Song of the Week

[wondergirl9847]

I think it's fun and interesting to discuss songs....and we all have opinions on Lindsey's songs. Hehe. I figured I'd pick a random song of the week to discuss. Say what you want, you love it, you hate it, the lyrics are great, the lyrics suck, whatever....discuss away!! Randomly chosen this week........

SONG OF THE WEEK: This is the Time

Sanity
We long to see you
Keep our ears down to the track
Honesty
Did we desert you?
Is the truth ever coming back?

Slightly episodic
Always on the run
Ever so neurotic
Still we have our fun
This is the time of the new sign
This is the sign of the new line
Time, this is the time
Time, this is the time

Revenge and fear
How can we heal you
With our heads down on the block?
Family
There is no curfew
In the town they call the rock

Ever so hypnotic
Underneath the gun
A little too erotic
How do we get things done?
This is the time of the new sign
This is the sign of the new line
Time, this is the time
Time, this is the time

This song took a little while to grow on me. I know...SHOCKER! LOL Me being the rock and roll lover that I am...yeah, for some reason, it didn't hit me at first, but it really does ROCK!!

Reading the lyrics, I JUST NOW noticed.....revenge and fear are used in this song.....as well as (my sig) in the intro to Surrender the Rain. Interesting that he used those two words together in OOTC twice.

I read somewhere that Lindsey said he thought he was too old to be playing a song like this. He needs to STOP thinking those thoughts. LOL That kind of thinking is bad news. I don't WANT him to try to put himself in a box and say "I can't play this, I'm not 21 anymore. I gotta play more grown up stuff." NO, you don't!! Remember what Stevie said "It's only right that you should play the way that you feel it...." If you FEEL that kind of playing...PLAY IT!!! I know that not everyone likes it when LB goes nuts and starts playing like the total rock star he is (hehe), but hey, you can't please everyone all the time, right? If you worry about pleasing every single fan out there.....you'll go insane. (Pun intended...dangit!! LOL) I trust Lindsey's gut, if he thinks it's good, then so do I...because he has never let me down.

Some people go to art galleries and look at the art and either:

A) Look at each piece of art as a masterpiece, even tho some of it's just a white canvas with paint splattered on it randomly.

B) Critique everything and say "This is all crap. It makes no sense."

or

C) Find something in every piece of art (good, bad AND ugly) that they like and enjoy the gallery.

I like C, it's a good balance. Even in Lindsey's not so spectacular songs, I find something I like, the way he sings, a certain guitar part, a cool line, whatever. No, Empire State is no ISA or GYOW, but the plink plink makes it fun for me to listen to. LOL

This is the Time is a fun, rock and roll guitar-fest, where we had some foreshadowing of what was to come...ala...Murrow and Come from SYW.

My fave line: A little too erotic......the way he sings it....emphasis on too. LOL

[DownOnRodeo]

OK I gotta say I have *no* clue what the lyrics are about - to tell the truth I don't pay too much attention to them ... it's more the production of the voice and music I loved from the get go. So ... atmospheric. Moody. Like a storm that brews ... and then hits.

And by the way can I just add that when you combine this with the Instrumental Introduction .... I mean, what a song. It goes so many places musically.
Oh and btw let's not forget this was co-written to some degree with Richard Dashut.

Anyway, this and Wrong were the first Lindsey solo songs I ever heard (ie since I got into the Mac). They both had me salivating. It was *perfect* music - it's like he knew exactly what to do with the song that I wanted him to do, lol. The changes of his voice in this song are so various and expressive. I'd go so far as to say more than anything this song is on the one hand 'screaming gtr solo replacement for TITN' and on the other 'a tour de force that skyrockets above a lot of Lindsey's other 'minor key' songs'.

I was totally awestruck by this song when I first heard it. And the love affair continues, thanks to the 'everfresh' mono production of OOTC.

[WednesdaysChild]

Just a quick note--what is the deal with the insanity stuff? It's a common theme...

[sodascouts]

This is the one song on OOTC that I skip. While you have to admire his rhyming abilities, some of them seemed forced - erotic and hypnotic may occur to one immediately, but episodic and neurotic take some stretching lol - also, "this is the sign of the new time, this is the time of the new line" also seems more built around rhyme than meaning - on top of that, quite simply, I can't stand those manipulated voices.

[SaraRhiannon]

"There is no curfew
In the town they call the rock"

The town they call the rock? What exactly does he mean?

OOTC is my favorite Lindsey album, and I've been listening to it a LOT lately. There's nothing on it that I skip, and while "This is the Time" isn't my *favorite*, it's still damn good. I just wish I knew what the hell he was talking about!

