DREIUNDDREISSIG

A good number for Frank Turner – whohow.  He’s an English folk-/punk-singer-songwriter, ex-million dead singer and has released 4 albums so far, each of which is brilliant in itself:

Sleep is for the Week (2007)

Love Ire & Song (2008)

Poetry of the Deed (2009)  

England keep my Bones (2011)

In short: catchy, sing-along tunes as well as sad, emotional songs  and choice lyrics which convey feelings, topics and questions anyone in the process of growing up (whatever that means) is concerned with at some point, I guess.  And all of that with a pinch of irony, and heaps of heart-felt fun. Plus he seems a really really nice guy.

The best way to get a real impression is to go see him live. So far he’s the most honest, down-to-earth singer I have ever seen, and I believe he is thoroughly enjoying his shows and not pretending any of this. And that’s what sparks the audience…Awesome! And there's a good chance he'll be playing a show somewhere close by - solo or with his band, The Sleeping Souls - He's doing more than a hundred gigs a year and literally constantly touring the world.

But let Mr Turner speak for himself – a short collection of my favourite songs - and lyrics. I tried to boil it down, but that turned out difficult - just as difficult as trying to write a feature as announced, that's why I chose this approach. ;)

Topics, Life and Stuff

“I'm young enough to be all pissed off
But I'm old enough to be jaded.
I'm of the age where I want things to change
But with age my hopes have faded.
I'm young and bored of being young and bored -
If I was old I could say I'd seen it all before.
In short, I'm tired, and in short I'm probably fired.
If the revolution doesn't want me I don't give a shit.”

(Once We Were Anarchists)

 

“I'm not as awesome as this song makes out
I'm angry, underweight and sketching out
I'm building bonfires on my vanities and doubts
To get warm just like everybody else

So why are you sat at home?
You're not designed to be alone
You just got used to saying "no"
So get up and get down and get outside”

(Reasons not to be an Idiot)

 

“None of this is going anywhere -
Pretty soon we'll all be old,
And no one left alive will really care
About our glory days, when we sold our souls.

But if you're all about the destination, then take a fucking flight.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell,
But we'll have all the best stories to tell.”

(The Ballad Of Me And My Friends)

 
“Well I guess I should confess that I am starting to get old
All the latest music fads all passed me by and left me cold
All the kids are talking slang I won't pretend to understand
All my friends are getting married, mortgages and pension plans
And it's obvious my angry adolescent days are done
And I'm happy and I'm settled in the person I've become
But that doesn't mean I'm settled up and sitting out the game
Time may change a lot but some things may stay the same

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up"

(Photosynthesis)

 

"Well a teacher of mine once told me
That life was just a list of disappoints and defeats
And you could only do your best,
And I said "That's a fucking cop-out, you're just washed up and your tired, and when I get to your age I won't be such a coward"
But these day I sit at home, known to shout at my TV
And Punk Rock didn't live up to what I hoped that it could be
And all the things that I believed with all my heart when I was young
Are just coasters for beers and clean surfaces for drugs
And I packed all my panflets with my bibles at the back of the shelf
[…] Oh but once we were young, and we were crass enough to care
But I guess you live and learn, we won't make that mistake again, no
Oh but surely just for one day, we could fight and we could win
And if only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible

[…] Let's be heroes, let's be martyrs, let's be radical thinkers
Who never have to test drive the least of their dreams."

(Love Ire And Song)

“So to the heart, to the heart, there's no time for you to waste,
and you won't find your precious answers by staying in one place,
by giving up the chase.
I face the horizon, everywhere I go.
I face the horizon, the horizon is my home”

(The Road)

 “And here's what we believe: before we get bored, let's be inspired,
let's ignore the applause and set the theatre on fire,
fight every war like the drunks in the choir,
put our art where our mouths are: Poetry of the deed.
So enough with words and technical theses,
let's grab life by the throat and live it to pieces.
We can choose, we can change,
and if we don't, we're just afraid of living life
like we're loved and in love and alive
to all the things we could be if we just believed
that life is too short to be lived without poetry.”

(Poetry Of The Deed)

“It's clear we're getting older and it shows.
Work weeks make us weary now and school's a distant memory
and it's easy to ask questions of ourselves, like:
where it is we're going now and what we have to show for all the sunny days
shut up in the shells of expectations of our ultimate directions,
and the stations that we should have reached by now,
when we haven't read the script and our tender wings are clipped,
and we're scared we might be letting someone down.
So we listen to these heartbreak songs when nothing's really wrong,
and we smile when we're asked and say we're fine.
But we're drifting through our middle days,
creeping into middle age, setting in our ways...”

(Dan's Song)

Failed relationships and shit

"I'll only ever have myself to blame
These failures shift and save me in the night
Like a fever I can't break try as I might
Wake me darling I need you take me home
But I know in the end redemption is mine and mine alone
So if each of us is made of a tally of mistakes and successes
Then the hour in the restaurant makes my score less than impressive
If each can be redeemed with the courage by which he confesses
So darling I miss you, your music and your musk and your kisses
I don't think I can do this..."

