For today's wonderful and exciting blog entry, I'll be including my very first Youtube video! (Cue triumphant fanfare: preferably something by John Phillip Sousa, but I'm not picky about my victory themes.) For this monumental occasion, I thought I would choose a very special song. In terms of symbolism and meaning, this composition is arguably the quintessential song. Now you, beloved reader, may be asking yourself at this very moment, What is this magnificent song which ParallelFifths has been so gracious to present us with? Well, I would answer you, but considering you have access to it approximately one centimeter below this sentence, I thought I wouldn't insult your intelligence and just let you press that magical little triangle that means "Play." So go ahead, press "Play." No, really, now. Why are you still reading this? Now!
That's right: "American Pie" by Don McLean. I'm not going to give a full explanation of the song, in part because there's no right interpretation, as McLean never gave an interpretation, and in part because it's simply waaaaaay too long of a song to discuss here. If you want to look at a really good interpretation (and I highly suggest you do), just look here. Yet even without reading a full-blown explanation, the significance of McLean's lyrics can still be felt.
"American Pie" is a reflection on nearly 15 years of music (about 1957 to 1971, when the song was released), and the progression from dance-styled rock music to the more pop rock music of the Beatles and the beginning of the psychedelic rock movement. In 8 1/2 minutes, McLean sums up a decade and a half. That's some pretty impressive stuff, no? On top of that, McLean supports his lyrics through the music itself. The more sentimental verses are the bookend verses, which he plays slower and with less guitar and more piano. The middle verses, on the other hand, are played very acoustically and rhythmically, reminiscent of the dance music which McLean yearns for throughout the song. McLean weaves subtle references throughout his song to simpler days, which he then reinforces through his musical choices. Pretty crafty, eh?
The thing about music is that most songs are exactly like "American Pie." All music has (or at least should have) some truth, some message which it is trying to convey. The lyrics and music both contribute to the success of the artist's message; if either of the two inadequately expresses the artist's theme, then the song flounders. Music contains vast potential in its ability to inform, enlighten, and affect; the trick is mesh the lyrics and music in the most cohesive way in order to perform best these three tasks. That can be some pretty tricky stuff.
Until next time,
ParallelFifths
Ah but can the great ParallelFifths name a couple of modern day artists (bands that have come about within a 10 year span from now) besides Cold Play that do this?
ReplyDeletepshhhh the only thing Cold Play is good at is stealing songs from Joe Satriani... ... ...heh heh, iiiiii'm just messing.
ReplyDeleteOne band that I think pulls this off rather nicely is an Italian symphonic power metal band called Rhapsody of Fire. They use their music and lyrics to tell an epic story called "The Emerald Sword Saga," spread out over 5 CDs. They use their music to tell a story. I think it's pretty cool anyway.
Holy fish paste, 5 CDs? This might be worth looking into...
ReplyDeleteoh yes. One cannot complete a high fantasy epic in a single album. such a proposition is utterly ridiculous! well, if you do look into it, and you make it all the way across 5 full albums of power metal, then you deserve over nine thousand kudos, sir. haha IIIII haven't even listened to the whole thing yet.
ReplyDeleteGah unfortunately the library only has the first CD to the Dark Secret Saga, which is the sequel to the Emerald Sword Saga...so I don't think I will be listening to it, as 5 CDs can be pretty pricey.
ReplyDeleteooh, naturally naturally...well, you can always just listen to a few songs via the youtubes, if you wish. I'd highly recommend it anyway. In my humble opinion, they put more thought into their music than the vast majority of the bands I know.
ReplyDelete