If you're frightened by the strength of genteel words, how about a plain ol' unpretentious pop song? "Jack the Ripper (in the Moulin Rouge)" may not sound like one, but it's got an up-tempo shuffle thing going, a pleasant vocal, and a hell of a chorus hook. I don't think anything I can say will prepare you for the weedle-wee synth that pops up here and there. Just listen to the interplay between the crunchy, bouncy guitar and the electronic piano. Enjoy it.
Click here for a full-quality flash player , or here for a low-bitrate MP3.
OK, so the lyrics are about murder, paranoia, sexual uncomfortability to the point of violence (Don't touch me, I'm a real live wire!), and the shattering of the illusion of civilization ("Are we dreaming? No we're not, I know because I'm here."). The title character (well, just like Jack the Ripper, not the man himself) is presented with a great deal of sympathy. The failure to specify what was done is effective - a decent horror film doesn't show the villain.
Nevertheless! It's still a great pop song. I'd love to hear it on the radio, even if just once. God, those ersatz-Beatles backing vocals.
(N.B. Besides Seducing Down the Door, this song appeared on the IRS compilation These People Are Nuts! They meant it.)
Monday, June 11, 2007
Jack the Ripper
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3 comments:
Musically, it's a triumph of tones, isn't it? The Beatlesque vox, the opening riff (is that an electric guitar, or a distorted harpsichord?), the floaty electric piano, even that squiggly synth; the tone is plit, almost but not quite in perfect octaves, giving it a free reed quality—an accordion, to wit, for that Parisian ambience.
And the drummer really shines on this one—endlessly inventive fills on the stop-time bits.
The liner notes on SDDT say the record company spiked this one because they thought it sounded too much like the Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon." I dunno bout that: but it sounds like something. I can't quite place it, though. Maybe it's just one of those instantly-familiar songs...
Now that you mention it... "triumph of tones" is a good way to put it! I wish I had more musical knowledge. (I don't know a lot about music, but I like what I know.) I wouldn't have thought to make the "free reed" observation, but I think I hear what you mean. Thanks for the assist.
I've long read and admired Alan W. Pollack's Notes on the Beatles, which was sort of the Ur-oeuvreblog, even if it was more academic and songcraft-oriented.
Jack the Ripper always sounded very familiar, but it doesn't sound anything like Sunny Afternoon to me.
Where's the Kinks oeuvreblog, anyway?
Oh, it's coming, I'm sure.
"Oeuvreblog" is a great word, BTW. Now that this phenomenon has a name, old-media attention is sure to follow!
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