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Post by jayfreeman on Jan 26, 2014 15:27:44 GMT
Following the recent appeal to share more about favourite Kasabian songs, I would like to highlight this one a little. Obviousely most of Kasabian songs are my favourite, but West Ryder Silver Bullet is also quite special.
First of all because it has its own inimitable style. Of course, you cas squeeze it within some known definitions like dream pop or something, but neigher of definitions will really describe it.
Secondly it seems like this song is special to Kasabian themselves, having in mind how much effort they put in it, including involvement of Rosario Dawson.
And the last but not least - this song is very esoterical, which is untypical for tracks of such tempo and instrumental support. But somehow it does make chakra's rotate as intense as, say Fire or Pink Floyd's Echoes. And it makes it even more magical.
With other words, this songs deserves to be highlighted. And if somebody wants to share their feelings about it, please do.
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Post by cuttoff on Jan 27, 2014 9:56:38 GMT
Oh I do have lots of feelings about this song. It always surprised me how different the album and live version are. The album version is this pretty, almost fragile little song and live it's so big and glorious. I've seen it live a few times but the one which always will stay with me is the very last performance at Brixton 2010, when Lisa joined them on stage and 3 of them singing was so mindblowingly beautiful. |
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Post by highroyds on Jan 29, 2014 23:59:36 GMT
I love it. Only got to see it live once, which is a bit of a shame. Without Lisa as well, but I think Tom carries it beautifully on his own. There's a very lovely recording of it from Lyon in October 2009, probably my favourite - not that we have so many to choose from. I once read a really nice theory about the lyrics, which we know isn't correct, but I liked it anyway. I also may or may not have a secret fantasy about Alison Mosshart singing the song with them. She and Serge already wear the same clothes, so why not collaborate. |
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Post by jayfreeman on Jan 31, 2014 18:11:20 GMT
At least this is the only theory I came across (via your post by the way). Some of Kasabian songs have rather clear lyrics, like Days Are Forgotten or Where Did All the Love Go?, but some just keep you guessing, like Silver Bullet. The same story was with U boat. I just could not understand what this song is about, so i decided it was like random words to support the music;) But then I learned it had a very concrete meaning about Russia after the cold war. You can read it here (don't mind the lyrics above the page - it is from Cut off). So probably West Ryder Silver Bullet is not abstract after all, it just they have not revealed the secret yet... |
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Post by highroyds on Jan 31, 2014 19:03:55 GMT
They've said what Silver Bullet is about several times though, see here: "lovers that are destined to be together, but kinda hate each other as well, but they can't live without each other, so they just go around robbing and living in a car." "The idea is that Tom is West Ryder and she's Silver Bullet and the two of them are speedheads going through America. It's a road movie, like Two-Lane Blacktop with Dennis Wilson." I wouldn't trust Songmeanings too much when it comes to the true meaning of songs because it's all random people posting their own interpretation, according to that site everything is mostly about drugs. The only things the band themselves have ever said about U Boat (that I know of) were that it's about love, and also that Serge wrote it when he was "feeling affectionate" whatever that means. |
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Post by jayfreeman on Feb 1, 2014 16:21:08 GMT
Well, this description about Silver Bullet makes more sense.
And you are right about Somgmeanings - it is just some subject opinions, but in case of U-boat it sounds logical to me. To be honest i do not pay much attention to lyrics, because music is much more important to me. But this is not the only reason. I do believe artists do not always really know what they lyrics actually mean. Writing a song is a divine process, both music and lyrics. An author is sometimes inspired by something, producing some words and sounds, and after that he tries to realise what the hell all this was about.
You cannot say it about story telling songs, like Springsteen's "The River", but with many Kasabian, Beatles, Oasis, Pink Floyd and many other songs it is definitely the case.
So what i want to say is that interpretations of third parties might be correct even if the author thinks to have meant something else;) And another positive aspect of a good peace of art is that it provokes imagination and sets up basis for discussion (like Da Vinci's Mona Lisa). Which is obviousely also the case here, and provides yet another prove how good Silver Bullet is;)
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Post by highroyds on Feb 1, 2014 19:23:38 GMT
And you are right about Somgmeanings - it is just some subject opinions, but in case of U-boat it sounds logical to me. I don't think U Boat is about war. Because it mentions war and guns and allies so very obviously, it's too simple and blatant, almost clumsy if there was no deeper meaning than "There's a war and I'm literally selling literal guns." It's not really Serge's style. I don't really have a better explanation, and maybe it's like you said, that he doesn't either, but to me it sounds like it's at least partly about betrayal. |
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Post by jayfreeman on Feb 2, 2014 14:02:44 GMT
You are probably right, cold war isn't really a Kasabian topic, they mostly go with personal subjects. But still - this theory makes the song more interesting.
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Post by stannis on Mar 7, 2015 15:27:44 GMT
I can't remember exactly where I spotted it, but there was talk of WRSB opening West Ryder?
I love that idea! The electronic graffiti would have been such a fun curveball.
Underdog follows the Club Foot, Empire template and really gives you a little electric shock of excitement however.
I'm glad they kept that idea around for Let's Roll. Velociraptor! benefits from having that "topic sentence" in my opinion, as the album takes the Empire songwriting experimentation one step further.
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Post by cuttoff on Mar 7, 2015 15:43:58 GMT
I can't remember exactly where I spotted it, but there was talk of WRSB opening West Ryder? I love that idea! The electronic graffiti would have been such a fun curveball. Underdog follows the Club Foot, Empire template and really gives you a little electric shock of excitement however. I'm glad they kept that idea around for Let's Roll. Velociraptor! benefits from having that "topic sentence" in my opinion, as the album takes the Empire songwriting experimentation one step further. I mentioned it in the favourite opener poll thread. I think Serge talked about it in a interview and said they were considering it for an opener first. It would have been a beautiful opener but if you have a riff like the Underdog intro, it probably makes sense to open with it. I wish we get more songs like this for the next album, where Tom can show off his voice. |
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Post by highroyds on Mar 7, 2015 16:21:59 GMT
I think it would probably have been a bit "risky" (idk) to use it as an opener at the time. Maybe especially because lots of people were doubting that Serge could write an album without Karloff holding his hand. So Underdog was the safer choice. They talked about it in the December issue of Q Magazine, Serge said that Tom said it has to be Underdog. There's also an earlier article, I think when NME interviewed them during the recording, where they're talking about Vlad possibly being the opener. I think after the success of West Ryder they had a bit more freedom to put a more unlikely opener on Velociraptor.
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Post by zeneo on Mar 16, 2015 6:38:53 GMT
West Ryder Silver Bullet seems like what it is described. I don't know, about U-Boat, it has kind of a climax scene in a movie of some mafia thriller, where the drug lord dies in a shootout near a port, and falls into the sea, and while he's drowning, he thinks about various things, possibly of someone who could've helped him, and that he wouldn't be dying in there if that person was there for him.
Other interpretation would be quitting drugs or an addiction for someone, but you never know.
For me, it's about how a song can lead to various interpretations. I don't think a song is valuable, if it's about your rear, but rather, which makes you think about so many things, possibilities.
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