Riding the Runaway Train: Appreciation of Soul Asylum

I like Soul Asylum. Like many 90s bands, they had a moment to shine and quickly faded away with only hardcore fans following. But Soul Asylum deserved better.

David Pirner, vocalist and primary lyricist, is very underrated especially when it comes to song writing. I know this may see blasphemous to many fans of 90s rock, but Pirner rivals Kurt Cobain in song writing talent. There is strong emotion in Soul Asylum's songs. Pirner brings angst, sorrow, pain and even the occasional glimmer of hope in his lyrics. Let's not even focus on the band's mega-hit, "Runaway Train". How about we take a look at some of the less popular songs.

Consider "Black Gold" for a moment. Pirner approached the issue of racism with a poetic quality that wasn't in your face or abrasive. That in itself made the song stand out even more. The band's "Just Like Anyone" might be one of their lyrical best. The metaphor of using an outhouse as you fantasize about being just like everyone else is genius. And when you consider the contrasting lyrics Pirner added about people who are just like everyone else, trying to be not like everyone else, this definitely comes out as one of Soul Asylum's best. (Claire Danes was in the video, which didn't hurt things either.) "I Will Still Be Laughing" to me is kind of a middle finger song. I'm not going to tell you how you should interpret the lyrics, but I see it as a song that says, "despite the bullshit and the struggles and people trying to put you down, just keep fucking laughing". I know that approach may be hard to do sometimes, but it's worth a shot, right?

Soul Asylum had a big time celebrity fan in film director Kevin Smith. The band provided music for Smith's films Clerks, Clerks II and Chasing Amy. Pirner wrote the score for Chasing Amy.

Soul Asylum also did something noble with the video for "Runaway Train". They placed pictures of missing children in the video with a hotline to call if you believed you had seen any of them. They also shot separate versions for the UK and Australia. In several cases, children and parents were reunited. In others, there was not a happy ending, but closure was brought to the families.

David Pirner himself looks like a cross between Kurt Cobain and Axl Rose. His vocals were also typical of that time period. I'm not mentioning this to slam him or take away from how under-appreciated Soul Asylum was an on overall basis. Sure, Grave Dancer's Union went triple platinum, but why the drop off in sales afterwards? They were just as good on each album following. The loyal fans know just how good they were though. That's all that really matters.

Thanks to you all for reading. I have a list of music related entries I want to write so expect more of that in the weeks to come. Until the next time, if you cannot be a poet, be the poem.


"Like" my page: www.facebook.com/JTLovecraft
Follow me on Twitter: @JTLovecraft

Grammy Screwjobs -- Joan Osborne

One of the biggest screwjobs in Grammy Awards history is Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill winning the award over Joan Osborne's far superior Relish. I have always believed Pill to be nothing more than an average album. It contains a total of one great song and two good songs. There are plenty of average songs and one totally awful song. It did not deserve to win the Best Album Grammy.

Let's start with the one great song on Jagged Little Pill. That would be the grrl break-up anthem, "You Oughta Know". (Never mind it was inspired by her breakup with Dave "Uncle Joey" Coulier.) If the majority of the album was songs with the same angst and attitude as "You Oughta Know", I wouldn't be writing this entry. The second best song on the album is "Hand In My Pocket" and it is a big drop-off from "Oughta". Yes, "Hand" is catchy. That is wonderful for radio and karaoke. Sure, there is a listener connection to the lyrics. I'm sure that hasn't been done before. So why did millions of people get super excited about this album?

OK, so let's talk about the awful song on Jagged Little Pill. That would be the track "Ironic". Why is it awful? Because it doesn't have a fucking thing to do with irony! It's about really shitty luck! Why did no one point this out to Alanis? Or was it just assumed most Americans were too dumb to realize this? Nevertheless, it's an awful song, but yet became the biggest hit of Morissette's career.

Joan Osborne's album Relish could not be more different that Morissette's. It is stronger lyrically and far more musically diverse. Where Alanis relied on Glen Ballard produced grrl-pop, Joan Osborne dives into an album filled with a mix of blues, folk and alterna-country. Her song-writing, primarily partnered with Eric Brazillian, is also superior to the Morissette-Ballard team.

"St. Teresa", Relish's opening track is a dark and sorrow driven song fueled by folky-blues. It is one of the album's strongest tracks, especially from a musical standpoint. The song was also denounced by the Catholic Church for being a veiled invitation for fans to volunteer at Planned Parenthood. Take that with a grain of salt, if you will.

Joan also does something ballsy and covers Bob Dylan's "The Man in the Long Black Coat". The amazing thing here is, it works beautifully. Joan captures Bob Dylan's emotion but not in the raw sense Dylan did with the original. She captures in a spiritual way and by doing so, brings vivid visualization to the lyrics.

The alterna-country appears in full form on the track "Right Hand Man". It's not one of the album's strongest tracks, but it is able to bring forth an explosion of bold sexuality without being crass or vulgar. The song "Let's Just Get Naked" does the opposite of "Right Hand Man". It takes a title most people would expect to follow with sexual lyrics and instead extends a plea for honesty and openness. It's a clever and song and one of my favorites. Lyrically, "Naked" may be the best writing on the album.

Osborne achieved mainstream exposure with the mega-hit "One of Us" which asks bold questions about faith and God. Joan angered Christians of all denominations with the song because apparently we aren't supposed to ask provocative questions about God. Musically, "One of Us" is more pop than anything else, but it is the song which made her a star in the mid 90's. The song "Lumina" was featured in two popular television shows, the pilot episode of The Sopranos and also on an episode of The Good Wife.

I'm not sure how the Grammy voters arrived at their decision to vote for Jagged Little Pill over Relish, but they made the wrong decision. Next time you are at a used CD store, look though the bargain bin for Relish. It's an album far too many people wrote off and ignored. If you find it, buy it. If you buy it, listen to it repeatedly. You won't be sorry that you did.


Until next time, if you cannot be a poet, be the poem.
@JTLovecraft