Escapism
Background: There are a multitude of reasons why people enjoy songs. For me, it boils down to one of three things: you relate to the lyrics deeply, you don’t relate to them, but you appreciate a good story, or you use it as a way to escape from reality. We have talked about the first two, through character development and many deeply personal songs, but now we’re going to shift our focus from those and discuss escapism songs–tunes that help us escape from reality.
“Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” by Jimmy Buffett
Lyrically: Jimmy Buffett was the master of escapism songs, and “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” is one of his finest. In this song, he discusses running into a friend at a restaurant, and how they ended up catching up and drinking together all night. When I think of Jimmy Buffett, I often think of him escaping to an island somewhere, away from everyone he knows. But this song has a good mix of escaping your normal scene (your latitude) and even if you see someone you know, by having that change of scenery, you can see things from a different point of view. In the chorus, he says, “With all of your running and all of our coming, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.”
Melodically: Written in the key of D major the intro uses G, D, A, D, (a IV, I, V, I pattern) followed by the IV, I, V, IV pattern of G, D, A, G. In the verses, he goes back to the IV, I, V, I pattern of G, D, A, D, followed by Bm, F#m, G, A, G, D, and A, D (a vi, iii, IV, V, IV, I, V, I pattern. The chorus then uses a G, D, A, D, G, D, A, G, D, a IV, I V, I, IV, I, V, IV, I pattern, except the last chorus, which ends on G, D, A, G, A, G, D, A/C#/D. The instrumental reverts back to the IV, I, V, IV, I, I pattern of G, D, A, G, D, D. Instrumentally, the song uses acoustic guitar, drums, bass, and strings.
Structurally: “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, Instrumental, verse, chorus, outro format. The set up of running into a friend reminded me of “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen, which was released almost seven years after Buffett’s song. But “Changes” simply uses the friend as a setup to reminisce, without focusing on the friend for the rest of the song. Instead, the second and third verses reflect on just how long it’s been since the narrator has escaped in the way he loves, and talks about what he did the last time he did.
Closing Note: In addition to his own prowess as a songwriter, Jimmy also worked with a few other songwriters who have and had strong Memphis ties. Keith Sykes wrote multiple songs for Jimmy, and Jesse Winchester, whose cousin, Graham, is a fabulous songwriter in his own right, also worked with Jimmy. If you dig Buffett, you should check those songwriters out too. Unfortunately, two of the Keith songs from the Son of a Son of a Sailor album did not fit this blog’s theme. Jesse’s song, “Biloxi” did, but I wanted to focus on Jimmy’s songwriting.
“Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” is embedded below.
2. “Old Blue Chair” by Kenny Chesney
Lyrically: Shortly after Jimmy Buffett died, I read an article that said Jimmy Buffett spent the second half of his career inspiring your favorite country musicians, and it’s safe to say Kenny Chesney was one of those. In 2005, he released an album called Be As You Are: Songs From an Old Blue Chair, which focused almost exclusively on escapism songs, a la Jimmy Buffett. “Old Blue Chair” follows a narrator who escapes to an unnamed island to unwind and let go of the stresses of life while sitting in an old blue chair. He says that it “always seems to be there, like an old trusted friend.” I talked in an earlier blog about “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems” being the start of the escapism songs for Kenny, but “Old Blue Chair,” which originally appeared on the When the Sun Goes Down album, is also important in Kenny’s escapism canon. In the chair, he has “Caught a few fish and some rays,” as well as “Let go of a lover who took a piece of my heart, and prayed many times for forgiveness and a brand new start.” In the chorus, he says that he’s “Seen the world through a bus windshield, but nothing compares to the way that I see it when I sit in that old blue chair.” Similar to “Changes,” he’s still seeing life for what it is, but also longing for the day when he can once again sit in that old blue chair and escape from reality.
Melodically: The song is written in the key of G and uses G, C, G, D, G, C, Am, C, G (a I, IV, I, V, I, IV, ii, IV, I progression), while the chorus uses C, D, G, C, D, C, D (IV, V, I, IV, V, IV, V), while the chords used between the chorus and verse are G, C, G, D (I, IV, I, V). The bridge uses C, G, C, D, C, D, before closing with the first part of the first verse (G, C, D, C, G, D, and G). Instrumentally, the song uses acoustic guitar, harmonica as well as light drums and piano.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, ending format. By the time the ending rolls around, all the information needed has already been provided, and that’s the power of the bridge in the song as well. Of course a bridge is used to give more information, but in an example song, it’s not always necessary. In this case, it’s used to great effect–providing more information, and given the severity of the information (having passed out from drinking too much), it fits better with the cadence of the chords than it would have in verse form. But then, we’re reminded of the power of the chair in the half verse that closes out the song.
