It Was Your World, Baby, and I Just Steppd In It
Background: When Bob Dylan started writing songs, he did so because he had more to say than the folk artists he was hanging around with and things they weren’t saying in their songs that dated back decades. There’s a certain amount of cockiness that comes with songwriting, because you think that the story you’re telling is not only worth telling, but is something fresh that people haven’t heard before and subsequently need to hear. This blog will focus exclusively on “insider information,” with the narrators rolling out the welcome mat to fill you in on something only they’re aware of. When planning for this blog, I thought I’d have four different songs with the word “welcome” in the title, but given the very niche thing I was looking for, that ended up only being the case for the first three songs. The other one just fits the general theme of letting someone into your home to see what their world is like (but I hate the phrase “Welcome to my world,” so that specific phrase was banned!)
“Welcome to Paradise” by Green Day
Lyrically: This song dates back to Green Day’s first album, Kerplunk, released in 1991, and was written by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong after he moved out of his mom’s house. I recently shared a bit of trivia with my dad in a group text, to which he responded, “How do you know all this stuff?” But everyone will be happy to know I’m not sure of Billie’s relationship with his mother, compared to the character in the song. But in this song, the narrator is hell-bent on making it on his own, and his confidence in doing so grows with each verse. The first and last verse start off with “Dear mother, can you hear me?” and in the first verse, he asks, “Can you hear me whining?” because “It’s been three whole weeks since I have left your home. This sudden fear has left me trembling. ‘Cause now it seems that I am out here on my own and I’m feeling so alone.” In the chorus is where he rolls out the proverbial welcome mat, saying, “Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes. Some call it slums, some call it nice. I wanna take you through a wasteland I like to call my home. Welcome to paradise.” In the second verse, he describes how “Another gunshot rings out at the station” but by the third verse, he says, “Dear mother, can you hear me laughing” before concluding that “For some strange reason it is feeling like my home and I’m never gonna go.”
In a previous blog, we talked about “Young Moses” by Josh Ritter, and how the main character in that song rejects the cushy lifestyle his parents have offered him, in search of something better for him. And although the things described in “Welcome to Paradise” aren’t as glamorous as some of the things Young Moses discovers, it works for the narrator, so the “Welcome to Paradise” ceases to be sarcastic by the end of the song. His welcoming his mother into his world is kind of a “Hear me out” and its enduring power is the people who listen to the songs feeling rebellious, like they can make it on their own, failing, but still having the gumption to keep going and make a better life.
Melodically: The song is written in E major, and uses E, E, D, A in the intro, a I, VIIb, IV progression that gets played four times. The verses then use E, D, E, E, D, G, B, a I, VIIb, I, VIIb, IIIb, V pattern, which gets played twice. The chorus uses E, G, A, C, E, G, B, which is a I, IIIb, IV, VIb, I, IIIb, V pattern. This is followed by E, B, E, D, and A, a I, V, I, VIIb, IV pattern. The instrumental interludes are the same as the intro, but the second one (before the third verse), ends on the E, rather than ending on the A. Notably (no pun intended), the word “paradise” is always hit on the I chord, before going into the other chords of the main riff, and I love it as a counterpoint for the first two verses and then genuine in the last one. We know he’s actually struggling, but ending on the I chord shows he’s trying to convince himself it’s okay, and then when he does that, there’s no change. Instrumentally, the song uses guitar, bass, and drums. There are two distinct versions of this song, one from their second album, Kerplunk, and one from their third album, Dookie. I’ll put both of them at the end of this blog so you can tell the difference, but the personnel and instrumentation remain the same. The only big differences are the tone of the guitar and the speed at which it’s played. But both are worth a listen!
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, verse, chorus format. The structure of this song is fascinating to me, and not because it’s wildly different, but because he spends the first two verses complaining and then the third verse functions as the “Hear me out” verse. So it’s an example song, but we get to see the character’s evolution as he slowly realizes he likes the grunginess of the place where he’s living.
