Two musical questions

[rachelmanija]

1. What are the instruments playing in this song before the vocals come in? An organ? And... a piano? Chimes? Glockenspiel?

2. Please name a few songs with unusual subjects. Ideally, not pure novelty songs like "Mommy Got Run Over By A Reindeer."

Comments

[rosefox]

Oh oh oh, and like everything by Dream Theater. "Forsaken" is about a man being seduced by a vampire. "Pull Me Under" is grimdark epic fantasy, approximately. They did a great weird series of songs based on the 12 steps (didn't finish all 12 because they broke up with their drummer, who was writing the songs as part of his recovery). They did an entire album that's about... it's about a... well, there's a murder and reincarnation and one entire song is a newspaper article, sort of, and... look, it's prog rock, just roll with it.

Of possible professional interest are their songs "Panic Attack" (anxiety), "Misunderstood" (the depressed end of mood cycling), "Constant Motion" (the manic end of mood cycling), "The Test That Stumped Them All" (hallucinations), and "War Inside My Head" (military PTSD).

[rachelmanija]

Thank you for all these recs!

There's a teeny subgenre of songs about military PTSD. Richard Thompson and Bruce Springsteen each have two of them. I know there's more I'm forgetting.

[rosefox]

nonethefewer and I have been IMing each other all evening, coming up with more. :) We both own a lot of VERY weird music, to the point where I'm not even sure what counts as "unusual" because this is just what I listen to all the time. I mean, I haven't even gotten into British comedy. Start with everything ever done by Neil Innes (aka Sir Robin's minstrel--he wrote all, or nearly all, of the music Monty Python performed) and/or the Bonzo Dog Band and/or the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, like "Urban Spaceman" and "Can Blue Men Sing the Whites" and "Humanoid Boogie" ("Motorbike heart beats flutter to the stutter of the humanoid heart-throb sobbin' out a ticker tape tune by the light of the moon"). Then move on to Tim Minchin.

[kore]

I've always thought Big Muddy was about that, too, altho it's equally about the futility of war and stupidity of officers. http://www.lyricsmania.com/waist_deep_in_the_big_muddy_lyrics_pete_seeger.html I'm totally almost sure Steve Earle has one, or covered one, but I can't remember argh.

Oh yeah, Rooster is about that specifically https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0FAosDi4XA (Army green was no safe bet)

[rachelmanija]

Steve Earle's "Johnny Come Lately" isn't specifically about PTSD, but the last verse is one hell of a gut-punch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVaPwdgezWI

His "Ellis Unit One" is about PTSD from watching executions in a prison - talk about an unusual subject. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1G3k4iF094

[kore]

He is AWESOME. There was this little local show about addicts I saw once at midnight that featured him driving around the neighbourhood where he used to score crack (same show had the guy mentioned in the Big Book who was the pilot pardoned by Clinton).

[kore]

Also, I stupidly forgot Warren Zevon -- Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, Splendid Isolation, Model Citizen (guy goes not-so-quietly mad in suburbia), and I think the entire Transverse City album was inspired by cyberpunk.