"Pipe" As The Penultimate Teenage Angst Song
As much as I hate the concept of "teen angst," I'm going to write a column about it.
Christie Front Drive. I've written about them before, but I'm going to do it some more. Specifically, their song "Pipe," one of my all-time favorite songs by any artist.
Unluckily, I don't have access to a copy of this song, so you'll have to either find it yourself or just do your best at imagining. The song starts with a quiet, lone guitar, and then bursts open, with all instruments coming in. If anyone ever truly mastered the use of the octave chord, it was CFD. The first guitar continues playing the introduction piece, while the second plays two seperate octave progressions that work perfectly. The sensation I always get listening to the second part of this intro is of elation; that is the best word that conveys what I hear.
When everything but one guitar drops out, the mood of the song changes to one of trepidation (once again, these are all my personal emotions during the song. But that's all that matters!). After the reintroduction of the second guitar, the song mellows and I always get the sensation of anxiety or waiting. This continues for just the right amount of time, after which the vocals come in and the previous "mellow" progression drastically becomes one of frustration. Of course, Eric Richter's voice and his lyrics perform most of the heavy lifting through here, and when he lets out a half-moan going into the chorus, its almost tidal. The chorus itself provides the feeling, once again, of temporary elation, before the tone turns dark once again, only to be relieved again during the solo. And of course, after the solo the verse returns, providing not only the previous frustration but also, in my opinion, a sense of urgency.
The outro seals the deal. Simply put, it sounds like anger and frustration.
One of the greatest assets of the song, which sadly is often mistaken for a weakness, is the poor recording quality of the vocals. Little definition can be made out, and the lyrics sound like a garbled mess. This, however, works perfectly with the song. Besides the idea of "voice as instrument," which I've mentioned to a number of people as being a defining characteristic of some music, the inability to make out words with any clarity means that the listener must guess as to the meaning, which will of course involve personal emotions getting involved in the process. I've come up with my own set of lyrics, and they are similiar in many ways to those of others, but there are key differences. What is left is a song that acts as a time capsule for the listener; it brings them back to a time when they were able to connect with the emotion of the song.
To follow up on what was intended as the point of this post, the emotion that comes through not only the vocals but also the instruments makes this the song that best represents the frustration and anger that all of us have felt during our teenage years; more than any other song, it embodies what it means to be human.
What, too grandiose? Listen to it!
Christie Front Drive. I've written about them before, but I'm going to do it some more. Specifically, their song "Pipe," one of my all-time favorite songs by any artist.
Unluckily, I don't have access to a copy of this song, so you'll have to either find it yourself or just do your best at imagining. The song starts with a quiet, lone guitar, and then bursts open, with all instruments coming in. If anyone ever truly mastered the use of the octave chord, it was CFD. The first guitar continues playing the introduction piece, while the second plays two seperate octave progressions that work perfectly. The sensation I always get listening to the second part of this intro is of elation; that is the best word that conveys what I hear.
When everything but one guitar drops out, the mood of the song changes to one of trepidation (once again, these are all my personal emotions during the song. But that's all that matters!). After the reintroduction of the second guitar, the song mellows and I always get the sensation of anxiety or waiting. This continues for just the right amount of time, after which the vocals come in and the previous "mellow" progression drastically becomes one of frustration. Of course, Eric Richter's voice and his lyrics perform most of the heavy lifting through here, and when he lets out a half-moan going into the chorus, its almost tidal. The chorus itself provides the feeling, once again, of temporary elation, before the tone turns dark once again, only to be relieved again during the solo. And of course, after the solo the verse returns, providing not only the previous frustration but also, in my opinion, a sense of urgency.
The outro seals the deal. Simply put, it sounds like anger and frustration.
One of the greatest assets of the song, which sadly is often mistaken for a weakness, is the poor recording quality of the vocals. Little definition can be made out, and the lyrics sound like a garbled mess. This, however, works perfectly with the song. Besides the idea of "voice as instrument," which I've mentioned to a number of people as being a defining characteristic of some music, the inability to make out words with any clarity means that the listener must guess as to the meaning, which will of course involve personal emotions getting involved in the process. I've come up with my own set of lyrics, and they are similiar in many ways to those of others, but there are key differences. What is left is a song that acts as a time capsule for the listener; it brings them back to a time when they were able to connect with the emotion of the song.
To follow up on what was intended as the point of this post, the emotion that comes through not only the vocals but also the instruments makes this the song that best represents the frustration and anger that all of us have felt during our teenage years; more than any other song, it embodies what it means to be human.
What, too grandiose? Listen to it!
posted by Jimmy at 10:47 PM
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