distributedlife

The way you’re bathed in light reminds me of that night God laid me down into your rose garden of trust. And I was swept away with nothing left to say. Some helpless fool yet I was lost, in a swoon of peace you’re all I need to find. So when the time is right. Come to me sweetly, come to me.

Those are the intro lyrics from The Dolphin’s Cry[1] by Live and part of the reason why I like Live. The rhythmic lyrics flow off the tongue. They are not the best lyrics by Live, but the best to use as an opening paragraph.

After that verse they go on about water, life, religion and fish. Mainly fish and water which may be excused when the song is called The Dolphin’s Cry but it is a trend that can be experienced by listening to the Live catalogue in chronological order.

It’s no secret that I like Live, I would not be writing about them if I didn’t, but each album gets happier and happier. Perhaps because I like the Secret Samadhi album the most and it is the darkest. I like happy songs and am not some angst filled melancholic vampire living in a cellar who can only live vicariously through the haunting dirges of others. Happy songs can easily be shallow[2] while people who experience chronic depression get so into their depression they know every nook and cranny. This allows them to write about it so exquisitely. It could also be that the range of words English has for positive emotions is fewer than the available words for negative emotions. Someone should look that up.

All bands change over time and whether or not I follow them in their path is irrelevant. I prefer their earlier work and this is what I intend to talk about. The Distance to Here is the album that contains The Dolphin’s Cry and is the last album the produced that I like most of the songs off.

Secret Samadhi is my favourite. It has a dark feel and a hectic scattering of great and poor lyrics. It all holds together though. Some of the best songs are Graze, Ghost, Century, Freaks and Lakini’s Juice. Turn My Head, which was the song that made me fall in love with Secret Samadhi in the first place. I nearly wrote this piece about Turn My Head but in the end a different song won out. I’ll get to White, Discussion later.

I loved Turn My Head because I could never quite work out what it was about. If you know me and my competitive nature I love and respect a challenge. Obtuse lyrics won’t get you in the door. I care little for Octopuses Garden. At this point I think that is about someone who uses her beauty, is worshipped and eventually falls as she succumbs to her own delusional power. I could be wrong though.

The first experience I ever had with Live was in high school. A friend had the album and he played it to me. Lightning Crashes got a great going over as it was the single at the time, as did Iris and a few other of the singles. I remember hearing the Dam at Otter Creek and being quietly blown away. I loved that song from the moment I heard it. It was everything I loved in a song. Excellent progression, lots of drums and energy.

For some reason The Dam at Otter Creek wasn’t one of my friend’s favourites, or even liked. I remember the album always started at track 2. I should have ended up an angsty teenage vampire. I remembered it though and later replaced everyone’s albums with copies that would play The Dam at Otter Creek on all tracks. Just Kidding, I kept it close until many years later I got a copy of the album. The first thing I did was put on that song and crank it.

Loud.

Before I had a chance to love that song I loved Pillars of Davidson. I don’t know what it is about the longer songs but four minutes isn’t enough time to save the world and it’s not enough time for most songs. Longer songs don’t win at parties though. Everyone wants a turn on the jukebox and Freebird isn’t going to get a show in. The best part about Pillars of Davidson is the finale where the chorus comes in and we all sing along. It’s like Hey Jude but more complicated because there are lyrics.

So once again I had to secret my favourite songs away from society. Keeping them locked in a cave away where none one can hear, my Precious.

Other notables for me, from that album, are T.B.D. and White, Discussion. Both of which are not on the short list. T.B.D is only four and a half minutes long but is such a chilled track at the start that most people move on, while White, Discussion is loud, distorted and angry.

A common theme amongst the Live tracks on the album I liked is that they started slowly or softly and built up to energetic crescendo. A progression is always good and a strong ending worthwhile. It also means that once you get into the rhythm you can go nuts to finish it off.

White, Discussion was always the lesser of favourites for many years. Until I saw Live play in Canberra in 2003. They played a version of White, Discussion that went on forever and then some. Six minutes became ten. The drums kept coming and the guitars got louder and more adventurous. Ed Kowalcyzk just screamed louder until there was nothing else to hear except the distortion of guitars resting against amplifiers. It was phenomenal.

It was the same experience I had with Reptile and Nine Inch Nails. A song that was good became unbelievable. I’ve never heard that version since but each time I put on White, Discussion I go back to the concert and remember the song how it was once. Not once was, but was once.