Mixtapemotions

  • “Spotlight” by MUTEMATH, Thursday, October 31, 2024

    In 2007, it seemed like Mutemath would become a big Alternative Rock band with their breakthrough single “Typical.” With former members of the Christian Rock band Earthsuit, Mutemath had taken technical, jazz-influenced electronic music to late-night TV, on tour with The Fray and Matchbox Twenty, and to Alternative radio. The band’s self-titled album didn’t spawn any other charting singles, but their next move seemed like it would make them bigger. In 2008, Mutemath released “Spotlight” on the Twilight soundtrack. The song was even featured in the film in the scene when Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) are first seen together as a couple. The soundtrack boasted a strong collection of Alternative Rock songs by Muse, Linkin Park, and Paramore–overshadowing Mutemath’s contribution. Furthermore, inclusion in the soundtrack wasn’t particularly helpful as the vampire novel series and its film adaptations were polarizing with some young viewers loving the franchise and others mocking it. 

    JUST TAKE THE FALL. YOU’RE ONE OF US NOW. Mutemath released their debut album in 2006 and toured heavily for three years. In 2009, the band released their second album Armistice, which would include “Spotlight.” The title of the album tells a story about the recording process. Mutemath began as a project between former Earthsuit drummer Darren King and Earthsuit’s co-frontman Paul Meany. On the band’s debut record, Meany wrote most of the songs, co-writing only with former Earthsuit members Adam LaClave and Dave Rumsey on a few songs. By the time the band released their Reset EP in 2004, they had already recruited King’s friend Greg Hill as guitarist and Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas from Earthsuit on bass. The band began collecting song ideas while touring the first record for their follow-up, but internal conflicts caused them to scrap everything they had written. Rather than self-producing the album as they had planned, the band began working with producer Dennis Herring. The band decided to start the writing process for the album over again, scrapping the sixteen songs they had collected over the past three years. Herring’s involvement was what the band needed to metaphorically sign the armistice.

    BECAUSE EVERYONE WOULD RATHER WATCH YOU FALL. After “Spotlight” was released on the Twilight original soundtrack, the band released the album version of the song with an EP in January 2009 along with a remix of the song by Son Lux and two B-sides not included on their upcoming album. “Spotlight” begins like a horror film soundtrack but quickly takes on a rhythm uncharacteristic of a scary song. The instruments, like all Mutemath songs, are the star and the lyrics feel a bit underdeveloped. The song keeps a similar tempo but changes parts within each section. Claps, keys, and the driving guitar line give the song a frantic energy. While keeping the song’s pace, lead singer Paul Meany’s delivery along with the song’s production is able to convey a melancholy feeling at the beginning of each verse. The lyrics center on an unnamed second person “you” and convey a message of pressure, defeat, determination, and ultimately humility and camaraderie because the first plural “us” is in a similar state. There also seems to be Christian undertones, though, Mutemath’s career was one of trying to separate from Earthsuit’s Christian music career. “Spotlight” became a staple in Mutemath’s live concerts and the band filmed a music video for the song. It was never a hit, and while they held a moderate fanbase throughout their career until 2018 when all but Meany quit the band, Mutemath was truly a one-hit wonder. 


    Read the lyrics on Genius.

  • “Hourglass” by A Perfect Circle, Wednesday, October 30, 2024

    The cover of A Perfect Circle’s fourth album, Eat the Elephant, is the most macabre of the band’s albums. The supergroup had a career of creepy, conceptual work. The band’s 2018 album came after a lengthy hiatus after recording three albums between 2000 and 2004. The band formed when Billy Howerdel, the guitar tech for Nine Inch Nails, and eventually Tool, showed the lead singer of Tool some demos that Howerdel had been working on. Maynard James Keenan, Tool’s frontman, encouraged Howerdel to pursue the new musical project. Eventually, Keenan became the band’s lead singer after several other singers could not commit to the project. Tool went on hiatus and A Perfect Circle recorded their first album Mer De Noms. Every member of A Perfect Circle was also a member of other rock bands besides Howerdel. This would cause conflict throughout the band’s career, causing many replacements and breaks during Keenan’s duties with his main band.

