I came to this song only recently when I was researching the music of country great Don Williams and his close friendship with guitar legend Eric Clapton. Clapton first saw Williams perform as a musical guest on the syndicated Dinah Shore variety show in April 1976, and they later met in person in England during Clapton’s 1976 tour.
They always seemed an unlikely pairing to me, but it became clear that each man’s music had quite an impact on the other. For example, Eric began embracing a more country-influenced sound with songs like Lay Down Sally. But the real clincher, at least for me, was today’s featured song – We’re All the Way.
I think it’s one of Eric Clapton’s finest yet most underrated songs. Not just that, but for someone like yours truly, who has been listening to the music of the gentle giant Don Williams for nearly all my life and has featured his music here so prominently, We’re All the Way seems about as close as Eric could come to sounding just like his good friend Don Williams. Not surprising, really, since… (drum roll please)… it was written by Don Williams in 1976. Ta-daaa! Here’s Don’s version.
After he and Don met, Eric seemed to embody a smoother, more relaxed style in his singing, and it couldn’t have been on silkier display than in We’re All the Way. There’s so much to the texture and feel of the song, and it’s got these magical guitar interludes that seem to twinkle.
It also possesses my favourite singing by Clapton – the style that moves me the most. Very tender and sensitive, not unlike the voice he uses in his iconic romantic masterpiece Wonderful Tonight, which shan’t be too long from featuring here.
[Verse 1] There’s no cause to think that I won’t stay Haven’t I been with you all the way? There’s no time like now to make amends After all, we are more than friends
[Chorus] This could be the time for you and me We could go wherever we should be So don’t put words between us we shouldn’t say And don’t be acting halfway When you know we’re all the way
[Verse 2] There are times when I don’t see the light I don’t know if what I do is right But when I’m wrong, it’s never meant for you So don’t confuse my words with what I do
[Chorus] This could be the time for you and me We could go wherever we should be So don’t put words between us we shouldn’t say And don’t be acting halfway When you know we’re all the way
This is such a fun and cheeky song from my beloved Australian country artist Kasey Chambers. The lyrics are pretty outrageous and, to some, could be considered distasteful, but I find them humorous and playful, very much in keeping with the ‘dinky-di’ Australian outback spirit. I mean, if you’re going to sing about how we’re all going to die someday, you may as well have some fun with it and not beat around the bush.
It feels like a song I’ve been listening to most of my life; one of those songs that, as a kid, your parents might have been aghast to discover you were listening to. It’s certainly a long way removed from John Denver’s jolly and rollicking Grandma’s Feather Bed, which was probably more what we were accustomed to hearing back then.
I’d only been listening to Kasey since her breakthrough album Barricades & Brickwalls in 2002, which remains one of my all-time favourite Australian albums. I remember exactly when and where I first heard her hit song (Am I) Not Pretty Enough from that record, which I’ve recalled time and again in other posts about Kasey’s music and won’t repeat here.
We’re All Gonna Die Someday is the closing track on Kasey’s debut album The Captain, which won the ARIA Award for Best Country Album. The song was written by Kasey, her father Bill Chambers, and her roadie and lifelong best friend Worm Werchon. It borrows a little of the melody from The Ballad of Jed Clampett (The Beverly Hillbillies theme song), written by Paul Henning.
Before launching her solo career, Kasey had spent more than a decade performing with her family’s Dead Ringer Band, a popular Australian country music group. From 1976, the Chambers family travelled around the Nullarbor Plain for much of each year while her parents hunted foxes and rabbits for their pelts. Kasey’s childhood seems to have come straight from the pages of a country music songbook.
