Album: August & Everything After
Artist: Counting Crows
Born: Berkeley, California
Released: September 1993
Genre: Indie Rock
Counting Crows were a musical passion I shared with some of the more nerdy kids in my English class at school. Adam Duritz's wordy introspection and expressive singing were just two of the elements that appealed to our teenage ears. More important than all of that though was the fact that I can credit Counting Crows for making me, and legions of teenagers in the early 90s, aware of Bob Dylan. With hit song Mr Jones, which was briefly a No.1 in the US and also a Top 40 single in the UK, the Counting Crows paid homage to Dylan with a song about wanting to be rock stars to attract pretty girls. At the time, the lyrics felt so much more meaningful, but now I'm not so sure. There's a line in the song, "Believe in me / because I don't believe in anything / and I want to be someone / to believe", which still resonates with me emotionally, indicating that my love of this album isn't entirely objective. That said, I will defend this album to the hilt for the quality of its songwriting and its pop melodies. Music for teenagers and tortured souls it may be, but sometimes the best music is.
Opening track Round Here is a passionate song about living in a dead-end town and the feelings of helplessness it causes ("She says she's tired of life / she must be tired of something"). This Springsteen territory is explored further on Omaha, while Perfect Blue Buildings has a more morose, lovesick feel but still gives voice to feelings of small town claustrophobia ("In beds in little rooms in buildings in the middle / of these lives which are completely meaningless"). Anna Begins is one of the strongest songs on the album, perfectly conveying the nervousness and uncertainty about committing to a new relationship. Legendary producer T-Bone Burnett was responsible for the song's atmospheric, country rock feel. The second half of the record ratchets up the emotional intensity with the stunning Sullivan Street, the despairing Raining In Baltimore and the rousing A Murder Of One ("I dreamt I saw you walking up a hillside in the snow / casting shadows on the winter sky / as you stood there counting crows / one for sorrow, two for joy / three for girls and four for boys / five for silver, six for gold / seven for a secret never to be told"). No song before A Murder Of One had summoned up that feeling of being young and life being full of possibilities, only to grow up and feel your horizons gradually narrow. Yes, the album's a bit emotionally overwrought at times, but of all the middle-of-the-road American rock records that I got into around this time (Sheryl Crow's Tuesday Night Music Club, Hootie & the Blowfish's Cracked Rear View, etc), this is the only one I still listen to now.
Counting Crows were a musical passion I shared with some of the more nerdy kids in my English class at school. Adam Duritz's wordy introspection and expressive singing were just two of the elements that appealed to our teenage ears. More important than all of that though was the fact that I can credit Counting Crows for making me, and legions of teenagers in the early 90s, aware of Bob Dylan. With hit song Mr Jones, which was briefly a No.1 in the US and also a Top 40 single in the UK, the Counting Crows paid homage to Dylan with a song about wanting to be rock stars to attract pretty girls. At the time, the lyrics felt so much more meaningful, but now I'm not so sure. There's a line in the song, "Believe in me / because I don't believe in anything / and I want to be someone / to believe", which still resonates with me emotionally, indicating that my love of this album isn't entirely objective. That said, I will defend this album to the hilt for the quality of its songwriting and its pop melodies. Music for teenagers and tortured souls it may be, but sometimes the best music is.
Opening track Round Here is a passionate song about living in a dead-end town and the feelings of helplessness it causes ("She says she's tired of life / she must be tired of something"). This Springsteen territory is explored further on Omaha, while Perfect Blue Buildings has a more morose, lovesick feel but still gives voice to feelings of small town claustrophobia ("In beds in little rooms in buildings in the middle / of these lives which are completely meaningless"). Anna Begins is one of the strongest songs on the album, perfectly conveying the nervousness and uncertainty about committing to a new relationship. Legendary producer T-Bone Burnett was responsible for the song's atmospheric, country rock feel. The second half of the record ratchets up the emotional intensity with the stunning Sullivan Street, the despairing Raining In Baltimore and the rousing A Murder Of One ("I dreamt I saw you walking up a hillside in the snow / casting shadows on the winter sky / as you stood there counting crows / one for sorrow, two for joy / three for girls and four for boys / five for silver, six for gold / seven for a secret never to be told"). No song before A Murder Of One had summoned up that feeling of being young and life being full of possibilities, only to grow up and feel your horizons gradually narrow. Yes, the album's a bit emotionally overwrought at times, but of all the middle-of-the-road American rock records that I got into around this time (Sheryl Crow's Tuesday Night Music Club, Hootie & the Blowfish's Cracked Rear View, etc), this is the only one I still listen to now.
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