required listening

ZIGGY STARDUST by David Bowie
What initially attracted me to this song when I heard it years ago was its incredibly accurate encapsulation of the phenomenon that was David Bowie. Bowie was an ethereal, otherworldy creature with mass sex appeal and an incredibly glam, alien-like sound. The song lyrics seem to describe Bowie really well, the song referring to his alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The references to a person who "came on so loaded man, well hung and snow white tan," " he was the naz with God given ass", which easily characterizes Bowie's complete bizarre sexual persona. The song, which uses a rather typical glam rock guitar riff, is made completely original by the unexpected and explosive structure and vocal parts, and is overall complemented by a ballad-like melody. The song is rather poppy in its freshness and catchiness, but the usage of dissonant interludes really differentiates it from its other 70's counterparts.



DON'T LET THE SUN CATCH YOU CRYING by Gerry and the Pacemakers
The melody and instrumentation of this song is annoyingly cliched and predictable, and accompanied by an overly saccharine vocal part, makes for an incredibly repetitive and mundane song absolutely devoid of innovation. This song is classified as "60's British Invasion" but is in fact can be barely differentiated from its souless and cookie-cutter 50's predecessors. The lyrics are stupid. The song is stupid. This song is ridiculous to the point that I almost regret spending time writing about it.




WHITE RABBIT by Jefferson Airplane
The eerie, mysterious instrumentation leading into the vocal part at the beginning of the song immediately creates a shady and dark atmosphere, a perfect introduction to a hypnotizing, spacey relic of the psychedelic era. The song definintely reflects the drug-addled environment in which this song was undoubtedly concieved. The powerful and commanding vocal part reminds me of a yogi's mantra, and of intense meditation. The balance between the free and mentally expanding percussion parts, the meandering and explorative guitar that alludes heavily to middle-eastern occidental scales, the lazy swarm of low bass swells, and the grounded, driven vocals of Grace Slick, could easily reference the united vision of peace-loving hippies staying steadfast among the haze of hallucinogenics.