Mood Music

Mood music is a term that often means music that can easily put you to sleep, or can allegedly put a potential romantic partner “in the mood”. I have very little of that in my collection, because I also want something that rewards close listening. But some music definitely does set a powerful mood, and there also songs that capture the mood of the times to which they belong. So I’m perfectly happy to present some music that could fit these broader definitions.

Little Feat: Spanish Moon

[purchase]

Spanish Moon is a song that perfectly captures the feel of a place. Little Feat make this a place where you can lose your heart or your money. The music will be fine, but the place can be dangerous. For the record, There is a place they call the Spanish Moon, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It doesn’t seem like to much of a stretch to think that this was the basis for the song, but it also might be that the song gave the place its name.

Squirrel Nut Zippers: Trou Macacq

[purchase]

The narrator in this song becomes a monkey, driving in a pine box derby race. Should this be taken literally? I found an interpretation that said the song is about how Squirrel Nut Zippers felt about the music business. That makes sense to me. Whatever it means, it sounds great.

Sting: Rock Steady

[purchase]

Rock Steady has always seemed to me to be the story of Noah’s Ark, told with a lot of winking. The point of view definitely changes things, in a way I find very appealing. Kenny Kirkland’s piano parts really make this one work musically.

Steely Dan: Don‘t Take Me Alive

[purchase]

The idealism of the 1960s unleashed an enormous amount of energy. But by the mid-70s, the Vietnam War was over, and the civil rights movement began to seem less urgent after some important victories. This energy began to be directed inward, sometimes in destructive ways. Perhaps that is why Steely Dan’s antiheros resonated with the public. Don’t Take Me Alive features one these antiheros at a point of no return. Steely Dan lets us know that the narrator has done some horrible things, but they also engage our sympathy.

Spotlight Song of the Week:

Tom Mason: Just a Rose

[purchase]

Tom Mason tells stories in his songs of stage magicians, witches, pirates, and ordinary people as well. No matter who the character is, Mason puts a bit of magic in the telling. Sometimes, as in Just a Rose, this is more about the mood of the music than the content of the lyrics. Mason plays guitar, accordion, harmonica, and trombone on the album; with that background, you would expect Mason to have a talent for arranging his songs, and that shows up elsewhere on the album more strongly than here. What Just a Rose does do is show what a fine group of musicians Mason has assembled for this album.

For a Song: Fields of Gold

Sting: Fields of Gold

[purchase]

This week on Star Maker Machine, our theme is Public Domain. So a lot of our posts are traditional songs. In thinking of what to post, my mind naturally lighted on songs that should have been traditional, but aren’t. Fields of Gold by Sting is a perfect example of what I mean.

The structure of the lyric follows the model of many folk songs from the British Isles. A line of verse is followed by a line of the first refrain, ending with the words ”fields of barley”. There is another line of verse, followed by the words of the second refrain, ending with “fields of gold”. This same structure is used, for example, in the traditional song Cruel Sister, and there are many others. Fields of Gold sounds like a traditional melody, and Sting has even left in part of the uillean pipes part. I hear in my head an arrangement for those pipes, Celtic harp, and voice. I remember when I first heard the song that I tried to find a recording with the traditional arrangement. Of course, there wasn’t one, and I think there still isn’t. The song was written by Sting, and this is the original recording. Still, if anyone knows of a recording of it with something like the arrangement I mentioned, or if you have done such an arrangement, please let me know in the comments.

Journeys By Water

The image I have chosen for this post is the tarot card for the six of swords. I enjoy the artwork in tarot decks, and understanding the meaning of the cards helps me appreciate the intent of the artist. But sometimes, people get carried away, and make their interpretations overly esoteric. The classic image for the six of swords says it all: the card signifies a journey by water. This can be taken literally. Metaphorically, it represents a rite of passage. This kind of journey often involves a triggering event, often emotionally painful, which prompts the journey in the first place. The card shows the journey in progress; it has nothing to say about the outcome.

Al of the above applies equally well to songs about journeys by water. Let’s consider some examples.

Hem: Sailor

[purchase]

Sailor is a song of yearning. The narrator is in love, but does not know if her love is returned. She will leave the shore to see the object of her affection, and hope for the best. The lyric is pretty simple, but Hem does a beautiful job of filling in the blanks with the musical setting.

