Eric Fahy
11/16/09
A Say Anything Moment
I have ruined so many say anything moments by quoting Say Anything that it is causing serious problems in my love life. But it is so worth it.
If you have not heard of the band Say Anything, do not let the 1989 movie of the same title with John Cusack influence your preconceptions of the band. If you do, let it only be in the genius of the writing. Say Anything is one of the smartest bands out there.
Say Anything’s first two albums, “In Defense of the Genre” and “…Is a Real Boy” were full of catchy punk/acoustic tunes with grungy and smart social commentary that borders on embarrassing. The song “Admit it!” from "...Is a Real Boy," that points the finger at the people they think are ruining America. Their third album takes all these aspects and creates another great album.
Nov. 3, 2009, Say Anything’s self titled third album hit stores and iTunes. The night before the release, they appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to perform the song “Hate Everyone,” from their new album. The performance started with Jimmy Fallon showing of the cover from the album. The cover is a chubby pre-teen boy in a mock super hero outfit. Complete with tights, tightey whiteys, mask, cape, and an emblem with “SA” on it for Say Anything.
Being as ironic as possible the band wore matching black slacks and white, short sleeve button up shirts. They performed the song, “Hate Everyone,” which lead singer Max Bemis singles himself out with anger and satirical lyrics which makes the mock-conformity of their outfits hilarious. The song is a conglomerate of punk percussion, an almost honky tonk style sound, and ironic synthesizers accompanied Bemis’ immediately recognizable, nasal, over enunciated, vocals.
The highlight of all of Say Anything’s music is the lyrics. After recounting some of his life through clever analogies and self loathing lyrics, Bemis lists the people and things he hates at the bridge of the song, “(I hate) actors who seem genuine /(I hate) my ex-girlfriend though she’s feminine/(I hate) The singer with the denim skin!/ I hate everyone/ (I hate) That hospital in Texas/ (I hate) the rapper in the Lexus/ (I hate) the pills I ate for breakfast!” No one is safe from Bemis’ socially prodding lyrics, especially himself.
Songs on the album like “Hate Everyone,” that has an angry punk feel are contrasted by the song “Crush’d.” The song has a very pop, top 40 feel with synthesizers and a slow, R and B style drum beat complete with rhythmic clapping. At an acoustic show Bemis said that on the album the song sounds like it was mixed by the famous pop producer Timbaland.
“Crush’d” is a love song where he tells how “Sherri” changed his life. Bemis sings, “I thought I’d end up beside a princess bride and love was indivisible.” This flows with the idea that he is maturing with his ideas of love and we can hear him grow through the rest of the song.
He keeps up with his smart, socially relevant lyrics, “You’re no witch/ you’re no wench/ you’re like Bjork with better fashion sense.” This is obviously a play on singer Bjork when she appeared at an awards ceremony wearing a dress that looked more like a Halloween costume than a dress. These little references to contemporary culture are evidence to their relevance.
Say Anything is definitely not trying to conform to one specific genre on this album. The song “Less Cute,” starts out like a big band song that has horns, a catchy, fast paced drum beat, and a powerful bass line that helps to carry the song through to the end. As the song transitions from verse to chorus the horns cut out and we get a more rock sounding style. Once the song goes back into the verse we again get the ironic big band sound, which is extremely catchy.
Again, there is no lack of witty lyrics from front man Bemis here. The song is written from the point of view of a woman who is wants one guy but has to settle for someone else. One of the smarter lines in the song is, “And my love was like a food stamp, handing it out.” This line is very clever and speaks to a issue that is very relevant to the young at heart. It also infers that something happened that made her desperate, maybe an argument with the guy the writer really likes.
The Social jab to the societal jugular in “Less Cute,” comes in the chorus of the song. “He’s like a less cute version of you, but he’ll have to do/ He’s like a Wal-Mart version of you, but you’ll have to do.” She is settling for a sub-par version of the man she wants, and she conveys this by calling him a Wal-Mart, or generic, version of the man she wants. She is obviously characterizing the man as sub-par and unsatisfying compared to what she really wants. This is another great analogy to pick at the scabs forming on American Culture.
The album culminates in the final song on the track “Ahhh… Men,” which is a showcase for Bemis to flex his poetic muscles. The first two minutes and ten seconds of the song is Bemis and a guitar playing a simple two chord progression that really let’s your attention focus on his words. The lyrics are so intricate and deep that it requires a couple listens while staring at the lyrics to even attempt sift through the beautiful analogies and culture bashing that Bemis commits in this epic finally.
Bemis takes a lot of jabs at religion in the appropriately titled “Ahhh… Men.” His angry vocals coupled with amazing lyrics generate a large distaste for religion. “And I know the concept’s muddy and trite/ That all that is large and all that is slight/ Is flowing in the stream of holy floodlights./ At writing holy books, Lord knows we bite/ But if this is your will and my testament,/ I will bow to no belief that they bent./ Still I’m just a sperm begat from your love,/ Basking in the bread, the blood of your dove.” I’m sorry for making you read all that, but I feel that this is such a testament to Bemis’ ability to write deep and absolutely amazing lyrics that I feel that I would have cheated you if I did share this with you.
Bemis is a genius, and there is so much to this album that an English professor could poor over these lyrics and write paper upon paper on the sheer brilliance of the symbolism and commentary present here. This paired with the catchy tunes that are from different musical genre’s spread the appeal of this album to cover even more than just the faithful fans looking for another good punk album.
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ReplyDeleteThis feels more like an essay than a review. In many cases the author holds the reader's hand through explanations and jokes. While having too many ideas that readers can't understand is clearly a bad thing, as authors we also need to give the reader some credit. I'm sure almost everybody would understand that "SA" stands for Say Anything, for example.
ReplyDelete"Say Anything" is used too loosely in the first two paragraphs, and when the author incorporates the John Cusack movie, I was nearly lost. An easy fix would just be to use "The band" here and there to replace "Say Anything."
As it stands this is a review of the new CD and the lead singer's abilities as a lyricist, assuming he does actually write the lyrics himself and not just sing them. The "cultural" aspect of this assignment needs to be addressed more. Also, read your work outloud to get rid of any grammatical errors
Eric,
ReplyDeleteInstead of making a reference to the John Cusack film, you might consider making a reference to another band.
Also, when you describe Bjork's attire as being like a halloween costume, you neglect to inform your readers that she wore a dead swan. A year for the year she wore this would have been good too.
I agree with Bombadil about the lack of cultural relevance. I saw where you tried to pull it in in a couple of places, such as when his lyrics reference a comparison his girlfriend makes between himself and WalMart: "This is another great analogy to pick at the scabs forming on American Culture". Cool. How?
Overall, I would have liked to read more about the music itself rather than just the lyrics.
First, I agree with the two previous comments about a lack of cultural relevance. You do mention that the band satirizes society in their lyrics, but I think that that is as close as you get. You should talk more about how music is today compared to another time and come up with a statement about our culture. I think my explanation is a little bad and could be worded better, but I think you get the idea.
ReplyDeleteI also think that you need a more clear focus. I think that you want the focus to be on the music of the new album. If so, then the performance on Jimmy Fallon's show and the description of the artwork on the cover are somewhat irrelevant unless you want to connect them to some broader cultural relevance.
Man, I talked about a couple weaknesses, but forgot to mention some strengths!
ReplyDeleteA definite strength lies in your knowledge of the music. You do a great job of dissecting the lyrics--to the point where I'd like to see more of it and from some past albums of theirs to compare them to.