    DO YOU RECOGNIZE THE SOUND AS THE GRAINS TRICKLE DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU? In 2004, A Perfect Circle released their third album, eMOTIVE. The album was hurried to be released on the presidential election day between George W. Bush and John Kerry. Maynard James Keenan had criticized Bush’s first term, particularly regarding the post-9/11 political climate. Guitarist Billy Howerdel had been mostly apolitical, but agreed with Keenan in releasing an album against “politically apathy.” Shortly after releasing the album of mostly musically re-arranged covers, the band went on a long hiatus. All members of the band became involved with other projects including Howerdel who started another project, ASHES dIVIDE. So involved with their other projects both Keenan and Howerdel were noncommittal about the future of A Perfect Circle both stating that the band may only play shows together or release singles. In 2018, A Perfect Circle returned with their fourth studio album, Eat the Elephant, a collection of songs recorded between 2010 and 2018. 

    A TEN NINER EIGHT! If eMOTIVE was an album inspired by the policies and the wars in the first George W. Bush presidency, Eat the Elephant appears to have some inspiration from the political climate surrounding Trump’s presidency, though it explores broader social themes as well. The album, released in 2018, deals with themes of societal division, political disillusionment, and the impact of social media. Maynard James Keenan has explained that the songs are more about the overwhelming nature of the world’s problems and the frustration with society’s passivity rather than targeting one individual. However, he’s acknowledged that the divisive and chaotic political landscape of the Trump era—along with other global issues—influenced the album’s tone and messages. Some tracks, like “The Doomed” and “Disillusioned,” reflect the bleak outlook on society’s moral compass and the consequences of ignoring pressing issues, which were felt to be heightened in the climate of that time. Rather than a direct critique of Trump himself, the album serves as a broader reflection on the sociopolitical atmosphere in which his presidency played a significant role.

    AS THEY BARBECUE THE SENTINELS AND EAT THEM RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. The songs on Eat Elephant are experimental, even for A Perfect Circle’s standards. “Hourglass” is a bleak song that uses electronic voice manipulation and Maynard James Keenan’s theatrics. Keenan uses frightening images, particularly of violence against animals and plants, ultimately warning of the collapse of ecosystems because of human greed. The Tokyo Kitty references how the Japanese noticed that cats died quicker than humans when eating fish with mercury poisoning. Swallows were used to check the extent of pesticide poisoning, and canaries were used to check if a coal mine was safe from carbon dioxide. In all cases, the “sentinel species” would die for humans to survive. In “Hourglass,” bad people take their sacrifices for granted. The chorus of the song speaks of the inevitable breakdown of Plato’s five regimes, listed in  The Republic, Book VII, plus an American addition “Republicrat,” a combination of the two major parties. Every form of government eventually breaks down, according to the song leading to tyranny. The unnerving end of the song is a countdown that doesn’t end on “1,” but rather resets itself. When will everything break down? It’s political Halloween, ya’ll! The real monsters are in Washington.

    Read the lyrics on Genius.

     

  • “Fiction” by Kids in the Way, Tuesday, October 29, 2024

    In 2005, when Kids in the Way released their sophomore album, Apparitions of Melody, the band challenged their listeners to a new sound. The band’s first album Safe from the Losing Fight was full of serious emotional punk rock songs. The first one on the album, “We Are,” was a kind of introduction to the band. What was probably meant to be a comment on parenting in America as boomer parents in the 80s and 90s sometimes viewed their children as an obligation to work around busy work schedules and personal lives, ultimately made the band sound immature. If the first album was about childhood, the second album was certainly an angsty teenage one. The album’s first single, the title track, was accompanied by a stormy music video in which they wore all black and performed in a CGI tornado. 

