Paul Edelman and Jangling Sparrows just released their new album "Telecoaster" and to celebrate we asked Paul to tell us about the song "I Still Love Rock & Roll". Here is the story:
Part social commentary, part humor but there is a current through it that I'm very serious about. The gist of the song is this: "in these crazy times where people are allowed to skew reality anyway they want to bend to their views, rock and roll is still solid and reliable."
So to dissect that sentence, the humorous aspect is where the lyrics just throw around snippets from different conspiracies and alternative paradigms. Also where we, as a culture are becoming more and more disconnected through, in part, social media. Culminating at the end where the planet is destroyed and we're still fighting with each other.
The last half of the sentence, "rock & roll is solid and reliable". I am very serious about. But it's more than that. I take my rock and roll seriously for very good reasons.
Rock and roll is a visceral musical format that still allows us to be ugly in ways we can't anywhere else. Rock and roll, above all other forms of music, allows us to express the dark sides of ourselves that we don't like acknowledging. We can be jealous, killers, sad, angry beyond explanation, hateful, rock and roll allows...even wants us to explore those parts of ourselves that society tells us to ignore or hide. And in that way, rock and roll saves lives. That's no hyperbole. More than any other music, rock and roll has always had the ability to reach into a person's soul and tell them that they are understood. Someone heard that song or that album and they knew they were not alone in their feelings.
Rock and roll still does that. So this song is a tongue in cheek exploration of a very important subject to me."
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch an acoustic performance of the song for yourself below and learn more about the album here
Singled Out: Jangling Sparrows' Estuaries
Singled Out: Jangling Sparrows' Paul Edelman