The one accessory any car of mine must have is a radio. The car is my favorite (and usually, only) place to hear current popular music beyond YouTube, and therefore my only automatically produced playlist (I've never liked Pandora's interface - too much of my own choices imposed on what I hear).
"Driving" or "train" songs especially appeal to me. I'm not sure if this is due to my actual music preferences, or my love for automobile travel (and pseudo-nostalgia for/idolization of train travel). Here are some great driving songs - the ones that sound like you're on the road, not just songs about being on the road.
God is great, Beer is good - Billy Currington
Ok, it's not about driving or travel at all, but the rhythm's steady "chugga chugga" beat and leisurely pace (cut time; according to my metronome, about 72bpm) has that perfect "road" sound. The song itself is simplistic 'easy listening country', with a I V vi IV progression for the verse and an interesting if sentimental twist at the end.
Me and Bobby McGee- the Kris Kristofferson version
This time, a song about travel, with a similar beat. Kristofferson's recording isn't a bit rushed, very laid back. Janis Joplin's version is iconic but more high-energy - contrasting qualities which extend beyond the metronome mark and the rhythm section to the voices themselves.
Hey, Good Lookin'
the 2000s cover by Jimmy Buffett and friends from 2004 is an entirely different animal compared to the Hank Williams original. The "good times" community feel of a group of star soloists sharing a good-natured pick-up line is perfect for summer and road trips - though once again, the beat of this song places it in this category, not so much the content. The quality of the voice is once again key - like Joplin and Kristofferson, it's not so much the authenticity of the original singer but the atmosphere the cover creates.
End of the Line - Traveling Wilburys
The music video for this quintessentially "travel" song takes place on a train. The Traveling Wilburys were an all-star group that included Eric Clapton,George Harrison, and Bob Dylan.
Two of Us - Beatles
A little more upbeat than the other songs here, this piece is actually much more nostalgic and almost bittersweet than the "in the moment" mood evoked by most of this list.
I could probably make a playlist of just Beatles road songs. Here's another:
Any Road
Off of George Harrison's last album, Brainwashed, this song features his son Dhani on guitar and a world-wise lyric from Harrison. Definitely a must for any Beatles road trip.
Mockingbird - James Taylor + Carly Simon
I heard this on a drive through upstate NY, and it makes excellent driving music. The singers' voices mix in an inventive quasi-polyphony; the original version of the song was written and sung by siblings Inez and Charlie Foxx.
City of New Orleans: Willie Nelson
Suggested to me for this list - this is an all-time favorite of mine and mentioned on my post Songs from my mother, but it is also equally appropriate here for its "train" theme and rhythm. Actually, this song is always appropriate!
(As a side note, Willie Nelson sings great music for any road trip playlist. "On the Road Again" has a much more upbeat feel though, not the "train" beat this post highlights.)
Showing posts with label beatles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beatles. Show all posts
Friday, June 17, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
And so this is Christmas
almost. But the song I want to explore today is never out of season: John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)." Like most Christmas songs worth a second hearing, this one has been covered by various artists, and their new takes can add to the overall beauty and community of the song. The harmonic progression of “Happy Christmas" is fairly simple but effective. Dissonances in the accompaniment and melody highlight the song’s attitude of hope in the face of the world’s concerns.
One of the most touching moments of the song, whether rehearsed or candid, is Lennon and Ono’s whisper of Christmas wishes to their children before the music starts. “War is Over", the song’s subtitle, is sung to the countermelody during the chorus. The theme of peace and hopes for a better world echo “Imagine,” released 2 months earlier in 1971. Lennon never stopped hoping for peace and this song, though beloved as a Christmas standard, is an eloquent protest of the war in Vietnam and war anywhere.
Of all the covers I have heard for this song, Maroon 5 makes the most interesting counterpart to Lennon's version. In contrast to most of the others I looked at (Celine Dion, U2, Sarah Maclachlan), their version begins plainly with the lead singer solo and a piano playing a single line, and does not get much more decorated with that. All the rest choose to begin with guitars strumming and perhaps add tambourines for rhythm, a stylistic choice which echoes Lennon's original recording. The significance of the instrumentation here reflects the different emotional content in each version. Lennon and Ono are joined by a children's choir, and take the song up and up the scale through modulations, perhaps in a gesture of joy. Maroon 5 skips the upward modulation and chooses to keep the song in a medium-low vocal register for the majority of the song, which keeps the atmosphere intimate and hushed, nothing like the exuberant but deep emotion of Ono singing "war is over/if you want it."
