THE 2006 TOURNAMENT OF TUNES
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Ted Leo -
Loyal to My Sorrowful Country
[mp3]
vs.
Camper Van Beethoven - Sweethearts [RealAudio]
These are two excellent artists who have enough in common that I could easily see them sharing a stage. Not together, that is—their musical approaches are quite different. Out of respect and deference, I’d imagine it would be Ted Leo and his band the Pharmacists as the opening act for Camper Van Beethoven, but not one of those 15-minute opening sets; Leo & Co. would be allowed to hold the stage for as long as they liked. And I can easily envision the two bands joining for an inspired encore, probably covering some old hardcore punk tunes.
Each has
eclectic tastes—Leo’s great album Hearts of Oak sounds like a pastiche
of 80s punk and new wave, while Camper Van Beethoven was an 80s band for
the most part, with their earliest work coming across in a dizzying array of
musical styles. Leo’s inspirations come largely from punk, even if his music is
more punk in spirit than in execution, while CvB draws from much further back,
to the psychedelia of the 60s (its epic cover of Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar
Overdrive” being merely the most obvious example). But even their seemingly
disparate influences are misleading—CvB famously covered Black Flag’s “Wasted”
on their debut, and I’m pretty sure that Leo listened to his fair share of
Black Flag during his youth.
What the
two unquestionably share is an undeniable passion for music, an insistence on
doing things completely on their own terms. I have nothing but the utmost
respect for Ted Leo and Camper Van Beethoven. So, on to the songs.
“Sweethearts”
is an undeniably terrific song, for reasons that I’ve already elaborated on
previously. Yet just this morning, while listening to the rest of Key Lime
Pie to put the song into context, it occurred to me that if it was either
“When I Win the Lottery” or “All Her Favorite Fruit” going up against Ted Leo,
it would be no contest—CvB would be the winner. In other words, “Sweethearts”,
as good as it is, isn’t even the best song on that album; in fact, it’s
probably no better than my fifth-favorite CvB song (my top five would include
those two above, plus “Take the Skinheads Bowling”, “The Ambiguity Song” and
“Peace and Love”). I now realize that my one reservation about “Sweethearts” is
the slightly ironic narrative distance of its third-person perspective—the
narrator is dryly commenting on the simplistic and hypocritical patriotism of
political conservatives, from afar—and this distance dilutes ever so slightly
the emotional impact of the song. It creates just enough of a disconnect with
the listener to prevent the song from achieving true greatness.
And that’s
the song’s biggest difference with “Loyal to My Sorrowful Country.” Ted Leo’s
song is simple and direct, with its first person perspective driving home the
point that Leo is quietly pissed about the present state of our political
climate, that he clearly sees the current administration infringing on our
personal liberties and preventing us from being the people we’re destined to
be, and that he’s going to do whatever he can to change the situation for the
better and for the common good. Simply put, Leo says: here’s what’s wrong with
our country, and I’m not going to sit still and placidly acquiesce. It’s a
quietly defiant call to arms, with Leo’s plain and non-allusive language and passionate
delivery making the listener realize that this is exactly what he feels. The
song completely connects with the listener, which is the ultimate achievement
of a musician or any other artist.
These are
two great songs, but one is just a bit greater.
The winner
of the 2006 Tournament of Tunes is “Loyal to My Sorrowful Country” by Ted Leo. Download
the mp3—I’m absolutely certain you won’t be disappointed.
Winner: Ted Leo - Loyal to My Sorrowful Country