Sorting through some old CDs today I found this fa-fa-fa-fabulous song by the Tamperer ft. Maya and it reminded me that I haven’t done an If You Buy This Record… feature on Dirrrty Pop in ages! So here we are, the first life-improving record of 2004:
Gavin Degraw – Chariot
I cannot praise Gavin Degraw enough. He has a beautiful but not too pretty/girly voice (think Adam Maroon 5), he sings with more emotion than I’ve heard in a long time and every song has a beautiful melody and intelligent lyrics.
1. Follow Through
I love how the first words sung on the CD are “This is the start of something good, don’t you agree?” And of course I do agree, because not only is this the start of an extremely good album but also one of the most brilliant tracks on it. Follow Through sounds like it should be a classic, not a song made in 2003. After one listen you can sing along to the chorus. It even has a fantastic thrashing middle 8, as with many of the songs on here. A great way to start.
2. Chariot
I love the lyrics in this, “Your favourite fruit is chocolate covered cherry and seedless watermelon, nothing from the ground is good enough” and “The sun is just yellow energy”. The song is about a girl who is just too perfect for this world. It’s quite a rousing, sing-along type of song – the kind you might sway to with lighters at a concert.
3. Just Friends
This song is just heartbreaking. Gavin bitterly sings about a cheating girl friend. He is in denial, not able to believe that this girl who is his perfect, loving partner (“your body fits me like a glove, and you showered me with words of love”) would do something so awful. The first thing you will notice about this song is the Beatles-esque sound – Let It Be and Imagine are combined, probably with many more classics that I don’t know. However, shamelessly stealing from the Beatles never hurt Oasis and they were far less exciting than Mr Degraw here.
4. (Nice To Meet You) Anyway
This one has been growing on me. Gavin is offered the chance to get together with someone lovely (she’s amazing, he’s attracted), but has to turn them down because he has “just found someone special”, his true love. This song is him explaining this to the new girl, before it goes too far.
5. Chemical Party
This is probably the most upbeat song of the album. As you might have guessed from the title, it’s about drugs and includes the genius couplet, “You’re just too high to see the point, you think your name is pass the joint”, but even better than that is the start of verse 2: “I think I like you, but you like this whole room, you sexy machine”. It has a middle 8 and a chorus with altered lyrics at the end. What more could you possibly want?
6. Belief
Reading the lyrics to this song, it could easily be a poem. Despite the the chorus including the words “arrested”, “knife” and “wrath”, it’s a delicate love song, full of clever metaphors. It’s the longest song on the album at 4:29 and does seem to go on a bit, but is lovely.
7. Crush
The lyrics in this are almost Shakespeare-esque (“The kiss will know if lips stay still”) and it has another great, although very sad, altered chorus at the end. Gavin has a crush and wants to tell the object of his affections – you have to listen to the song to find out what happens when he does so.
8. I Don’t Wanna Be
This is the current single in America and the one that caught my eye in the first place. It is probably the best song on the album, with it’s anthemic chorus which speaks of a wish for independence that anyone can identify with. There is also a great section where Gavin asks, “Can I everyone’s attention please?”, followed by a gorgeous slowed down rendition of the chorus and even a bit that sounds like Hanson, but a million times better (“I came from the mountain, the crust of creation…”)! This will HAVE to be a worldwide hit, or nothing is right in the world.
9. Meaning
This starts quite high – I have noticed that Gavin’s voice breaks and fluctuates a lot but it’s a good thing and sounds great. Meaning is a very nice love song, a little bit MOR but still very lovely. So what is the meaning? Giving love, according to Gavin – love is the reason.
10. More Than Anyone
A beautiful piano ballad, telling his love how he is going to show how much he loves her. This the kind of song someone would play to their girl or boyfriend on Valentine’s Day, or dance to at their wedding. It’s very heartwarming and Gavin’s slightly rough-sounding voice stops it from being sickly sweet.
11. Over-rated
Another song about love, how special a feeling it is and what he would do for his love. In Over-rated he hasn’t got together with the girl yet, but he is telling her in this song how great it will be if they do, “I’m anticipating, everything else will be over-rated”.
In conclusion, Gavin Degraw is quite a soppy bloke when he wants to be, but I doubt he’ll have any trouble getting the girl if he becomes the superstar he deserves to be for making this pop masterpiece.