On Favorite Bands

Howdy folks -

Music is a funny thing, isn't it? One of my thousands of readers told me yesterday that she had not been the biggest fan of some of my music choices and I thought to myself - "Well, how could that be? These songs are generally poppy, interesting, etc." And it got me thinking....about music, the nature of music, the nature of fandom, what being a fan of a band is all about...hell, even what "favorite band" means and how it happens. So I decided to ruminate a little on the concept and share my thoughts on this phenomenon. And before we go further, let me say that I really just appreciate the reader giving the songs a chance!

I have been a music fan since as long as I can remember - whether it was the 80s hits filling my mom's minivan to the music I listen to on my ear buds as I'm walking through the streets of DC - it gives me energy, makes me think and, most importantly, makes me feel. Feel something. Those feelings are never pre-determined...that's the beauty of loving a song - sometimes it brings you back to where you were, other times it takes you to where you're going, and sometimes it simply let's you be. I've been listening to a song on repeat fairly often from what I would consider to be my absolute most adored band - Manic Street Preachers. The song's called Tsunami, and you can hear it below. It came out in 1997, so it's a little over 15 years old now. Where were you 15 years ago? I was 14. I imported the CD from Woody's Music in lovely Matthews, NC, a small record store where the owner would actually import music for me, from CD singles to full LPs...for a price. This CD probably cost me $20 at the time - imagine paying $20 for 12 songs today! It's unthinkable.

Thinking about listening to that song 15 years ago, I wonder what I thought about it as I heard it? I love the song for a lot of reasons - the arrangement, the non-traditional instrumentation (for a rock band), the jumping strings in the chorus, the lyrics, the charging bridge...basically, I love everything about this song. But would I love it if I didn't love the band? If I heard it with new ears and no background? I honestly can't say. That's the thing about having a favorite band - you know them. You know their history. You get their musical sensibilities. You are willing to let them take you places that you may not go for other bands. You trust them. In a way, they're your band. I can't think about the Manic Street Preachers and separate them from half my life, nor separate the songs from the band members, nor separate the lyrics from the music or the songs from time itself.  Even when they put out a bad album, I tend to like it just because I like them. I like the way they write music and it never fails to speak to me on some level.

When I listen to Mumford and Sons, I can't imagine them being anybody's favorite band. And yet they are. And not just a few people - millions of people would call Mumford and Songs their favorite band. How? I personally don't understand that. They're music is fine. They are fine. They aren't terribly interesting or exciting, but they make decent music. I could listen to The Cave on the radio and be perfectly happy. But I wouldn't go buy an album of theirs. Maybe if I saw them live I'd have a different opinion, but really, I shouldn't have to see a band live to live and breathe their recorded output. Same is true for Dave Matthews - another band that I find to be perfectly fine but couldn't imagine seeing them live once, forget hundreds of times like their most dedicated fans. And The Lumineers? Forget it.

But that's the point isn't it? Music is so much more than the song. Just like movies are more than the film, and books are more than the words. It all lives in your mind. You take pieces of yourself, pieces of the artist and pieces of the artistry and create a mosaic that only you can see, hear and feel. I share these songs because I love them. Of course I hope that you do too, or that you at least give them a chance. I share the lyrics because often the words spoke to me. Sometimes they didn't, but when you have a format, you follow it :)

If you've read this far, you might as well listen to Tsunami and see if you hear what I hear. Even if you don't, I appreciate you trying. It was a Top 10 hit in the UK in 1998, which probably demonstrates how different their musical tastes are from ours, but it stands on its own merit in my opinion.



For you my dear sister
Holding onto me forever
Disco dancing with the rapists
Your only crime is silence

Can't work at this anymore
Can't move I want to stay at home
Tied up to all these crutches
Never far from your hands

Tsunami tsunami
Came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami
Came washing over me
Can't speak, can't think, won't talk, won't walk

Doctors tells me that I'm cynical
I tell them that it must be chemical
So what am I doing girl
Cry into my drink I disappear

Eyes for teeth grating over me
Bring down the shadows of my mind
Sleep and breathe under our sheets
Inhale the anxiety in - between, in - between, in - between, in - between

Tsunami tsunami
Came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami
Came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami
Came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami
Came washing over me

Through September under the weather

In - between, in - between, in - between, in - between

Tsunami tsunami
Came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami
Came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami
Came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami
Came washing over me

Take the GI's I will have the spies