For the last couple of weeks I have been taking this course on songwriting. As I have written a number of songs in my life, I thought this 'd give me the opportunity to look behind the words and see what, from a theoretical point of view, defines good songs from the mediocre. And it hasn't let me down. Professor in charge Pat Pattinson takes us through the various elements, like song structure, idea development, rhyming, and writing. In that way, it really inspires to have a second look at your own, and others' songs. Let me take you through one of my personal favourites. It is called Military Madness and it was written by Graham Nash.
Now, for a start, let me make clear to you that you don't need the course to enjoy the song. It is great in its emotion, melody and textual quality, sung and played by the greatest of artists. You can played it very minimal, or a bit more country-style up tempo, as the original version. The song first appeared on the debut album of Graham Nash as a solo artist, called Songs for Beginners. The whole album is a classic, I really recommend it to anyone. A real nice extra is the tribute done by various indie-folk artists such as Brendan Benson, Bonnie Prince Billy, and Graham's daughter (and initiator of the project) Nile. This tribute album is called: Be Yourself: a Tribute to Graham Nash's Songs for Beginners.
Anyway, here we go; let's have a closer look and see what defines a true classic in the singer-songwriter tradition. What first struck me is that there are not a lot of words in the song. There are three verses, none of them repeated. Each of the verses is followed by a, slightly though importantly changed, chorus. There is no bridge, no solo, no frivolities.
The first verse goes as follows:
"In an upstairs room in Blackpool, by the side of a northern Sea.
The army had my father, and my mother was having me."
At the start of the Second World War, Nash' parents had to leave their hometown for safety reasons, and moved to Blackpool. At the time Nash was born (in 1942) the war made the British army call his father. We can only imagine what these kind of consequences of war meant for ordinary people, but Nash makes perfectly clear that these were hard times. Which word in this verse makes this so clear? I think it is the 'upstairs room'. In stead of talking of a house, or a hospital, the fact that it was upstairs, and a room rather then a bigger place, paints the picture that circumstances were hard, and humble. What I find puzzling is 'a northern sea'. Blackpool lies by the side of the Irish Sea, as far as I am aware. So what makes this a northern sea? What does 'northern' stand for in this case? Anyone has got an idea?
The first verse is followed by the first 'version' of the chorus:
"Military Madness was killing my country,
Solitary sadness comes over me."
This chorus makes the personal mischief from the first verse a matter of the whole country. Everywhere there must be people who experience the same kind of things. But hang on, Nash' next line talks of a solitary sadness, meaning that he takes it personal! Now, I think Nash is playing with the tenses a bit. The first line is in the past tense, as he is looking back when writing the song. The second line is in the present, making him feel sad looking back. This means that he feels solitary in his emotions of what happened to him and his country of birth, at the time of writing the song. There is no one to share his emotions with...
The second verse goes as follows:
"And after the school was over, and I moved to the other side.
I found another country, but I never lost my pride.
Nash jumps to a next, important, phase of his life. Quite easily, he talks of moving elsewhere, to another country, after he took his first steps as a musician in England. Interesting is the idea that he uses to call the US 'another country', which to me sounds like he feels at home there, 'but' he adds, he stayed British anyway. Why did he add this line, and where does his pride comes from? He hasn't mentioned anything of this earlier on. More over, the earlier phase he describes was rather dark. Maybe the answer lies in the second chorus:
"Military madness was killing the country,
Solitary sadness creeps over me."
Again he uses the picture of the horrors war can do to kill a country, but this time he doesn't say 'my country', but 'the country'. To me this means that he felt sort of differentiated slightly from the Americans. But do not think that he didn't sympathize: he feels sadness creeping in, maybe even though he didn't want to experience this again.
Also in this second chorus Nash talks about 'solitary'. But why is he alone in his sadness, with so many people protesting against the war? Now let's take a wild swing at this. He deliberately states that he feels alone in his sentiments. He felt like this back home, but just as well when he is in the US. So many people to share your feelings with, and still feeling alone. This man needs a maid! (sorry about this, just felt like using a Neil Young phrase). Let's look at the third verse, and see if Nash is ready to draw a conclusion, and answer this puzzle.
"And after the wars are over, and the body count is finally filed.
I hope that Man discovers, what's driving the people wild."
So, here Nash widens the picture even a bit more. now it is not about this, or that war, he just wants wars to be over! He is an optimist, pretty sure that wars will end, not 'if', but 'when'. By the way, I really like his way of putting wars at an end: when the body count is filed. That makes you feel like the last shot might have been fired, but unless we have counted, and registered all the dead, making sure that we know about all the atrocities wars have caused us, can we actually say that wars are really over.
The second line of this verse puzzles me a little. I wouldn't have thought the Graham Nash would be so much of a Christian as to talk of 'Man', as in God. Maybe, I thought, he means 'men', as in people, but then he wouldn't have used the third person conjugation of the verb to discover. But, even if it is God, or people in general, Nash points out that we have to learn from war, and see what drives us wild, ready to kill.
Then, finally, we get to the third and last chorus. Again, it is slightly different from the others, but what is brilliant about it, is that it brings the song to an end. Let's have a close look at it:
"Military Madness is killing your country,
so much sadness, between you and me."
So, now it is not his, or the country anymore, it is our country that is going wild. He points directly at the listener! Or not? There is something particular abou this last chorus. Nash introduces another person to the scene. Who is this 'you'? As Musical historians will tell you, many of the songs on this album are about the separation Graham Nash went through with Joni Mitchell. (As a great antidote of this misery, listen to 'Our House', performed by CSN&Y and written by Nash about his happiness with Mitchell). The question then is: whose country is Nash refering to? It might well be Mitchell's, as she is the 'you' in the second line. But hey, Mitchell is Canadian. I just cannot imagine Nash referring to Canada in this way. The only possible conclusion I can think of right now, is that Nash left it up to the listener if he or she will feel referred to.
There is one more question to be resolved here, and that is the 'solitary' from the earlier chorusses. I think we have got it now that we discover what the third verse is about: his relationship with Joni Mitchell. As if Nash is saying: after feeling alone in my sadness, I had finally found someone to share it with. But now that she left me, I don't feel som much the sadness from war any more, but a very personal one, the sadness of the separation between you and me!
For anyone who wants to hear the song again, here it goes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czUx2gvjdJk
And, for anyone who wants to play the song: The verses are a C and an Am, the chorus an F and Am as well. Have fun!
Between you and me? Great song, for Man as well.
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