    THESE DEAD LETTERS WON’T SURVIVE. Kids in the Way’s stylistic change was toward the gothic and emo. Singer Dave Pelsue incorporated more screaming in the verses of the songs on Apparitions of Melody, giving the album a post-hardcore style. As a result, many of the songs were not radio-friendly like the band’s first album, which had three singles. When the band released Apparitions of Melody, many Christian Rock bands started to crossover to rock radio. Flicker Records labelmate Pillar had a hit with the song “Fireproof,” in 2002,  also from their second album. In 2006, Kids in the Way re-released their sophomore album, rearranging the tracklisting similar to how Pillar had re-released Fireproof. Apparitions of Melody: The Dead Letter Edition also featured music videos from the band’s career and a new song called “Fiction.” The new song was released to Christian radio and was accompanied by a music video, though the song never charted on non-Christian radio charts. The dark Emo song felt like the band was trying their best for radio. Replaced were the shrill screams or the sometimes overbearing vibrato of Pelsue’s voice with a steady, yet deeply emotional tone. The music was tight, too. Bass and drums led to the palm-muted guitar verse and then to the anthemic chorus. 

    I HAD THE STRANGEST DREAM… Like much of Kids in the Way’s discography “Fiction” was a song that wasn’t purely spiritual. The cryptic lyrics deal with loss and memories, often misremembered. The speaker claims “We’re making fiction of our lives” yet “burning pages as we write,” implying that the writer is intentionally changing the story, perhaps to make him or herself look better compared to the actual events. The bridge offers a rebuke: “We are not poets / We have no right to make amendments.” Fiction is the answers to the dead letters, unanswered correspondence, between two parties once closely associated.  Fiction is the stories that make me the hero and another person the villain. Fiction is the ideologically lost cause we fight for when a closer examination shows us that our world is really narrow and that we should give up those ghosts. The speaker views fiction as a flawed, temporary solace—a means of self-deception that ultimately cannot hold up against the realities of life. Fiction doesn’t survive the burning pages or the passing of time, and the speaker seems to realize that, in the end, stories don’t change the truth; they merely mask it, leaving behind only ashes and unfinished, unresolved emotions. But this is only one view of fiction. Fiction as a metaphor explores truth that is too painful to see directly. As a metaphor, fiction instructs and broadens our worlds. Fiction is a tool to be used or abused.

     

  • “Feed the Machine” by Red, Monday, October 28, 2024

    When Red‘s producer Rob Graves posted on Twitter a picture of a note on Red’s guitars tuned to “A#, A, and G,” some fans thought that the band’s third album would be heavy. The band experimented with recording on the road during their whirlwind touring schedule from their second album Innocence & Instinct, arranging hotel mattresses to create a makeshift studio. For their third album, the band brought a portable case that unfolded into a mini recording studio. When waiting for a show to start at the venue, the band could flesh out ideas, many of which came from their former guitarist Jasen Rauch, who had stopped touring with the band to take a job closer to his family. Rauch remained a member of Red until he joined Breaking Benjamin in 2014. Rauch contributed guitar parts which the rest of the band built songs around for their  February 2011 album Until We Have Faces.

    YOU MUSTN’T DISAPPOINT THEM. Red’s third album takes its name from the 1956 C. S. Lewis novel Till We Have Faces. The band delivered a more cohesive, harder rock sound than previous efforts with songs like  “Faceless,” the album’s opener “Feed the Machine,” and “Lie to Me” (Denial). A theme the band explored in the album’s lyrics about finding one’s identity, particularly in the singles “Faceless” and “Feed the Machine” as well as the album’s closer “Hymn for the Missing.” The hard rock opener “Feed the Machine” sets a heavy tone for the album, venturing away from symphonic, classical composition—though composition and strings do finish the song and make appearances on the album. Until We Have Faces tightens the templates from the band’s first two albums, deepening their commitment to hard rock. The heavy guitar guitars and lead singer Michael Barnes’ scream give the songs a renewed energy lacking in the two previous albums.

     

    GO BACK TO SLEEP.  In “Feed the Machine,” Until We Have Faces’ second single, Red constructs the “machine” as a metaphor for oppressive systems or societal pressures that demand conformity and submission. The accompanying music video sees the band members and others as part of a world in which people are plugged into a machine that transforms them into soulless soldiers. If soldiers become lucid, they are sedated until once again compliant. The metaphor of the machine is a trope in rock music, often referring to governments, corporations, or specific industries, like in Pink Floyd’s “Welcome to the Machine,” targeting the exploitative practices of the music business. Red’s Christian rock background uses an unexplained faceless machine as a possible metaphor for the worldly structures Christians war against. The song is vague enough to allow listeners to attach their own meaning and angry enough to lead listeners to the front line of their own causes!


