david bazan, the former front man of pedro the lion, released a solo album last year called fewer moving parts. the title refers to the fact that, as a solo artist, there are fewer moving parts in his musical machine, and thus fewer things that could break. the similarly-themed song, fewer broken pieces, goes into detail about how he regrets breaking up the band, but that it was something he had to do, how he feels he let his friends down, and may not be better off without them. to include a song like this on your first solo album is appropriate in a way, but unexpected. the fact that he's so literal and direct, everyone in the world, including his former bandmates, knows what he's referring to. i wonder how they felt the first time they heard it.
bazan is so fearless with what he writes about to the point that his bluntness feels harsh at times but also refreshing. he sings of past problems with drinking, the pointlessness of critics, affairs, liars, etc. a lot of people almost dismiss him because some of his songs have christian themes, but they aren't overly religious or evangelical in the least, and are never sappy. he sings about his thoughts and beliefs in very honest, conflicted ways.
when i saw him at the student union last year, he said that somebody had once asked him what he writes about but he didn't have an answer that was fitting for all of his work. he then said that later he realized that his songs are about things that don't work. i think that's perfect.
on fewer moving parts, there is a song called, backwoods nation, which is spot-on. here are the lyrics:
Calling all rednecks to put down their sluggers
Turn their attention from beating the buggers
To pick up machine guns and kill camel fuckers
Backwoods nation...
Calling all doctors of spin and the smoke screen
To whip the new hate-riots into a frenzy
Of good versus evil, ignoring the history
Of the Backwoods Nation
Ain't it a shame
When due process
Stands in the way of swift justice
Calling all frat' boys
To trade in their hazing
Their keggers and cocaine
And casual date raping
For cabinet appointments
And rose-garden tapings
Back woods... backwoods... backwoods... nation
and the lyrics from his song, june 18, 1976, off of his progress EP:
You were born in KC Missouri
To a girl who wasn't married
After your birth she brought you to the nursery
Kissed your head and told you not to worry
And then quietly she turned and slipped away
In the elevator her heart began to pound
To the roof top in her slippers and her gown
On the edge she took one last look around
Then closed her eyes and pushed away
Speeding toward the ground
Through the air without a sound
So gracefully
Twelve flights down nearly naked on the ground
Skin and tragedy always attract a crowd
And so it was when the policeman came around
He took more than fifty eyewitness accounts
Each one in awe
For they'd never seen a girl
So sad and beautiful
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