[Chorus] We’re all gonna die someday, lord We’re all gonna die someday Mama’s on pills, daddy’s over the hill But we’re all gonna die someday
[Verse 1] Well it hurts down here on Earth, lord It hurts down here on Earth It hurts down here ’cause we’re running out of beer But we’re all gonna die someday
[Chorus] We’re all gonna die someday, lord We’re all gonna die someday Mama’s on pills, daddy’s over the hill But we’re all gonna die someday
[Verse 2] Well all of my friends are stoned, lord All of my friends are stoned Janie got stoned cause she couldn’t get boned But we’re all gonna die someday
[Chorus] We’re all gonna die someday, lord We’re all gonna die someday Mama’s on pills, daddy’s over the hill But we’re all gonna die someday
[Verse 3] Well they can all kiss my ass, lord They can all kiss my ass If they want to kiss my ass, well they better do it fast ‘Cause we’re all gonna die someday
[Chorus] Yeah, we’re all gonna die someday, lord We’re all gonna die someday Mama’s on pills, daddy’s over the hill But we’re all gonna die someday
[Chorus] I said We’re all gonna die someday, lord We’re all gonna die someday Mama’s on pills, daddy’s over the hill But we’re all gonna die someday
Wenn Du Liebst (Eng: If You Love) is a single by German singer-songwriter Clueso featuring Australian-born, Berlin-based artist Kat Frankie.
For the launch of my Music Library Project on July 25, 2019, I wanted to present a single song that could encapsulate the breadth and depth of the music I planned to feature. I ultimately chose today’s featured track Wenn Du Liebst. A friend, Tatiana, who shares a deep appreciation for German culture and language, introduced me to the song soon after its release.
Since then, my appreciation of Clueso (born Thomas Hübner on 9 April 1980) has grown, and his music has featured quite prominently here.
Below is an extract of an interview with Kat Frankie about her working with Clueso:
I met Clueso through a good friend of mine, the singer/songwriter Tim Neuhaus. Tim happens to also play drums for Clueso. A few years ago I sang a duet with Tim for his last album, and Clueso heard it. When Clueso wrote ‘Wenn Du Liebst’, he thought I should be the one to sing it with him. There will probably be more duets in the future, because they’re really fun to do. I don’t have to do anything but sing.
Wir stürzen uns gerne / We love to plunge Ins Bodenlose und Leere / Into the bottomless pit Nichts, was uns hält / Nothing to hold us back Und nehm’n keine Rücksicht / And we take no care Finden es schön, was kaputt ist und kei’m gefällt / We find beauty in what’s broken and no one likes Jeden Raum stecken wir an / We set every room on fire Nur wenn es brennt, sind wir zusamm’n und fühl’n uns nah / Only when it’s burning are we together and feel close Wir sind lebendige Strophen, berühren uns wie Chopin / We are living verses, touching each other like Chopin Und es gibt kein’n Refrain / And there is no chorus
[Chorus] Und doch fällt’s mir so leicht / And yet it’s so easy for me An uns zu glauben und nichts Schlechtes zu seh’n? / To believe in us and see nothing bad? Doch irgendwas sagt mir leise / But something whispers to me „Wenn du sie liebst, dann lass sie geh’n“ / “If you love her, then let her go” Warum fällt’s mir nur so leicht / Why is it so easy for me An uns zu glauben, darin nichts Schlechtes zu seh’n? / To believe in us, to see nothing bad in it? Doch irgendwas sagt mir leise / But something whispers to me „Wenn du sie liebst, dann lass sie geh’n“ / “If you love her, then let her go”
Ich tanz’ mit dir gerne / I love to dance with you Ins Bodenlose und Leere / Into the abyss and emptiness Und ich bin es nie leid / And I never tire of it Denn Sehnsucht nach Ferne / Because longing for distant lands Und das Zähl’n der Sterne / And counting the stars Das war uns immer zu leicht / That was always too easy for us Es heißt, es wird schwerer mit der Zeit / They say it gets harder with time Was kümmert uns die Wirklichkeit? Wir war’n ja normal / What do we care about reality? We were normal, after all Ich könnt ewig mit dir leben, Dreivierteltakt wie Chopin / I could live with you forever, in three-quarter time like Chopin Ich brauch’ kein’n Refrain / I don’t need a chorus
Chorus
[Bridge] Wenn du sie liebst / If you love her Wenn du ihn liebst / If you love him
Chorus
Outro Wenn du sie liebst, lass sie geh’n / If you love her, let her go Es ist so mies, ich will noch nicht geh’n / It’s so awful, I don’t want to leave yet
Jamu Dreaming is the second studio album by Australian singer song writer Archie Roach. The album was released in March 1993 and peaked at number 55 on the ARIA Charts. The album was recorded with musical assistance from David Bridie, Tiddas, Paul Kelly, Vika and Linda Bull, Ruby Hunter, Dave Arden and Joe Geia.
