I knew it was only a matter of time before my cousin asked me to review music, specifically a song, seeing as music is such a big part of his life. However, music is not a grand part of my life. In fact, I only started to get any use of my iPod for music since the end of January, which made me think that I should start to learn music very quickly. I started to think about how to listen to a song and what to do to appreciate a song for everything that it is, even if you don’t enjoy the music. The only real conclusion I came to was this: you need to listen to a song at least twice to fully understand it, if not three times. The first time you can brief over the song to figure out what to listen for next time you hear it. Then listen to it again and listen to the lyrics and understand the words and what they mean. Then listen to it one final time and listen to the music and the lyrics together and see how everything meshes together. If there are no lyrics, you need to listen to it the second and third time to understand the music because there is a lot going on with the music. Listen closely. With that in mind I sat down and prepared to listen to the song Montana by Frank Zappa and The Mothers.
I actually listened to this particular song four times in a row to better understand it. The first thing I heard was brass instruments blaring out into the world. It made me think of the beginning of spring, how the whole world is waking up from it slumber, or the announcing of a king, coming out to talk to his people. Then you hear a deep soothing voice talking to you. If you make a song, it is a very bold statement to speak your lyrics. Songs are a place for words to be sung. Anybody can talk with music behind them, so the music being played has to compensate for the lack of creativity of the words. The music has to match up with the words and embellish them and create a magical sense of its own all at the same time. It’s very difficult to pull off well, but this song does it. As I was listening, I tried to listen to the music behind the words, to block the words out and just listen to the music, but I couldn’t. The way it’s put together, I kept slipping of the music onto the words. It was all so smooth and it fit together so well, I couldn’t hear anything but everything. It was sort of like sledding, you have to fight so hard to go up the hill when it’s so much easier to go down, except in the song, I didn’t have to keep going back uphill. Then as quickly as it started, it was over. Despite the fact that it was a six and a half minute song, it seemed less.
I listened again. The second time through, I noticed all the same things, and then a few more. I realized that part of the reason I was forced to pay attention to the lyrics was the dynamics. They do a great job with dynamics. As soon as lyrics come in the song, everything else quiets down and the spotlight is on the words being spoken. The words themselves are strange though. From what I understand, it is a song about a man moving to Montana to raise dental floss to sell to the people in big cities. I won’t read into it any more than that because I’m terrible at English and I think the whole second meaning thing is b.s. but you can take of this what you will. Then the song progresses and it’s a little of a cat and mouse game with the music and the lyrics. It reminds me of the game red light green light, one starts, then stops and the other starts, but at the same time the transitions between the two are seamless, and I figured out why. They use their voices as instruments right at the borders and begin to sing at times, but other times just make noises. It works perfectly. Then when we get to the music, there’s a killer guitar solo, but I don’t feel qualified to pass judgment on what I thought was a work of art. When it’s all put together, I would say this song would be great for, but is not limited to, a pothead who just wanted to chill out, listen to music, and watch TV or play some videogames quietly, most likely in a small group (four people tops, ideally two or three) or by themselves.
Like I said earlier, I’m not much of a music buff, so I didn’t remember ever hearing music by Frank Zappa, much less the song Montana, so I tried to prepare to evaluate music. Little did I know how well my cousin thought this out. I began to listen and realized very quickly that I had heard this song before. At first, I thought I had heard it at a party my parents had at our house in Wilmette, but a little farther on, a thought struck me. This song brought me back to the summer nights in my cottage with my family. When I was about ten, I remember (faintly, my memory is selectively good) nights when my parents and aunts and uncle would just party, drink, play music, and dance by the fire. I could be found doing any number of things, but I would be somewhere with some member of my family (brother, sister, mom, dad, cousin, aunt, uncle, or any combination of them) having fun without a care in the world. This song really brings back memories of my cottage, the most carefree place I know. And this isn’t the typical cottage; it isn’t some rich boy’s fancy lake house, it’s a cabin in the woods barely big enough to fit everybody made up of bedrooms, bathrooms and one big living space. It’s a place to retreat to if the world is bringing you down. It’s a place to be free. Of course there is always work to be done while you’re there, but that’s part of the fun. This song reminds me of those nights, when I would hear Celebration, One Headlight, and Montana and know that it was just a time to relax, eat s’mores, and have fun.