You can listen to both versions of “Welcome to Paradise” below.
Kerplunk:
Dookie:
2. “Welcome to the Working Week” by Elvis Costello
Lyrically: “Welcome to the Working Week” sees the narrator of the song interacting with a wealthy socialite. When the two of them meet, the socialite is rather disgusted at the narrator’s appearance and/or demeanor. But the narrator is in the working class and cannot escape his reality, whereas the socialite gets to see it from an outsider’s perspective. It’s interesting, though, because there’s mention in the second verse of the socialite’s family who “Had to kill to survive and they’re still waiting for their big day to arrive.” The narrative of this song is slightly ambiguous, but my interpretation is that it’s somewhat similar to the relationship between the narrator and whoever he’s talking to in the song “Like a Rolling Stone.” Especially the line in the Dylan song, “Nobody’s ever told you how to live on the streets but now you find you’re gonna have to get used to it.” Again, from my point of view, this is the narrator seeing someone who still thinks she’s all that, but has fallen on hard times. Her family busted their backs providing for her, but now that she’s had a taste of success, she doesn’t want to go back, and is in denial that she has to. The last verse begins with the narrator saying, “Sometimes I wonder if we’re even in the same land” and that may further speak to the denial of the socialite about her new status.
Melodically: The song uses E, G#m, C#m, F#, A, and B in the verses. With the song written in E major, this is a I, iii, vi, II, IV, V pattern. The chorus uses A, C#m, A, E, followed by the chords from the verses. This is a IV, vi, IV, I, I, iii, vi, II, IV, V pattern. The middle 8 uses G#m, C#m, F#, G#m, A, and B, which is a iii, vi, II, iii, IV, V pattern. That gets followed by G#m, C#m, A, and B, which is a iii, vi, IV, V pattern. The outro uses A, C#m, A, and E, which is a IV, vi, IV, I pattern. The song is incredibly short, clocking in at only 1:22, which means there’s a sense of urgency throughout the whole song. That makes it even more interesting that each part ends on the V chord, except for the outro (though the verses begin back with the I, giving a little bit of release to that tension. Instrumentally, the song uses acoustic, electric, and bass guitar, as well as drums, all of which were played by Costello, as well as members of the band Clover. The song, like the album as a whole, was produced by Nick Lowe.
Structurally: Given the short nature of the song, but it still packs a lot in. It follows a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle 8, verse, chorus format. Each part reveals a little bit more about how disgusted the narrator is with this socialite, and it’s inspiring to me, much as I love longer songs like “Alice’s Restaurant,” that he was able to say so much in less than 90 seconds.
You can listen to “Welcome to the Working Week” below.
A few closing notes: Elvis Costello’s debut, My Aim is True, came out on July 22, 1977, just under 3 weeks before Elvis Presley died. Though not intentional on the former’s end, I have heard there were a handful of DJs who saw the name Elvis Costello and were intrigued simply by the first name (but he backs it up in his own way!)
3. “Welcome to the FIshbowl” by Kenny Chesney
Background: In our last blog, we looked at “Come Over” by Kenny Chesney, and this is the lead track from his album called Welcome to the Fishbowl. I knew the story behind the album title was his friends telling him they had no idea his life was as crazy as it was, to which he responded, “Hey, welcome to the fishbowl.” As luck would have it, he wrote what would become the title track with Skip Ewing (who also co-wrote a few songs on Kenny’s No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems album).
Lyrically: “Welcome to the Fishbowl” focuses more on the craziness of life with social media and everyone having access to cameras, rather than focusing explicitly on celebrity life. Although this sounds like the first thing I described in the intro to this blog (with a singer having a unique experience everyone else should know about, rather than something that only happens to him), it’s still notable because he warns of the dangers of going viral for the wrong reasons. He says this when he tells the listeners, “You don’t have to be famous to be a star, just get caught on video and there ya are. You just lost your privacy, you’re swimmin’ around here with me.’ And that’s where the fishbowl comes in. There are people who get famous in the old fashioned way, and then there are people who get famous for those not-so-good reasons, but the fishbowl equalizes everyone.
