Ben Balivet – Disappointment
It’s hard to fake a smile these days, and so easy to start yelling at that little black screen stuck inside of your palm, feeding you terrible news from around the world. And, worst of it, you probably know it, too, but just cannot bring yourself to do anything about it.
Nobody likes to believe that they’re living in anything but the End Times. Everyone’s convinced themselves, through listening to motivation tapes and hours spent at the shrink’s office, that they’re the starring character in some drama.
Nobody wants to admit that they might be a bit player. And, of course, no artist can face up to themselves the fact that the world they’re writing about is just a little too underwhelming for it to be captured in just the way that it is. Ben Balivet’s got enough guts to face reality head-on, and a wicked sense of humour to allow him to live in the midst of it.
“Disappointment” is one of those classic jokes that’s delivered with excellent timing, where the acting is perfect and where the jokester is willing to take the risks. Ben Balivet brings enough of a bluesy jam feel to the track to make you want to play this back over and over again, and to force you to look at things the way that they really are, and say: “It’s ridiculous that I should worry any more than I need to.”
Two Dark Birds – The Song to End it All
What exactly are you supposed to do? Are you just meant to say “Okay,” politely fold everything up and be on your way the moment that disaster hits? Sure, there are some stoics who encourage the captain to go down with the ship while singing a song, to wave the love of their life away when it’s time for them to live, and to not even sigh when it becomes apparent that the whole thing is about to end.
But that just seems like a waste. And, after all, nobody’s going to notice it. There won’t be any historians taking note of your bravery and ability to deal with all the hardships without making a sound.
Nah, might as well really turn it into a tragedy. Shout, jump around, start crying, if you think it helps. That might be the start of some colossal song of hope and disappointment, something like the work of Two Dark Birds.
Like Dylan’s folk-rock epics of the late 1960s, “The Song to End it All” demands your attention and rewards you with jokes, and, eventually, some sweet relief to accompany Armageddon. And like Dylan, it’s the songwriter’s biting wit that’s in the spotlight, his inability to accept things without, at the very least, announcing that he’s not as entertained by the whole ordeal as they were told they would be. “The Song to End it All” is an ambitious piece of work and a tune that captures the general mood of the times.
