Oh the drama!

Last night I was visiting a friend and there was some guitar-playing and singing, as you do... you don't? Oh... So our Australian import was playing the Counting Crows' 'Mr Jones', and I noted that rather than remember all the verses, he preferred to skip to the hard-out bits:

If I knew Picasso
I would buy myself a grey guitar and play
Mr! Jones! and! me! ...

We discussed the dramatics of it. While I've not been much of a Counting Crows fan since I was 13, I have recently joined the dots and realised that I do like my music theatrical.

Examples. My first favourite band - Queen. At age 10, I acquired a copy of a tape of their greatest hits that included 'Don't Stop Me Now':

I'm burning through the skies yeah
Two hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr Fahrenheit...

I loved it! I should also mention the anthemic 'I Want To Break Free', seeing as I'm all about cutting loose, when circumstances permit :) For me, Freddie was the genesis of theatrics in sound.

Then there's Faith No More. I'm a big fan, and I've often tried to convince people that there's a direct line between Queen and FNM. Take a song like 'Just A Man' from King For A Day. Sure, not all their songs are so operatic, but it's for illustrative purposes, so go with me, okay? 'Just A Man' is so damn cool! It has a full-on climax, culminating in a god-like voice over:

Man was born to love
Though often he has sought like Icarus to fly too high
And far too lonely than he ought
To kiss the sun of east and west
And hold the world at his behest...

Complete with reference to classical mythology - clearly a winner. To take another FNM example, a song like 'Mid-Life Crisis' from the superlative Angel Dust has a good dose of drama and it's a brilliant song for it. "Your menstruating heart" - say what?! And I've always loved the couplet:

You're perfect - yes it's true
But without me you're only you.

The arrogance! Irresistible!

Moving on to more current stuff, the Dears are the ultimate when it comes to injecting drama into music. How else could you explain a song like '22: The Death of All Romance':

I have never cried in anybody's arms
The way that I have often cried in yours.
Please be the one to take my tears away...

Pure genius. The entire No Cities Left album is positively burgeoning with drama, and it really makes the album for me. 'Pinned Together, Falling Apart', 'Who Are You, Defenders of the Universe' - you can almost hear the earnestness from the song titles alone. Love that album.

I think that the Arcade Fire are worthy of a mention here, too. You can't write a song about somebody's brother turning into a vampire ('Neighbourhood #2 (Laïka)') and not have a bit of drama in your blood.

When Daddy comes home you always start a fight
So the neighbours can dance
In the police disco lights

Fantastic stuff. Check the album. 'Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)' is pretty much perfect.

It must be something to do with my love of melodrama - and a good narrative. Have you heard Arab Strap's 'Love Detective'? That accent doesn't do any harm either.