at rock journalism, and I guess the fact it's here and not in a magazine shows it's not very good.
Foo Fighters fans might like it though.
Your sixth album receives almost universal acclaim from reviews by the most influential music critics around.
On its release, the album goes straight into the UK album charts at number one.
A successful UK arena tour is completed in support of the album’s release.
Two dates at Wembley Stadium in June 2008 sell out within hours of going on sale.
And that’s just in the UK. Imagine that scenario repeated in many other countries across the world.
Welcome to the world of Foo Fighters.
With such success currently being enjoyed, you would hardly be surprised if the band started off down the well worn path of rock ‘n’ roll related debauchery as a way of toasting their success. However, perhaps what is more surprising is that Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace avoids this formulaic approach and is a more mature offering, covering topics that you might not have thought you would have heard one of the world’s biggest bands discussing.
The album itself fuses together both the full on electric and subtler acoustic sides of the band, in contrast to previous double album In Your Honor, where each approach was dedicated a single disc each. The result is a more cohesive and accessible album altogether. The stadium-sized sound of the album with its brash, mosh-pit-excitement-inducing riffs and anthemic choruses is destined to remain on repeat on many an iPod playlist.
Dave Grohl is lauded as ‘the nicest guy in rock’ in pretty much any interview you come across, and no-one disputes his credentials as the frontman of a band rapidly becoming one of the biggest in the world. However, few have yet to recognise Grohl as a songwriter of any merit. This should change on the back of this latest release, featuring some of the most accomplished songwriting of his career so far. A close look reveals his lyrics are showing a depth and insight that go beyond more traditional and clichéd rock topics. By the time third track Statues finishes, the quiet chorus We’re just ordinary people/you and me/time will turn us into statues/eventually will have you pondering on whether Grohl has borrowed from the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes at some point in the writing process. Surely a band at the height of their commercial powers should not be showing they aware that for all the rock star success they enjoy, they remain acutely aware of their own mortality and they are at the end of the day, just ordinary people.
The Pretender provides the customary high octane opening to the album and sees issues of identity tackled in the midst of the power chord frenzy that kicks in after thirty seconds. Grohl calls out an unspecified protagonist, snarling what if I say I’m not like the others/ What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays/You're the pretender before concluding with the question so who are you? Regardless of what provided the inspiration for the song, there is no doubt that this song will be adopted as a rallying cry for a new generation of teenage Foo devotees struggling against the pressures of conformity. If Dave Grohl says it’s OK to be different as long as you aren’t just another pretender, who is to argue?
The second single Long Road To Ruin contains lyrics that appear opposed to its positive melody with Grohl singing Oh God I’ve sealed my fate/running through hell/heaven can wait/long road to ruin. Whereas Foo Fighters cannot be described as a band known for their tee-total ways, it is interesting to see the concept of running through hell being equated to a place of ruin, not the promised land as AC/DC famously declared in their track Highway To Hell. Tellingly, Grohl reaches the conclusion that there is no exit from the long road to ruin, and the track ends no tomorrow/no dead end in sight.
Immediately after Long Road To Ruin comes the epic Come Alive, with the proximity of the two tracks and their similar subject matters undoubtedly being a deliberate move by the band. Come Alive is a darker, less radio friendly track than it’s preceding piece and sees Grohl recounting dark times Desperate and meaningless/All filled up with emptiness/Felt like everything/ Was said and done/I lay there in the dark/And I closed my eyes. Tellingly, and in contrast to the end of …Ruin, out of this situation there was a rescue, leaving Grohl to declare You saved me the day You came alive. More than just being a survivor who was rescued, the climax of the song sees Grohl employing his trademark scream to tell of the difference made to his life following his rescue Nothing wrong to give/I can finally live/Come alive/You're laughing at me/I can finally breathe/ Come alive. Many of the concepts in these lyrics would not be frowned upon in Christian worship songs, and it is interesting to see Grohl utilising such themes to tell the story of a personal redemption.
