OUGD603 - Secret 7 - Initial song research

The first stage in the research part of my design process is to look into the songs and their meanings. As I will be looking into all the songs and decided within the brief that my final outcome will be conceptual, this initial research must be thorough.

The Clash - I'm not down

Written by Mick Jones (guitarist)

Autobiographical, was written after Jones was depressed in late 1978 to early 1979. 

Describes a narrator who is having a rough time but puts on a brave face, facing life head on.

Jones describes an incident in 1978 where he was attacked by a gang of rockers: "I did not run, I was not done"

At it's live debut at Notre Dame Hall in 1979 singer Joe Strummer jokingly said to the audience: "I hope no one is contemplating suicide"

The Clash were a punk rock band formed in London in 1976. They employed elements of a variety of genres including reggae, dub, funk, ska and rockability.

Other names include

The 101'ers, London SS, Weak Heartdrops and Psychotic Negatives.

The lyrics of the song are as follows:

If it's true that a rich man leads a sad life
N' that's what they from day to day
Then what do all the poor do with their lives?
Have nothing to say on judgment day?

I've been beat up, I've been thrown out
But I'm not down, I'm not down
I've been shown up, but I've grown up
And I'm not down, I'm not down

On my own I faced a gang of jeering in strange streets
When my nerves were pumping and I
Fought my fear in, I did not run
I was not done

I've been beat up, I've been thrown out
But I'm not down, I'm not down
I've been shown up, but I've grown up
And I'm not down, I'm not down

And I have lived that kind of day
When one of your sorrows will go away
It goes down and down and hit the floor
Down and down and down some more
Depression
But I now there'll be some way
When I can swing everything back my way
Like skyscrapers rising up
Floor by floor, I'm not giving up

So you rock around and think that
You're the toughest
In the world, the whole wide world
But you're streets away from where
It gets the roughest
You ain't been there

I've been beat up, I've been thrown out
But I'm not down, I'm not down
I've been shown up, but I've grown up
And I'm not down, I'm not down

I'm not down, I'm not down
I'm not down, I'm not down
I'm not down, I'm not down
I'm not down, I'm not down

related imagery

London Grammar - help

From Northampton.

Members are Hannah, Daniel and Dot

Known as a polite band, they formed in 2009 and are from London.

London Grammar's music has been described as "a blend of ambient, ethereal and classical sounds" with melancholy guitar, soaring vocals, and plaintive lyrics. Hannah Reid's powerful, haunting vocals, prominent on all of London Grammar's tracks released to date, are often compared to those of Judie Tzuke and Florence Welch. The songs are a collaborative effort as Reid explains: "I write the lyrics and the top lines. But the songs initiate from all three of us. Dot will write a piano part or a music score. Dan will add some guitars." She describes the songs as "emotionally affected" and said that she "writes about people who come in and out of my life."

Hannah suffers from severe stage fright which is well publicised.

Lyrics:

Here we won't find treason heart
Help
Quiet, he sleeps with anything but love
Help, help
We need him to stay between us
And do you really understand?

[Chorus 1]
Help
Can you help?
Help, help

[Verse 2]
Perfectly align to future's hour
Evidence he couldn't stay between us
Help, help
Black paint on a white canvas arm
Imprints of the words you chose to say

[Chorus 2]
Help
Can you help?
Darling, can you help?
Darling, can you, can you help?

Jimi Hendrix - Castles made of sand

Jimi Hendrix was a rock musician whose career spanned only four years lasting till his early death aged 27 in 1970. Because of this, he is part of the infamous 27 club, of whom famous members died aged 27.

He was born in 1942 and started playing guitar aged 15.

He is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century.

Although Hendrix was born in Seattle, he Lived much of his later life in London.

At one point, Hendrix lived in a London apartment next to which once lived composer George Frideric Handel.

The Jimi Hendrix experience split up in 1969. By this point Hendrix was the world's highest paid musician.

One of his greatest performances was at Woodstock in 1969 where he headlined and played in front of an audience of 400,000 at it's peak. This was described by The New York Times as "the most electrifying moment of Woodstock, and it was probably the single greatest moment of the sixties". Photos of Hendrix at this performance wearing a blue-beaded white leather jacket with fringe, a red head-scarf, and blue jeans are widely regarded as iconic pictures that capture a defining moment of the era.