Jamu is the Pitjanjatjara word for grandfather or old one.
One, two,three, four
Uncle Benjo called me Before the children went a while Life was good Life was free Not like it yesterday
Children running everywhere, and the tree were looking after Little spirits dancing there Among the sweet sweet laughter
Oh but there’s weeping in the forest Now that the children have gone And the trees at night get no rest They were there when the children were born
Hmm hmm hmm Uncle let me fly, away with you Let me see thing you see The children laugh, the children do As they play among the tree
Oh but there’s weeping in the forest Now that the children have gone And the trees at night get no rest They were there when the children were born
[Verse 1] I love you more than ever, more than time and more than love I love you more than money and more than the stars above Love you more than madness, more than dreams upon the sea Love you more than life itself, you mean that much to me
[Verse 2] Ever since you walked right in, the circle’s been complete I’ve said goodbye to haunted rooms and faces in the street To the courtyard of the jester which is hidden from the sun I love you more than ever and I haven’t yet begun
[Verse 3] You breathed on me and made my life a richer one to live When I was deep in poverty you taught me how to give Dried the tears up from my dreams and pulled me from the hole I love you more than ever and it burns me to the soul
[Verse 4] You gave me babies one, two, three, what is more, you saved my life Eye for eye and tooth for tooth, your love cuts like a knife My thoughts of you don’t ever rest, they’d kill me if I lie I’d sacrifice the world for you and watch my senses die
[Verse 5] The tune that is yours and mine to play upon this earth We’ll play it out the best we know, whatever it is worth What’s lost is lost, we can’t regain what went down in the flood But happiness to me is you and I love you more than blood
[Verse 6] It’s never been my duty to remake the world at large Nor is it my intention to sound a battle charge ’Cause I love you more than all of that with a love that doesn’t bend And if there is eternity I’d love you there again
[Verse 7] Oh, can’t you see that you were born to stand by my side And I was born to be with you, you were born to be my bride You’re the other half of what I am, you’re the missing piece And I love you more than ever with that love that doesn’t cease
[Verse 8] You turn the tide on me each day and teach my eyes to see Just being’ next to you is a natural thing for me And I could never let you go, no matter what goes on ‘Cause I love you more than ever now that the past is gone
The eighth track on Springsteen’s 1982 album ‘Nebraska’ ‘Open All Night’ is another song that takes on the American ideal of having the self attached to vehicle. A trend across the album and a lot of Springsteen’s career, cars were central to most of his character’s stories.
“Open All Night” can be seen as the positive flip-side to the earlier “Nebraska” track “State Trooper”: the two songs share a number of lyrics, but whereas the narrator of “State Trooper” is a desperate man on the verge of violence, the narrator of “Open All Night” is joyful and upbeat, happy to be off work and heading home to his baby.
From Wikipedia:
Of the 10 songs on Nebraska, “Open All Night” is the only one to feature an electric guitar. With a Chuck Berry-style guitar riff, the song tells the story of an unnamed narrator’s all-night drive across industrial New Jersey to reach his girl, Wanda, whom he met when she was a waitress at the Route 60 Bob’s Big Boy.
Though never released as a single in the United States, it garnered enough album oriented rock airplay to reach No.22on the U.S. Billboard.
[Verse 1] Well, I had the carburetor, baby, cleaned and checked With her line blown out, she’s hummin’ like a turbojet Propped her up in the backyard on concrete blocks For a new clutch plate and a new set of shocks Took her down to the carwash, checked the plugs and points Well, I’m goin’ out tonight, I’m gonna rock that joint
[Verse 2] Early, North Jersey industrial skyline I’m a all-set Cobra Jet, creepin’ through the nighttime Gotta find a gas station, gotta find a payphone This turnpike sure is spooky at night when you’re all alone Gotta hit the gas, baby, I’m runnin’ late This New Jersey in the mornin’ like a lunar landscape
[Verse 3] Now, the boss don’t dig me, so he put me on the nightshift Takes me two hours to get back to where my baby lives In the wee, wee hours, your mind gets hazy Radio relay towers, won’t you lead me to my baby? Underneath the overpass, trooper hits his party light switch Goodnight, good luck, one-two, powershift
[Verse 4] I met Wanda when she was employed Behind the counter at the Route 60 Bob’s Big Boy Fried chicken on the front seat, she’s sittin’ in my lap We’re wipin’ our fingers on a Texaco roadmap I remember Wanda up on Scrap Metal Hill With them big brown eyes that make your heart stand still
Wooh-ooh… woo! Ah! (Oh, now…! Crazy…!)
