But it's a fact that I'm the seventh son
Before I get into my Jack White concert report, I wanted to share this, from a review of Blunderbuss (in reference to “Weep Themselves To Sleep”):
The melody’s mostly monotonous, but Jack pumps it with gallons of swagger. The drums would make Meg White proud, the way they sucker-punch the groove. Jack’s solo slaughters, especially on headphones, ( Read more... )
The melody’s mostly monotonous, but Jack pumps it with gallons of swagger. The drums would make Meg White proud, the way they sucker-punch the groove. Jack’s solo slaughters, especially on headphones, ( Read more... )
(Also lol I had no idea that I could be butthurt over Jack White but apparently I can, because your note that someone called "We're Going To Be Friends" twee immediately got my hackles up. grrrr. GRRRR. *facepalm*)
OKAY SO. I am so fucking happy that you had such an amazing time, and I have to agree with desfinado - the way you write about music is so wonderful, and it makes me feel it so viscerally and also makes me want to immediately pull out my iPhone and listen to all of my White Stripes albums.
He really is just incredible, right? Like, he's one of those artists whose personal Stuff can be so potentially obnoxious and he's got SO MANY ISSUES and all that, but at the end of the day he creates unbelievable music and is a masterful performer. I haven't actually heard a lot of his non-White Stripes stuff yet, but just from the way all of those songs work I am so not at all surprised by everything you say about him. And his BAND and his devotion to the aesthetic and okay, I HAVE A COMPARISON THAT IS GOING TO SOUND TOTALLY CRAZY, ARE YOU READY?
it's like if you took a Gerard without a Mikeyway to tether him to the ground, like we talked about in another post, and combined him with a RayK who still can't quite get over Stella leaving and that not being his life anymore, but he doesn't have a Fraser yet. You know? Like, this is a dude who's clearly FUNCTIONAL, and actually is SO TALENTED that he springs my competency kink just by BREATHING, and can make incredible art, but there's something a little (A LOT) broken in his heart still, and he can talk about it and write about it (sometimes in ways that are not comfortable or even acceptable), but that doesn't mean he's not still COMPLETELY fucked up over it. You know? Like, he's the sort of performer who actually makes me GLAD that for most artists, I never pay close attention to their lyrics, at all. Because his ability to make me FEEL through his melodies and guitar work and just EVERYTHING is almost enough in and of itself, and I don't always needs his bullshit layered on top of it. (Not that it's all bullshit! But I don't love Seven Nation Army or The Hardest Button to Button for their lyrics, either.)
OKAY I HOPE THAT MADE SENSE.
I am so so glad that you got the opportunity to go, and no lie I was totally going to pitch in to make this happen too but by the time I got there it had ALREADY BEEN COVERED. Moral of the story: your friends love you a LOT, and I hope you have as wonderful a birthday this weekend as you did LAST weekend. <33333333333333333333333333333333333
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YES. SO MUCH YES. I could listen to you two ladies just ~explain things and your feelings ALLLLLL DAY. ♥_________________♥
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I had no idea that I could be butthurt over Jack White but apparently I can, because your note that someone called "We're Going To Be Friends" twee immediately got my hackles up. grrrr. GRRRR.
AHAHAHA IKR? ME TOO. To be fair, it was in the context of a review that was generally really positive, and Jack gets SUCH a high percentage of positive press--from professional reviews to YouTube comments--that I feel like I SHOULDN'T be butthurt? AND YET I AM. Heee. I mean, that dude is RULING rock music. And yet!
Anyway. I am so glad you enjoyed the recap! You know I LOVE LOVE LOVE your concert reports as well, and it is a great writing challenge to try to figure out how to express these things that are so primal and visceral--"talking about music is like dancing about architecture," etc.! :) So I'm always thrilled when they resonate for other people.
And I LOOOOOVE your thoughts and feelings on Jack, and of course I don't think you sound crazy AT ALL. I can totally see what you're saying, and I think that's a completely plausible way to read the situation. I think the reason I keep getting stuck on this is that I am sort of at this midway point about him where I like him enough to want to be totally wholeheartedly fannish about him in the way that I am about some of my other band people, but I keep running up against the bullshit (not all the time, obviously, just occasionally) and I like him so much that I want to be able to like him completely, you know? And there may be some sort of identification there, too, like I SERIOUSLY want Ray Kowalski to go to therapy, too (which does not make me love him any less, but seriously Kowalski, imprinting on a new partner does not count as therapy), and part of that is because I have those same confidence issues, so it gives me less patience with them, if that makes any sense? And I look at someone like Jack who is so MASSIVELY gifted--I loved what you said about how he springs your competency kink just by breathing, YES YES YES--and who's friends with fucking Bob Dylan and Jimmy Page, and I don't know his life, obviously, and I get the impression it was pretty rough for him in his young/young adult life, but dude. HE HAS A LOT OF GREAT THINGS GOING FOR HIM at this point, and the fact that he doesn't seem to be able to internalize that makes me really sad and a little angry. I mean, I get it, a lot of great artists are fucked up, but I want better for him. IDK. IT'S COMPLICATED. Heeee. I'm just so 90% on board with him that the fact that there's this 10% gap keeps tripping me up.
And I am usually TOTALLY a lyrics person, so again, it's unusual for me to be so THOROUGHLY, HELPLESSLY enamored of the music itself (and the emotion behind it/emotion that it evokes) and then get jarred out of it periodically by lyrics that are SMART but also sometimes BULLSHIT. I mean, the lyrics aren't the best part of The Hardest Button To Button, but they are CLEVER, in that sort of conversational style that Jack's really good at, so I still enjoy listening to them, weirdness and all.
THEN AGAIN, his emotional rawness is part of what makes him such a powerful performer, so there's a cathartic aspect to it, too, that obviously stems from him having all this shit going on. But I don't think that's NECESSARY--Gerard is living proof of that--and I do hope he can move past it someday. I just have such major philosophical issues with the idea that you have to be miserable in order to be a good artist that to be such a huge fan of someone who fits in the "miserable but brilliant artist" category is oddly frustrating for me, even though he brings me so much joy! Plus I actually LIKE him and want him to be happy just for its own sake. Ugh, this is so rambly, sorry, WE SHOULD JUST BE ABLE TO GO HAVE COFFEE AND DISCUSS THIS. <3
ANYWAY. It was a MIND-BLOWING experience, and thank you SO VERY MUCH for being willing to contribute to it--you are all so fantastic and I feel extremely lucky to have such wonderful friends. And I did have an excellent actual-birthday weekend, thank you, despite the sad lack of Jack White and desfinado. Heee. <3333333333333333333333333333333
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I'm nodding along to your discussion with mistresscurvy.
I want better for him, too.
It's frustrating.
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