Or compared to what?

I've been torn, torn I tell you, between going with my original title ("So What?") and the similarly snippy "Compared to What?" Both, as many readers will know, are titles of classic jazz tunes of the last century. "So What?" is perhaps the best-known Miles Davis composition, and appears on his seminal album "Kind of Blue." "Kind of Blue" is revered by many for being a) incredibly cool sounding and b) (not entirely coincidentally) supposedly being the first entirely modal jazz album, which is to say none of the songs are based on chromatic scales. See the entry at the Modal Jazz website. "So What," having no real melody, has no lyrics, although apparently one Eddie Jefferson put these together. I had a discussion about it with guitarist Len Patterson of the local jazz-fusion trio Flowtilla [see also my review of a Flowtilla CD there]; he told me that as a jazz composition, "So What" is essentially just a bass line that ends with the implied "So What?" and everybody else just solos as they see fit. Listen to the original and see if you can divine any sort of a melody!



"Compared to What," on the other hand, is all about the lyrics, which (aside from the occasional "Sock it to me!") are remarkably timely:

I love the lie and lie the love
A-Hangin' on, with push and shove
Possession is the motivation
that is hangin' up the God-damn nation
Looks like we always end up in a rut (everybody now!)
Tryin' to make it real compared to what? C'mon baby!

Slaughterhouse is killin' hogs
Twisted children killin' frogs
Poor dumb rednecks rollin' logs
Tired old lady kissin' dogs
I hate the human love of that stinking mutt (I can't use it!)
Try to make it real compared to what? C'mon baby now!

The President, he's got his war
Folks don't know just what it's for
Nobody gives us rhyme or reason
Have one doubt, they call it treason
We're chicken-feathers, all without one nut. God damn it!
Tryin' to make it real compared to what? (Sock it to me)

Church on Sunday, sleep and nod
Tryin' to duck the wrath of God
Preacher's fillin' us with fright
They all tryin' to teach us what they think is right
They really got to be some kind of nut (I can't use it!)
Tryin' to make it real compared to what?

Where's that bee and where's that honey?
Where's my God and where's my money?
Unreal values, crass distortion
Unwed mothers need abortion
Kind of brings to mind ol' young King Tut (He did it now)
Tried to make it real compared to what?!

This song just brings it on so many levels. Sporting a driving post-bop beat,
howling (electric!) saxophone by Eddie Davis, it's anti-war,
anti-religion, anti-materialist, and even anti-pet, what's not to like?

This version doesn't quite have the bite of the original that appeared on "Swiss Movement," but it will do in a pinch. For one thing, Les McCann sings "whole darn nation" instead of "GODDAMN nation" and so forth. At least you can hear where the sax line from the Saturday Night Live intro probably came from...




In any event, somebody already took both "So What?" and "Compared to What?" as blogsite titles, so I'm sticking with "So what, Pete?" I'll be back with pictures of my 20th birthday cake with icing that says just that...

Pete out