Lost Flavor
I just purchased the new Matt Hires album, “Take Us to the Start.” Let me first say, that I am no musician, not a music reviewer and really don’t even call myself an expert. Hanson has been my favorite band since 1997, I still find myself downloading old Brittney tunes, despite the fact tha tmy sister is a professional opera singer with incredible music appreciation. So feel free to take what follows with a grain of salt.
Hires’ song, “Honey Let me Sing You a Song” is just beautiful. Classic. Love it. On His EP, it came to us in an acoustic form, super raw and his pipes, although shaky at times, went so well with the production and lyrics that you almost found yourself wishing you had a whine to your voice. But now, he’s sold out. This same song has now been brushed up, mastered and produced wonderfully and it is driving me crazy. Sure, we all know that live is different, but must we change the entire song Hires? For example, your line (cause, yeah I’m really sure that you are reading this, but just in case) “Open your eyes, open your eyes and let your beauty flow like wine” has been changed to “Open your mind, open your mind, you don’t have to hide.” Why did you replace this beautiful poetry with this awful cliche? I am so bummed about this switch. Bring on the wine Matt.
Beyond that, it’s a great album, and I’m not really writing this so that you will or will not purchase it. I think you should. It’s on iTunes. Go for it. But I’m writing this because I hate when this happens to artists. I have many an artist that I begin to love and then begin to dislike because they sell out. By “sell out” I don’t mean get a recording contract, I mean chaning your ways in that contract. Yeah, I know, they must make a living right? But at the sake of their musical soul? Give me a break. I said it once, and I’ll say it again, Hanson, has not sold out. Tyrone Wells, not a sell out. You musical enthusiates are rolling your eyes at me right now because I have no classics listed here and it is likely that my choices seem shallow to you. Maybe. But I don’t give. Because music, as we all know, is not meausred by it’s popularity, but by the way it moves you. And those two artists, have continued to move me, and have continued to not be popular, because they have continued to not sell out.
All this to say, I really hope I never sell out. I have come close. There are days that I want to be a writer, and there are moments I can picture writing anything, including that against my better convictions to do it. I hope I never do that. There are days that I want to be a teacher, and think about teaching things and reserching things just to get published, and I hope I never do that. I hope that I never sell out in a way that contradicts the self. Hires, maybe this rendition is your true self, coming through, and if so, then rock on. I shouldn’t judge you, I’m just more so fully aware of my own capability of mastering my writing, my teaching, myself, and producing it so well, taking out the wine and replacing it with cliches, that it makes me shiver when I hear this tune through my own speakers.
So can we please, as artists, promise ourselves and one another that we wont sell out? That we wont polish our work so nicely that it does not contain our thumbprints anymore? I dont want to see your movies produced Ethan and Brandon and I can’t recognize your personality in it. I don’t want to hear your songs Cy, and not feel the callouses on your hands. Kyle, I’ll read all of your poetry, as long as it really belongs to you. Stephanie and Melissa, please continue to take photos of what you think is beautiful. Kali, I can’t imagine a world where you didn’t take the time to make a star cut-out because you do everything with special detail, please know that your detail is worth it, because it’s you. We have to keep each other accountable as artists, please. Or soon, there will be no twangy voices, extra scenes, poems that have to be read for a lifetime, or books that make us cry.
