The Valley of the Low

So I finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, after leaving the last, like, ten pages unread for about two weeks. The book, as I have previously stated, was fantastic! It just had such an air about it, an air of sadness and melancholia. The way that the young boy as the narrator would phrase the things he was thinking, and the way he would deal with his fears, was fantastically worded. The only problems I had with the books was the boy's relationship with his mother - it just didn't really seem to be there, which didn't seem realistic. When this young boy starts trecking all over New York, his mother doesn't say anything, which really is just far from possible in any realm. But something that small was clearly overshadowed by the fantastic prose and just general vibe that surounded the book. I think it's safe to say that Jonathon Safron Foer just became one of my new favorite authors. And honestly, if he can do that with one book, then he's more than worthy.

Now that I've finished that book, however, and I had to return almost all the other books I got this summer or risk having my library account shut down, I'm kind of in-between books right now. So, because I feel it necessary to update this God-forsaken blog (I don't really mean that, because I love writing in this thing, even if no one reads it!) I'm going to take a quick second to write about a form of word-play and poetry that I don't feel truly gets the credit it deserves. I'm talking about sound writing and lyrics.

Last night, Rae came over, and her and I just sat around and talked music for two hours out on my deck. We talked about how touching music can be, about how much music meant to the both of us. And we just started talking about how the lyrics to a song can make or break the song, as a whole. If you take a classically good piece of music, say something from classic rock and roll or soul or bluegrass or funk - what have you - and take away it's lyrics, it looses something intrinsic to what made it what it was. Conversely, a song like "The Great Gig in the Sky" or "Ramblin' Man" (I'm sticking to classic rock here, but just know that what I believe applies to all eras and genres of music) - those are great songs. There's no doubt about it. But, for me, they would never make any kind of 'Best Song' list because the lyrics just aren't there for me. When I want good lyrics - when I want a good song - I'll turn to "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton or "American Pie" by Don McLean, or even something by Harry and the Potters or Draco and the Malfoys (along that line, it may seem dorky to love a Wizard Rock band, but if you want to hear smart, funny lyrics that are really poetic AND focus all on one certain topic or theme, then this is the place to go). And it's those certain artists who I love that never disappoint me when it comes to fantistic lyrics and music. Eric Clapton (just one of my favorites, hand down, never fail), Billy Joel, Elton John, Led Zepplin. More recentely there are fantastic bands who unfortunately get pigeon-holed in to a genre and are thus written off by a lot of people. Bands like Bright Eyes, My Chemical Romance, Deathcab For Cutie, Something Corporate.

Another thing that I just feel it necessary to say, thought it may not be technically fitting with the theme of this blog or what have you, is that I just love music. All music. I like rap, when it's done well and intelligently. I love bluegrass and funk and classic rock and blues and jazz and alternative and ska and even some emo music - again, when done well. I love country and pop music and opera and show tunes. The list could go one, but I won't. And so much of what I have as far as musical knowledge goes, and so many of the tastes I have for music, stems from my paretns, who used to sing me "Wonderful Tonight" as a lullaby, or would play "When the Levee Breaks" as we drove around town. Their musical tastes are wide and varied, and I thank them for passin the same thing on to me.

"Alright, alright. Here are my new final words: I DIG MUSIC... and I'm on drugs!" - Almost Famous