The single line played against the soloist is the countermelody, later used in the chorus with the words “War is over/if you want it/now” with “nota cambiata” non-harmonic tones. The starkness of the piano line makes every dissonant interval in the countermelody stand out, and the vocal line is changed minutely to add emphasis to these dissonant notes. Instead of the tender and hopeful atmosphere of Lennon's version, Maroon 5 seems bittersweetly nostalgic and perhaps more world-weary than optimistic. At 2:55, the lyrics "let's hope it's a good one" are given a bitter cast by the dissonance in the melody over a minor chord (ii), which resolves to a major chord through passing notes in the bass. These notes are harmonized and brought out by strings, which have been added as the song gains momentum. In each repetition of the chorus the chords resolve in the same pattern, but the addition of the strings and the emphasis on the IV chord, bright and sunny, twists this chorus unexpectedly into optimism. Perhaps the singer does not really believe war is over, but by the end of the song we feel it may be possible.
sung by John Lennon and Yoko Ono
sung by Maroon 5
The single line played against the soloist is the countermelody, later used in the chorus with the words “War is over/if you want it/now” with “nota cambiata” non-harmonic tones. The starkness of the piano line makes every dissonant interval in the countermelody stand out, and the vocal line is changed minutely to add emphasis to these dissonant notes. Instead of the tender and hopeful atmosphere of Lennon's version, Maroon 5 seems bittersweetly nostalgic and perhaps more world-weary than optimistic. At 2:55, the lyrics "let's hope it's a good one" are given a bitter cast by the dissonance in the melody over a minor chord (ii), which resolves to a major chord through passing notes in the bass. These notes are harmonized and brought out by strings, which have been added as the song gains momentum. In each repetition of the chorus the chords resolve in the same pattern, but the addition of the strings and the emphasis on the IV chord, bright and sunny, twists this chorus unexpectedly into optimism. Perhaps the singer does not really believe war is over, but by the end of the song we feel it may be possible.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Als die Mutter: Songs from my mother
In my life thus far, there has been no greater musical influence than my mother. Her tastes influenced mine, and my strongest interests in music have developed from the starting point of her printed and recorded collections. My interest in opera would not exist were it not for the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Rodgers and Hammerstein, which I learned to appreciate because of my parents.
Here are 10 tracks from my mother's record collection or songbooks.
Here are 10 tracks from my mother's record collection or songbooks.
- Buffy St. Marie “Universal Soldier.”
- Rodgers and Hammerstein: Waltz from “Carousel”
- The Beatles: “Taxman”
- Patti Lupone: “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”
- Willie Nelson: “City of New Orleans”
- Kenny Rogers: “Lucille”
- The Shirelles: “Soldier Boy”
- “Malagueña”
- Palestrina: Jesu Rex Admirabilis
- How Great Thou Art
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Drive My Car: sexual politics in words and music - Summer 2011
Featured on the 1965 album Rubber Soul, the Beatles’ song “Drive My Car” was co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The style looks back to classic rock-n-roll with a modal melody and blue-note inflections, and references Otis Redding’s bass-heavy version of “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.”[1] Examination of the lyrics as set by Lennon and McCartney shows a dynamic of power being established between the song’s narrator and a “girl.” This power play of the dominant female and the willingly subservient narrator who wishes to join her future plans is written into both the lyrics and the musical elements of the song.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Rock-n-roll Accent - spring 2010
A ‘rock ‘n’ roll accent?’ Rhotic and non-rhotic r in rock and roll music
The period of the 1950s and early 1960s was a fertile time for popular music. The genres of rock n’ roll, Soul, and the styles Britpop and rockabilly all began or gained national notice during this time, and the music and singers of this generation continue to influence popular music today: Elvis, The Beatles, Chuck Berry, James Brown, etc. Rock music began in America, and was exported to England, which in turn exported the British Invasion to America, thus augmenting and further popularizing the genre. Since the rock artists of these early days are still so influential today, it is no surprise that their voices and style would be imitated and incorporated by many artists, from their contemporaries to those who could never have heard Buddy Holly or John Lennon at a live concert.
Rock and roll developed out of a confluence of artists from two
The period of the 1950s and early 1960s was a fertile time for popular music. The genres of rock n’ roll, Soul, and the styles Britpop and rockabilly all began or gained national notice during this time, and the music and singers of this generation continue to influence popular music today: Elvis, The Beatles, Chuck Berry, James Brown, etc. Rock music began in America, and was exported to England, which in turn exported the British Invasion to America, thus augmenting and further popularizing the genre. Since the rock artists of these early days are still so influential today, it is no surprise that their voices and style would be imitated and incorporated by many artists, from their contemporaries to those who could never have heard Buddy Holly or John Lennon at a live concert.
Rock and roll developed out of a confluence of artists from two
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