Song: King Of Anything Artist: Sara Bareilles (Originally published Sept.3, 2013)

It was a Japanese guitar student who brought this song to my attention recently.  Although “King of Anything” was released in 2010, this was the first time I’d heard it, and I loved it.

Sara Bareilles first came to my attention with her song “Bottle It Up”, released on the album “Little Voice” in 2007.  Bottle It Up is a very clever pop song with some interesting chord progressions and rhyme schemes.  In fact, I should do another article on that song!

But today we’re looking at King of Anything, a wonderful “who asked you for your advice anyway?” song that another student of mine, a therapist, said she should play for one of her patients.  I suppose I can relate to it lyrically because many times I’ve experienced someone deciding to impart some unsolicited advice, especially guys on the golf course!

Musically, it’s just poppy-licious.  The arpeggio piano (obviously her instrument) and vocal stabs just give you the desire to bop around the room.  I recognized her style of singing and writing after knowing Bottle It Up fairly well (and teaching it to some of my guitar students!), so Sara has obviously created a sound for herself.

Lyrically, it’s simple, in-your-face, but with visual elements added.  I like the whole idea of “show me, don’t tell me” in lyrics.  Sometimes she reverts to the “tell me” part, but in this case it’s effective.

Keep drinking coffee, stare me down across the table
While I look outside
So many things I’d say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by

You’ve got opinions man
We’re all entitled to ’em
But I never asked
So let me thank you for your time
And try not to waste any more of mine
Get out of here fast

PRE-CHORUS:
I hate to break it to you babe
But I’m not drowning
There’s no one here to save

CHORUS:
Who cares if you disagree
You are not me
Who made you king of anything
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything

You sound so innocent
All full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to
Jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunset

I’m not the one who’s lost
With no direction, oh
But you’ll never see
You’re so busy making maps
With my name on them in all caps
You got the talking down
Just not the listening

[repeat CHORUS]

BRIDGE:
All my life I’ve tried
To make everybody happy while I
Just hurt and hide
Waiting for someone to tell me it’s my turn to decide

[repeat CHORUS twice]

Lemme hold your crown, babe
Oh, oh

I love the “who cares” and “you dare” lines in the chorus;  Sara uses high notes to emphasize them just as you would if you were saying them in conversation.  Who cares?

The great songwriting and distinctive performance of King Of Anything makes this a hit to my ears. You can view the video below.

IJ

Song: Set The Prairie On Fire Artist: Shawn Colvin (Originally published Nov.4, 2012)

I discovered Shawn Colvin in the early 90’s when I myself was out performing quite a bit.  I remember listening to her CD “Fat City” at first because a friend of mine thought we had similar voices, and I played it in my car as I was travelling around.  The fact that my friend thought our voices were alike was a compliment, of course, because Shawn is a far better vocalist than I’ll ever be.  But beyond that, I fell in love with her songs long before “Sunny Came Home” was a hit.

I was in my 40’s then, and you know what they say about ladies in the 40’s.  Okay, if you don’t, then look it up 🙂  And when I first really listened to “Set The Prairie On Fire”, it pretty much blew me away.  It was not the first or second listen, I’m sure, but as I heard it again and again, the lyrics found their way into my psyche and it became like a slow, seductive reveal.

Shawn is a great guitar player and I love her percussive flatpicking, and this song and its accompanying recording really demonstrates her playing ability.  The chords jump from what I think is an Am to G, back and forth in the verses, but the way she plays them keeps the repeated chord progression hard driving and never boring!  It’s a slow song, with a wailing organ snaking its way all throughout, giving it a lonely, longing feeling which compliments the lyrics perfectly.  It feels like a prairie, it feels wide open and wanting.

Full full moon and that same sad nature
I wanna cover every inch of you
Like ink on paper
Like the blind parade of souls
Consumed by religion
I can’t wait ’til I get you 
In that defenseless position

CHORUS:
When we set the prairie on fire
Oh we go down to the water
Naked and slow
You and me
And the heart of desire
We set the prairie on fire
How hard will the wind blow
How far will it go

When the feeling burns down
To one solitary colour
The velocity of longing
Melting into each other
It’s a song our fingers play
All at once and together
You can bet we never learned it
But we’ve known it forever

Oh I dreamed that we were flying
Carried up from the ashes
Black silhouettes of velvet
Against the crimson of passion
We can almost hear the echoes
From the smouldering meadow
It’s the rapture of the angels
And the rage of the devil

