Shadows and Stars

One man with his guitar after what sounds like a long night of the soul. At its most basic, that's how I would describe Joe Strummer's meditation on individuality in his song "Long Shadow." Does it matter that his voice is raspy, possibly even out of tune? No. In fact, there is an authenticity present in his voice. It is the sound of experience. As he rasps through lyrics about struggles, about "grabbing [your] demons and wrestling them to the ground," his voice becomes the real instrument. "I've been there," it assures the listener, and I am still here now.

The key sonic moment comes a little over halfway through the song, when Strummer implores us to "listen to the country/listen to the Night Streamliner." The verse starts off low, almost in a whisper, but quickly rises in volume and intensity. This is the sonic moment.  Listen to the way he growls the word "rock," and enunciates the words "prayers" and "road." He adds texture to these lyrics. When I listen, I can feel it. When I listen, I ask myself "what is he talking about?" Who is "she?" What does he mean that "Beale street didn't have no prayer"?

When I listen, I am not sure. But this is part of the sonic moment. There is a desperation in Strummer's tone, even as there is ambiguity in the lyrics. There is a nod to great American poets like Woody Guthrie and Walt Whitman as well. Especially in these lines. Both of those men sang of the common people, of the desire to explore, of radical democracy and the importance of accepting all because all struggled equally for their share of existence.

Perhaps this is a purpose of art. Not the purpose, of course. But one reason people grapple with aesthetics and form, be it music, or painting, or film. It is one person's attempt to share with others the struggle of being alive and the need to persevere. After all, here it is again: in a much different kind of song by Adam Levine. But the same sonic moment is present. "Yes," both songs say, we are small, perhaps even insignificant. Yet we are here." 

We have our identities, our songs, our art to prove it.