Hey!
[Verse 5] Well, 5 a.m., oil pressure’s sinkin’ fast I make a pit stop – wipe the windshield, check the gas Gotta call my baby on the telephone Let her know that her daddy’s comin’ on home “Sit tight, little mama, I’m-a comin’ ’round I got-a three more hours, but I’m coverin’ ground”
[Verse 6] Your eyes get itchy in the wee, wee hours Sun’s just a red ball risin’ over them refinery towers Radio’s jammed up with Gospel stations Lost souls callin’ long distance salvation Hey Mr. DJ, won’t you hear my last prayer? Hey ho, rock ‘n’ roll, deliver me from nowhere
[Verse 1] Try to see it my way Do I have to keep on talking till I can’t go on? While you see it your way Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone
[Refrain] We can work it out We can work it out
[Verse 2] Think of what you’re saying You can get it wrong and still you think that it’s alright Think of what I’m saying We can work it out and get it straight or say good night
[Refrain] We can work it out We can work it out
[Bridge] Life is very short, and there’s no time For fussing and fighting my friend I have always thought, that it’s a crime So I will ask you once again
[Verse 3] Try to see it my way Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong While you see it your way There’s a chance that we might fall apart before too long
[Refrain] We can work it out We can work it out
[Bridge] Life is very short, and there’s no time For fussing and fighting my friend I have always thought, that it’s a crime So I will ask you once again
[Verse 3] Try to see it my way Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong While you see it your way There’s a chance that we might fall apart before too long
By the time this music library is complete, almost all of the songs on Leonard Cohen’s last record, You Want It Darker, will have featured here. That goes to tell you what I think of this record. It was recorded in his house in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, and released just 17 days before his death. Due to Leonard Cohen’s mobility issues, the album was largely recorded in the living room and then sent by e-mail to his musical collaborators.
Just when people, including yours truly, after much anticipation of its release, were starting to listen to and absorb his latest spiritual reckoning of a record, the news came through of Leonard’s passing. It really upset me and still does. I didn’t want to fathom a world without Leonard Cohen in it. When you listen to him still, with his voice almost whispering in your ears, he feels ever-present and as current and real as any singer can sound. I also don’t think there is another album where he focuses so heavily on his own spirituality, death and God.
It’s difficult not to see this second song from the record as an accompaniment piece to the title track and opening song, You Want It Darker. Come to think of it, every song feels interconnected and part of one body of work. The references to the Bible, love and war in these first two songs are profuse.
In both, Leonard seems resigned to his inability to become a person who is reconciled with ‘the message’ and at peace with it or himself. Cohen spent his whole career circling Jewish scripture, Christianity, Buddhism and human desire without ever claiming to possess certainty. He isn’t trying to resolve spiritual tension; he inhabits it:
I’m angry and I’m tired all the time I wish there was a treaty, I wish there was a treaty Between your love and mine
But here’s the irony. Leonard appears at peace with the existence of contradiction, and it is that acknowledgement which gives him some measure of peace as he approaches his own departure from this great ‘play’ we call life. He isn’t happily accepting division; rather, he seems to realise the treaty probably won’t come.
I’m so sorry for that ghost I made you be Only one of us was real and that was me
The “ghost” is the imagined beloved. That realisation in itself is profound, and there’s so much humility and openness in it. You could call it a profound spiritual epiphany that refuses easy religious answers. He’s accepting responsibility for much of the relationship’s failure. And the more you hear and take in, the more cans of worms Treaty opens.
One also gets a sense of just how uniquely qualified the individual is in interpreting the scriptures and the events of history and adopting them for themselves. Treaty may not be in concordance with your own beliefs and ideas, but that’s the whole point. It demonstrates how every individual ultimately has to wrestle with scripture and history for themselves.
