I’ve been writing a series of blogs on the songs that make up my most recent release, a covers project entitled “Through Songs I Was First Undone.” The moments I’ve had with the artists whose music makes up this album have been sacred moments. These artists and their songs have been central to the necessary undoing of the expectations and limitations I habitually place on God and humanity.
Here is part one of why Aimee Mann’s “Save Me” is on the album:
http://www.vimeo.com/12063558Magnolia is one of the only movies I have ever gone back to the theater to see. Cast with the likes of Julianne Moore, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and WIlliam H. Macy, there really isn’t a weak performance anywhere in the movie (unless you hate Tom Cruize instinctively,… which is really more about you than the movies you see).
I watched Magnolia the first time with my wife and some friends. Our friends didn’t care much for the film, commenting that it was “bizarre,” “pathetic,” and “unlikely.” We agreed that those were accurate descriptions but, to the contrary, Amy and I both thought those were exactly the elements we enjoyed most about it; it was so much like life as we knew it.
Along loving the story, the cinematography and the performances, I also fell in love with the movies soundtrack and in doing so, discovered Aimee Mann. (little did I know she was the vocalist for the band Til Tuesday, whose single “Voices Carry” echoed through my head through much of the late eighties). My understanding is that much of the Magnolia’s motivation and theme is derived from Aimee Mann’s music. In fact, a few of the character Claudia’s lines are directly lifted from Aimee Mann lyrics. In one case, she turns to Officer Jim Kurring, who is desperately in love with her and says
“Now that I’ve met you
Would you object to
Never seeing each other again.”
…which is the opening line to the song “Deathly”; a song I seriously considered covering for Undone. Instead, I chose the “Save Me.” which was written specifically for the film and is one of the the most pivotal songs in my musical history.
Much of its importance to me is strictly musi-technical. Its darker tone, melancholy mood and seemingly-too-slow tempo don’t add up to “Save Me” being a downer song at all. In fact, Save Me is incredibly catchy and has plenty of the energy one would want in a pop song. What was revelatory for me was that It’s life and energy are not fabricated by bright, shimmery guitar tones or an uplifting, major-chord-driven chorus. The song is alive because of the tension within it; a tension that never resolves but keeps the song trudging from verse to chorus to bridge and and and on. This element was liberating for me as a writer. I could leave a song “in the dark” as it were and let go of the temptation to force a feeling of resolution in lyric or in tone.
Until I let “Save Me” sink into my skin a bit, I didn’t quite recognize how strong the temptation to “resolve” a song actually was. I believed, as do most young artists, that I was being entirely authentic and transparent in my work. But even looking at my 2000 release “Father,” an album ostensibly about wrestling with my father’s suicide, I could see very clearly where a few of the songs were somewhat forced; at least in the way I finished them… as if I was tying together broken limbs with pretty bows and wrapping paper. Mann’s work guided me to see that art’s job was seldom to resolve. More often, a great work affirms the mysterious nature of the human experience just as it is, which is a form of redemption in and of itself. In this light, I would even go so far as to say that to force a resolution is to give in to the fear that a true resolution might not be there at all; that I must create or even fake it. It strikes me that this is what is most disappointing about much art in the christian marketplace. Not that it’s cheesy or even that it’s particularly bad; what is most disappointing is that it is insincere. I wanted to distance myself from that temptation and the machinery that is angled toward giving in to it.
My 2002 release “Trust” was, as a whole, inspired and fueled by the musical revelation I found in Aimee Mann’s work. From guitar and drum tones to chord progressions and even lyric choices, Trust was shaped by the freedom to leave songs in the dark; to create a tension and allow that tension to sustain the life of a song and even an entire album.
You can listen to a full length video preview of my “Save Me” at the top of this blog.
You can pick it up at iTunes or at my Online Store.
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Definitely a great film, but it’s not for everybody.
Thanks, Justin. Magnolia is one of my favorite films, and I, too, discovered Aimee Mann through its soundtrack. I’ve listened to her version on repeat many times. I dig what you’ve done with it.
that stuff on dark sounds being ok and even catchy. that’s gold.
and this: In this light, I would even go so far as to say that to force a resolution is to give in to the fear that a true resolution might not be there at all; that I must create or even fake it. It strikes me that this is what is most disappointing about much art in the christian marketplace. Not that it’s cheesy or even that it’s particularly bad; what is most disappointing is that it is insincere.
For those not familiar with the Rabbit Room (www.rabbitroom.com), Andrew Peteroson’s ‘Coffeehouse Bookstore’ website, Jason Gray recently wrote about Aimee Mann.
http://www.rabbitroom.com/?p=8187
I’m still listening to your record on a near-daily basis, Justin. It’s just so awesome.
Tony
Hey Justin! I’ve admired you from afar for quite some time, so imagine my delight when I saw your comment on my Aimee Mann post in the Rabbit Room. Thanks for taking the time to read it, it’s good to finally connect.
I’m in total agreement with you on the issue of sincerity in much of Christian music. I wrestle with the tension of how to offer genuine hope in a song – sometimes that means it doesn’t resolve… and yet there are times when I think there can be resolution – we do live in a world where Easter happened, after all – but even then, how do you do it just right?
Bono talked about how a song about joy is the hardest kind to write, and the hardest emotion to get right, and I wonder if he was referring to this, too. Sadness is easy to write about, but a convincing and compelling song about joy… well, I’ve found that what Bono says is true, it’s the hardest kind of song to write… and yet a challenge I like to take on.
Anyway, my main thing I wanted to let you know about here as a fellow monster fan of Magnolia (I ran into John C. Reilly at the airport a couple of weeks ago and thanked him for his performance), my friend Pete Peterson and I wrote a blog about the film here: http://www.rabbitroom.com/?p=6595
I think you might like it! Hope our paths cross again, thanks for dropping by my blog Justin.
To both Justin and Jason… you’re welcome!
[...] the same way that Aimee Mann’s work has guided me towards a responsible undoing of my expectation/temptation to resolve songs, the cultural counterpart to this same thought also resonates with me. Despite having grown up [...]