{"id":1463,"date":"2021-08-24T03:34:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T02:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roglacup.com\/klaus62\/?p=1463"},"modified":"2021-08-22T15:26:17","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T14:26:17","slug":"robert-plant-alison-krauss-cover-cant-let-gonew-version-of-dolly-parton-singing-in-the-sweet-by-and-bylainey-wilson-new-song-two-story-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roglacup.com\/klaus62\/2021\/08\/24\/robert-plant-alison-krauss-cover-cant-let-gonew-version-of-dolly-parton-singing-in-the-sweet-by-and-bylainey-wilson-new-song-two-story-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning song# In Bloom # Sturgill Simpson#"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Song Review \u2013 Sturgill Simpson\u2019s \u201cIn Bloom\u201d (Nirvana Cover)<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

It has been said often about country music, and about popular music in general, that we need a \u201cNirvana moment\u201d\u2014meaning a point in time when everything we know about music is turned upside down, and an era of more authentic and raw expressions is ushered into the popular culture. But this theory has always involved a bit of revisionism and myopic perspective. Just like Hank Williams, just like Townes Van Zandt, the tragic and poetic death of Kurt Cobain has inexorably skewed our perspective on his influence and importance in popular culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevermind<\/em> wasn\u2019t even Nirvana\u2019s first record, and it\u2019s popularity was preceded, paralleled, and eventually bested by Pearl Jam\u2019s Ten<\/em>, and was bolstered by a crowd of other grunge artists who were also important to the revolution in popular music at that time. 1991 wasn\u2019t just the story of one man, one song, one band, or one album. Undoubtedly, Kurt Cobain and Nirvana were incredibly important to what happened to popular music in the early 90\u2019s, but we\u2019re always looking for just one, when many are usually to blame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There seems to be something intuitive to the human design to expect all of the ills of society to be resolved by one person, whether that\u2019s a popular music artist, a Presidential candidate, or a Messiah busting through the clouds to usher in the rapture. And so as creatures of habit, we take burdens, many of which would be more fairly assigned to our own shoulders or the shoulders of many, and lump them onto this one person. Or we assign the absolution for all previous burdens to a cult of personality figure from the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This leads us all to Sturgill Simpson, whom many have compared to that biblical \u201cCountry Music Savior\u201d or modern day Kurt Cobain that could come in and so completely reshape the current music paradigm, it would usher in an entirely new era of substantive entertainment that would be lasting for generations and save us all from the current scourge of simplistic pap. And here Sturgill goes cutting a Nirvana song. Without hearing a peep of it, that in itself seems poetic, or maybe even prophetic. Right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was Nirvana\u2019s album Nevermind<\/em> about? What was \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit\u201d trying to say, and even more specifically \u201cIn Bloom,\u201d which is the song Sturgill has selected to cover? \u201cIn Bloom\u201d was Nirvana spilling its frustration on how the message they were trying to convey through their music was being lost on its audience. Their ideology was being diluted by the sheer number of people it was reaching. They were fed up that a portion, or even a majority of Nirvana\u2019s \u201cfans\u201d were just there for the scene that had been created around the music, or the blood and guts and rawness of it all. They were tired of people assigning their own desires to what the music was saying instead of trying to interpret what the band was really trying to convey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut he don\u2019t know what it means, knows not what it means\u2026\u201d<\/em> the song says. In fact this premise of misunderstanding is echoed throughout Nirvana\u2019s Nevermind<\/em>, including in the more well-recognized \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit,\u201d and is embodied in the title \u201cNevermind<\/em>,\u201d which is the band acknowledging that their message was being lost, misinterpreted, or downright ignored as come-a-long grunge fans banged their heads to the beat mindlessly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The premise of \u201cIn Bloom\u201d is quietly brilliant, and the more the song and Nirvana became misunderstood (including how society assigned hero status to Cobain), the more brilliant it became. But whether it is Nirvana\u2019s version, or Sturgill Simpson\u2019s version, \u201cIn Bloom\u201d is an indictment of ones own fans, and is based in part on judgement and assumption. Sturgill gives the song a slight twist by adding the addendum, \u201cBut he don\u2019t know what it means, knows not what it means\u2026to love someone,\u201d <\/em>but despite the more bright feel of the music of Sturgill\u2019s version, the message remains the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere we are now, entertain us,\u201d<\/em> was what accompanied the release of Sturgill\u2019s \u201cIn Bloom\u201d song and video Thursday (3-24) on social media\u2014another indictment Nirvana thrust towards its fans in song, and was misunderstood by many. Even today, we see headlines talking about Sturgill\u2019s version as being \u201chappy,\u201d or even \u201cuplifting.