[Verse 1] I’ve seen you change the water into wine I’ve seen you change it back to water, too I sit at your table every night I try but I just don’t get high with you
[Verse 2] I wish there was a treaty we could sign I do not care who takes this bloody hill I’m angry and I’m tired all the time I wish there was a treaty, I wish there was a treaty Between your love and mine
[Chorus] Ah, they’re dancing in the street – it’s Jubilee We sold ourselves for love but now we’re free I’m so sorry for that ghost I made you be Only one of us was real and that was me
[Verse 3] I haven’t said a word since you been gone That any liar couldn’t say as well I just can’t believe the static coming on You were my ground, my safe and sound You were my aerial
[Chorus]
[Verse 4] I heard the snake was baffled by his sin He shed his scales to find the snake within But born again is born without a skin The poison enters into everything
[Verse 5] And I wish there was a treaty we could sign I do not care who takes this bloody hill I’m angry and I’m tired all the time I wish there was a treaty, I wish there was a treaty Between your love and mine
We Didn’t Start the Fire is a song which spiels off historical figures and events (with a heavy North American slant) from the mid to late 20th century. The meaning and suggestion of the title reminded me of comments by historian Dominic Sandbrook in a recent Triggernometry podcast. When he was asked if he was worried about the current state of the world, he replied, “Why worry?” If history teaches us anything, it is that terrible and unpredictable events occur all the time, often without warning.
If you asked an average German in 1911 to speculate about Germany’s future, they might have been optimistic given the country’s prosperous position. The terror, complete upheaval and eventual defeat Germany experienced through World War I and World War II would have seemed unimaginable. Things can change with dizzying speed.
We also now have a highly sanitised, self-deluding and idealistic view of human nature. Many – like the moral exhibitionists and virtue signalists they are – sit in judgement of historical figures, acting like hanging judges over people who lived in an entirely different age with different moral and political frameworks, worldviews and customs. Think again sunshine. Judging the past by today’s standards is easy; understanding it is much harder.
So, with that hindsight, why worry about what is beyond your control and impossible to predict? We also like to think the age we live in is unique, and that whatever happens in it is something uniquely our own that we somehow began. No, we didn’t start the fire, as Billy Joel sings:
It was always burning Since the world’s been turning.
And this is the big revealer:
But when we are gone It will still burn on, and on.
That is what history has taught us.
We Didn’t Start the Fire is my desert island Billy Joel song. Songs like Piano Man and Just the Way You Are haven’t aged as well to my ears in comparison with We Didn’t Start the Fire, which I still love rattling off word for word whenever it comes on. When “Dylan, Berlin” is recited, it makes the hairs on my arms stand up.
I mean, the song isn’t exactly a work of genius, since the words could have been taken from any encyclopaedia or history essay. It panders to Baby Boomers and Generation X by focusing on the history they lived through, but that’s fair enough because it makes the song relatable and something they can reflect on from a personal perspective. Even critic Steven Ettinger said, “What was truly alarming was the realization that we, the listeners, for the most part understood the references.”
The real punch, as alluded to above, is the chorus. It gives everyone a moment to pause and put history into perspective, in keeping with the arguments I described earlier.
Joel fans may have a completely different perspective and still hold his classic output in the highest esteem while playing down his late-’80s material. That’s perfectly fine, because opinions on music can vary enormously. I’ll give you one example of that, which is a story I love to recall from my secondary school days that I’ve told before – my apologies to those who’ve already read it.
I saw Billy Joel’s Storm Front tour in 1991 (which included We Didn’t Start the Fire) in Sydney with my schoolmate Gary, who also happens to be the artist behind the caricature of my family featured in the ‘Reflection‘ menu. Gary was an enormous Billy Joel fan. We’d go back and forth over music – he was all about Billy, while I leaned more toward Elton John.
I still remember when Elton’s Kiss the Bride came out. Gary would badger me by singing, “I want to kiss the bridegroom!” instead of “I wanna kiss the bride, yeah!” A clever jab, much like his caricature. So yes, I went to the concert mostly to humour Gary, though I did (and still do) have a soft spot for some of Joel’s music, especially today’s featured track.
