It has been BUSY this past month with potential new jobs and a definite new place to live that we move into next week… funny how life creeps up on you all at once sometimes.
Tonight I get to see Frank Turner at the Danforth Music Hall and I am excited. I have never seen Turner live before and really only got turned onto him a couple of years ago. Having missed him at the Horseshoe almost exactly a year ago, tonight’s show has been a long time coming.
This post is not so much about him – that would be longer than I have time to write about right now – but rather about the lyrics of one of his lesser-played-on-the-radio songs, “I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous”.
This song is absolute genius to me. When I first heard this a few years ago I listened to it non-stop and watched the video over and over as well. This song is music about musicians and, like books about writers, or musicals about playwrights, or even movies about authors for that matter, art about art or artists is at the top of my list when it comes to subject matter.
Friends in bands (hmmm… “Friends In Bands” filed away as a potential future band name for myself… I can already picture the FIB logo in FBI font… yellow on dark blue… but I digress…) is a thing. Throughout my life I have had friends in bands and some have actually reached a modicum of success as well, breaking through the noise, earning airplay and playing to audiences mostly comprised of people I did not even know!
Prufrock brings me into Frank’s world and it makes me feel like I’m a part of his gang. The lyrics walk you through all his mates and the video shows them off in all their small-stage, pub-playing glory. The sense of nostalgia for a time and place I didn’t directly participate in (fauxstalgia?) that this song and video evoke is very strong: I watch this and I feel like I remember being in my 20’s in England.
The lyrics only get better from there when Turner takes the stage. If you don’t know the song, have a listen before I say any more.
I STILL get goose bumps at this verse towards the end… the crescendo, the emotion, the meaning and the simplicity… it’s definitely in my top five lyrics of all time:
Life is about love, last minutes and lost evenings,
about fire in our bellies and furtive little feelings,
and the aching amplitudes that set our needles all a-flickering,
and help us with remembering that the only thing that’s left to do is live
And then…
And then…
I know… I don’t even want to say it… don’t even want to type it or admit it about a song I love so much…
And then, the last part of the song just thwumps down on your ears and it’s over.
Maybe it’s a simple call to drink (which I am all in favour for in song) and embracing the simple life over fame and fortune, or maybe the form is meant to embody the spirit of the song itself, telling of those who are just on the cusp of being great but never quite really make it… whatever the reason, the song just dies in the last few bars and therein lies my frustration.
This is a great song that makes you care about the characters, that easily and simply brings you into their world, building and creating expectations for greatness, only to deflate it all in an ending that is just too simple.
The fact that I firmly believe this ending needs to be rewritten while at the same time counting the song amongst my favourite songs of the last few years shows how strong the rest of the song is.
Hoping it makes the setlist tonight and yes, from what I’ve read about Turner live, I’ll probably get sucked into a sense of community and sing along proudly that we should all get another round in at the bar, but that still won’t mean I think it’s a good ending.
Or maybe, after seeing him live, I’ll be the one to change my tune.
Further Reading – The Meanings Behind The Lyrics
I love the genius behind genius.com. Check out this post on the song and click on the lyrics to get all the references; particularly helpful and interesting as Frank sings through the list of all his friends to get their back stories as well.