What’s up? My name is Will. I’d like to think that I am a fairly creative person. I consider my guitar to be my canvas and creative outlet. I’ve been playing for only two years and have been inspired by many different musicians. Some of these musicians include friends and jam buddies, while others have been critically acclaimed musicians. I have my moments of inspiration but also have times where I struggle to come up with anything creative that I feel satisfied with. I think this is a fairly common occurrence among artists and is something that nearly all artists deal with.
One band that has had a major influence on my music is My Morning Jacket, and in paticular their lead singer/song writer Jim James. My Morning Jacket originated in Louisville, Kentucky. The current line-up has been together since 2004 and has released two full studio albums with a third on its way. While most simply call them a rock band, they definitely have a hint of folk within their own unique style. They are known for their live performances, and have become one of the most renowned touring acts in the past five years.
First off, Id like to discuss their use of tension and release. One of their most popular songs, if not the most popular is "One Big Holiday". This song, off their 2003 album “It Still Moves,” begins with the drummer, Patrick Hallahan picking up a fast paced drum beat on the hi-hat, followed by Jim James and then Carl Broemel picking up similar guitar riffs, which match the upbeat pace of the Hallahan’s drums. The combination of these three parts is slightly unsettling. As both guitar riffs reach a climax they transend into a series of held chords while Hallahan’s drumming speeds up and builds into the main riff, in which Carl joins back in with the signature riff of the song. After about a minute of upbeat building, this riff provides a bit of release and almost joyful feeling. This riff is a segway into the first verse and then chorus. After the second verse they go back into a similar but shorter version of the climactic build that they led the song off with. This song has become one of their most acclaimed live songs for good reason, the use of tension and release, both to start and end the song, is just one aspect of what makes them unique and successful. The thing I’ve taken away the most from MMJ’s use of tension and release is the layering of guitar riffs they use. Adding a similar or same guitar riff to an already building riff increases the tension that much more and is something me and another guitarist I write with have really worked on for our live shows.
The next band I’d like to speak about is Incubus, and particularly Brandon Boyd’s lyrics. The song “Warning” contains a lyric which states, “I suggest we learn to love ourselves, before it’s made illegal.” I’d consider this a pretty good use of text and subtext. It’s pretty evident that he doesn’t actually think it’s going to be made illegal to love yourself, but rather he’s speaking of human rights being restricted to the point where we can’t appreciate our own thoughts or be ourselves. This is definitely a topic that other artists have wrote about in the past, but Brandon adds his own style. By stating something so obviously not true it captures your attention and leads you to think about what his actual meaning might by. While I don’t consider myself a great writer of lyrics, its something I enjoy. This technique of stating something which grabs your attention and gets you to think about its actual meaning is a tactic I’ve recently started to employ in my own writing.
For my third entry I’d like to highlight the influence that the song “Either Way” by Wilco has on both the conscious and subconscious. The song opens up with the lyrics, “Maybe the sun will shine today, the clouds will blow away.” These fairly straight-forward lyrics consciously convey a feeling of optimism and hope. While fairly powerful lyrics on their own, the addition of Wilco’s instrumental music really creates the mood of the song, and effects the subconscious of the listener pretty greatly. By consciously setting a mood with lyrics and then enhancing that mood through subconscious instrumental Wilco is able to connect with their listeners on a much deeper and emotional level than many other artists. This ability to combine two different forces is something I have sought to do in my own song writing. That being said, I think it is something that is very hard to achieve, with many artists struggling to evoke the emotions they wish to match with their lyrics.
I hope if nothing else, you enjoyed the music accompanied with this post, and have a joyous day.
-Will
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