As mentioned, We Didn’t Start the Fire is my favourite. I’m also very fond of history and politics, as they were my major at university, and they remain subjects I love reading and learning about. Despite Joel’s own disdain for the song – calling it “terrible, like a dentist drill” and “a terrible piece of music” – it became one of his signature songs. It has also been criticised by many later music critics as one of the weaker songs in his catalogue.
Snippets from Wikipedia:
(We Didn’t Start the Fire) – A list song, its fast-paced lyrics include a series of brief references to 119 significant political, cultural, scientific, and sporting events between 1949 (the year of Joel’s birth) and 1989, in mainly chronological order.
(We Didn’t Start the Fire) – Joel’s third single to reach number one in the United States Billboard. Storm Front became Joel’s third album to reach number one in the US.
Joel conceived the idea for the song when he had just turned 40. He was in a recording studio and met a 21-year-old friend of Sean Lennon who said “It’s a terrible time to be 21!” Joel replied: “Yeah, I remember when I was 21 – I thought it was an awful time and we had Vietnam, and y’know, drug problems, and civil rights problems and everything seemed to be awful.” The friend replied: “Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it’s different for you. You were a kid in the fifties and everybody knows that nothing happened in the fifties.” Joel retorted: “Wait a minute, didn’t you hear of the Korean War or the Suez Canal Crisis?” Joel later said those headlines formed the basic framework for the song.
[Verse 1] Harry Truman, Doris Day Red China, Johnnie Ray South Pacific Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon Studebaker, television North Korea, South Korea Marilyn Monroe
[Verse 2] Rosenbergs, H-Bomb Sugar Ray, Panmunjom Brando, The King and I And The Catcher in the Rye Eisenhower, vaccine England’s got a new queen Marciano, Liberace Santayana goodbye
[Chorus] We didn’t start the fire It was always burning Since the world’s been turning We didn’t start the fire No, we didn’t light it But we tried to fight it
[Verse 3] Joseph Stalin, Malenkov Nasser and Prokofiev Rockefeller, Campanella Communist Bloc Roy Cohn, Juan Peron Toscanini, Dacron Dien Bien Phu Falls, “Rock Around the Clock” Einstein, James Dean Brooklyn’s got a winning team Davy Crockett, Peter Pan Elvis Presley, Disneyland Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev Princess Grace, Peyton Place Trouble in the Suez
[Chorus]
[Verse 4] Little Rock, Pasternak Mickey Mantle, Kerouac Sputnik, Zhou En-lai Bridge On The River Kwai Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle California baseball Starkweather Homicide Children of Thalidomide Buddy Holly, Ben-Hur Space Monkey, Mafia Hula Hoops, Castro Edsel is a no-go U-2, Syngman Rhee Payola and Kennedy Chubby Checker, Psycho Belgians in the Congo
[Chorus]
[Verse 5] Hemingway, Eichmann Stranger in a Strange Land Dylan, Berlin Bay of Pigs invasion Lawrence of Arabia British Beatlemania Ole Miss, John Glenn Liston beats Patterson Pope Paul, Malcolm X British politician sex J.F.K. blown away What else do I have to say?
[Chorus]
[Verse 6] Birth control, Ho Chi Minh Richard Nixon back again Moonshot, Woodstock Watergate, punk rock Begin, Reagan, Palestine Terror on the airline Ayatollahs in Iran Russians in Afghanistan Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride Heavy metal suicide Foreign debts, homeless vets AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz Hypodermics on the shores China’s under martial law Rock and Roller cola wars I can’t take it anymore
[Chorus]
We didn’t start the fire It was always burning Since the world’s been turning We didn’t start the fire But when we are gone It will still burn on, and on And on, and on
[Outro] We didn’t start the fire It was always burning Since the world’s been turning We didn’t start the fire No, we didn’t light it But we tried to fight it We didn’t start the fire It was always burning Since the world’s been turning We didn’t start the fire No, we didn’t light it But we tried to fight it We didn’t start the fire It was always burning Since the world’s been turning We didn’t start the fire No, we didn’t light it But we tried to fight it We didn’t start the fire It was always burning Since the world’s been turning
It became a song about having a hard time expressing yourself, and trying to connect with someone when the noise of the world is drowning out any potential for conversation. – Matt Berninger
I like the manic and restless nature of this song. It expresses a whirlwind of confused emotions and, as the song progresses, it builds in intensity. His scrambled thoughts keep pace with the growing vigour of the music, becoming even more frenetic.
