Music Banter - View Single Post - There's More to Life Than Music You Know. But Not Much More.

Badlittlekitten · 03-25-2011, 02:14 PM

Songs That Save My Life
Part 1

The Jesus And Mary Chain
April Skies
Darklands 1987

This is a little section where I talk about the songs that hold me together like musical glue. My favourite songs of all time basically.

Over the last couple of days the weather in old Blighty has warmed up, the early signs of the English summer. As the sunshine warms my bones and a soft breeze clambers upon my spine, I yearn for the perfect soundtrack to make my smile that little bit wider, and it's 'April Skies'. It has become a ritual for me over the last few years to obsess over this song come April because it works so well. Of course it's the feedback thuggery of Psychocandy that gets all the praise, but the undervalued Darklands is a nice warm record in its own right and 'April Skies' is its best moment, blessed with the Reid brothers ability to squeeze out as many lovely sun kissed melodies as time will allow.
In their earlier days the Mary Chains melodies - always stolen from The Shangri La's, Beach Boys, Ramones and The Velvet Undies - were buried beneath a heap of screeching white noise and sonic terror, like a true underground pop noise. But by now they had cleaned up their sound with a more commercial bent (this was there biggest hit), and it worked for them, so strong is their sense of classic rock/pop songcraft. In fact it's the accessibility, as well as the April sun, that makes this the Chain song I'm most likely to give a spin.
The song begins with chugging power chords as Jim Reid sternly says in his sexiest Lou Reed impression "Hey honey what you trying to say, as you stand there don't you walk away. And the world comes tumbling down." This is followed by a lovely guitar lick that confirms summertime is here, if only in my head. The next line "hand in hand in a violent life, making love on the edge of a knife" has the violent undercurrent that most Mary Chain lyrics have. As their earlier material shows, the Brothers Grim like their masochism and that hasn't disappeared along with the harsh feedback, for what would a girl be if she didn't want to kick your head in? Not in between their sheets that's for sure.
The song then slides into the third chord to complete the three chord trick that this band pulls off so well and it sounds as though the saucy relastionship's on the rocks, but Jim is defiant and he memorably sings; "If there's one thing I couldn't do, sacrifice myself to you". It's this feeling of independence that makes this the ideal soundtrack for days with nothing to do, wondering lost in a town full of frowns seeking some kind of unknown bliss, "going down to be by myself . . . . for the good of my health"

Lyrically, nothing much else of interest happens until the end where there is a case of be - careful - for - what - you - wish - for as Jim is now alone and can't get his baby back.

Sun grow cold
Sky gets black
And you broke me up
And you won't come back

I find this last line especially affecting as Jim sounds sulky and mournful, as you would do if the girl that once slashed you left you stranded. Thinking of their lyrics I get the impression that the Reid brothers have been through depression and this song is not an exception, despite being so uplifting. That's what I love about it - as someone prone to depression myself, it's nice to occasionally see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it is only for four minutes - it's the life affirming result of the friction caused between despairing lyrics and gleeful melodies. This brings me to the moment which comes at 2.30. Those Chuck Berry chords chug away and Jim simply sings "oooooo oooooo", and thanks to it's spacing in the song between the louder choruses it holds some strong mystical sense of purpose to me. It's so dewy eyed and leaves me with a sense of wiping the slate clean and thinking that this will be the summer where stuff falls into place. You're probably reading this like I'm mad in the nogging for getting that from this particular part of the song, but you'll have to except my quirks as it's these deceptively little parts of records that make me love music so. The track then soars as the chorus is song again with the "ooooo"'s in the background and I hope I spend this summer away from those dark lands.

03-25-2011, 02:14 PM	#11 (permalink)
Badlittlekitten And then there was music Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Near Wild Heaven Posts: 287	Songs That Save My Life Part 1 The Jesus And Mary Chain April Skies Darklands 1987 This is a little section where I talk about the songs that hold me together like musical glue. My favourite songs of all time basically. Over the last couple of days the weather in old Blighty has warmed up, the early signs of the English summer. As the sunshine warms my bones and a soft breeze clambers upon my spine, I yearn for the perfect soundtrack to make my smile that little bit wider, and it's 'April Skies'. It has become a ritual for me over the last few years to obsess over this song come April because it works so well. Of course it's the feedback thuggery of Psychocandy that gets all the praise, but the undervalued Darklands is a nice warm record in its own right and 'April Skies' is its best moment, blessed with the Reid brothers ability to squeeze out as many lovely sun kissed melodies as time will allow. In their earlier days the Mary Chains melodies - always stolen from The Shangri La's, Beach Boys, Ramones and The Velvet Undies - were buried beneath a heap of screeching white noise and sonic terror, like a true underground pop noise. But by now they had cleaned up their sound with a more commercial bent (this was there biggest hit), and it worked for them, so strong is their sense of classic rock/pop songcraft. In fact it's the accessibility, as well as the April sun, that makes this the Chain song I'm most likely to give a spin. The song begins with chugging power chords as Jim Reid sternly says in his sexiest Lou Reed impression "Hey honey what you trying to say, as you stand there don't you walk away. And the world comes tumbling down." This is followed by a lovely guitar lick that confirms summertime is here, if only in my head. The next line "hand in hand in a violent life, making love on the edge of a knife" has the violent undercurrent that most Mary Chain lyrics have. As their earlier material shows, the Brothers Grim like their masochism and that hasn't disappeared along with the harsh feedback, for what would a girl be if she didn't want to kick your head in? Not in between their sheets that's for sure. The song then slides into the third chord to complete the three chord trick that this band pulls off so well and it sounds as though the saucy relastionship's on the rocks, but Jim is defiant and he memorably sings; "If there's one thing I couldn't do, sacrifice myself to you". It's this feeling of independence that makes this the ideal soundtrack for days with nothing to do, wondering lost in a town full of frowns seeking some kind of unknown bliss, "going down to be by myself . . . . for the good of my health" Lyrically, nothing much else of interest happens until the end where there is a case of be - careful - for - what - you - wish - for as Jim is now alone and can't get his baby back. Sun grow cold Sky gets black And you broke me up And you won't come back I find this last line especially affecting as Jim sounds sulky and mournful, as you would do if the girl that once slashed you left you stranded. Thinking of their lyrics I get the impression that the Reid brothers have been through depression and this song is not an exception, despite being so uplifting. That's what I love about it - as someone prone to depression myself, it's nice to occasionally see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it is only for four minutes - it's the life affirming result of the friction caused between despairing lyrics and gleeful melodies. This brings me to the moment which comes at 2.30. Those Chuck Berry chords chug away and Jim simply sings "oooooo oooooo", and thanks to it's spacing in the song between the louder choruses it holds some strong mystical sense of purpose to me. It's so dewy eyed and leaves me with a sense of wiping the slate clean and thinking that this will be the summer where stuff falls into place. You're probably reading this like I'm mad in the nogging for getting that from this particular part of the song, but you'll have to except my quirks as it's these deceptively little parts of records that make me love music so. The track then soars as the chorus is song again with the "ooooo"'s in the background and I hope I spend this summer away from those dark lands. __________________ 'Said do you feel it? Do you feel it when you TOUCH ME?. THERE'S A FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE!' The Stooges. Dirt. https://soundcloud.com/bad-little-kittens My Top 100 LPs My Top 52 Indie Tracks Of The 21st Century (incomplete) Last edited by Badlittlekitten; 03-25-2011 at 02:36 PM.