The album closes with Home, a piano led ballad that could easily be mistaken for circa 1970’s Elton John. The track arguably contains some of the most personal lyrics yet heard on a Foo Fighters track with Grohl showing he is unafraid to rebel against the rock stereotype and admit that he would love to be at home with his family rather than on the tourbus. I wish I were with you, I couldn't stay/Every direction leads me away/Pray for tomorrow, but for today/ All I want is to be home. The lyrics contain further lines loaded with spiritual significance as Grohl makes his case for what he considers most important to him. Echoes and silence, patience and grace/All of these moments I'll never replace/Fear of my heart, absence of faith/All I want is to be home. Not only do we see the concepts of grace and faith as topics on his mind, but we also see a return to the existential worry first shown in Statues, as he realises the importance of needing to grasp the irreplaceable nature of significant moments in life. Additionally, in a culture that is quick to pursue the glory of the jet setting celebrity lifestyle, the honesty of a track like Home is truly unique and refreshing. It is especially poignant when you consider that this album is likely to be the one that takes Grohl and his bandmates further from home on tours to far flung countries than ever before. I doubt any other rock album released in this or any other year will conclude with a line akin to All I want is to be home.
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is the band’s finest collection of songs to date, and sees Foo Fighters continuing to produce rock music which is brash and exciting but also showing an honest lyrical heart pinned firmly to the album’s sleeve.
More than just being an exciting listen, the content of Dave Grohl’s lyrics show he has an awareness of spiritual and religious concepts around him. For those of us who work with teenagers, there is a chance to discuss the lyrics of one of the biggest selling rock acts of this generation and the themes of faith, identity, family, humility and mortality that appear within the songs. And for the rest of us, a listen to the album and a study of the lyrics will stand you in good stead should you ever find yourself trapped in a lift with Dave Grohl and needing to strike up conversation. Having said that, he’s apparently the nicest guy in rock, so is unlikely to stand around chatting. He’d probably be working to rescue you from the lift.
Foo Fighters fans might like it though.
Your sixth album receives almost universal acclaim from reviews by the most influential music critics around.
On its release, the album goes straight into the UK album charts at number one.
A successful UK arena tour is completed in support of the album’s release.
Two dates at Wembley Stadium in June 2008 sell out within hours of going on sale.
And that’s just in the UK. Imagine that scenario repeated in many other countries across the world.
Welcome to the world of Foo Fighters.
With such success currently being enjoyed, you would hardly be surprised if the band started off down the well worn path of rock ‘n’ roll related debauchery as a way of toasting their success. However, perhaps what is more surprising is that Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace avoids this formulaic approach and is a more mature offering, covering topics that you might not have thought you would have heard one of the world’s biggest bands discussing.
The album itself fuses together both the full on electric and subtler acoustic sides of the band, in contrast to previous double album In Your Honor, where each approach was dedicated a single disc each. The result is a more cohesive and accessible album altogether. The stadium-sized sound of the album with its brash, mosh-pit-excitement-inducing riffs and anthemic choruses is destined to remain on repeat on many an iPod playlist.
Dave Grohl is lauded as ‘the nicest guy in rock’ in pretty much any interview you come across, and no-one disputes his credentials as the frontman of a band rapidly becoming one of the biggest in the world. However, few have yet to recognise Grohl as a songwriter of any merit. This should change on the back of this latest release, featuring some of the most accomplished songwriting of his career so far. A close look reveals his lyrics are showing a depth and insight that go beyond more traditional and clichéd rock topics. By the time third track Statues finishes, the quiet chorus We’re just ordinary people/you and me/time will turn us into statues/eventually will have you pondering on whether Grohl has borrowed from the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes at some point in the writing process. Surely a band at the height of their commercial powers should not be showing they aware that for all the rock star success they enjoy, they remain acutely aware of their own mortality and they are at the end of the day, just ordinary people.
