Ever notice how in pop songs the words can
suggest a quite different
meaning from the instruments? Take for instance
something obvious like Every Breath You Take from The
Police. Listen to the guitars and it sounds like an all-out ballad intended
to leave the listener loved up to the hilt. Take the
words in isolation though and it resembles the
manifesto of a psychotic. This is a common thing in
pop music. However the problem comes in deciding whether the difference between the instruments
and words is intended to soften the overall meaning - or provide contrast. For someone as
pretentious as Sting he might have intended a joke on
his audience - presenting something deranged as
something romantic using the guitar. For Carlos
Forster in Campfire Songs however his intention is a
bit less clear.
The song provides advice to people facing
death that - upon entering heaven - it is important above all else
to remember the campfire songs for in fact there is nothing else. That
sounds depressing – right? Except that his ramshackle
guitar tone takes the edge from this and makes the
song quite comforting. In fact had I not listened to the words I’d have
had no idea it presented such a morbid sentiment. How
then to reconcile the grim content from the blissed-out sound? I suppose on the one hand Forster might be - like Sting - intending a joke.
He might be laughing at people that make light of
religious topics - suggesting that people lacking
serious ideas are ridiculous. To be honest though
I sorta doubt this. Forster
sounds much too sincere to be attempting something deconstructive. On the other hand then he might be – as I
suggested earlier - using his instruments to soften
his message. Thinking about death is not fun
and in bringing a blissed-out guitar tone to the
subject Forster removes its sting. He
does not undermine death and the afterlife - he mentions both God and Satan in a respectful tone. But I guess that Campfire Songs is intended as a balm to people
concerned about death in that Forster uses instruments to
tackle a tough topic in a comforting form. Nice!