Meaning behind the song

The ballade that can easily be mistaken for a prehistoric rap precursor, a very personal biographical song, using the change of seasons as a metaphor for (his own) life changes.

Hendrix rarely talked about his past and avoided talking about it in press conferences and interviews. However, this is one of Hendrix' most personal and autobiographical songs. He shows this by paying all of the guitar lead backwards. He then rewound the recording of the lead guitar parts to the song to get the effect heard at the beginning and the middle of the song.

The lyrics of this poem are spoken like a poem rather than sung.

Hendrix' mother was a native American; he identifies his Cherokee Indian heritage within this song.

Lyrics:

Down the street you can hear her scream "you're a disgrace"
As she slams the door in his drunken face,
And now he stands outside
And all the neighbours start to gossip and drool

He cries "Oh girl, you must be mad,
What happened to the sweet love you and me had?"
Against the door he leans and starts a scene,
And his tears fall and burn the garden green

And so castles made of sand,
Fall in the sea, eventually

A little Indian brave who before he was ten,
Played war games in the woods with his Indian friends,
And he built a dream that when he grew up,
He would be a fearless warrior Indian Chief

Many moons passed and more the dream grew stronger,
Until tomorrow, he would sing his first war song,
And fight his first battle, but something went wrong,
Surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night

And so castles made of sand,
Melts into the sea, eventually

There was a young girl, whose heart was a frown,
'Cause she was crippled for life, and she couldn't speak a sound
And she wished and prayed she could stop living,
So she decided to die

She drew her wheel chair to the edge of the shore, and to her legs she smiled
"You won't hurt me no more"
But then a sight she'd never seen made her jump and say
"Look, a golden winged ship is passing my way"
And it really didn't have to stop, it just kept on going

And so castles made of sand
Slips into the sea, eventually

Manic Street Preachers - No surface all feeling

The Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh rock band formed in 1986 in Blackwood, Caerphilly. The band's tracks were a combination of political and personal lyrics. They often implicated a connection between global capitalism and personal struggle, referring to guitarist Richie James' struggle with overdrafts and eventual debt.

Lyrics

Embarrassed, possessed and so uncivilised 
Just take a look at the whites of my eyes 
See me now and I will apologise 
For me for you we knew they were lies

It makes me angry ashamed but really alive 
It may have worked but at what price 
What's the point in always looking back 
When all you see is more and more junk

It was no surface but all feeling 
Maybe at the time it felt like dreaming

Maybe richer maybe wiser 
Seems so easy to not go too far 
Beg me to stop hate my face I know 
Tell me forever just to go

Just one thing before I get to sleep 
Nothing here but the stains on my teeth 
No not blood just liquid from you 
I only wish it was the truth

Feel the guilt of a sinner feel the cold of a winter 
It was no surface but all feeling 
Maybe at the time it felt like dreaming

Song Meaning

The bands lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richie Edwards disappeared in 1995 aged 27, which also makes him a member of the 27 club. This song is a final dirge/lullabye to Edwards, this self-examination of what it all meant is heartfelt and sincere. There can be no greater love than one that is all feeling, no surface.

Part of the song's rhythm guitar was recorded by Edwards before his disappearance however it was only the second time that Edwards' guitar-work was present on a Manic Street Preachers recorded track.

The working title of the album was Sounds in the Grass, named after a series of paintings by Jackson Pollock however later changed to Everything Must Go taking its name from a play by one of the members' brothers.

In another track on the album, lyrics by Edwards can be interpreted as an exploration of his mental state before his disappearance; the line "Here chewing your tail is joy" for instance may be as much about Richey's self-harm as it is the tormented self-injury of zoo animals.

Primal Scream

Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie. 

The album from which the song is taken moved away from the band's early indie rock sound, drawing inspiration from the house music and acid house music scene (and associated drugs such as LSD and MDMA).

The album cover was painted by Creation Records in house artist Paul Cannell who took inspiration from a damp water spot he'd seen on the Creation Records offices ceiling after taking LSD.