Matt Berninger had been struggling with severe depression, which resulted in writer’s block. Tropic Morning News became the turning point that allowed the band to continue work on their next record, First Two Pages of Frankenstein.
Guitarist and pianist Aaron Dessner recalled: “When Matt came in with that song in the depths of his depression, it felt like a turning point for us. It’s almost Dylan-esque in its lyrics and it’s so much fun to play; everything suddenly felt like it was coming alive again.”
You can sense his frustration throughout this song. I was so distracted then / I didn’t have it straight in my head, he sings in the chorus. It’s as though he’s half talking to himself and half to another person, someone he feels he has let down. The term “tropic morning news” was coined by Berninger’s wife, Carin Besser, to refer to the practice of doomscrolling; the information overload caused by incessant exposure to the world’s bad news.
Tropic Morning News has this alluring, poppy rhythm that keeps circling back, while slowly building as if something big is about to happen. Overall, I’d describe The National’s music as mood pieces. Tropic Morning News has a surprisingly cheerful beat, glossing over the rather sombre lyrics. I find it engaging and relatable. It’s like discovering an inner state of happy sorrow in their sound.
Their music takes you on a trip rather than just beating out a by-the-numbers ‘gotcha’ chorus. One analogy I could use is that it’s like floating in the sea, rising and falling with the waves, while the current gently carries you along. There’s no resolution, no final destination, or great epiphany. It just meanders, like his thoughts as they come to him.
I’ll be over here lying near the ocean Making ocean sounds
The National’s music might not hit on the first listen, but there’s typically something cool in the song that entices you back for repeated listens, each one building on the last. I find that some of their music, at least the songs I’ve presented here, has a way of etching itself into your skin. Sometimes you simply want to feel more deeply, and it’s good music to hear now and then when you want to feel more reflective and a little less alone.
After the cancellation of The National’s touring as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the band members retreated from each other. Lead singer and lyricist Matt Berninger released the solo record and, worked on film scores and classical compositions.
Work on a ninth National album was initially stalled while Berninger navigated “a very dark spot where I couldn’t come up with lyrics or melodies at all. Even though we’d always been anxious whenever we were working on a record, this was the first time it ever felt like maybe things really had come to an end.“
Tropic Morning News was the lead single from the National’s 2023 album First Two Pages of Frankenstein. It included collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers, Sufjan Stevens, and Taylor Swift. Additionally, they embarked on a world tour in 2023, with opening acts including Soccer Mommy, The Beths, and Bartees Strange.
[Verse 1] I wasn’t starting yet I didn’t even think you were listening I wasn’t ready at all To say anything about anything interesting It’s a thing you have You just don’t know that you do it You wait around in a conversation While I get in and start stumbling through it
[Chorus] I was so distracted then I didn’t have it straight in my head I didn’t have my face on yet or the role or the feel Of where I was going with it all I was suffering more than I let on The tropic morning news was on There’s nothing stopping me now From saying all the painful parts out loud
[Verse 2] Got to my feet Feeling that I’d let you down Wanted to say it slow and perfect But it all somehow got switched around Something went off on its own My dumb, automatic chit-chat It’s not what I meant to say at all There’s no way you can attach me to that
[Chorus] Got up to seize the day With my head in my hands feeling strange When all my thinking got mangled And I caught myself talking myself off the ceiling I was suffering more than I let on The tropic morning news was on There’s nothing stopping me now From saying all the painful parts out loud
[Post-Chorus] Oh, where are all the moments we’d have? Oh, where’s the brain we shared? Something somehow has you rapidly improving Oh, what happened to the wavelength we were on? Oh, where’s the gravity gone? Something somehow has you rapidly improving
[Bridge] You found the ache in my argument You couldn’t wait to get out of it You found the slush in my sentiment You made it sound so intelligent You can stop and start an athlete’s heart How do I feel about it? I would love to have nothing to do with it I would like to move on and be through with it
[Verse 3] I’ll be over here lying near the ocean Making ocean sounds Let me know if you can come over And work the controls for a while
Observation Blogger 