     

  • “To Die For” by Sam Smith, Sunday, October 27, 2024


    A month before releasing The Thrill of It All  in October 2017, Sam Smith began dating actor Brandon Flynn. Smith’s sophomore album dug into the singer’s misfortune with love and religion in a record full of soulful, almost Gospel-inspired songs. But in June 2018, Smith and Flynn seemed happy as an Instagram-official couple. Smith told V Magazine, “I’m in a relationship for the first time; I think I deserve to be happy.” But by June, the relationship had ended. Following Sam Smith’s break up, the singer began releasing singles, which were intended for a new album. First was a collaboration with Calvin Harris called “Promises” and a song, “Fire on Fire,” for the Netflix original animated limited series Watership Down based on the novel of the same name. Then Smith changed musical directions leaning into a much more pop-oriented style. 


    AS I WANDER DOWN THE AVENUE.  Sam Smith began full pre-album promotion in 2019 starting in January. “Dancing with a Stranger” was a fresh sound featuring former Fifth Harmony member Normani. The song was a resolution to get over an ex with “somebody new.” Next Smith released the Max Martin produced “How Do You Sleep,” a danceable lullaby about deep betrayal.  After releasing a fifth single to be included on their third album, a cover of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love,” Smith released what was intended to be the title track to the album “To Die For” in February 2020. Smith ended up delaying the album from May to October, changing the title to Love Goes… out of sensitivity for the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic. “To Die For” continues on the themes of pain and loneliness in the other songs that had been released for the album. In the ballad, Smith laments about the absence of a lover stating that they “just want someone to die for.” The song samples dialogue from Jake Gyllenhaal and Katharine Ross in the 2001 film Donnie Darko. The scene sampled is when Donnie (Gyllenhaal), under hypnosis with therapist Dr. Thurman (Ross), confesses that his deepest fear is being alone.  


    WHILE MY WORLD’S CRASHING DOWN. Sam Smith’s masterful sample of the cult film Donnie Darko along with the creepy music video for “To Die For” got me thinking about the themes in the film and how relevant they were for the time and still relevant now. The film is set in a fairly politically conservative Catholic community in Middlesex, Virginia, around Halloween and the 1988 presidential election between George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. The presidential election is a subtle motif in the film symbolizing a perceived fear of losing conservative values of the Reagan administration, contrasted with Donnie Darko’s quest for knowledge of time travel by the suggestion of an ominous rabbit that speaks to him. That thirst for knowledge causes him to question the existence of God. The film was released in theaters on October 26, 2001, eight months after George W. Bush took office. The film’s ad campaign—slated to be a Halloween psychological thriller—was pulled due to the trailer containing a plane crash—the film was cursed with timing being released a little over a month after the terrorist attacks of September 11. In 2020, the global pandemic caused Sam Smith to delay and rework the album To Die For. The year was a turning point election year, and Americans voted out of fear of incompetence of the previous administration.  Halloween is once again upon us. It is also an election year. Again the world’s fears influence our votes. But this time the conservative values of 1988 look very different and the mental gymnastics one has to do to understand the difference between labels like “conservative” and “liberal” are harder to master. It’s usually not the best to vote out of fear, but this time the fear of fascism, global war, a collapsing economy, and the portension of climate change all influencing our votes like the otherworldly bunny that haunts Donnie Darko throughout the film. Sam Smith’s quest to find someone they love so much to “die for” comes from a post-1988 world in which many countries have given queer couples rights not only to exist but thrive. But in 2024, the time loop’s gravitational pull is beckoning us to go back. 




     



    Read the lyrics on Genius.


