Bison Bone – The Lucky Ones
Great songwriters are, generally, people who both are unlikely to encounter terrible misfortunes and are blessed to thrive despite them. There are some, sure, who live in the Hollywood Hills and haven’t stopped smiling since they learned to walk. But, one might argue that, realistically, those aren’t many and, usually, aren’t exactly great.
Bison Bone takes inspiration from the likes of Tom Petty or Warren Zevon, men who wrote about love, conflict and bad luck like sailors accustomed to surviving skyscraper-tall waves on most days of their lives. What makes these people tick? Friction, for the most part. Even when describing a Spring morning or the embrace of a loved one, the embers of discord have to be felt not far behind.
It’s how the best get by. Bison Bone’s “The Lucky Ones” is the kind of bluesy folk-rock powered by the sort of energy that won’t allow the tune to catch a breather. It’s a love song, but one shrouded in mystery and the promise of eventual heartbreak. Musically, Bison Bone performs this for the true believers, for the ones who have never lost hope in the promise of American roots music to tell complicated stories and soothe the soul.
eggcorn – Hitler Was a Vegetarian
What good’s a good memory anyway when most of us do our best to erase the bad experiences from it? But what good would total recall do? The vast majority of us would simply not be able to live with the weight of everything that we’ve done to others, or all the things that have been done to us.
But that’s where most of the great writing goes. It slips down a drain that the brain’s built for itself, where all the bad, embarrassing experiences go. You need an incredible amount of bravery to work with those rather than throw them away. That’s what Eggcorn’s able to do. But I don’t advise it.
What’s going to be the price for all of those honest songs, books and scripts? Sure, the world will nod understandingly. You’ll tell stories with which others will relate. Maybe you’ll even win some awards for them. But then people will know ‘em, and they’ll know you’re just like them. Can you handle it?
eggcorn’s Lara Hoffman can. In fact, the songwriters developed a sense of humour out of necessity. “Hitler was a vegetarian” is a perfectly pleasant pop song about being entirely unreasonable and nasty to a loved one while being inebriated. It’s a story that fits many people’s lives. And now you know that someone’s had the guts to admit it and the ability to put some nice melodies to the whole sordid affair. Besides, while Hitler was, indeed, a vegetarian, he was also a one-time homeless person who used to drink gun cleaner. And that’s not even the worst of what he got around to.