\u201d But at the core of \u201cIn Bloom,\u201d is a level of judgement, however true it might be for some indolent fans. There\u2019s nothing happy or uplifting about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a show at the Ryman Auditorium last November, Sturgill had to help break up a fight<\/a> from the stage and said, \u201cI can\u2019t wait \u2019til all these flannel shirt\/beard motherfuckers figure out I ain\u2019t like them.\u201d\u009d <\/em>Has this entire move by Sturgill to slowly extricate himself from the sonic burdens of country music been just as much about expanding his creative possibilities as it\u2019s been to push back on the public perception of who he is, and how he should be assigned as a \u201csavior,\u201d which is the same motion that defined Kurt Cobain throughout his short career?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like Kurt Cobain, Sturgill Simpson has been hounded by the prevalence of misunderstanding. In the press, in the population of his fans, there are thousands that have shown up just to be a part of the scene, while the message, and even the style of Sturgill\u2019s music passes well above their heads. There\u2019s the Waylon Jennings comparisons, there\u2019s references to his songs as \u201cdrug music,\u201d even though this applies to one, maybe two songs, and even these are just passing references, and not the condoning of anything. But more importantly, there\u2019s the lumping of responsibility on Sturgill to be a country music savior, to save popular music just like Kurt did, and the expectation to criticize other current country artists. Perhaps all of this has become buried in Sturgill\u2019s psyche, and is now being expressed through his music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Covering Nirvana\u2019s \u201cIn Bloom\u201d is two parts brilliant, but it\u2019s one part troubling. Judgement is a two way street, and can come to the stage, and from the stage. How do we know that the villain of \u201cIn Bloom\u201d doesn\u2019t know how to love someone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this information, and what \u201cIn Bloom\u201d is trying to say, is critically vital to understanding this song. At its core, \u201cIn Bloom\u201d is enigmatic, and necessitates analyzing and placing in context for one to be immersed in the full experience. Otherwise, you become the song\u2019s dupe. And \u201cIn Bloom\u201d needs dupes to be effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But brushing that all aside, what do we have with Sturgill\u2019s version of \u201cIn Bloom\u201d? First, this song says something, and it goes somewhere, both sonically and lyrically, which is a good sign after the slightly meandering \u201cBrace For Impact.\u201d Though it may seem ironic, \u201cIn Bloom\u201d is decidedly a more country-sounding song than the previous two Sturgill song releases. The steel guitar sounds like a steel guitar, and just like Sturgill did with a previous cover\u2014\u201cThe Promise\u201d by When in Rome\u2014his use of vocal dynamics is how he adroitly makes the song his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concern about how horns would integrate into Sturgill\u2019s music is rendered almost superfluous by the time they actually show up in \u201cIn Bloom.\u201d In fact it would feel sinister if they were removed. Same goes for the strings, and other accoutrements that some might consider \u201cnon county,\u201d which aid to the incredibly dreamy and ethereal landscape Sturgill creates both as singer and producer. Though it\u2019s fair to point out that as a cover, this song is more interpretive than original, the effort is no less valiant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this talk of genre has it all wrong with Sturgill Simpson. Genre is still incredibly important, but it\u2019s not the only concern of music. Good music defines genre, but great music transcends it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Popular society foisted all of its hopes, burdens, and concerns on the shoulders of Kurt Cobain, just as it had on the shoulders of Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and others. And it was a mistake every time that aided to these transcendental artist\u2019s ultimate demise. In the end the task of the singer is to sing, and the task of the audience is to listen. It just happens to be that the message of \u201cIn Bloom\u201d is worth repeating, now more than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posted from: https:\/\/www.savingcountrymusic.com\/song-review-sturgill-simpsons-in-bloom-nirvana-cover\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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