Hurt – Johnny Cash

I’ve always been a fan of songs that express a certain degree of regret… (It’s Been Awhile – Staind, Say It Ain’t So – Weezer).  To me, there’s something much more authentic and genuine when artists talk about their shortcomings.  But no song exhibits as epic a moment of reflection on a life less than perfect as when Johnny Cash decided to cover Nine Inch Nail’s Hurt. Trent Renzor himself said in an interview that when he listened to the song, he was moved to tears.  He says that when he heard the song, he realized that “it wasn’t my song anymore.”  (Presumably meaning that Cash gave the song some alternate meaning – not that he ‘took’ the song.)  The original is itself a powerful song, but somehow Cash takes it to a different place.  Trent’s lyrics are a masterpiece. Yet somehow Cash’s interpretation breathes new life into them.  And when you reflect upon the lyrics as they leave Johnny’s mouth, it’s almost as if Trent he wrote them knowing that Cash would sing them one day.

The song seems rather incomplete without watching the video, because it tells such an incredible story.  As you watch all of the accolades – the awards and pictures and statues that are piled up and dusted in the Cash home… and as you watch his older (and presumably wiser) self with clips of Cash as a younger man, it paints a complete picture.  It works on several levels.  Most obviously is the fact that Johnny is reflecting on his life minus the tales of glamour, as his wife June watches on.  (June would pass away in May of 2003 and, like the love story always goes, Johnny would follow her in September.).  But it’s also a cautionary tale.  It’s the wise, old man who takes a moment away from the chess table in the park and decides to impart some words of wisdom to you.  It’s the rock star who’s telling you that now that it’s all said and done, that some of the pain and struggle wasn’t really worth it.  It’s the black sheep of the family exclaiming that although you think he’s just a screw up, that he really wishes he could take back some of the moments of imperfection.

There are so many things about this song that I love.  But what truly brings the song together is the last verse.  As the song is brought to a crescendo, there’s the verse at the end that just doesn’t seem to fit.  It isn’t in line with the structure of the rest of the song.  However, it fits the emotion of the song perfectly.  It’s the final thought of a man reflecting on a life that’s been fun, but that has moments he wishes he could take back.  I recall watching Mickey Mantle at a press conference where he announced that he was dying.  I didn’t grow up a Mickey Mantle fan, but in that moment he earned my undying respect.  As he reflected on his bouts with alcohol that would eventually take his life, he decided to take the opportunity to do something most celebrities would never think of doing – he dispelled the myth of his perfection.  He talked about how all of his fans looked up to him and wanted to be like him.  And he answered them: “Don’t be like me.”  And this song encompasses all of the regret expressed in that moment:  “I will let you down… I will make you hurt… If I could start again… a million miles away… I would keep myself… I would find a way.”

Kanye Keeps My Faith In Hip Hop Strong

So I got a copy of Kanye’s soon to be released album, Graduation. I wasn’t really a big fan of Late Registration. I thought Touch the Sky and Home were truly inspiring. Heard Em Say was a nice, simple, cool out joint. Crack Music was hot. Uh… wait a sec… I kinda liked We Major and of course everybody dug Diamonds. Perhaps I wasn’t so down on the album. But I just felt like there were too many “filler tracks.” There were a bunch of songs that I just didn’t dig, and I know I’ve been told I have the strangest taste, but Golddigger just got on my nerves every time I heard it.

By no means is Graduation perfect. Of the 15 or 16 songs that are on the album, there are about 6 gems — which is par for the course in this day and age. But the difference here is that the good songs are so good that they approach — in my humble opinion — Jesus Walks in their ability to inspire. No, I didn’t say that they’ll reach the commercial success that Jesus Walks enjoyed, but certainly these songs have a lot to say. And this is such a welcome effort considering the current state of the industry. I agree with Nas. Hip Hop is dead. It’s this commercialized whore that used to be fine but now she talks to every guy she sees. She was wonderful when you first laid eyes on her. Then after you heard her speak enough you wondered what you ever saw in her. But enough with the metaphors. With this album, Kanye is doing something that apparently few others have the courage or perhaps the artistic freedom to do — he’s being himself.

Aside from a few appearances by other artists like T-Pain and Mos Def, this album has absolutely no resemblance to anything that a modern day “rap star” would release. And that’s a good thing. The album kicks off with an easy intro — Good Morning — with a few hard hitting facts to try and “wake us up”. This isn’t anything really to write home about. But this helps us ease into the album.

It’s funny — Kanye’s albums seems to have a formula all to their own. Yeah, we all know there’s the “school theme” (College Dropout, Late Registration and now, Graduation). But more than this, I am always ready for an inspiring song to kick the album off. All Falls Down, despite a message that was meant to bring us down to Earth, was an incredibly uplifting beat. Touch the Sky was even more inspiring in beat and in message. With Graduation Kanye kicks off the album with a song called Champion and it’s just golden. It’s a love letter to a few folks who don’t hit 50 home runs a year and who don’t win the NBA Championship but who are more important to us than we realize. Just a snippet of the inspiration….

