Literally This is the Way it Goes and Goes and Goes the first album (out of two) by my favorite band of all time - Juno - holds this posts' song review. The album as a whole is essentially an anthology - a collection - since the songs on this release are so diverse in style, structure and, what intrigues me so often, the way in which the individual song developed.
If there were to be a lead single off of Juno's debut effort, it would have to be "The Young Influentials". Essentially a pop song, "The Young Influentials" pulls on the emotional strings heavily, from its heavy, pulling guitar passages, to Arlie Cartens' incredibly dense sounding talk-sung vocals, to the drifting but demanding organ/synth intro. Juno's song structures are almost instantly understandable but are based on what seems to be entirely sonic texture and not song writing in most contemporary senses. There are no chorus-es,verses or bridges in Juno's music, and "The Young Influentials" is a perfect example of such song-styling.
The sonic web of Juno is only half of it's equation. Lyrics and lyrical phrasing specifically, and not vocal melody, are an essential part of Juno's music. I have never heard a musical act with such unique emphasis (or lack thereof) on vocal phrasings. As you listen, pay attention to the way in which lyrics are rhymed and set within the context of the song it's really something else.
The lyrics of "The Young Influentials" are at times quite clear/memorable/catching/ essentially relatable or at least intelligent or clever-sounding. The actual meaning of the song is hard to pinpoint, but that is the point of many songs - the point of art - to be introspective/ critically self-reflective. However, "The Young Influentials" has some clear themes. Love, hurt, recovery, interpretation of life after trauma, pain set in the past and the constant, beating, edging feeling of life in limbo. With the lyrics bare, taken out of the beautiful, drifting, backing instrumentals, I could interpret the song to be about rape - a tough subject, even, maybe, though possibly not quite, for Juno. Take a look for yourself, though: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/75020/
"The Young Influentials" for me is inspiring and powerful. In ways it has sex appeal - I mean just listen to that organ in the beginning and those delayed and reverb-drenched guitars - but when paired with the hypothesized subject matter, this may seem a tad narrow. Instrumentally, it moves, drives, is aggressive and tender at the same moments. It's dense, where it takes you - who knows but that's just the way it goes and goes and goes...
Download song. (I hope this works)
*For fans of anything. Honestly.
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