Quality of Armor
"Oh yeah, I'm going to drive my car. Oh yeah, I'm going to go real far." Thus kicks off the first Guided by Voices song with which I was smitten. It was 1993 and I had just bought the Vampire on Titus CD from my local record shop. Those were the days when the recommendation of a clerk actually meant something. Vampire on Titus itself wasn't doing much for me, so I skipped forward to the tracks that, according to the liner notes were "originally released as "Propeller" LP, 1992, by Rockathon Records."
Now this I liked. I eventually fell in love with much of that album, even as the Vampire on Titus material continued to fail to click (something that, for the most part, holds today). "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" and "Weed King" were fitting lead-ins, priming me for what I didn't know. When it kicked in in the form of "Quality of Armor," I was hooked. Over the course of two-and-a-half minutes of frantic power chords from Mitch Mitchell, Robert Pollard sings about finding God in the dictionary, taking photos in the cemetery and moving beyond the secrets of this world and the Montezuma Halls. Along the way he comes up with a mission statement of sorts, one that seems borne of his twin pursuits at the time as both teacher and rocker: "The worst offense is intelligence, the best defense is belligerence."
At the time it seemed odd that the lyrics had nothing to do with armor or any qualities it might possess. Soon I figured out that Pollard had great song titles and great lyrics, only occasionally do the twain meet. All of the disparate elements here came together to create what could be seen as the prototypical GBV song: short, perplexing, lo-fi and undeniably catchy.
Now this I liked. I eventually fell in love with much of that album, even as the Vampire on Titus material continued to fail to click (something that, for the most part, holds today). "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" and "Weed King" were fitting lead-ins, priming me for what I didn't know. When it kicked in in the form of "Quality of Armor," I was hooked. Over the course of two-and-a-half minutes of frantic power chords from Mitch Mitchell, Robert Pollard sings about finding God in the dictionary, taking photos in the cemetery and moving beyond the secrets of this world and the Montezuma Halls. Along the way he comes up with a mission statement of sorts, one that seems borne of his twin pursuits at the time as both teacher and rocker: "The worst offense is intelligence, the best defense is belligerence."
At the time it seemed odd that the lyrics had nothing to do with armor or any qualities it might possess. Soon I figured out that Pollard had great song titles and great lyrics, only occasionally do the twain meet. All of the disparate elements here came together to create what could be seen as the prototypical GBV song: short, perplexing, lo-fi and undeniably catchy.
Labels: Propeller
posted by John Kenyon at 8:55 AM
1 Comments:
"armor" as in the emotional shields we devise to protect ourselves from the pain of failing romances, for example a relationship in which she is taking mental snapshots of the graveyard of our love while i am running away, real fast and real far. "quality" as in how good that shield is. apparently, belligerence makes for a high-quality shield, while intelligence does not. that, at least, is how i've always heard this one.
Post a Comment
Links:
Create a Link
<< Home