….but everytime I wanted to lay-a-way or deposit,

My dad would say, ‘When you see clothes, close your eyelids’,

He was sorta like Will Smith and his son,

In the movie (I ain’t talkin’ bout the rich ones,)

Cause every summer, he’d get some brand new hair-brained scheme to get rich from,

And I don’t know what he did for dough,

But he’s send me back to school with a new wardrobe…. (Hey…hey…hey…)

(Chorus)

Did you realize…..that you were a champion? Yeah, right.

Keep Breathing – Ingrid Michaelson

Like so many others, that Grey’s Anatomy season finale is still with me. What an incredible way to end the season. As much as the events that happened (or, depending on how you think about it, didn’t happen) in those last eight minutes were powerful enough, the soundtrack really went perfectly with the emotion. Independent artist Ingrid Michaelson’s song that accompanied the show’s epilogue is such a beautiful and powerful song.

Apart from Grey’s, the song is incredible. Amidst all of the really bad music that we have surfacing to the top of radio station’s commercialized playlists these days, it’s great to see independent artists like Ingrid and Regina Spektor making the kind of unique music that we’re hearing more and more of. It’s refreshing and hopefully a trend that others will follow (or hopefully not follow. Make your own music.)

When I think of the lyrics of this song, it almost makes me feel the same way I felt after watching An Inconvenient Truth. You reflect on all that you could be doing to change the world. You pass homeless people and wonder if a dollar was really all that you could have done. You watch the news and wonder how you could have become so complacent — the news of soldiers dying in the war barely gets you to look up from the magazine anymore. You reflect on all that you could be doing. And then you realize that you’re going overboard a bit. You’ll change the world yet….you just need to wait until the right moment. Your moment. And until then, “all you can do is keep breathing.”

(Above is a live version of the song. You can hear a clean version over at her myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/ingridmichaelson). Sadly, she can’t really capitalize from the success of the song now — she has to wait until the corporate execs at ABC say it’s time to release the song — in September. (Really smart business, folks.) Anyhow, let’s be sure to support her when the song releases then. Don’t forget — she’s an independent artist.

Keep Breathing by Ingrid Michaelson

The storm is coming,

But i don’t mind.
People are dying,

I close my blinds.
All that I know is I’m breathing…now.

I want to change the world,

Instead, I sleep.
I want to believe

In more than you and me.

But all that I know is I’m…breathing
All I can do is keep…breathing.
All we can do is keep breathing…now.
All that I know is I’m breathing,
All I can do is keep breathing,
All we can do is keep breathing……

Review: John Legend – Once Again …(is this the same dude??)

There was a time when I’d go to J&R Music World or a CD store and have so many albums in my hand that I’d have to stop and start making choices. “Gee — seven CDs? That’s a lot. Gotta put two down…. but who??” Nowadays I don’t have that problem anymore. As a matter of fact, I rarely buy CDs at all. Last album I bought….(wait — going to rack to check….)…. Kanye West – Late Registration. (And that was a disappointment.) Last album before that? I can’t remember. The point is that either one of two things is happening: either I’m becoming the old fart I told myself I would never become and I just can’t keep pace with the changing music…. or music right now is complete garbage. I think it might be a little bit of both.

There are a few artists that hold a place in the “inner sanctum” of my music collection. Artists whose new releases I wouldn’t think twice about buying. Without hearing a note from the track, I’d make my way to Best Buy, look for the CD cover and take it to the check out counter. The list of artists who hold that distinction is getting smaller, but John Legend was one of a about 15 artists that had recently found his way onto that list.

Back in 2004, my sister asked me if I’d heard his album yet. At the time I brushed her off. I mean, I had already given it a shot. I opened Napster and listened to the first four tracks of Get Lifted and John Legend just struck me as one of these artists who had talent, but wasn’t quite suited for the up-tempo songs he was singing. It’s like listening to a fast Babyface song — most of the time it just doesn’t work. But, on the recommendation of my only blood sibling, I gave it another shot one lazy afternoon.

I logged into Napster and (free of charge, of course) I played Get Lifted again….from the very first track. As I suspected, it was a lot like listening to a Brian McKnight album during the sections where he’s singing up-tempo songs. You just wanna reach through the stereo and smack him. But this time I held my patience and listened a bit farther into the album. And while the up-tempo tracks on Get Lifted aren’t quite as bad as those of Brian McKnight, a funny thing happens if you hang in there until the ballads kick in on Track 8. Somewhere between the end of Track 7 (I Can Change) and Track 8 (Ordinary People), Get Lifted takes on a completely different persona. The entire complexion of the album changes. It goes from faux up-tempo “me too” unoriginal, average R&B album and slowly becomes a spiritual, soulful, emotional, trip. Ordinary People — for all the thousands of radio and music video plays that it got in 2004 and 2005 — is still one of the most incredible ballads. Apologetic in it’s claim — “we’re just ordinary people…we don’t know which way to go” — it’s a rare ballad that doesn’t promise women the moon and the stars. It simply admits it’s faults — basically, being human — and suggests something that perhaps more of us should consider in our relationships — “maybe we should take it slow?”