Peotr
06-12-2008, 10:05 AM
First of two songs about heroin from 1971.
Today's song: "Captain Jack (http://www.bagofmice.com/tunes/daily/12.6.08.mp3)" by Billy Joel (from the album Piano Man, Columbia Records, 1973).
"Captain Jack" is a very interesting song. Written by Joel when he was 21 years old, it is considered part of Joel's autobiographical phase prior to him becoming a famous recording artist.
Unable to make a living as a musician Joel worked normal wage jobs, including a gig at a piano bar - his experiences would be written into several of the songs for his 1973 album Piano Man. While the namesake song, "Piano Man", is thought to be about Joel's experience as a piano bar musician, in "Captain Jack" Joel doesn't sing about himself, per se, but more about his disgust with the affluent youth who patronized the places where he worked. Although the central theme of the song is heroin, "Captain Jack" is not a song about using heroin. but more of a song about watching people destroy themselves.
When Joel wrote "Captain Jack" the United States was still embroiled in the Vietnam War, and one method of avoiding the draft was a student deferment. In 1971 acceptance into college was not as assured as it is today, but children of wealthy parents (particularily wealthy alumni) could generally find a university to accept them. Since being drafted was possible until the age of 26, it was necessary for people avoiding the draft to stay in college for seven or eight years. Students who could afford this would take the smallest number of credits possible, and when necessary would pursue post-graduate degrees (ironically causing the spike in MBAs in the mid-1970s.)
Through his various jobs Joel would meet these children of wealthy parents - young Americans with cars, with money, with drugs, with stylish clothing, complaining about how boring their life was, how arduous and onerous college was, about how their lives were complicated and burdensome. In 1971, while trying to write songs for a new album, Joel witnessed a drug deal that would become the inspiration for "Captain Jack".
---------------
The music behind the chorus and verse of "Captain Jack" follows a theme of heroin use: The song opens with a relaxed, spacious sound; Joel's voice is accomodating, mellow, almost quiet. As the song proceeds the urgency and volume of the music increases, adding more insistent sounds until the chorus arrives with a layered, symphonic crescendo, Joel singing, "Captain Jack will get you high tonight!..." After the apex of the chorus the music loses it's urgency - it's still complex, still active, but it becomes less cohesive, with Joel improvising melodic non-words over the music as the chorus slowly loses it's power. The music finally reaches a lull before the next verse, where the sound is again relaxed and almost drowsy.
The music mimics the stages of heroin. The chorus is the initial rush, a powerful, heroic feeling of euphoria, to be followed by a short period of intense pleasure. Eventually it winds down into the verse, which is a longer period of sleepiness or tiredness. Even the verse, representing the soothing oblivion of a heroin dose, is split into two halves: The first half is minimalist, with the steady tick of the drum and bass and a few single chords from Joel's piano, but the second half, while still soft, hints at the upcoming chorus by adding a few sounds into the background (usually the stray notes of a guitar and a little synthesizer.) The cycle is started again by the injection at the next chorus.
Although Joel's voice is always soothing and genial, his lyrics are sarcastic, dark and rebarbative. His singing tone is mocking but always friendly; the closest he comes to sounding surly are his whiney, drawn-out 'awwwws', a sneering pity that could almost sound sincere. Joel doesn't make any social comments during the chorus (except the very last chorus, where he slips in the words, "Captain Jack could make you die tonight..."), leaving the chorus as a heady antiphony about giving in to heroin. In his verses, though, he is cold and ruthless, dropping comments that frame the subject as a failure while never being blunt or overly insulting.
The live version of "Captain Jack" was a regional hit on the east coast, but the album version, while popular in sales, didn't get as much radio play because the word 'masturbate' was considered indecent by the FCC. Conservatives placed a lot of emphasis on obscenity laws during the early 1970s, using the FCC's profanity regulations to prevent Vietnam protest speeches from being aired by the networks. Similarly, some members of Congress were considering deporting John Lennon for his use of the word 'fucking' in his song "Working Class Hero". Most radio stations deferred from playing "Captain Jack", although the FCC later declared that the song was suitable for evening broadcast on FM stations, since the FCC felt that FM players were significantly more expensive than AM players and therefore generally owned by adults.
Because of the unnamed reference to heroin, the use of the word 'masturbate', and Joel's drugged-out look on the album cover, many conservatives considered the song "Captain Jack" to be counterculture, opposing American mainstream values and promoting drug use. Although the song doesn't describe wealthy Americans in a positive way, it certainly says nothing that might promote drug use.
-- Peotr (The Normal Guy) ©™
P.S. Caveat: This music is copyrighted, and is available here solely for the purpose of discussion.
P.P.S. "Captain Jack" was accidentally played as the background to Hilary Clinton's announcement that she was running for Senate. Apparently the song she wanted was Billy Joel's "New York State Of Mind".
