Searching For a Silver Light
Background: All of my blogs start in one of two ways: I either have a song I want to talk about and build a theme around it, or I have a theme I want to discuss and build songs around that theme. In picking this theme, I wanted to be very careful, because I never want to glorify sadness in a song, but sometimes it can be good to talk about the melancholy moments in life, whether through a character, or through a personal experience. We will do a mix of both of those in this blog.
“Lanyards” by The Hold Steady
Lyrically: “Lanyards” tells the tale of a person in a dead end — the narrator and his hometown, where he says “There was nothing but the hum of the locusts and the rest of my life to get used to getting washed out by showbiz.” He is the main one struggling throughout the song, but is seemingly saved by the other character in the song, whose “character (was cool) she was just sinking into her motivation. She’s into new things, but won’t go to a second location.” The title comes in when he says that they’re all struggling, “Lanyards into laminates, trying to get the right kind of wristband.” The narrator’s friend, also a user like the narrator, is only in a slightly better place than he is, so the “right colored wristband” is hoping it isn’t yellow, which would put them at a higher risk of falling. This level of empathy is apparent from the first line, when he says, “When you’re stuck out in the middle, you figure there’s just something you’re missing,” showing that the narrator is messed up and he knows just what his friend is going through. Then it’s a matter of who’s going to help themselves first. This theme actually inspired the name of one of my albums, called Stuck Out in the Middle.
This is supported throughout the song, with the two of them doing their best, but it’s revealed at the end that the narrator “Saw a few stars, but never got into a movie,” and is still “Trying to make moves but is stuck in Independence, Missouri.” That dagger at the end is just incredible. When you hear about these characters in the song, the last thing you think of is independence. It’s a really cool contrast, albeit an incredibly heartbreaking one.
I want to point out a couple of things about this song. The first thing that stuck out to me was the slant rhyming that occurs in “locusts” and “showbiz” in the first verse and elsewhere throughout the song. Craig Finn is the lead singer and primary songwriter of the band, and has a rambling-type delivery to his vocals. So the slant rhyme works well with that delivery, because if he were to just use perfect rhymes, we might drift off amidst his rambling. In addition, he’s a storyteller, and in a complex story like this one (and many of The Hold Steady’s songs), it might be unrealistic for the narrator to rhyme perfectly, given what they’re trying to convey. For those of you playing along at home, Craig is also from the great state of Minnesota — where great storytellers are born!
Melodically: The song is written in the key of E major and uses the chords G#m, Emaj7, and Badd9 in the intro, which is a iii, I, V pattern, which gets repeated throughout the verses. However, the verses end with an Emaj7sus2. The chorus uses B, F#, and E, a V, II, I pattern that gets played four times. Instrumentally, the song uses piano, guitar, and drums. There’s also a tremolo effect on the guitar to add to the mysterious ambiance of the song.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, verse, chorus, verse, verse, chorus, verse format. In an earlier blog, we talked about “King of Oklahoma” by Jason Isbell. In that song, there are a handful of verses in a row before we even get to the chorus. In this, there are only two, which is relatively standard to a handful of songs. But the thing that sticks out about this choice is that the two choruses (both different, but building in nature), add to the verses, but don’t reiterate the title of the song. Given the rambling nature of it, this is a bold choice, but it works so well. Again, it’s a story, and stories aren’t always linear. And the character getting stuck in independence is a fabulous way to end the song. It should be noted that both Finn’s solo work and his work with The Hold Steady often will revisit characters from previous songs–so this might not be the last you hear of these two, but if you listen in isolation, it’s still an amazing story.
“Lanyards" is embedded below.
2. “Let Her Cry” by Hootie and the Blowfish
Lyrically: I kind of have an unwritten rule that subconsciously makes the first song I ever hear by any given artist my favorite song by them. For Hootie and the Blowfish, that would mean “Hold My Hand” would be my favorite, and although that’s a fabulous song, I think “Let Her Cry” takes that prize with this band. It starts out with an observation of a woman, who’s sure she’ll be able to find the one, but until she does, tends to cope with various substances. It’s worth noting that in the first verse, he says “She sits alone by a lamppost trying to find a thought that’s escaped her mind.” Not to go all grammatical on you, but the use of an indefinite article (“a” lamppost, instead of “The” lamppost) is subtle, but an amazing choice. It doesn’t matter where she is, her state of mind will still be the same. There’s also a straightforward approach to both the delivery of the lyrics and what is actually said. For example, at the end of the second verse when she walked in, he “Sat back down and had a beer and felt sorry for (himself)” and it has always stood out to me that he says “beer” and not “a cold one” or something like that. It speaks to the seriousness of the situation in the song. I’ll talk more about the lyrics in the structure section, but the chorus offers a ray of hope, put out by the narrator, saying that no matter what, she can always come to him and he’ll “Let her cry.” The most powerful line in the chorus is the last one: “And if the sun comes up tomorrow let her in, let her in.”
Note: In researching this song, I saw that Darius Rucker has said in interviews that prior to writing the song, he had just listened to “She Talks to Angels” by The Black Crowes, and used it as an inspiration for this tune.