Closing note on this whole idea: This album also contains a duet with Tim McGraw called “Feel Like a Rockstar” and while researching the two of them, I came across a story where one of them stole a horse in a drunken stupor, so it’s entirely possible that inspired some of the idea behind getting famous for the wrong reasons. It’s at this point that my dad would once again ask, “How do you know this?”
https://savingcountrymusic.com/25-years-ago-kenny-chesney-tim-mcgraw-arrested-for-stealing-a-horse/
Melodically: The Welcome To The Fishbowl’s intro uses the tonic chord, F#, and alternates between that and the VIIb chord (the E), and then the pre-chorus contains four bars of a D#m, which is the vi chord, followed by B, E, and F#, the IV, VIIb, and I chords. The chorus then uses C#, D#m, C#, B, and E, the V, vi, V, IV, and I chords. Each part ends on the I, except the intro, which serves well the whole idea of throwing your hands up in the air with this whole culture you chose to live in. Instrumentally, the song contains electric guitar, bass, and drums.
Structurally: A few years ago, I was listening to “In a Small Town” by Kenny Chesney and I noticed something cool about the structure of that song. He’ll have a couple verses and a tag at the end of the verses, followed by a chorus. The tag has the title in it, the chorus does not. The structure to this song is very similar, albeit with an addition of a pre-chorus. It adds variety, but still provides melodic closure, ending on the I chord.
You can listen to “Welcome to the Fishbowl” below.
4. “Planet of Weed” by Fountains of Wayne
Background: “Planet of Weed” started off as one of my least favorite tracks on Fountains of Wayne’s Traffic and Weather, but that was simply because I was too focused when it came out with it being an amazing song that’s gonna blow me away lyrically. I’ve talked countless times about Adam Schlesinger’s ability to know the moment when it came to the songs he wrote, and in that sense, this is kind of the spiritual successor to “Hung Up on You,” in the sense that it’s a terrific song within a specific genre–in this case, country and stoner rock, respectively. “Hung Up on You” was written by Chris Collingwood, the band’s other songwriter, so both of them had a penchant for knowing the moment.
Lyrically: “Planet of Weed” is sung from the perspective of a narrator who says, “I’ve got everything I need” adding “There’s not much going on, but it’s just my speed.” As proof, he mentions his collection of magazines, Doritos, and a movie. Here’s where things get interesting and what took me a second to understand. The second verse, when he mentions the movie, which is directed by Oliver Stone (my kinda pun), it just cuts off there and it feels like there should be something else. But here’s the deal: This guy is stoned out of his mind, so why would the verses be even? It’s this weird dichotomy from the narrator, where he wants us to feel welcome on his planet, but after you hear that line, you’re kind of frustrated with him. Yet, again, he recognizes that it’s all good where he’s at, so the rules don’t need to apply.
Melodically: The song’s intro uses C, E, and F, which gets played twice. With the song in C major, this is a I, III, IV pattern. The first verse uses C, Am, F, G, C, C, Am, F, and G, which is a I, vi, IV, V, I, vi, IV, V pattern. The second verse uses the same chords, but what’s sung is contrasted with what’s played. The first verse sees him rhyme “Weed” with “Indeed,” so logic would dictate that the last line of the second verse would rhyme with “feet.” But there is no logic with this stoner! Instrumentally, the song contains acoustic and electric guitar, bass, and drums.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus format. This is perfect for the song (and everything else is too, I just have to change my mindset as the listener, because a good song should perk your ears up for doing something different!). Since everything is so calm for the narrator, why would you need anything else to switch up your routine? Alternating between the verse and chorus, with only a solo (and not a complicated one) switching things up slightly fits so well.
You can listen to “Planet of Weed” below.