  • “Facepaint” by Family of the Year, Saturday, October 26, 2024

    In 2012, Family of the Year released their second album, Loma Vista. This album was noticed by several publications, from Entertainment Weekly to Billboard, and the band performed its second single, “Hero,” on several late-night shows. They played many festivals and began building their name among other ‘10s indie and alternative acts like GROUPLOVE and WALK THE MOON. In 2014, the song was featured in a pivotal scene toward the end of Richard Linklater’s film Boyhood. In 2015, the band released their self-titled album which was not as commercially successful as their second album Loma Vista. The band released a fourth album, Hello Sunshine, Goodbye Nighttime, in 2018 before going on hiatus “Due to personal circumstances beyond [their] control.” In 2021, the band released a single and have since released several singles both solo and collaboratively since then. Time will tell if we will have more music from Family of the Year. 


    FEATHERS AND FACEPAINT IS ALL THAT SHE WEARS. Family of the Year was founded by brothers Joseph (guitars and lead vocals) and Sebastian Keefe (drums, backing vocals) who played in several bands in Boston, most notably The Billionaires. Family of the Year formed in Los Angeles with James Buckley on guitar and backing vocals and Christina Schroeter on keyboards and backing vocals. The band was modeled on folk music popular in the ‘60s and ‘70s and incorporates textured vocal layers with every member singing at times. While Joseph is almost always on male lead vocals, occasionally Christina takes lead vocals. The band has drawn comparison to Fleetwood Mac and touring-mates Edward Sharpe and the Magnificent Seven for this sound. While Family of the Year may be influenced by folk, their sound is far from the Nashville song, avoiding twang and any notion of country music opting for a Los Angeles studio-corrected sound. On the band’s third album, Family of the Year, they flirt more with rock than their previous efforts. Songs like “Facepaint” and “Dead Poets” demonstrate how folk influences a harder rock sound. 


    WATCH AS THE ANIMALS GATHER AT HER FEET. Family of the Year’s “Facepaint” is a song full of images about a free-spirited girl. The repeated imagery of “feathers and facepaint” emphasizes her unique, almost shamanistic style, suggesting that she might represent a symbol of freedom, mystery, or rebellion. The lines “Up on the mountain, down on the street / Watch as the animals gather at her feet” reinforce her elevated status. She’s admired, almost worshiped, as an enigmatic figure that both transcends and connects to the rawness of nature. The speaker sings with a great admiration for this New Age/ perhaps Native American holy woman. The chorus line “She got so high that she’ll never get down” can be interpreted both literally and metaphorically. It might refer to a literal high from substances, suggesting her escapist tendencies. Metaphorically, it implies that she’s ascended to a place emotionally or spiritually that separates her from others, perhaps even alienating her. This height she’s reached could be a sort of untouchable, elevated state, reflecting her distance from the ordinary world. Musically, the song takes harmonies from folk and rock electric guitars. The layered vocals give the song a spooky, campfire feel, and that is why it makes my late fall playlist close to Halloween. 


    Read the lyrics on Genius.





     

  • “we fell in love in october” by girl in red, Friday, October 25, 2024

    Each generation has an “Are you a friend of Dorothy?” question. Throughout the 20th century, queer people, particularly gay men, asked the question to discretely inquire if another person was also queer. The Dorothy in question was the character Dorothy in L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz series, particularly because of the star of the first book’s film adaptation, Judy Garlin. The actress and singer was well-known for her LGBTQ+ advocacy at a time when speaking about same-sex relationships was considered taboo and homosexual practices were illegal in many parts of the world. Garlin played Dorothy Gale in The Wizzard of Oz and then became a beloved icon in the gay community for her vulnerability, resilience, and status as a misunderstood, tragic figure. Garland’s personal struggles, combined with her connection to Dorothy’s character, cemented her as a gay icon.


    SMOKING CIGARETTES ON THE ROOF. Today, gay men don’t commonly ask each other “Are you a friend of Dorothy” because of greater acceptance and other covert ways of finding each other. An interesting similar trend emerged on TikTok in the ‘20s in which users would ask each other “Do you listen to girl in red?” The question had a double meaning. Norwegian singer-songwriter Marie Ulven Ringheim goes by the name girl in red. The question was also referring to Ulven’s sexual orientation and the singer’s followers. Marie talked about the trend on the Zach Sang Show, saying that the trend originated online but she incorporated it as a marketing technique to promote her music. She said that particularly in countries with restrictive LGBTQ+ policies, such as Poland and Brazil, her marketing team used the question for fans to discreetly meet each other. Marie built her career in her bedroom, mostly teaching herself piano, guitar, and music production starting at 14. Posting recordings on SoundCloud proved successful for girl in red whose streaming numbers reached impressive numbers with the singles “girls” and “summer depression.”