Richard Thompson: Mingulay Boat Song

[purchase]

Mingulay Boat Song is thought by many to be a traditional Scottish folk song. It describes the life of a crew of simple fishermen, eager to come to shore and be reunited with their families. But the song is actually a nostalgic piece, idealizing a life that no longer existed at the time it was written.. The island of Mingulay, of the coast of Scotland, had been occupied continuously for at least two thousand years, until it was abandoned in 1912. Mingulay Boat Song, however, wasn’t written until 1938, by Sir Hugh S Roberton, in Glasgow. Roberton wrote the song for the Glasgow Orpheus Choir, which he directed from 1901 to 1951. The choir started as an amateur choir associated with a men’s work society, but Roberton set high standards for the group. In time, they would achieve a measure of fame, both in Europe and North America.

Mingulay Boat Song has passed into the folk cannon by now. Richard Thompson’s performance clearly shows why.

Elvis Costello: Last Boat Leaving

[purchase]

Returning to our theme of rites of passage, we come to Last Boat Leaving. Elvis Costello wrote this one, under his given name of Declan McManus, for a movie called The Courier. The film tells the story of a man who discovers that the courier company he works for is a cover for a big-time drug dealer. After Costello finished the song, the film makers changed the ending of the movie, and the song no longer worked. So a shorter instrumental version was used in the film, and the full version heard here was released on Costello’s next album.

I assume that the original version of the movie had the hero going to jail at the end. Last Boat Leaving is a tale of a man regretting his actions once he finds that he is to be separated from his family and sent to prison. Clearly, for him, this will be a rite of passage. The man who left will not be the same man who returns. It’s not necessary to see the film to appreciate this song, and I have never seen it. The song speaks for itself.

John Wesley Harding: William Glenn

[purchase]

William Glenn is another song of crime and punishment. Glenn is a sea captain who has committed a murder on land for the love of another man’s wife. When he and his crew set out to sea, they are beset by a deadly storm. Once the crew learns of Glenn’s crime, they cast him overboard. Immediately, the storm ceases, and the crew is saved. Glenn’s journey takes him to the point where he can admit his guilt, and save his crew if not himself.

The song lightly touches on an old Celtic belief. Death, the ultimate rite of passage, is often depicted in the old tales as a journey over water. The spirits of warriors who fell in battle would be collected and taken to the sacred island of Tir na Nog. In many of the oldest songs of the British Isles, one finds death and the ocean side by side.

Sting: The Wild Wild Sea

[purchase]

The Wild Wild Sea, it seems to me, is a tale of a haunted dream. The black sails suggest death, and the way the character appears in the song suggests that the father is a ghost. Indeed, the song comes from Sting’s album The Soul Cages, which he wrote while dealing with the deaths of his parents. Just as William Glenn presents the journey toward death as a voyage through a stormy sea, so is the journey through the mourning process. I have several friends, and I can also include myself in this, who recently lost a loved one. May this song help us on our journey as well.

**********************************************************

So there are many different kinds of rites of passage, and there are many different kinds of songs of the sea to describe them. Likewise, the six of swords embodies all of these different meanings. I see no reason to look for more.

Radioactive Mix

I was born in 1960. The world had lived with the threat of nuclear war for 15 years. Movies about giant monsters were beginning to give way to post-apocalyptic tales. International politics were driven but the threat of mutual destruction. As a child, I was affected in subtle ways. I was shielded from the brunt of the terror. But the opposition to the Vietnam War was probably colored by this, and I am sure there were other, more subtle manifestations. I do know that this fear occasionally made its way into the music I heard. The enormity of this fear is so great that songwriters try to cope by resorting to black humor.

Randy Newman: Political Science

[purchase]

At first, the United States was the only nuclear nation. We were supreme, and could do what ever we wanted. Once that changed, some people felt that we should not have to change that attitude. Randy Newman lampooned this attitude brilliantly in Political Science. But, listening to this song now, I am reminded of how George W Bush conducted foreign policy. Here in the US, we are still dealing with the repercussions from that.

Donald Fagen: New Frontier

[purchase]

Once the Solviet Union also developed nuclear weapons, people became convinced that they had to prepare for the worst. So every home seemingly had a bomb shelter. Thankfully, these shelters have never had to be used for their intended purpose. Still, they are good for something. Donald Fagen explains.

The Uptones: Radiation Boy

[purchase]

The fear of nuclear war became greater as we learned more about the harm radiation could do. Eventually, we learned that the same thing could result from exposure to waste from nuclear power plants. The Uptones describe this in a song that is all the more chilling because of its seemingly joyous sound.

Fishbone: Party at Ground Zero

[purchase]

To Fishbone, there is only one possible response to the prospect of going off to fight against the Solviet Union. You might as well party, because you may not get another chance. The attitude here is similar to Prince’s 1999, but Fishbone is more specific about the source of their concern.

Sting: Russians

[purchase]

Sting, with Russians, is only one in this mix who chose to tackle his subject head-on, instead of cushioning it with humor. I can see the validity of either approach. Sting delivers a secular hymn for peace.