(Redemption)
 

I never know which song I should play her -
Each melody is a memory of a not-forgotten failure.
So when I get out my guitar tonight to do what I do,
Remember, I probably didn't write this song,
No I certainly didn't write this song,
No I never, never wrote a song for you."

(Romantic Fatigue)

 

"You say “Worse things happen at sea”,
I say “Worse things have happened to me”.
Bitter eyes to the bedroom floor -
And we're not going to talk anymore,
We've got nothing to talk for,
And you've got nothing to be sorry for.
And I've got no one to care for.

This is the worst thing that's happened to me.
I guess worse things happen at sea." (speedy, angry version)
 

And my all-time favourite, if the walls feel like closing in:

“I keep having dreams of things I need to do
And waking up but not following through
But it feels like I haven't slept at all
When I wake to a silence and she's facing the wall
Posters of Dylan and of Hemingway
An antique compass for a sailor's escape
She says you just can't live this way
And I close my eyes and I never say
I'm still having dreams

And on the worst days
When it feels like life weighs ten thousand tons
I sleep with my passport
One eye on the back door
So I can always run
I can get up, shower, and in half an hour I'll be gone..." (I am disappeared)

And some positive outlook

"And I still believe (I still believe) in the sound,
That has the power to raise a temple and tear it down.
And I still believe (I still believe) in the need,
For guitars and drums and desperate poetry.
And I still believe (I still believe) that everyone,
Can find a song for every time they've lost and every time they've won.
So just remember folks we not just saving lives, we're saving souls,
And we're having fun.
And I still believe.

Now who'd have thought that after all,
Something as simple as rock 'n' roll would save us all."

 

“Because we write love songs in C, we do politics in G,
we sing songs about our friends in E minor.
So tear down the stars now and take up your guitars:
come on folks and try this at home.”

(Try This At Home)

To sum it up:

"It doesn't matter where you come from,
It matters where you go
No-one gets remembered
For the things they didn't do."
(Peggy sang the Blues)

SIEBNEINHALB

As announced, something else: It's still not the Frank Turner feature which I haven't gotten round to just yet, but as usual, FT has written some lyrics that fit today's entry: I face the horizon everywhere that I go - I face the horizon, the horizon is my home (the road)

Being somewhat stuck here with my job, I don't get to travel as much as I'd like to, but I have just come across a beautiful homepage that soothes some of that longing.
veoelmundo means 'I see the world' in Spanish and shows fantastic travel photos, one picture a day, and I really like the idea of getting a glimpse of faraway places once a day. Also, the pictures are really good, as far as I can tell. Today, it'S Morocco, and the vibrant colours make me look forward to Istanbul in May. I admire people who have the guts to start something new, like the guy who started the website and apparently left his job as a lawyer in Australia to spend his time travelling and taking pictures. So...It's not all about music!

VIER

Feeling a bit under pressure! Haven’t come across anything new and good recently. As much as I dislike the fact that I have to work, I always enjoy the time it takes me to drive to school. The joys of commuting – I really love driving my car ( I haven't got an electronic donkey yet) and listening to music.

After reading about their gig at the Haldern Pop bar last weekend, I checked out You say France & I Whistle – nice enough and I imagine seeing them live is heaps of fun, but to me they sound too much like Los Campesinos. Which in itself is not bad if you feel like jumping around to shrill female (and male) vocals, staccato guitars, electronic noise and musical bling-bling in the background. Don’t let song titles like ‘When lovers die’ mislead you – a lot of feel good party potential there.

Speaking of song titles, I’m also not too happy about the lyrics. It’s a Swedish indie band, and maybe I am prejudiced in some way ever since Friska Viljor spilled out some horrible lyrics, but but lines like ‘ I always want to fuck ‘cause there’s nothing wrong with my potency’ (Prom Queens) really turn me off. Even though songs like OMG prove that most of it is probably meant ironically. I like listening to songs that tell a story, have a message, deeper meaning. That’s why I find it difficult to listen to something that makes me want to pull my hair out.

Now, You say France & I Whistle’s happy tunes certainly relieve a lot of tension, and some exceptions to the rule like ‘Second thoughts’ are quite enjoyable. I don’t know why they just don’t sound right to me. Must have something to do with the fact that their music doesn’t seem to stick. And that it's not that original in terms of genre, Los Campesinos did quite a good job there already. Maybe it's also related to the time of year, I'll doublecheck soon, once winter is over.

Until then I keep listening to the brilliant Frank Turner to cheer me up. And beware, I am planning on doing a huge feature of him some time soon!

PS: If you have a spare ticket to one of their shows, I wouldn't mind seeing them live, tho!