Lyrics

Sweet summer days
When I was feeling so fine
Just you and me girl
Was a beautiful time
Oh yeah
Said I felt so happy
My my my

I was through with doubt and pain
All the love I felt hadn't been in vain
Got damaged
I got damaged
I got damaged
I lost myself in you
I'd wake up beside you
You'd hold me in your arms
Nothing and nobody's gonna do me
Any harm oh yeah
Said I felt so happy
My my my

And the way I felt inside
Made me feel so glad to be alive
Got damaged
I got damaged
I got damaged
I lost myself in you

Do do doo
I'd never felt so happy
Do do doo
I'd never felt so happy
Do do doo
I'd never felt so happy
I'll never feel that way again
No, no, no, no, no, no 
My my my
People can be precious
But they ain't for keeping
I got too possessive
But souls ain't for stealing
You were my addiction
I got strung out and crazy
Hit me like a fever
When you left me baby

Stone, stone, stone in love with you
I was stone, stone, stone in love with you
I was stone, stone, stone in love with you
I was stone, stone, stone in love with you 

Related Imagery

Jeff Buckley - Lover, you should've come over

Inspired by the ending of the relationship between Buckley and Rebecca Moore it concerns the despondency of a young man growing older, finding that his actions represent a perspective he feels that he should have outgrown.

This song is full of longing and regret. It’s about losing someone because of foolish mistakes you’ve made, and when all is said and done, still loving that one person. It’s the loneliness one feels now that that person is gone wanting them and not being able to sleep because you can’t stop thinking about him/her. “Lover, you should’ve come over” is his way of telling her that he’ll be waiting.

The songs lyrics have been described as being "confused and confusing" and the music as "a languid beauty."

Lyrics

Looking out the door
I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners
Parading in a wake of sad relations
As their shoes fill up with water
Maybe I'm too young
To keep good love from going wrong
But tonight you're on my mind so
You'll never know

Broken down and hungry for your love
With no way to feed it
Where are you tonight?
Child, you know how much I need it.
Too young to hold on
And too old to just break free and run
Sometimes a man gets carried away,
When he feels like he should be having his fun
Much too blind to see the damage he's done
Sometimes a man must awake to find that, really,
He has no one

So I'll wait for you and I'll burn
Will I ever see your sweet return,
Or, will I ever learn?
Lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late.

Lonely is the room the bed is made
The open window lets the rain in
Burning in the corner is the only one
Who dreams he had you with him
My body turns and yearns for a sleep
That won't ever come

It's never over,
My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
It's never over, all my riches for her smiles
When I slept so soft against her
It's never over,
All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
It's never over,
She is the tear that hangs inside my soul forever
But maybe I'm just too young,
To keep good love from going wrong
Oh lover, you should've come over, yeah yeah yes

I feel too young to hold on
I'm much too old to break free and run
Too deaf, dumb, and blind
To see the damage I've done
Sweet lover, you should've come over
Oh, love I've waited for you
Lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late

Eurythmics - I saved the world today

Eurythmics are lead by Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart who left the band The Tourists in 1980. They went on to achieve international success after pursuing their career as a duo.

This song has been described as follows:

"It's a devastating sad song about depression, which fits with Annie Lennox's own self-confessed history of depression and matches a lot of her other 90's/00's pessimistic lyrical themes."The World" is actually "HER World"--herself, she means: she held herself together, made it through another day. As if she feels so hopeless that the burden of just getting through a day in life is so great, it feels like a task as heavy as saving the whole world. "I Saved The World Today" is almost saying "Well, I managed to not commit suicide--today, at least."...I believe the charity/"save the world" angle some see in this song is wrong: she merely MENTIONS that in a world full of hungry people, she has everything she should require, BUT she is still miserable inside."

Lyrics

Monday finds you like a bomb
That's been left ticking there too long
You're bleeding
Some days there's nothing left to learn
From the point of no return
You're leaving

Hey Hey I saved the world today
Everybody's happy now
The bad thing's gone away
And everybody's happy now
The good thing's here to stay
Please let it stay

There's a million mouths to feed
And I've got everything I need
I'm breathing
And there's a hurting thing inside
But I've got everything to hide
I'm grieving

Hey Hey I saved the world today
Everybody's happy now
The bad thing's gone away
And everybody's happy now
The good thing's here to stay
Please let it stay

Let it stay
Let it stay
Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo the good thing

Next I will research album covers and past submissions to Secret 7 to help influence what I will create for this brief.