    YOU WILL BE MY WORLD. Themes in girl in red’s lyrics include discussions of mental health, heartbreak, and love. Marie Ulven writes love songs using third-person “she/her” pronouns as well as mentioning girls by name–pseudonyms according to her Zach Sang interview.  One of girl in red’s most popular songs is “we fell in love in october.” The 2018 single details Marie’s first love. The cozy instrumentation of the mellow rock song illustrates the coldness of the month and the warmth of a new interesting lover. The simple lyrics solidify the autumn mood of the song. With “we fell in love in october,” girl in red released a sequel to the original song’s narrative, “October passed me by.” The sequel is more mature and deals with the aftermath of when the infatuation passes. Both songs talk about watching the stars on a clear October night and the latter regrets when Marie “made me my whole world,” but resolves of her first love: “In the back of my mind, you will always be my girl.” All successful singer-songwriters express themselves authentically and girl in red’s authenticity certainly has widened her fanbase beyond the LGBTQ+ community. While not everyone can understand the experience of same-sex attraction, honest songwriting, and catchy music are relatable to everyone. So you can listen to girl in red without listening to girl in red.


    Read the lyrics on Genius.

     

  • “Anything But Me” by MUNA, Thursday, October 24, 2024 (repost)

     

    In 2020, MUNA was dropped by their label RCA for “not making enough money.” The queer-identifying trio had modest success with their first two records,  About U and Saves the World, but they would actually achieve a higher level of success on an indie label. The key to this renewed success was partnering with an indie rock darling who had come to be known as a “serial collaborator” due to appearing on a range of projects from Paul McCartney to Taylor Swift. Phoebe Bridgers signed MUNA to her label Saddest Factory and functioned as the trio’s A&R person. MUNA quickly expanded their listener base with the hit featuring Bridgers, “Silk Chiffon.” The song preceded  MUNA’s eponymous album by more than nine months and became the band’s most-streamed song. In March of 2022, MUNA released the second single from the album, “Anything But Me.”

    YOU’RE GONNA SAY I ASKED FOR THE MOON. While MUNA is certainly overshadowed by Phoebe Bridgers and her own trio, boygenius, touring with Bridgers helped MUNA gain recognition. The band opened for Kacey Musgraves on her star-crossed tour in 2021-2022 and opened for Lorde on the Australian leg of her Solar Power tour. The band recounts hearing the crowd sing along to “Silk Chiffon” on the star-crossed tour in a Rolling Stone article. The band performed their first set at Coachella and had an opening spot on maybe the biggest tour of all time, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Musically, though, MUNA has yet to match their biggest hit, the lead single from MUNA. “Silk Chiffon” fits the role of the positive song on an otherwise dark record. However, MUNA is far more positive than its predecessors. Today’s song, “Anything But Me,” isn’t about crippling depression like a similar track on Saves the World, “Stayaway.” Both songs are about a breakup, but “Anything But Me” feels like an amount of healthy processing has occurred. Whether the friendship stated in “Anything But Me” is genuine or not, the sentiment of wishing an ex the best feels sincere. 


    I’M GONNA CRY FOR THE LOVE WE COULDN’T KEEP. The music video for “Anything But Me” depicts the members of MUNA in various restraints in every scene. I personally find the video uncomfortable to watch, especially compared to the song’s bright ‘90s acoustic alternative rock tone. The imagery seems to be a clear representation of a suffocating relationship. When lead singer Katie Gavin sings the bridge: “I’d rather lose you than who I’m meant to be” the message of the song is cemented. No relationship is worth the cost of losing who you are. This painful clarity may take a lot of time, especially in queer relationships when friendship, sex, and love can be blurred. In MUNA Gavin has talked about being in a band with her ex both in interviews and in the closing track of Saves the World, “It’s Gonna Be Okay, Baby.” Gavin broke up with bandmate Naomi McPherson before signing with RCA Records. The tension in MUNA’s songwriting feels like it comes from a place of confusion of feelings, though perhaps not from the Gavin-McPherson relationship. We don’t know what this song is really about, but we do know that it’s about cutting out the toxicity in your life. After all, it’s not worth being strangled!


