The uber geeks

Say Anything - Woe

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Song Name: Woe
Artist: Say Anything
Album: …Is a Real Boy

Why This Song?:
I feel inclined to give some of you a wake up call right now. I just assume that everyone has heard of this band. This album has been around for since 2004, was re-released after being signed to J-Records, and is now getting major recognition. I have recently seen appearances on late night talk shows and the video for “Alive with the Glory of Love” on MTV. However, when I talk to my friends I talk as if they have heard the phenomenon that is Say Anything. More times than not, I find that either they have only heard one or two songs from these guys or never heard anything at all.

Here is a wake-up call, people. I’ve never reviewed this album on the site, but rest assured, it is one of the very few albums I would not feel ashamed to give an A+ to. If you haven’t heard Say Anything’s “…Is / Was a Real Boy” you are missing out on one of the most refreshingly creative albums of the new millennium, if not ever. And if you haven’t, stop what you are doing and listen to it… now. Then oncee you listen to it one time through, listen to it again because at first you might be taken back at the oddity of it all.

To call this album “emo” is an injustice to this unique masterpiece. It’s an album that touches on everything from the hypocrisy in the music industry, groupies, loneliness, to being mentally insane. Yes, part of the brilliance and intrigue of the album is that front-man Max Bemis really did have a mental breakdown while recording it that led to a naked walk down New York streets. Yes, Max is bipolar, but so is this album. It’s scathing, scabrous, tongue-in-cheek, extremely clever, and utterly original.

Not only that, but he basically recorded the whole thing by himself. He had the duty of playing guitar, keyboards, song-writing, and vocals. While Max is not the best vocalist in the world, he is ever-imaginative and surprisingly talented.

“Woe” is perhaps my favorite song on the album. The upbeat sound and humorous lyrics make it hard to take seriously. But the song suddenly shifts from breezy to heartfelt, and this diversity is a staple of most Say Anything songs. You don’t know what you are going to get and most songs seem like 3 songs in one. The breakdown here is brilliant and surprisingly moving.

Please take me out of my body up through the palm trees to smell California in sweet hypocrisy. / Floating, my senses surround my body / I wake my nose to smell that ocean burn. / So now I’m forging ahead past all the plutocrats who sold me out / Go sob in your bed / If life is twice as pretty once your dead then send me a card / I’m still the optimist though it is hard when all you want to be is in a dream

This is perhaps my favorite piece of the album both musically and lyrically, although there is so much going on here that basically song has something new to offer. Often this album is lyrically insightful, downright silly, or shocking and sometimes all at once. So, suffice to say, there is rarely a dull moment.

Be warned, some spots are so bluntly and graphically honest that most songs may have something to offend someone, and this is definitely not one for the kiddies. But, if you aren’t easily offended, you want to hear anything that Say Anything has to say.

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