What does it really mean to express yourself? Is it in words you create with language you know? Is it with gestures of your body and it’s parts? Is it based on manipulating objects in the world around us and showing it to others? There’s a multitude of ways to express things. Obviously for the purposes of this blog I’m showcasing the talents of those who use words and manipulate objects to create sound. For myself I’m using words here. Gotta love when I state the obvious eh?
Last night I forced myself to get out of the house around 11 p.m. to go hang out at a place where they do a music club at a bar. It’s a low pressure hang where songwriters go and play a few tunes and have some drinks. It was rather mellow at the place. The atmosphere was a bit more open feeling too. More light and people were playing darts. I’m not sure why it felt better than most of the previous times I’ve gone but it did.
I didn’t go with the intention of performing any songs. I went with the mindset to hang out. However, once there, several people confronted me to get up and play. So with a borrowed guitar I did. What was different this time is that people were much more apt to be listening. In fact I caught a few people swinging and swaying to the tunes I played. Which is something I always see when I’m playing a full band show, or if I see someone listening to a song of mine on CD or iPod. They’re being affected by my expression. That’s a great thing.
Today I’ve come across a song that has the concept of expression going on. It’s a darker look into that idea, but it’s there nonetheless. There’s a lot about this that is new. The name of the band is pretty different. In fact it reminds me of a story I wrote with some friends in high school. Our story was called: “A Pale Black Knight Rode By On A Dark White Horse”. Of course our story was full of weird contradictions. I’m being weird in connecting that to a band with a name of a horse in the title.
I like the immediate nature of the feeling expressed in the chords and how it changes based on the words. The plodding nature of the rhythm is certainly lending itself to the dark feel. There’s a lot of imagery going on in the lyrics with lots of metaphoric references as well. Pretty clever.
It would be fun to hear this song pushed a few bpm and polished with production shine on a remix. I think some interesting things could be done to make alternate versions of the song. I’d be willing to bet they’d hold up well too. Which is the sign of a really good song.
As far as mother nature goes, I’d say today she’s got a new expression here in LA. It’s sunny. Which actually feels like a change from the last few days. With that, it’s an obvious contradiction to the dark nature of the song you’ve been listening to. Not a bad thing, as it’s all part of the game of expression.
Go get Last Charge now!