It isn’t common to come across a song that is different from the rest. While yes, songs have their own identity, most of them follow a certain formula. Older songs have less of that, but it is still there to a point. Every now and then you come across something that doesn’t follow that. Let me tell you a story about a song that I only recently came across (although it’s been around since the ’70’s) that changed my perspective a little bit.
It all started one day when I was heading to the studio. It was snowing heavily and I had to walk through 3 feet of snow, uphill, both ways. Oh wait, this isn’t a story about my parents and their tough childhood. Sorry, I was confused. Let me start over.
It all started one day when I was heading to the studio. I had the windows down as usual, and I was listening to the radio. (There are two classic rock stations in LA that are awesome. It’s the first time since elementary school that I’ve actually used the FM radio function in a vehicle. Prior to that, it was CD’s only.) A song started playing and immediately the cool guitars got my ears to perk up. Then the drum solo came in and I really started getting into it. But then I heard something that made me cock my head to the side. I just had to turn it up to see what was going on….
As I listened, I had to look outside my window to make sure I wasn’t in the Alps, and luckily the Hollywood transvestites roaming the streets that afternoon confirmed that. As far as I know, the Alps don’t have transvestites, but then again I didn’t pay much attention in history class, so I may be wrong. (Would they actually teach about transvestites in history class? Would transvestites in the Alps actually be a topic in a history class? Maybe I didn’t pay much attention in school in general….) Either way, I went with my gut instinct and determined that I was, in fact, still in Hollywood.
You’re probably wondering why I had to question my whereabouts. No, I was not on drugs. Not good ones at least. What peaked my interest was the yodeling that was coming from my speakers. Yes, that kind of yodeling. The ridiculous, haphazard yodeling that us Californians only hear about, but never actually experience. I listened on……
More guitars, more drums, more yodeling. But what happened next really threw me for a loop.
Enter some chipmunk-style, fast-paced, sophisticated language that us Americans know as gibberish. Good old, random-ass gibberish. At this point I really wasn’t sure what was going on, but I did know that whatever it was, I LIKED IT.
Soon, there were accordions, organs, whistles, audience cheers and yelling flooding my truck. This song was literally turning into a cluster-fuck. And it was nothing short of fucking awesome. (And not for lack of a better term, fucking awesome pretty much sums it right up. 🙂 )
Hocus Pocus by Focus (the fact that they rhymed the song with the name of their group makes me love them even more) is a rondo tune that breaks the “rules of rock” and does something that most bands are extremely afraid of doing. They took a risk. They did something DIFFERENT. Not different like every other band, different as in nobody else was doing anything even remotely close to it.
Odd panning, random solos, and a massive amount of energy go in and out of this song like a dog that can’t make up his mind. There is even some clearly obvious mic overloading. And guess what? It’s cool! It’s raw, it’s real and it is so far from being perfect, that it actually provides some emotion. (Who’dathunkit?) It made me look at music a little bit differently that day. All of these rules and formulas that we all believe have to be followed, don’t. It doesn’t mean they always need to be broken, but sometimes the broken rules provide the outline for a masterpiece.
Some may argue that this song isn’t a masterpiece, but for me, it’s a game changer. It is a great example of just how ridiculous music can be. The song is fun, it holds humor, it confuses me, yet it somehow reminds me that in music, and life in general, stepping outside of the box is perfectly okay. It is a song that brings out the free spirit. My interpretation of the song is: “this is crazy, random and probably not right by the standards of rock, but we don’t care because it sounds cool so we’re doing it anyways. Have fun and enjoy the ride.”
Instead of listening to my opinion on it (although I appreciate you reading, Mom), have a listen for yourself. Take a moment and let your guard down. This song will surely allow you to get in that mindset. Enjoy.
Side note: After writing this, I learned from Thijs van Leer (lead singer for Focus) that Yodeling actually comes from Central Africa and India, but everyone thinks it comes from the Alps.
itjustsoundsgood 