By the way, my favorite OOTC song (this week!) is "Turn it On." That one REALLY gets me.

[CarneVaca]

This is indeed a "perfect" song, if there is such a thing, from a production and musicality standpoint. The moodiness that Lindsey creates and blasts away with the loud parts is wonderful. Great guitar work on this song. This Is the Time grew on me years later, and now I don't listen to it much. But one of the best moments in his solo tour was the dueling guitar bit on this song. Great stuff.

I'm not sure the lyrics are all that meaningfu. As Nancy pointed out, the choice of rhymes indicates that he was going for the sound, rather than substance of the message.

Overall, I think Out of the Cradle songs are produced better than SYW. That was the perfect album.

[Les]

Even in Lindsey's not so spectacular songs, I find something I like, the way he sings, a certain guitar part, a cool line, whatever. No, Empire State is no ISA or GYOW, but the plink plink makes it fun for me to listen to. LOL

I know what you mean, Christy. I do the same.

Song discussions are interesting. This Is The Time...

I suppose I look at this song as a declaration of the dawning of a new day or something like that. I think he's looking at his past (distant and immediate) in the verses and musing about the things that made certain events memorable/rough and shaped his somewhat dark outlook at this point.

Then in the chorus, I think he's saying "this is the time" to start a new chapter in his life. Probably some of my impression about the meaning of this song comes in the context of the whole album, which I think was all about that theme in various ways. Cradle is totally a theme album about overcoming and starting over.

Sanity
We long to see you
Keep our ears down to the track
Honesty
Did we desert you?
Is the truth ever coming back?

I sorta see the verses as quick snatches of images about how he was feeling at various points in the past (probably most especially during the ending of his Mac years) - on some shaky ground, losing confidence, struggling with personal and artistic integrity, etc. He's wondering if he'll regain the happiness, confidence, integrity...

When he uses "we" throughout this song, I've always thought of it as him just referring to himself (and all of the voices inside his head ).

Slightly episodic
Always on the run
Ever so neurotic
Still we have our fun

This strikes me as either being a comment on how unsettled he was feeling, or even about the Mac. "Still we have our fun" might have been a nod to the band's "chemistry" despite all of the other drama between them - "episodic," "neurotic," etc.

Revenge and fear
How can we heal you
With our heads down on the block?
Family
There is no curfew
In the town they call the rock

Is it just my imagination or is San Francisco sometimes referred to as "The Rock" as a nickname? I had that notion in my head from the first time I heard it, but I don't actually know where that idea came from. It could be based on something totally eroneous, butI I kind of assumed this was a comment about growing up in the Bay Area, especially as he precedes that line with "Family". He's made references in other songs or interviews about feeling like just being around his family healed him of some of his worries, so perhaps he's answering the question he posed in the first part of that verse with the second part of that verse.

Ever so hypnotic
Underneath the gun
A little too erotic
How do we get things done?

Pressure, fame, relationship troubles inside and outside of the band. How did they get things done?

This is the time of the new sign
This is the sign of the new line
Time, this is the time
Time, this is the time

Like I said, I sort of think this is like a "carpe diem" type statement. The pieces of his past that shaped his feelings of "revenge and fear" are the things he'd now like to shake in this "time of the new sign...time of the new line." By "new sign" I sort of think of maybe a new mantra that he wants to live by. By "new line" I think of "Please toe the line" from "Walk a Thin Line" on Tusk. He's got his own line to toe now.

What happened in the past is in the past and this is the time for him to seize the day and make his new beginning. The closing guitar solo has a lot of force behind it. An indication of his determination?

[wondergirl9847]

Excellent interp!! Sounds good to me! You are right about the entire album being about renewal, which is why it remains fresh to this day...it's ALWAYS gonna be relevant. People change, in some ways, good, some ways, not so good, but everyone goes through times of change.....even rock stars.

BTW, I just thought of something else. In ISA, he sings "I never change, I never will..." and at first thought, that contradicts what he's singing in TITT...BUT, he changed in a GOOD WAY. When you hold onto your basic principles and beliefs, but change some bad things about yourself, that's GOOD change. When you do a TOTAL 180 and people don't recognize you, that is BAD change, IMO. Lindsey has changed for the better, he's in a good place, loves his family and everyone in FM now...it's all good!!

[CarneVaca]

I have to say, Les, that's an impressive interpretation. I never thought about it that much. It's funny, as much as I can be into lyrics, on some songs I just go with the feel and the sound of words.

[Hawkeye]

I love This is The Time. It is one of my top 3 favorite songs off of OOTC. It's an AMAZZING song. The chourus just screams at you. And the drum thing he does is mind blowing. Great perfect 10 song.