“Old Blue Chair” is embedded below.
3. “El Matador” by Semisonic
Lyrically: “El Matador” was written and composed by Semisonic’s drummer, Jake Slichter, and closes out its parent album, All About Chemistry. It weaves the tale of a young matador, who is currently in his offseason, and is trying to soak up what’s left of the summer. Where he is most at peace is by the ocean, and his desire is to ride the waves into the future. He says, “Looking through my dark glasses, I see the smiles on the faces of friends. But time keeps pushing me on now, and I’ll ride this wave ‘til the end.” It paints such a vivid picture: “September and the trees are restless, wind chimes blow in the dark, lying on the couch defenseless, blue clouds court and spark.” As a whole, the song was written as a reflection while Jake was preparing to turn 40, hence the line about “Driving off the end of a decade” (Which I used when I turned 30). The band is still going strong in their 60s, and when Semisonic played the song at First Avenue recently, lead singer Dan Wilson got a chuckle out of thinking 40 was old.
Melodically: The song is written in the key of G major, and alternates between G and C, but adds in a D at the end of each verse. This is a I, IV, V pattern. It also modulates to E major during the “Say goodbye to the weekend” and uses a I, IV pattern of E and A. It then switches to F# major, for the last verse starting with “September and the trees are restless,” using a I, IV progression of F# and B. In addition to piano, the song contains guitar, drums, and synthesizers. It’s a relatively sparse arrangement, and the lyrics are straightforward, but still massively poetic, and that combination works very well for the song.
Structurally: This song could have easily gone in my unorthodox song structures blog (which will be released at some point in the future), as it uses four verses in a row, then is followed by a chorus, two more verses, and another chorus. But let’s think about this narrator for a second. He just got done with his busiest time of year, so obviously his thoughts are going to be a little bit scattered. So not having a predictable structure works tremendously well.
Closing (Time) Note: I love the song “Closing Time,” as does Dan Wilson, the guy who wrote it. But it bothers me every single day that All About Chemistry, parent album of “El Matador,” didn’t see the same success, when it’s got some of my favorite writing from the band. “El Matador” is linked below, but please take some time to listen to the whole album (also embedded below), when you get a second. You’ll be a better writer for it!
4. “Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane
Lyrically: “Somewhere Only We Know” fits the escapism theme, but in a slightly different way. If you listen closely to the lyrics, the narrator is talking about the end of the world. He still finds peace in it, saying that he knew the empty land on which he walked, “Like the back of my hand,” but then goes on to question the true familiarity of the place where he is. In the second verse, he says, “I came across a fallen tree, I felt the branches of it looking at me. Is this the place we used to love, is this the place we’ve been dreaming of?” To me, this says everything around the narrator feels familiar, but nothing around him feels quite right. As a result, he encourages his significant other to escape to a place, “Somewhere only we know.”
Melodically: The song is written in A major and uses the chords C, C/B, Dm, Gsus4, and G in the intro (a III, iv, V pattern played twice). The verse uses this same pattern. The pre-chorus then switches to a i, v, ii, iv, VI, VII pattern of Am, Em, Dm, F, and G, which gets played twice. The chorus then uses F, C, G (a VI, III, VII pattern, played three times), followed by Dm, Em, Dm, Em, Dm, G (a iv, v, iv, v, iv, VII pattern). The instrumental uses Dm, C, and G (a ii, I, V pattern, repeated twice), while the outro uses Dm, C, G, Dm, Em, C (the iv, III, VII, iv, v, and III chords), before ending on Dm, Em, Dm, Em, Dm, C (a iv, v, iv, v, iv, III pattern). Melodically, the song’s distinguishing instrument is piano. Writer Tim Rice-Oxley said he was going for a feel similar to “Heroes” by David Bowie, and got the sound by “Hammering on the keys.” In addition to the piano, the song also contains drums, and strings. It’s a gorgeous arrangement.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, pre-chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, pre-chorus, chorus, solo, outro. In a future blog, we’ll discuss unorthodox song structures, and I’ll draw attention to Hootie and the Blowfish’s “Hold My Hand” that has a pre-chorus to nowhere. Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” does the same thing, but what sets this one apart is that by the time they get to the first time singing the chorus, they have already presented all the information we need. So after that, they’re just going back and forth between the pre-chorus and the chorus, before ending on a slight variation that serves as an outro. Since this is an escapism song, it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to dwell on the bad, so this structure works super well for the message he’s trying to convey.
Why don’t we go somewhere only we know, to the embedded video below?
