Last night I was watching a few youtube videos of tMG performing live, and got especially stuck with this JD solo performance.

And it made me wonder: Isn't it somehow odd to watch JD (or anyone) playing such incredibly sad tunes like "Song for Lonely Giants" and being so incredibly funny at the same time between the songs? I mean, you can see these sad feelings in his face, in the moment right after he stops playing, when he looks so grateful and fragile.

I know this phenomenon myself, when I play with SingSallySing, and these sad clichéd songs really make me go mute. One time my fellow musician had to take over doing all the talking for I got stuck somewhere.

I wonder if JD sometimes also gets lost in the sadness of some of his songs, or if he can always switch back to be this funny, gentle guy...

I play a little, poorly, but I think my only real talent is imparting real emotion into songs I'm singing- I don't know if I'm actually -sad- when playing a sad song, but I certainly feel sadness, if that makes any sense. Same with any other emotion that comes out of a song- I acknowledge it, and it comes from somewhere deep and autonomous in me, but I don't know if I embody the emotion as much as I do wear it for a time. I'm not sure that makes sense or even if it's germane to the discussion, but hey!

I guess what I mean to say is that I can understand the feeling of performing in a certain emotional mode or key, and it being genuine and sincere, but then shedding that feeling as soon as the song is over.

I recall an interview with JD talking on a tangent to this, saying that though people think the loud shout-y songs are the emotional ones, he actually puts a lot more emotion into the really quiet songs.

the Transcendental Youth songs (i was at the Merkin Concert Hall show in New York this past weekend) are, upon first listen, among the most poignant songs i think he's written in years. it seems kind of like the culmination of the band's past decade, and for some reason the narrators struggles (mental illness) seem to be so much more hopeless and dire than those on AED or Heretic Pride. the show was amazing, but it really bummed me and my friends out in a way. he was downright jovial between songs, and visibly excited by the fact that he was working with Anonymous 4, but the focus of the new songs is really, really tragic at first glance.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2012 10:49PM by the Geon.