21 Mar 2008, 20:48
Subject:
Grandaddy -
He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot (
The Sophtware Slump, 2000)
"The Sophtware Slump" as an album will always be a classic. I was thinking to myself where it would be without this one song? Still a classic, but further down on the list of classics perhaps?
This song reminds me of long bus drives, not only is it perfect for it, but I've had my share of those with this exact song streaming through my ears. While the song builds up I get closer to my arrival, and the scenery buzzing before my eyes fits perfectly with the shifts in tone, speed, and atmosphere.
It's epic, not only because of it's length (close to 9 minutes), but in the way it all happens throughout the song. From the simple strumming in the beginning where you can hear a gentle bird in the background, to the part where it speeds up, to come down to the slow pace where it stays until the end.
There's something grandiose about it all. Like the world is coming to an end, and this is the last song. Or - the world is coming to an end, and we don't know yet if this will be the last song. Layer upon layer, it builds up to something you know will arrive, but you're not quite sure when (even if you've heard it a thousand times before).
As an album opener it sets the theme, which in this case is some sort of future prophecy. "The Sophtware Slump" was by some labeled as the American "OK Computer". Grandaddy however took the spacy route. For me it's not so much about the meaning in this one, it's more about how it's all carried out.
Taken from
my blog.