Lesson IX: Van "The Man" Morrison

Sorry for the absence, things are crazy around the camp these days.



So today I'm doing a bigger picture blog about not a song but a man, the man actually. That's right, Van "the Man" Morrison. Who knows and loves "Brown Eyed Girl," "Wild Night," Moondance," and "Jackie Wilson Said?" Fucking everyone. The guy writes smashes. "Have I Told You Lately," "Domino," and every other fucking song you love to hear. But what does he look like?


Is Van Morrison the J. D. Salinger of music? The answer is no. He's been on TV a ton of times, he's in "The Last Waltz" (the Martin Scorcese doc about The Band's last concert, fucking awesome), he's done Sullivan.... What the fuck does he look like and if you know and you're under 30, you're rare.

He may be the last mega huge pop star to have a certain chunk of his fan base not know what he looks like. And that's my point here. I know when Madonna has a pimple and I don't know what the guy who wrote and sang "Brown Eyed Girl" looks like. That's absurd. In a world of Star Magazine and 24 hour news networks (24 hours of news everyday in a ratings war cannot possibly be news all the time), we know what people look and dance like and who they date long before we ever hear their music. I've seen more pictures of this Pete Doherty guy puking on Kate Moss' tits in the last two months than I care to remember but I have no idea what he sounds like. I am probably better off but it only proves my point. You can barely get a decent image of him on Google Image Search and only the first two pages are really him. Search Brittany Spears right after it and you'll be on for days.

It's music. It's for you ears. If the Beatles wrote and recorded Sgt. Pepper and were all really fat Chinese guys it'd still fuck face. Love you Van. (BTW the pics are Morrisey, Jim Morrison, Morris Day, and the last one is the real Van Morrison)

Lesson VIII: Happy Birthday (to you) by Mildred and Patty Hill

Since it was my birthday yesterday, I'm doing this shit. Now, a lot of people don't even think about this but this song is genius. Simple, memorable, and easy to sing along with. Before this song, people would bring out your cake with all the candles and give three cheers for the birthday boy/girl. You know, hip hip hooray style. That's cool and all but it's not a song.

And yeah by the time you're 16 you want to stab everyone in the eye when you have to sit and sing the dumb ass song. I know. And yeah, that guy who always does harmony at every party is a turd. I know. And of course the live in a zoo rendition pops up and pisses you off and then there's that awkward part where your family says Nicholas but your friends say Nick. I know this. But you know that song by heart. And so does every mother fucker on the planet. People sing that shit in English in Japan. Ballin'

Lesson VII: Gone by Kanye West

I know I took a while to post this I just got over come with some regular shit and didn't get a chance to post. Kanye West gave us the College Dropout the same month that I dropped out of college to pursue a better life than 9-5 in a cubicle regardless of economic stature. Since the exact moment that his music first hit my ears I've been a huge fan. The song "Gone" from his second full length release, titled Late Registration, is a masterful expression of John Brion's string sections, lyrical play, and the sweet sound of Otis Redding's "It's Too Late." (PS: The real version is ballin'.)

While Kanye's first verse is pretty good, and irresistible anyways because the strings are fucking your face the entire time, Cam'ron's verse is stunning. He allows the repetition of Otis Redding's hook line to finish his thought stream. This is one of the best uses of the lyrics ina sample to intertwine with a rap verse I think I've ever heard. Kanye comes back in for a third verse where he says the word gone in every line making it a total of 23 gones.

At this point in the song John Brion brings in this short ambient string piece that is worth the entire listen itself! I mean this string rise is brilliant. It drops you right back into your seat at the final verse where Kanye drops a little more knowledge on you and then bounces. I highly suggest you get onto digging this song.

Lesson VI: Only Living Boy by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel (If you want to believe Art had any part in it)

Wow, what can I say about this song that isn't total praise? Every time I think I can't love it anymore, I re-find it and fall in love all over again. The use of the background vocal in this song could serve as a guideline to all who want to write music. They create the mood, they elevate and alleviate the mood like a beautiful woman. The chord structure is as simple as it gets yet the song seems to express complex ranges in human emotion. The dynamics are absolutely on fucking point and the bass line is almost a co-narrator with the lead vocals, taking you along on a journey. Not to mention the surreal and attack-less organ noise that calmly massages you to sleep.

And the lyrics, amazing. They represent so many parts of being human which are so universal and complex. From feeling alone (only living boy in New York), to feeling completely free (I've got nothing to do today but smile), I mean this song is the ultimate combination of utter joy and alienation. He loves being the only one and "gathering all his news on the weather report" but at the same time you can feel the loneliness which is best represented by the background vocals and organs total melancholy of tone and reverb.

This song delivers every time, learn it, live it, love it......want some more of it.