Rooting For the Underdog
Background: In writing for my last blog, I got all the way through my analysis of “Radiation Vibe” by Fountains of Wayne and realized it didn’t fit the theme as well as I thought it would. So I decided to make a new blog, about what Fountains of Wayne does best: helping us root for the underdog. These won’t be all Fountains of Wayne songs, but they all fall into the “nerd rock” genre.
“Radiation Vibe” by Fountains of Wayne
Lyrically: There are definitely some connections in the first verse that we did not see with “Sex and Candy,” discussed in a previous blog, alluding to the monkey on someone’s back (an ex boyfriend), then saying even though he’s gone, now she slouches. The second verse is somewhat unrelated to the first, talking about going to Pittsburgh and putting on a great show (talking about what the love interest is missing out on by not being with him). Both, however, are ultimately tied to the sunny days the narrator is experiencing, which he refers to as “A radiation vibe” and implying that his love interest is in the darkness, he asks, “Don’t it make you wanna get some sun?” On this same album, Fountains of Wayne has a tune called “Leave the Biker,” encouraging his love interest to do just that. This one does so more subtly, but takes the stance of living your best life and hoping others will come your way as a result. It’s up in the air whether or not his love interest will go his way, but we certainly hope she does!
Melodically: The verses use the A and D chords, which is a I, IV pattern, since the song is written in A major. The pre-chorus uses E and D, the V and the IV chords, and the chorus uses A, F#m, A, E, D, A, E, D, E6, E, E6, and E, which is a I vi, I, V, IV, I, V, IV, V pattern. Instrumentally, the song uses guitar, bass, and drums. This tune, like many on Fountains of Wayne’s debut, evokes a distorted guitar sound that I tend to associate with Weezer.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus format. There’s a strong confidence level apparent in the narrator, but unlike the narrator in “Catch My Disease”, which we chatted about in a previous blog, remember that this guy is the underdog. He doesn’t have much time to convince this woman that he’s the one for her. As a result, it wouldn’t make sense to have two verses in a row–that would lose her attention. It wouldn’t make sense to have 3 or more verses, because she needs to be convinced after one or two. So asking about her relationship status in the first verse, then going to a chorus, then talking about how great his life currently is and that she should join him, is a quick way to try to convince her.
2. “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” by Jim Croce
Lyrically: “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” is a song about a pool shark named Big Jim Walker, who takes everybody’s money while hustling pool on 42nd Street. He’s described as a “pool shooting son of a gun,” and “big and dumb as a man can come.” but he’s also “stronger than a country hoss.” No one dares mess with him because as the chorus says, “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind. You don’t pull the mask off the Old Lone Ranger and you don’t mess around with Jim.” One night, someone named Willie McCoy enters the pool hall, saying “Down home they call me Slim.” He comes in “Looking for the King of 42nd Street” who took all his money last week. Folks then warn him how they warn everyone who dares go up against Jim, with the chorus being repeated. The third verse then comes in, with the matchup between the two of them, and by the time it was over, “The only part that wasn’t bloody was the soles of the big man’s feet” and concludes in the end with “a different story as Big Jim hit the floor,” now that “You don’t mess around with Slim.”
Melodically: The song uses E7 and E in the intro and most of the verses, before ending on A, B7, A, and E7. With the song written in E major, this is a I, IV, V, IV, I pattern. The chorus basically reverses this, using A, A7, E, played twice, before ending on B7, A7, E, and B (a V7, IV7, I, V pattern). The bridge just uses E7. Instrumentally, the song uses guitar, piano, bass guitar, and drums. The simplicity of the lyrics call for a simple melody and instrumentation, and it succeeds in doing just that.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus format. As a storyteller, my instinct is to use the bridge to delay the ending. However, in this song, we already know what happened to Big Jim by the end of the third verse and the subsequent chorus, and that’s exactly how it should be. The bridge serves as more of a postscript and a reaffirmation of the new thing folks in town will tell anyone coming in. Sure, mess around with Jim, but you don’t mess around with Slim. It’s also very important to note that the song is called “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.” Calling it “You Don’t Mess Around With Slim” would have given away the ending, but making the title a challenge of sorts, without revealing anything about the challenger, leaves a little bit of mystery.
You can listen to “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” below.
