LISTED: Goosebumps Vol.1 - Doves' Snowden
*Goosebumps is a new recurring feature where we highlight on songs that what we perceive to be a complete artistic statement in terms of its melody, lyrics, and to a certain extent, its video clip as well.
"Snowden" is probably the only song by this British band that I properly liked, thanks in part to its introduction, which to my ear sounded like a choir of cherubs in the Heaven shedding blood tears. At first, I couldn't give that much of a care on what Jimi Goodwin was singing about, something which is quite odd considering I was a Literature student. For me, listening to music has almost always strictly been about the song and not much else because, well blame it on my early days of listening to Coldplay for one, I have always found that many songs, the feel or the real story behind it does not match with the lyrics that accompanies it.
I always felt frustrated listening to a really dramatic sounding song but where the lyrics left nothing at all to the imagination. However, along the way I did picked up a few songs that blissfully had a perfect harmonized combination of songs and lyrics, where the lyrics perfectly completes the experience of listening to that particular song. "Snowden" is among a few other songs which had that perfect harmonized combination of songs and lyrics that I was on about a few lines above.
Referring to this website, I found a few commenter touched on the subject of Joseph Heller's hit novel Catch-22. Snowden, a character in that novel, "...lies dying in the back of the plane from bullet wounds to the chest. His death haunts the main character, Yossarian, throughout the novel because he doesn't realize the extent of the injury before it's too late".
The one particular line from this song that captures my attention is "When is it our turn? / So why should we care?". If their discussion is correct, in which the song is about death and the certainty of it ("If this is our last summer / Then why should we care?"), then this song has got to be one of the most defeatist relative to its subject matter. Defeatist here is where the narrator of the song tells of his ready acceptance of his impending fate and chosen to let what was destined to happen, to just happen. There is no point in fighting against it because fuck it, that's why.
This 'easy' nature of the narrator in accepting his fate resonates very well with the overall feel of the song which flows languidly like a wind that blows in the early evening, gently rustling the leaves on a tree. The rustling sound spreads along with the wind but as it catches the nearest human ear, it only very softly did so in a way that does not trigger any alarm. It's a comforting noise, and it is as comfortable as how the narrator calmly accepts his fate. It's a very poetic combination, and that gives me the goosebumps every time I listen to this song - hence the name of this feature.
Brilliant song.
*Goosebumps is a new recurring feature where we highlight on songs that what we perceive to be a complete artistic statement in terms of its melody, lyrics, and to a certain extent, its video clip as well.
"Snowden" is probably the only song by this British band that I properly liked, thanks in part to its introduction, which to my ear sounded like a choir of cherubs in the Heaven shedding blood tears. At first, I couldn't give that much of a care on what Jimi Goodwin was singing about, something which is quite odd considering I was a Literature student. For me, listening to music has almost always strictly been about the song and not much else because, well blame it on my early days of listening to Coldplay for one, I have always found that many songs, the feel or the real story behind it does not match with the lyrics that accompanies it.
I always felt frustrated listening to a really dramatic sounding song but where the lyrics left nothing at all to the imagination. However, along the way I did picked up a few songs that blissfully had a perfect harmonized combination of songs and lyrics, where the lyrics perfectly completes the experience of listening to that particular song. "Snowden" is among a few other songs which had that perfect harmonized combination of songs and lyrics that I was on about a few lines above.
Referring to this website, I found a few commenter touched on the subject of Joseph Heller's hit novel Catch-22. Snowden, a character in that novel, "...lies dying in the back of the plane from bullet wounds to the chest. His death haunts the main character, Yossarian, throughout the novel because he doesn't realize the extent of the injury before it's too late".
The one particular line from this song that captures my attention is "When is it our turn? / So why should we care?". If their discussion is correct, in which the song is about death and the certainty of it ("If this is our last summer / Then why should we care?"), then this song has got to be one of the most defeatist relative to its subject matter. Defeatist here is where the narrator of the song tells of his ready acceptance of his impending fate and chosen to let what was destined to happen, to just happen. There is no point in fighting against it because fuck it, that's why.
This 'easy' nature of the narrator in accepting his fate resonates very well with the overall feel of the song which flows languidly like a wind that blows in the early evening, gently rustling the leaves on a tree. The rustling sound spreads along with the wind but as it catches the nearest human ear, it only very softly did so in a way that does not trigger any alarm. It's a comforting noise, and it is as comfortable as how the narrator calmly accepts his fate. It's a very poetic combination, and that gives me the goosebumps every time I listen to this song - hence the name of this feature.
Brilliant song.
Labels: doves, goosebumps
posted by Hafeez at 6:40 AM
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