Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Whats in a man....not much as it turns out

"A man needs somethin' he can hold on to
A nine pound hammer or a woman like you.
Either one of them...things will do" -from "Jolene" by Ray Lamontagne

Ray Lamontagne is one of the great songwriters of our time. He has a truly classic vocal style that always takes me back to a simpler time. My life is filled with technology and tends to run at such a fast pace, but something about the way this guy writes, plays and especially sings just makes everything slow down.

Anyway, to the line above. I think this pretty much sums up guys in general. Give us a tool or a woman and we're pretty content. Men are simple creatures. We need food, sex, and something to keep us busy (which could also be either of the two previous things). I love it when songwriters come up with unique ways to say ordinary things like this. I think its pretty clear that the way Ray describes a man's psyche is much more poetic than my depiction (food, sex and something to do). Both get the message across, but one does it with an air of dignity and romance, while the other just lays it out there.

As you listen to this song take note of some of the other things he says. If you can come up with another line you really enjoy leave it in a comment. Or again, if you have anything else you'd like me to discuss just let me know. You can either leave a comment here, or send me a message from the Contact page of my website www.johnmaxfieldmusic.com/Contact.


1 comment:

  1. I'm much more entertaining than a hammer. But I'm happy to know that if anything happens to me that you'll be happy with a hammer rather than another woman. In that case, I wouldn't have to haunt you.

    ReplyDelete