    Music video:




    Audio:

    Live on Ellen:

     

  • “October Skies” by Waking Ashland, Wednesday, October 23, 2024

     

    Since I wrote about Waking Ashland last January, lead singer Johnathan Jones has given an interview with HM Magazine’s Black Sheep Podcast.  It’s worth a listen to get a little more insight into this somewhat obscure Tooth & Nail band. One of the most beloved tracks in the band’s discography, “October Skies,” is a sentimental track on Waking Ashland’s debut album Composure. The song evokes the colors and crisp feeling of Autumn as well as the symbolism of death and eventual rebirth that the season means to the cycle of the seasons. The beautiful guitar and piano-driven song isn’t very deep. The lyrics have Christian undertones with the speaker “surrendering” to an unnamed “you” as well as mention of church bells evoking an idyllic New England or Appalachian fall. 



  • “Crazy Mary” by FM Static, Tuesday, October 22, 2024

    Last year Both Good Christian Fun and Church Jams Now celebrated the twentieth anniversary of FM Static’s 2003 debut album, What Are You Waiting For? The album produced several Christian Rock hits including “Something to Believe In” and “Crazy Mary” and the band shot a video for the song “Definitely Maybe.” The song “Something to Believe In” was the lone song formulated on the album in which the band cynically rejects religion in search of “a new focus, a new destination.” “Definitely Maybe” sounds like an ‘03 update of a John Hughes movie’s plot, and with its controversial name-drop of being “At the movie theater watching Harry Potter” feels like a tonal departure from the album’s “spiritual highlight.”

     

    POINTING AS THEY LAUGH AND STARE AT HER. FM Static’s debut single was “Crazy Mary.” Good Christian Fun and Church Jams Now made a similar point about the song. The lyrics aim to be compassionate toward a homeless woman but when other people “laugh and call her names.” The speaker, however, also calls the “slow girl who looks up to no one” the same name that everyone else does “Crazy Mary,” thus reducing her to a stereotype rather than a real person. Essentially, she’s the object lesson of a sermon. She’s the person you can encounter in the soup kitchen on Thanksgiving and Christmas and pray she finds her way. What’s even worse is that she’s an alcoholic. Maybe she fried her brain on drugs. Maybe she has schizophrenia. The best solution is to get her into the church soup kitchen so that she can learn about Jesus and stop drinking “a cold one.” Maybe the biggest problem with the song is Main Character Syndrome. The chorus spells it out:

      Maybe if I took a little time to talk 

    Then she could heal a little if she wants to. 

    She can run but let’s teach her how to walk away now. 

    WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR A COLD ONE. I’m being hard on FM Static’s “Crazy Mary,” which is not entirely fair. Most of the songs are written from the perspective of a super clean church teen. The problem with the song is that one church kid and one church’s soup kitchen don’t solve the systemic problem that creates “Crazy Marys.” What causes people on the margins to fall off? What causes addictions that cripple a person? Which people are susceptible? How do race, sexual orientation, and prior economic class factor into these problems? The Christian charity solution to the homeless often aims to undermine the government solutions. Pastors urge congregants to vote for politicians who support the wealthy and cripple the poor. They tell narratives about “Crazy Mary” who is struggling with the demon of alcoholism and just needs to come to church where the church can support her so that she can eventually become self-sufficient. I’m not arguing that the church shouldn’t be part of the solution. But it’s worrying with the church’s political force aiming to monopolize charity by demonizing government and secular charities. What if “Crazy Mary” were gay? Would they love and support her choices, or would the donations stop? Is the gift conditional?


     Read the lyrics on Genius.