Not every song is about “love from above” or about pimping “bitches.” Some songs are about actual people — stories about a dude’s life, accounts of some historical event, personal vignettes written to highlight the mood of the music. One of the most appealing aspects of these songs are getting inside the “character.” Songs have such an economy of words, the listener isn’t given an epic list of character traits that define the protagonist (for lack of a better word). No, the listener his to piece together the character study from the finite descriptors in the lyrics as well as the sounds contained within the music.
Here are five great “character” songs.
Postscript: Off to the Madonna show! It was so very rad, except for the goddamn John Lennon song.
“Sam Hall” by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash being included here is a given. His voice drips with power, and he can even make you feel a bit of pathos for the murderous, bitter, sociopathic subject of this tune. Cash has always been a man able to evince the dark places of the soul in what sounds like relatively upbeat songs. I particularly like that this one came very late in his career (on American IV: The Man Comes Around), lending a healthy dose of world-weariness to poor Sam’s personal situation.
“The Curse of Millhaven” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Let’s state this plainly, too. Murder Ballads is full of character studies. I like this one the best because it carries an air of bygone sentiment and frontier justice to it, what with Lottie committing the murder of “Bill Blake’s son” in “One Mile Creek” and being carried away in “and old Black Mariah.” Well-chosen words. On the other hand, it’s definitely not set in a quasi-Old West — the high-school professor’s dog Biko and the handyman’s circular saw tell us that — it just resounds with that feel. The frenzied saloon-song pace at which Lottie describes her murders (and some not her own) just communicates the requisite wildness. It’s also notable that this song came about through Nick Cave’s interest in the setting of Millhaven, a creation of writer Peter Straub. That in itself is telling — the setting was so compelling, another artist was interested in seeing what the life of one of its more notable (read: disturbed) residents was like.
“1963″ by New Order
This is like all New Order songs, in that I have no idea what the hell is going on in it, but it also contains their hallmark ambiguity. Is this a love affair? Is the narrator a woman, possibly a previous love interest? I don’t know why, but I always think that the narrator is a brother. The lyrics certainly substantiate a much more sinister impression, though, especially with the distinction of “another” wife.
I almost took “Love Vigilantes” as the New Order song, but I didn’t. Ultimately, I think it’s a better song, rougher around the edges, but it has only that single note of ambiguity. When the narrator arrives home, is he actually there, or is he dead, and only is ghost has survived the trip back? “1963″ leaves far more open-ended questions, and that’s why I love New Order.
“Childcatcher” by Lush
This song is positively awash in creep. Making it even more uncomfortable is the fact that this isn’t exactly a young child we’re talking about. It’s a girl on the cusp of womanhood, and that’s what makes the predatory parts of it so utterly disturbing. It’s perverse, the male character wanting to pluck the forbidden fruit from the tree before it’s truly ripe. Ugh! A brilliant song, but I need a shower.
“Transatlanticism” by Death Cab for Cutie
I hate this band. Absolutely hate them. And I hate the whole emo/feebo movement. I’ll admit the strangeness, then, that I’m giving this song props. It’s everything I hate about this band and the genre, but it’s just so flawless that I have to recommend it. Everything that makes it strong is everything that’s wrong with emo — the self-pitying paean to things gone wrong, the choice to whine instead of doing something about the situation — but fuck if this song isn’t about a guy who has a huge hole in himself and brings all of music crashing down around him. I still hate this band, though.
“That One Song In Which The Guy Sings In a Tormented, Scratchy Voice” by Nickelback
Just kidding. But check this out.
Broken pictures…..
Damn your eyes!
Music that tells a story …
There’s a lot of music I like to listen to that, if it isn’t an instrumental piece, involves some sort of story.
My favourite’s always been “Midnight Summer Dream” by the Stranglers.
That’s a story of a surreal dream. The narrator dreams of an old man, an insomniac, who watches the rain and speaks of the human capacity for ugliness. The narrator wakes up from the dream, to find that he is the old man, watching the weather and pondering why we are driven to cause such pain to others, and so incapable of learning when it is inflicted upon ourselves.
Another favourite is “Hothead,” from Siouxsie and the Banshees. There’s a monologue, some guy explaining how “some of the guys … just regular guys … out to make some money, and that’s it.” He then explains how “I mean, they may get hotheaded sometimes, but that’s not dangerous. It’s a business. It’s about running a business. That’s not dangerous.
“Is it?”
In those last two words one hears all the doubt and uncertainty in the world, as if the speaker were trying to justify his people having gone over the top, become perhaps a gang: vigilantes turned gangsters, perhaps.
One of the saddest ones is another Stranglers piece, “Strange Little Girl.” The archetype of the country girl who runs away to the big city, only to find it a lonely, dehumanising and cruel environment is all too real and relevant, particularly today.
But then, I have always had a penchant for the sort of music which has lyrics heavy on irony or cognitive dissonance.
I’ve also alway been a fan of “character study” songs (nice phrase there), and Murder Ballads remains my favourite Nick Cave album.
Of course I also find myself liking songs that actually tell a story, which I think is becoming more and more rare these days. One of my favourite examples is “One” by Metallica. But really, any song that incpires emotion in me is bound to be come one of my favourites.
EXACTLY.
Madonna show?
OMG, so jealous.
I knew something fishy was going down with Nickelback.
I mean, aside from the gross suckitude.
-Peter
Voices
Why do I keep getting the feeling you’d love to kick any member of Nickelback in the balls if you ever got the chance Justin?
Nice touch adding Johnny C. to the list. Most people would be chicken-shit to admit they like his stuff these days. A shame, that.
No, really. Damn your eyes!
I’ll see you in Hell.
What about Joy Division?
Cash and New Order hold a special place in my heart. Death Cab for cutie is a terrible band like most other emo bands(except for Taking Back Sunday). Nick Cave and the bad seeds kick much ass since they made “I put a spell on you”, and I heard you secretly do like nu metal bands such as Linkin Park, Staind, etc.
Murder Ballads is marvelous. Just about every song on their fits your standards (“Stagger Lee” is a staple of the Song About a Guy tradition), but “Millhaven” sure is the better song, IMO. Today, then, shall be Nick Cave Day for me.
Hang on.. does Childcatcher give you the same creeps My Sharonna gives me? Just looking for a comparative measure of degrees-of-wrong in pop music.
And about Transatlanticism; I’m with you, it shines. But it always sounded like an apology, a plea. Or a postcard.
-C.