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| From | "Sager, Greg" <greg.sager@bankofamerica.com> |
| Subject | Re: Read into the FoW |
| Date | Fri, 18 Jul 2003 02:12:04 -0500 |
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> Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 10:29:26 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Michael vg <govango@yahoo.com>
> To: audities@smoe.org
> Subject: Re: Read into the FoW
> Message-ID: <20030717172926.18256.qmail@web13408.mail.yahoo.com>
>
> There are many areas in this country, Texas for one where
> High School football games are televised. So it could be
> one of three, or maybe all three. Sort of like a progression
> from HS ball to being watched on TV.
>
This thought had occurred to me as well, but FoW is a very
Gothamcentric act. They include lots of geographical references in their
songs, all of which indicate that the songs are set in the NYC area where
the band makes its home (the band's name comes from a lawn decoration store
in northeast New Jersey). The New England setting of "Valley Winter Song" is
about as far afield as they get, and even that song makes reference to its
characters having previously lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. So
it's highly unlikely that Adam Schlesinger wrote the song with high school
football in mind, since HS football games aren't normally televised in that
part of the country (HS football's not the religion-with-jockstraps there
that it is in Texas).
With regard to "All Kinds Of Time"'s meaning, Jeff Tolle nailed it.
Anyone familiar with TV jock interviews has heard players from various
sports talk about being "in the zone," and that's exactly what this song's
about: the zen moment of utter clarity when the game seems to move in slow
motion in front of the quarterback, because he has read the defense and
anticipated what will unfold during the play. It's a very real and tangible
experience for an athlete, and what's great about "All Kinds Of Time" is
that nobody (to the best of my knowledge) had ever written a song about an
athlete being "in the zone" prior to Schlesinger's. That's gotta be a neat
trick for a songwriter -- to find a common and well-understood facet of
human experience that has heretofore been untouched by other songwriters,
and then write a song about it that turns out as well as did this one.
(I wonder if Schlesinger wrote this song as a sort of prequel to
"Radiation Vibe"; the second verse of that song goes, "I went to Pittsburgh
/ and joined a pro team / talk about a bad dream / I broke a knee")
Incidentally, one of the best things about FoW's lyrics is that
they're lyrically specific while also being experientially universal. The
NYC-area settings give the lyrics more verisimilitude than they'd have if
they were merely about Anytown, U.S.A., but the thoughts, feelings, and
experiences of the characters in the songs are pretty readily understood
regardless of where the listener lives, at least among Americans. The
befuddled yuppie of "Bright Future In Sales" could've just as easily been
knocking back a few at Union Station in Chicago or Caltrain Station in San
Francisco instead of NYC's Port Authority, and the titular beach resort of
"Fire Island" could instead be South Padre Island or the Outer Banks. But
the specificity of locale enhances the song's realism.
FoW played Chicago's Cabaret Metro tonight, incidentally -- lots of
Auditeers in attendance, all of whom seemed to leave the joint very happy.
The band sounded terrific, and although they seemed to be their usual
dyspeptic selves with regard to their stage demeanor (particularly Chris
Collingwood, who may be the most dour frontman in power pop), they still
managed to have fun in their own way. F'rinstance, in introducing "Red
Dragon Tattoo" Schlesinger talked Collingwood into substituting "Cradle Of
Filth" for "Korn" in the lyrics, which Collingwood gamely attempted. And
they've revived their random, let's-stump-each-other medley in "Radiation
Vibe" -- tonight they made a go at, consecutively, "Carry On Wayward Son" by
Kansas (the crowd sang a portion of the song, which prompted Collingwood to
remark, "You guys should be ashamed of yourselves."); "Let's Go" by the
Cars; "Life's Been Good" by Joe Walsh; and "Sharp-Dressed Man" by ZZ Top,
which segued very nicely back into "Radiation Vibe". Hey, I don't much care
if the band's facial expressions convey a disinterested air, as long as
they're obviously having fun with their set and making the people happy.
Gregory Sager
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