Saturday, January 15, 2011

Welcome!

    I am hereby opening this Blog to share my thoughts on the endless topics of Music Theory and Philosophy and to hear your thoughts as well.  This all started when a friend asked me to discuss the merits of the "Greatest song of all time, 'Funkytown'", which lead to another friend asking for an analysis of a Muse song called "Knights of Cydonia" (Also the greatest song of all time).  Please feel free to participate in any discussions and start some new ones.  I want this page to be an explosion of information and opinions.  I'd like to explore the concepts of quality, collective consciousness and music as they relate to each other.  Please post your thoughts!  To start things off, let's discuss your favorite songs!  Give me a song title and I'll do my best to give you a musical analysis that sheds some light on why that song feels the way it does.

7 comments:

  1. I'd be interested to know what you think makes Stevie Wonder's songs so distinctive (and of course, what makes him the greatest of all time). I can't pick a single song, so I'll name three: "Golden Lady," "I Wish," and "Tuesday Heartbreak".

    Also, Ziggy Modeliste: greatest drummer of all time?

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  2. the beach boys, "don't worry baby" or "god only knows." i bet there are lots of interesting music theory things informing those songs, but i don't know what they are.

    also, i'm excited that you have a blog!

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  3. Thanks for your comments! I'm sure all those 5 songs are all worthy of some research. (I don't know "Tuesday Heartbreak"! I'm already going to learn something from having this blog!) I'm going to listen to and learn how to play all of them on guitar and/or keys and probably do a Stevie post and a Beach boys post. They both happen to be close to my heart.

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  4. Oh, and yes, I asked a higher power and he/she/it told me that Ziggy Modeliste is in fact the greatest drummer of all time... But then the higher power entity morphed into Chester Cheetah and said "Oh god! there is no f****** drummer better than Neil Peart!".
    Thanks for bringing up the Meters by bringing up Ziggy. They deserve to be dissected like funky worms. Do you have a favorite Meters song? Or a favorite Ziggy drumming moment?

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  5. As far as the Meters drumming goes, I'd say "Pungee" or "Sophisticated Cissy," or Ziggy on Dr. John's "Qualified." I can't comment on Neil Peart though. I never really got into Rush, even after living in Canada for a year. Where should I start?

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  6. I checked those tunes out! It's true! The drumming is so tasty! "Is Ziggy Modeliste the greatest drummer of all time?" For now, I have to say "It feels really good to listen to him play the drums." That brings up some cool questions. How far does that good feeling go with other humans? Why does it feel good? What can we all agree on as an online community and/or as humans? That's the reason for this blog.

    As for Rush, I'm not super well acquainted either... People do praise Neil Peart a lot, though. My Chester Cheetah quote was really just a Family Guy reference. Rush's lyrics make me happy though, and Neil Peart is the lyricist. You should start by reading some lyrics. Here's 2112.
    http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rush/2112.html

    If you are interested in prog rock, I can't recommend Yes's "Close to the Edge" album strongly enough. (Sound and space agreed is a reference to "And you and I", the 2nd track on that album.) As for modern prog, Mr. Bungle's "California" does the trick. Or for a more fantastic venture into 70's concept albumness, check out Jon Anderson's "Olias of Sunhillow". All these records deserve their own posts!

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  7. Tom, I was pointed in your direction by your future father-in-law, Larry Siegel. Lrry and I are friends since high school, so that qualifies me as officially old. But, like you, I am a lifelong student of music.

    I had to chuckle at the what some of your generation labels "the greatest song of all time." Certainly, they haven't been exposed to enough songs, for I am certain that had they been, they - like me - would award that title to Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" and be convinced in the knowledge that they were absolutely right.

    Much success with your blog.I'll be checking in from time to time.

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