3. “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus
Lyrically: The verses to “Teenage Dirtbag” are sung from an unpopular student’s point of view, talking about a girl he has a crush on. Her boyfriend is awful and doesn’t care about the narrator, nor does the girl. After each verse, he concludes that it’s because, “I’m just a teenage dirtbag, baby.” It’s really fascinating, because it’s kind of him thinking what she thinks about him, but he doesn’t necessarily feel that way about himself. Like there’s nothing that leads us to believe he truly is a dirtbag, it’s more a sarcastic, “Your boyfriend’s awful, but you don’t think so, and I’m the awful one for saying that.” We need more songs like that, in my opinion. In researching this song, this was based on an actual experience from the lead singer. When he was ten, he witnessed what he calls a “satanic ritual teen homicide” and although he was not responsible, he was wearing an AC/DC shirt and got labeled as satanic because of the shirt. So his perspective was “no, I’m not bad like them, but sure, call me a teenage dirtbag.”
Melodically: The song’s verses use E, B, E, A, played three times before ending on C#m, A, and B. With the song written in E major, this is a I, V, I, IV pattern, followed by a vi, IV, V pattern. The chorus then uses E, A, B, C#m, and G#m, a I, IV, V, vi, iii pattern, played three times, before ending on E, A, B, C#m, G#m, A, and B, the I, IV, V, vi, iii, IV, and V chords. The instrumental between the first and second verses uses E, B, E, A, a I, V, I, IV, pattern that gets played twice. The middle 8 then uses E, Asus2 (played twice), followed by C#m, G#m, A, and B, all of which gets played twice. This is a I, IV, vi, iii, IV, V pattern. Instrumentally, the song uses acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, a mixing board, and drums. What I mentioned in the lyric section, the contrast between his actual calm demeanor and people’s perception of him, plays out with the mellow acoustic guitar in the verses and the electric guitar in the chorus.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, instrumental, verse, chorus, middle 8, instrumental, chorus, ending format. Like “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim,” there’s a resolve in the last verse, when he has a ticket to an Iron Maiden concert and invites Noelle, the girl he has a crush on, to go with him, realizing that being a teenage dirtbag is what she’s into. It’s a simple structure and a fun song as a result of not trying to do too much.
You can listen to “Teenage Dirtbag” below.
4. “Can’t Make Her Stay” by The Storyline
Background: Every year for my birthday, I have my students make me a birthday playlist. I’m against censorship in music (though I get why it has to exist), so I tell them to go wild. Sometimes the results are a swear fest, but sometimes I discover a gem like this one, and it fit the category of rooting for the underdog very well.
Lyrically: I always like to put a wild card song in the last spot of my blogs, and this tune is certainly a wild card in the sense that it’s not necessarily mainstream. It’s also a wild card because it’s sung from a third person perspective. The narrator in the song isn’t the one who can’t make her stay. He’s talking about a guy who seemingly does everything right, and seems to think that he has someone who will be with him forever, but ultimately, the narrator concludes that he can’t make her stay. The chorus hits hard with “Eighteen, in love with a beauty queen, building lives inside your mind that’s called make believe.” It’s a very interesting song because it doesn’t dive into details about why she won’t stay, other than saying that she doesn’t want to settle down. But the point of the song isn’t to trash the woman in question, it’s to just simply warn the guy that she’s not going to be the one for life. Much like the first song we discussed, “Radiation Vibe,” there’s no resolve in the song. The middle two songs had a simple structure, and this song does too, paired with simple lyrics, but there’s nothing implying that he gave it a shot, it’s just a straight up warning.
Melodically: The song reminds me a little bit of old Fall Out Boy (“Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down”), Good Charlotte, and American Hi-Fi, the latter two of which make my heart happy because it opened up the music I could suggest to my student that was along the same lines. The song is written in the key of C major and uses electric guitar, bass, and drums.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, chorus, ending format. Since the song is just a warning, there’s no need for a bridge or anything to say, “Oh wait, you’re giving this a shot, even though I’ve warned you so many times.” It is interesting because the pre-chorus actually shifts to using “He,” while the chorus uses “You,” so he’s kind of shifting back and forth between telling us about this guy and telling the guy about the girl. The fact that I had to go back and figure that out on my own with a deeper analysis, shows you how well he pulls it off, though.