Today's song: "Captain Jack (http://www.bagofmice.com/tunes/daily/12.6.08.mp3)" by Billy Joel (from the album Piano Man, Columbia Records, 1973).
"Captain Jack" is a very interesting song. Written by Joel when he was 21 years old, it is considered part of Joel's autobiographical phase prior to him becoming a famous recording artist.
Unable to make a living as a musician Joel worked normal wage jobs, including a gig at a piano bar - his experiences would be written into several of the songs for his 1973 album Piano Man. While the namesake song, "Piano Man", is thought to be about Joel's experience as a piano bar musician, in "Captain Jack" Joel doesn't sing about himself, per se, but more about his disgust with the affluent youth who patronized the places where he worked. Although the central theme of the song is heroin, "Captain Jack" is not a song about using heroin. but more of a song about watching people destroy themselves.
When Joel wrote "Captain Jack" the United States was still embroiled in the Vietnam War, and one method of avoiding the draft was a student deferment. In 1971 acceptance into college was not as assured as it is today, but children of wealthy parents (particularily wealthy alumni) could generally find a university to accept them. Since being drafted was possible until the age of 26, it was necessary for people avoiding the draft to stay in college for seven or eight years. Students who could afford this would take the smallest number of credits possible, and when necessary would pursue post-graduate degrees (ironically causing the spike in MBAs in the mid-1970s.)
Through his various jobs Joel would meet these children of wealthy parents - young Americans with cars, with money, with drugs, with stylish clothing, complaining about how boring their life was, how arduous and onerous college was, about how their lives were complicated and burdensome. In 1971, while trying to write songs for a new album, Joel witnessed a drug deal that would become the inspiration for "Captain Jack".
---------------
The music behind the chorus and verse of "Captain Jack" follows a theme of heroin use: The song opens with a relaxed, spacious sound; Joel's voice is accomodating, mellow, almost quiet. As the song proceeds the urgency and volume of the music increases, adding more insistent sounds until the chorus arrives with a layered, symphonic crescendo, Joel singing, "Captain Jack will get you high tonight!..." After the apex of the chorus the music loses it's urgency - it's still complex, still active, but it becomes less cohesive, with Joel improvising melodic non-words over the music as the chorus slowly loses it's power. The music finally reaches a lull before the next verse, where the sound is again relaxed and almost drowsy.
The music mimics the stages of heroin. The chorus is the initial rush, a powerful, heroic feeling of euphoria, to be followed by a short period of intense pleasure. Eventually it winds down into the verse, which is a longer period of sleepiness or tiredness. Even the verse, representing the soothing oblivion of a heroin dose, is split into two halves: The first half is minimalist, with the steady tick of the drum and bass and a few single chords from Joel's piano, but the second half, while still soft, hints at the upcoming chorus by adding a few sounds into the background (usually the stray notes of a guitar and a little synthesizer.) The cycle is started again by the injection at the next chorus.
Although Joel's voice is always soothing and genial, his lyrics are sarcastic, dark and rebarbative. His singing tone is mocking but always friendly; the closest he comes to sounding surly are his whiney, drawn-out 'awwwws', a sneering pity that could almost sound sincere. Joel doesn't make any social comments during the chorus (except the very last chorus, where he slips in the words, "Captain Jack could make you die tonight..."), leaving the chorus as a heady antiphony about giving in to heroin. In his verses, though, he is cold and ruthless, dropping comments that frame the subject as a failure while never being blunt or overly insulting.
The live version of "Captain Jack" was a regional hit on the east coast, but the album version, while popular in sales, didn't get as much radio play because the word 'masturbate' was considered indecent by the FCC. Conservatives placed a lot of emphasis on obscenity laws during the early 1970s, using the FCC's profanity regulations to prevent Vietnam protest speeches from being aired by the networks. Similarly, some members of Congress were considering deporting John Lennon for his use of the word 'fucking' in his song "Working Class Hero". Most radio stations deferred from playing "Captain Jack", although the FCC later declared that the song was suitable for evening broadcast on FM stations, since the FCC felt that FM players were significantly more expensive than AM players and therefore generally owned by adults.
Because of the unnamed reference to heroin, the use of the word 'masturbate', and Joel's drugged-out look on the album cover, many conservatives considered the song "Captain Jack" to be counterculture, opposing American mainstream values and promoting drug use. Although the song doesn't describe wealthy Americans in a positive way, it certainly says nothing that might promote drug use.
-- Peotr (The Normal Guy) ©™
P.S. Caveat: This music is copyrighted, and is available here solely for the purpose of discussion.
P.P.S. "Captain Jack" was accidentally played as the background to Hilary Clinton's announcement that she was running for Senate. Apparently the song she wanted was Billy Joel's "New York State Of Mind".