[REPEAT CHORUS]

BRIDGE:

In the cool dusk of horses
Through the rusted wires of sleep
With our arms around midnight
We’re headed for release
We go riding in the wind
We go riding in the dark
Go riding, riding

[REPEAT CHORUS]

Read along with the lyrics as you listen to one of my favourite songs by Shawn Colvin available in the video below.
Sigh…

~ IJ

Song: Enough To Be On Your Way Artist: James Taylor (Originally published Sept.20, 2012)

I recently watched James Taylor perform at the DNC on television and it reminded me of one of my favourite songs of his. I’ve mentioned it before in my blog article My 10 All Time Favourite Songs but I think I’d like to go into more depth here about what I like so much about this song.

What I think I first fell in love with in this song was the melody and chord progression and the instrumentation…it’s a sad song and a powerful one.  I didn’t find out until later that James wrote it about his brother who passed away.

James changed the gender of the main character in the song (good idea to do that when you’re writing about something or someone personal to you!), and I’m sure he changed some other details for the sake of the song.  When I found out it was really about his brother, it explained a lot to me.  First of all, songwriters are always told “write what you know”.  I’m sure this applies to other types of writing, but the truth is that when a lyric is real, people feel it.  When you’re really writing from the heart, it connects a lot better than something totally made up.  Now, I’m not advocating the idea of making your songwriting a diary of your life, but the more truthiness there is to it (I know, borrowed word and not in the dictionary!), the more your audience can relate.

Here are some of the lyrics:

The sun shines on this funeral
The same as on a birth
The way it shines on everything
That happens here on earth

It rolls across the western sky
And back into the sea
And spends the day’s last rays
Upon this fucked up family
So long old gal

The last time I saw Alice
She was leaving Santa Fe
With a bunch of round-eyed Buddhists
In a killer Chevrolet
Said they turned her out of Texas
Yeah she burned `em down back home
Now she`s wild with expectation
On the edge of the unknown

CHORUS:
Oh it`s enough to be on your way
It`s enough just to cover ground
It`s enough to be moving on
Home, build it behind your eyes
Carry it in your heart
Safe among your own

The chord progression in the verses is sentimental and soft, beginning with a Gmaj7 to an A/B (all relative to the capo on the 3rd fret).  Major 7th chords have always been some of my favourites, as was evidenced in the first few songs I wrote once I discovered them.  They are often used in jazz, but are not as difficult to play as some jazz chords.  The A/B chord is simply an A with the added B bass note, which gives a kind of anticipatory feel to the lines.  He plays those two chords once each in the first two lines, then starts the third line, which is twice as long, with the same two chords, progressing to F#m7, Bm7, Em9, A, D/A, A. James likes to keep his bass lines moving which make his guitar progressions intricate and interesting.

My favourite progression, however, is in the chorus. It starts with Bm7 to Em7 to F#m7 and back to Bm7, but the second line takes a twist.  It picks up at the Em7 to F#m7 again, but then it moves to a Gmaj7…a major 7th chord, giving it that emotional punch just at the right time.  His melody moves eloquently over top, with the melodic and lyrical repetition of “it’s enough” at the beginning of the first three lines.  It’s enough to be on your way, it’s enough just to cover ground, it’s enough to be moving on.

When I first discovered James Taylor back in the 70’s, what impressed me most were his chord progressions and melodies.  I didn’t even think about or pay attention to his lyrics until later.  But I have to say I’ve never heard him swear in a song :-).  In the first verse of this song, he opens with the idea of how the sun shines on the funeral, as it shines on everything, implying a kind of indifference to the drama that’s going on beneath it.  The last line hits home with “and spends the days’ last rays upon this fucked up family.”  I wonder if James ever wondered whether or not he should use that word!  On the other hand, there’s an element of “real” to it, isn’t there?  Don’t we all feel that way about our families sometimes?  I think he was bringing his real life into that line.

Have a listen to Enough To Be On Your Way in the YouTube video below.  

I love this song…when I bought the album, it was one of those songs that grew on me the more I listened to it.  For me these days, that is rare.  It may be only because I am unable to find artists that appeal to me in order to discover those gems, and the places where I might hear them on a regular basis (like radio used to) don’t exist.  But there is nothing more beautiful than a song that reveals itself more and more over time.

~ IJ