The Pretender provides the customary high octane opening to the album and sees issues of identity tackled in the midst of the power chord frenzy that kicks in after thirty seconds. Grohl calls out an unspecified protagonist, snarling what if I say I’m not like the others/ What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays/You're the pretender before concluding with the question so who are you? Regardless of what provided the inspiration for the song, there is no doubt that this song will be adopted as a rallying cry for a new generation of teenage Foo devotees struggling against the pressures of conformity. If Dave Grohl says it’s OK to be different as long as you aren’t just another pretender, who is to argue?
The second single Long Road To Ruin contains lyrics that appear opposed to its positive melody with Grohl singing Oh God I’ve sealed my fate/running through hell/heaven can wait/long road to ruin. Whereas Foo Fighters cannot be described as a band known for their tee-total ways, it is interesting to see the concept of running through hell being equated to a place of ruin, not the promised land as AC/DC famously declared in their track Highway To Hell. Tellingly, Grohl reaches the conclusion that there is no exit from the long road to ruin, and the track ends no tomorrow/no dead end in sight.
Immediately after Long Road To Ruin comes the epic Come Alive, with the proximity of the two tracks and their similar subject matters undoubtedly being a deliberate move by the band. Come Alive is a darker, less radio friendly track than it’s preceding piece and sees Grohl recounting dark times Desperate and meaningless/All filled up with emptiness/Felt like everything/ Was said and done/I lay there in the dark/And I closed my eyes. Tellingly, and in contrast to the end of …Ruin, out of this situation there was a rescue, leaving Grohl to declare You saved me the day You came alive. More than just being a survivor who was rescued, the climax of the song sees Grohl employing his trademark scream to tell of the difference made to his life following his rescue Nothing wrong to give/I can finally live/Come alive/You're laughing at me/I can finally breathe/ Come alive. Many of the concepts in these lyrics would not be frowned upon in Christian worship songs, and it is interesting to see Grohl utilising such themes to tell the story of a personal redemption.
The album closes with Home, a piano led ballad that could easily be mistaken for circa 1970’s Elton John. The track arguably contains some of the most personal lyrics yet heard on a Foo Fighters track with Grohl showing he is unafraid to rebel against the rock stereotype and admit that he would love to be at home with his family rather than on the tourbus. I wish I were with you, I couldn't stay/Every direction leads me away/Pray for tomorrow, but for today/ All I want is to be home. The lyrics contain further lines loaded with spiritual significance as Grohl makes his case for what he considers most important to him. Echoes and silence, patience and grace/All of these moments I'll never replace/Fear of my heart, absence of faith/All I want is to be home. Not only do we see the concepts of grace and faith as topics on his mind, but we also see a return to the existential worry first shown in Statues, as he realises the importance of needing to grasp the irreplaceable nature of significant moments in life. Additionally, in a culture that is quick to pursue the glory of the jet setting celebrity lifestyle, the honesty of a track like Home is truly unique and refreshing. It is especially poignant when you consider that this album is likely to be the one that takes Grohl and his bandmates further from home on tours to far flung countries than ever before. I doubt any other rock album released in this or any other year will conclude with a line akin to All I want is to be home.
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is the band’s finest collection of songs to date, and sees Foo Fighters continuing to produce rock music which is brash and exciting but also showing an honest lyrical heart pinned firmly to the album’s sleeve.
More than just being an exciting listen, the content of Dave Grohl’s lyrics show he has an awareness of spiritual and religious concepts around him. For those of us who work with teenagers, there is a chance to discuss the lyrics of one of the biggest selling rock acts of this generation and the themes of faith, identity, family, humility and mortality that appear within the songs. And for the rest of us, a listen to the album and a study of the lyrics will stand you in good stead should you ever find yourself trapped in a lift with Dave Grohl and needing to strike up conversation. Having said that, he’s apparently the nicest guy in rock, so is unlikely to stand around chatting. He’d probably be working to rescue you from the lift.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