Melodically: The song is written in G major and uses the chords G, D, C, and G in the verses, which is a I, V, IV, I pattern, followed by C, G, C, Em, G, D, C, D, G, C, and G in the chorus (a IV, I, IV, vi, I, V, IV, V, I, IV, I pattern). The solo uses G, D, C, and G, the I, V, IV, I pattern from the verses. Instrumentally, the song uses guitar, bass, drums, and organ.
Structurally: Normally when I talk about structure, I talk about when each part of the song is used. This particular song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, verse, chorus format, but what sticks out to me is the way the narrator weaves in and out of time frames. He starts out by talking about what she does every day, then flashes back to the morning (past tense) when he found a note she left, “Sayin’ maybe, maybe I’ll be back some day” then she walked in just as he was about to look for her. That leads to self-loathing on his end. Then in the last verse, he reveals that he almost left because he didn’t recognize her anymore. In the second verse, he says he “Sat back down and had a beer and felt sorry for myself” and in the third verse, he’s not feeling sorry for himself anymore, or really her, he just hopes she’ll accept his help. I find this structure interesting because the second verse has always reminded me of the last verse in “Darling Nikki” by Prince and even though they’re two radically different songs, it always feels a little off coming in the second verse, but it works, because the most powerful verse, where the narrator has finally had enough, gets saved for last.
“Let Her Cry” is embedded below.
3. “Jane Says” by Jane’s Addiction
Lyrically: “Jane Says” is about lead singer Perry Ferrell’s roommate, who lent her name to the song and the band. It tells the tale of a prostitute and drug addict, and she keeps telling her roommate (the narrator) that she’s going to quit both her job and her drug habit tomorrow. She says she’s going to travel to Spain when she saves her money up, which she’s “Gonna start tomorrow,” then adds, “I’m gonna kick tomorrow.” At the end of every chorus, the narrator says, “She don’t mean no harm, she just don’t know what else to do about it.” I mentioned in the opening of this blog that some of these songs were personal and some of them were about a character. In this case, it’s a little bit of both. The song is about a drug addict, but Perry Ferrell was also pretty heavy on the stuff himself back in the day, so there’s probably a lot of projection with the “I’m gonna kick tomorrow” that didn’t actually happen until years later.
Melodically: The song is built around two chords, the G and the A, which gets repeated throughout the chorus. The song is written in the key of G Lydian, so this is a I, II progression. The refrain (the “I’m gonna kick tomorrow” part) just stays on the G, but also mixes in a Gadd11. The middle 8 goes back to the main riff, and the outro does the same. I’m actually not sure that I’ve heard the original studio version from their debut, Nothing’s Shocking, but the version from their compilation, Kettle Whistle, is spectacular. This version of the song includes guitar, bass, drums, and other percussion, including a marimba. The tune often ended their live shows, and when it didn't, Dave Navarro did.
Structurally: Though the song originally appeared on their 1988 studio album, Nothing’s Shocking, my favorite version is a live rendition from their Kettle Whistle album, so that’s my point of reference for the structure (though the main parts remain the same).
Taking a page from Queen and David Bowie’s playbooks, the intro contains scatting, plus an extended guitar riff with the marimbas coming in as well. Once the lyrics start to be sung, it follows a verse, refrain, verse, refrain, middle 8, verse, refrain, middle 8, ending format. The sudden bursts of “She can’t hit” in the middle 8s, contrasted with the calm mission statement of “I’m gonna start tomorrow. I’m gonna kick tomorrow” works very well, and since we’re rooting for Jane, a third verse isn’t necessary–he just ends by repeating “Jane says” and that’s the end of it.
“Jane Says” is embedded below
4. “Aphasia” by Joe Summers
Lyrically: In the middle of listening to this song, I had to look up what “Aphasia” meant, and it’s a state of emotion when you are unable to interpret language, or in this particular case, all the curveballs life throws at the narrator. In one part of the song, he says, “The garden grows and everybody knows it’s not always as it seems.” In other words, there are glimmers of hope, “There is still a light that cuts the time like cigarettes,” but it’s hard to tell if it’s a light at the end of the tunnel, “Is this clarity left?” or just a passing feeling of happiness.
Here’s what Joe had to say about the song: “This song is about a strange and deep sense I often feel within myself about my connection to the past, future, and the world around me. Growing up religious and then losing faith is not uncommon, but even in my most entrenched moments of certainty about my beliefs, I’ve always felt this sense of something unknowable. There is a lot I feel unstable to describe about my inner and outer worlds. No amount of rational thinking or philosophizing seems to truly capture the essence of just existing in this world and feeling connected in some way or another to a deeper… “thing”. And for me, that’s where music comes in. It’s a thing to be felt.”
Melodically: The song is written in Eb minor, and in the verses alternates between Eb minor and Gb major, which are the i and the III chords (Ebm and Gb are relative minor and major chords). In the chorus, it uses Ab minor and Db major (also relative minor and major chords), which are the iv and VII chords. Instrumentally, the song contains guitar, piano, and drums.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus format. Despite the theme of the song, which involves uncertainty and the inability to interpret signs correctly after a traumatic event, the relatively steady structure is a nice counterpoint. As we get lost in this structure we typically assume will be in a song, it allows us to hone in on the lyrics, rather than the order in which they’re sung. It just works tremendously well.
“Aphasia” is embedded below.
