September 25, 2005

Notes on Music

The Title of My Next Album: Sunday, Buddy, Sunday.

The Title of Jay-Z's Triple-Disc Hits Collection: The Quality of Marcy Is Not Strained.

Better Than You Think: "Bring Me Down" Miranda Lambert. This is the third great single from her debut album (after "Kerosene" and "Me and Charlie Talking").

On the Lambert Case Way Before Me: Caramanica.

Only Other Person with as Great a Third Single Against Equally Unlikely Odds: Ciara, "Ohhh."

Possibly the Song of the Year, Certainly the Drinking Song of the Year, and a Total Essay on Exactly What's So Detestable About the Particular Nature of Kenny Chesney's "Laidbackness": "Alcohol," Brad Paisley.

Exactly What's So Detestable About the Particular Nature of Kenny Chesney's "Laidbackness": Well, it's not that it's contrived, exactly; I mean, everything's contrived, right? But it's the way it was contrived in advance of anything else, so that the only thing a song can possibly be is an expression of that pre-existent laidbackness. The songs themselves aren't laid back; they're just oportunistic.

Could You Offer a Brand Name for That Laidbackness, Please: It is, that is to say, and the Artist Formerly Known As Mr. Zellweger will in fact be very happy that I believe this, Jimmy Buffet laidbackness. This is not laidbackness as an experience but a worldview; mandated and absolutist, Jimmy Buffet laidbackness is totalitarian laidbackness.

On the Other Hand: Brad Paisley seems to discover the loopy good times of the song line by line, lick by lick...as if he starts out worrying that his song which is in fact narrated by alcohol itself might still be a temperance tale, but the good times, instead of coming back to bite him on the ass, just get good-timier. Yes, there will be a hangover. No, there is no Margaritaville. Yes, the song does revolve around the capacity of a) beer, b) Jack, and c) wine to make white people dance.

Even Better Than: "I Love This Bar."

Posted by jane at September 25, 2005 05:48 PM | TrackBack