Continued from Part 2 posted on the 9th.
On Husbands & Wives continues what Nation of Two started. A beautiful song about love that gives some of the best advice on love you can give: "Love is less what you say and more what you do." I think a lot of people talk the love talk before they're ready to walk the love walk. It's clear that Muse takes his love, his wedding vows very seriously. The examination that Muse gives us of love, of his love, is a beautiful gift. I feel incredibly lucky to find myself identifying with it.
With How To Fake Like You Are Nice and Caring, however, Muse shows a darker side. As a follower of his blog here on blogspot I'm very familiar with his spiritual journey out of christianity. This song, of all on the album seems to reflect that journey. I have to admit, this is probably my least favorite song on the album. There's one of those "dissenting into noise" rifts before a melody change in the middle of the songs, and while the harmonies are beautiful, I think there's a painfulness that inhabits the song that I don't quite understand. I never skip it, though. To say it's my least favorite does not mean I don't like it; it's simply less personal to me. "Is it such a sin to want to save our skin from the mess we've made that we made in faith?"
When I Am Empty Please Dispose of Me Properly is a beautiful instrumental interlude that while having no lyrics, speaks volumes to me. This is one of those pieces of music that belongs on a movie soundtrack. As a lead in to On Modern Men it is expressive and perfect. The latter song is probably one of the best songs the band does live. The song starts of slow and somber. It could almost be a prayer for a dying humanity to find a way. Then after nearly two minutes the tone changes, the tempo picks up, and there is transformation. The last time I saw Quiet Company in Concert the Rocket Boys joined them on stage to sing the chorus: "We have crawled from the water to the dry land and our hands are the dirtiest." Unfortunately I am incapable of describing properly the theatrical impact of the performance, or even of the continued impact on me every time I hear this song now. When I think of brotherhood- of human oneness, this is the theme song. "And they want you to take a bow. Everybody here's allowed one. So make it good, son."
The album is concluded with Congratulations April and Lucas, which is almost an Epitaph for the album. The tone and tempo are subdued, and the sound is slightly different from the rest of the album, with some electronic-muting sounds that I can't place. But the lyrics are totally in place: "I'm gonna count my bessings, I'm gonna count my sacred things, like the baby I caught smiling at me, or how my lady loves me effortlessly." If only we all had this in our hearts and never forgot it. As much as I see Taylor Muse in his blog struggle with the complexities of faith and righteous living in an unrighteous world, there is a calmness in this piece that I think everyone can relate to. Sometimes life is hard, but we must step back and take count of the beauty around us. Someone who three songs before was singing "I wish you'd climb down off that cross and burn it, if it's not doing any good we could use the wood" turns here to sing "Oh there must be a God somewhere in the universe, maybe looking after me."
I do not know the four men that make up Quiet Company personally, but I've found such solace and peace in their music that I cannot help but be grateful to them and to their art. Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon is the most important album in my life since Missy Higgins' Sound of White found me in 2005. You can listen to it online at http://quietcompany.bandcamp.com or you can just buy it at http://www.quietcompanymusic.com/store/. They can be followed on Twitter and play frequently in and around Austin, TX.
Check them out, I beg you. You'll thank me. This album changed my life in a totally non-hyperbolic way.
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awesome blog review of the album. I also love it.
ReplyDeleteI must be the only person who doesnt think On Modern Men is a 'somber' song at the beginning, though. I think of it more as a 'victory' song if you will, like the first part is intended to get people to fight for something, and the ending of the song is the ensuing 'riot'. Think of it in a Les Miserables (the musical) way, as the song that inspires everyone to revolt. I dont see it as somber at all, I see it as a rising up, a triumph of spirit, if you will. But thats just me.