Bruce and the 'Verse
(Warning!! Extreme gamer geekiness ahead. Those with known Gamer aversions should depart the ride at this point. Proceed with caution.)
I was recently gifted with a copy of Bruce Springsteen's Seeger Sessions CD. While I am not a huge fan of Springsteen, I did decide to give it a try as 1) I had heard it was more folksy and acoustic in nature, which fit in fine with my recent Johnny Cash fixation, and 2) I had a long car ride with little to do but drive and fight with the vacillating broadcasts of YOOPER AM stations.
I am surprised to say I liked it. I like it very damn much. I play it on the way to work, then bring it home and listen to it some more. It is playing in the background as I write this.
The music itself is (from what I have been able to discern via goggle) popular folk music. Most of it should be familiar to anyone raised on American TV shows like Little House on the Prairie or the Grand Ole Opry. I remember a lot of it from my elementary music classes and many stumbling attempts to teach a bunch of fourth grader's how to square dance.
Being the gaming geek that I am, the first thing that struck me was how appropriate much of the music was for Firefly. The banjo, fiddle, guitar and percussion lines are especially reminiscent of the Firefly sound track.
Here is a track by track listing and my thoughts on the Firefly appropriateness of each:
1. Old Dan Tucker - not very FFish, maybe for a campfire song. It is a staple in the square dance circuit
2. Jesse James - has a very Hero of Canton feel, only this time the mudders get nothing but a fat lot of indignation and rage over the coward who killed their hero.
Here are a few especially appropriate lyrics from the song:
He stole from the rich
And he gave to the poor
He'd a hand and a heart and a brain
Then later:
A friend to the poor
He'd never rob a mother or a child
Note that when Springsteen mumbles "Mother" it sounds like "Mudder".
3. Mrs McGrath (pronounced McGraw) - anti war song if there ever was one (original intent as well). With a little work it could be a screed railing against the warmongering purple-belly bastards killing our good and faithful sons.
4. O Mary Don't You Weep - nothing really jumps to mind
5. John Henry - fun song but nothing really jumps to mind
6. Erie Canal - folksy-bluesy song extolling the daily toils of dock workers or cargo hands. That said the intermittent use of horns really wreck the FF feel.
7. Jacob's Ladder - nope
8. My Oklahoma Home - Acoustic and percussion. Sounds like a traveling song.
9. Eyes on the Prize - played during a tense, dramatic moment when the captain/crew is being sorely tested. I can see many cut scenes with the Mal staring out to space jaw clenched, Wash and Zoe comfort-cuddling, Book praying and Jayne somberly cleaning his very favorite gun. Here the horns near the end really bring the feeling home.
10. Shenandoah - Song about missing home. Applicable in many situations. I can see Browncoats in the field, singing this around a fire.
11. Pay Me My Money Down - sea shanty-ish song about getting paid for work done. Probably a favorite of any independent cargo hauling ship Captain.
12. We shall overcome...nope
13. Froggie went a courtin - Fun song but nothing comes to mind.
Gordon
I was recently gifted with a copy of Bruce Springsteen's Seeger Sessions CD. While I am not a huge fan of Springsteen, I did decide to give it a try as 1) I had heard it was more folksy and acoustic in nature, which fit in fine with my recent Johnny Cash fixation, and 2) I had a long car ride with little to do but drive and fight with the vacillating broadcasts of YOOPER AM stations.
I am surprised to say I liked it. I like it very damn much. I play it on the way to work, then bring it home and listen to it some more. It is playing in the background as I write this.
The music itself is (from what I have been able to discern via goggle) popular folk music. Most of it should be familiar to anyone raised on American TV shows like Little House on the Prairie or the Grand Ole Opry. I remember a lot of it from my elementary music classes and many stumbling attempts to teach a bunch of fourth grader's how to square dance.
Being the gaming geek that I am, the first thing that struck me was how appropriate much of the music was for Firefly. The banjo, fiddle, guitar and percussion lines are especially reminiscent of the Firefly sound track.
Here is a track by track listing and my thoughts on the Firefly appropriateness of each:
1. Old Dan Tucker - not very FFish, maybe for a campfire song. It is a staple in the square dance circuit
2. Jesse James - has a very Hero of Canton feel, only this time the mudders get nothing but a fat lot of indignation and rage over the coward who killed their hero.
Here are a few especially appropriate lyrics from the song:
He stole from the rich
And he gave to the poor
He'd a hand and a heart and a brain
Then later:
A friend to the poor
He'd never rob a mother or a child
Note that when Springsteen mumbles "Mother" it sounds like "Mudder".
3. Mrs McGrath (pronounced McGraw) - anti war song if there ever was one (original intent as well). With a little work it could be a screed railing against the warmongering purple-belly bastards killing our good and faithful sons.
4. O Mary Don't You Weep - nothing really jumps to mind
5. John Henry - fun song but nothing really jumps to mind
6. Erie Canal - folksy-bluesy song extolling the daily toils of dock workers or cargo hands. That said the intermittent use of horns really wreck the FF feel.
7. Jacob's Ladder - nope
8. My Oklahoma Home - Acoustic and percussion. Sounds like a traveling song.
9. Eyes on the Prize - played during a tense, dramatic moment when the captain/crew is being sorely tested. I can see many cut scenes with the Mal staring out to space jaw clenched, Wash and Zoe comfort-cuddling, Book praying and Jayne somberly cleaning his very favorite gun. Here the horns near the end really bring the feeling home.
10. Shenandoah - Song about missing home. Applicable in many situations. I can see Browncoats in the field, singing this around a fire.
11. Pay Me My Money Down - sea shanty-ish song about getting paid for work done. Probably a favorite of any independent cargo hauling ship Captain.
12. We shall overcome...nope
13. Froggie went a courtin - Fun song but nothing comes to mind.
Gordon
posted by onthestick at 5/09/2006 12:04:00 AM
2 Comments:
I like songs with deep meaning or lyrics that you have to interpret. Take for instance "Ripple" by the Grateful Dead. "If my words did glow with the cold of sunshine, and my tunes were played on the bar unstrummed, could you hear my voice comming through the music? Would you hold it near as it were your own. It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken, perhaps they're better left unsung. I don't know, don't really care, let there be songs to fill the air."
Interpretation= Words glowing in the cold of sunshine,(It's morning and he can see his breath.) Tunes played on the bar unstrummed, (He's humming it) I could tell you the rest but you think it through...
Your Bro-n-law Jason
yea, Gordy, glad to hear you like it....when i see you driving and rockin, jammin, i know you'll be listening to his album, unless there is a dwarf or midget on your floorboard, hahahahah ! cant believe i said that....
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