musical stories

I love stories. Compact little stories. No psychologizing characters, no layered narratives, or complex shifting of perspectives. Just stories; nice, uncomplicated stories.
Story telling and music weren't always seperate entities. Before the printing press artists would travel from city to city recounting tales and news in verse and song. Obviously the entire folk catalogue is one big story book, telling you about that one house in New Orleans that they call the rising sun, or about how a cowboy found out about his wife's infidelity when he found a strange horse in front of the house.
I fell in love with the following song as soon as I heard it. Obviously it is a great song, with the pounding r'n'r parts, but what makes a good song a great song is the lyrics.

The Barbarians - Moulty
It tells the story of a boy that loses a limb in an accident and feels all alone with no-one to help him. But he doesn't give up. He learns to play the drums and starts a band that's starting to make it. Now if only he could find a girl, a real girl...

Unfortunately with the promotion of music to a 'serious artform' in the sixties, drunken poetry by pained artists had become the norm.
Punk brought back some simplicity in music. But narrative has been all but lost in these times. Or has it...?

It's a relatively old video, or rather series of videos, but a series that I really enjoy. Now I'm not a big fan of contemporary r'n'b, nor do I condone pooing on 14 year old girls, however...

It's a classic story of infidelity and manly egoes clashing. A man comes home, turns on the television, but hears a squeeky sound and goes out to investigate...
I can't decide what part I like best. Is it the and then I heard a squeeky sound (boom boom boom), or the Now don't I know you from somewhere, a long time ago? -No, no, I don't think so. -Yeah, yeah I feel I know your brother very well. -No, no, you're mistaking me for somebody else.
Great stuff.

R. Kelly's ongoing soap-opera (no I'm not refering to his court case again) Trapped in the Closet is a great example as well.

Again a tale of infidelity and betrayal and R. Kelly pulling out his baretta out every 10 minutes.
Great stuff! Then I pull back the cover. Oh my god a rubber!
Great stuff!

I'm back

Darkness is swallowing everything around me. Winter has come. That also means I'll be working on this blog again. My light in the darkness. I know i need to make good on promisses I make, but who's reading this anyway?

I thought I'd start out with a short post my favorite t-shirt of late:


My friend Julien made it and it's nothing less than an homage to one of the greatest and striking artist of the 80s, 90s and 00s: J Mascis and his seminal band Dinosaur Jr .
Maybe he's got a few left laying around, be quick!