Charlie Daniels Band, southern rock and storytelling: Fiddle player, Devil went down to Georgia
The Charlie Daniel’s Band is a legendary group of 70s southern rock. Their music is famous but extremely quirky. Eric Church’s song reminded of their storytelling genius. They do not sing lyrics in a melody but dialogue their lyrics to be followed by an enchanted melody. The Jewish musician Shlomo Carlebauch famously would strum his guitar as he told a story of a hasidic master before gathering into a niggun (a folktale instrumental melody sung in hymns). The Charlie Daniel’s band spoke a story in a monotone manner as the melody spun through the ears of the audience.
Music is a story told in a melodic manner. A narrative cosigned in a beauty symphony. Singing the story in a lyrical ambiance. The song is a lyrical melody. It is a catchy tune with words to highlight the link between tune and terminology. Songs are enjoyable benefits. They surround the audience in bring them into the melodic stratosphere. The lyrics enable the audience to participate in the singer’s band. The song is a shared experience. Yet it is not only the words that are strung together but their meaning. The song articulates an experience the singer wishes to convey to the audience. A song brought upon by a private exposure. The first time the audience waits in anticipation of the words. The lyrics soothing they join in to sing along. Induced in the melodic symphony they sing along to the words. They partake in the energy of the performance. The meaning is less important and more the emotional overhaul of lyrical singularity.
The band may stand on the stage. They may be the centre of attention but they are not detached from the audience. The audience is but a participant in the performance. The band is a conductor. The band energises the audience’s prefrontal cortex. Engages their bodies to the sound of the musical synergy. The band inspires the audience to join in the fun. The band is merely the opening act. They start the gas with the audience to follow full throttle. The audience may not always responds in words but in cheers or dance. The audience turns towards the music. The music soothes their soul. The words pierce their heart. Words sung in a melodic symphony. A joy to listen to calming the stressors of life. For a moment in a paradise of tuned terminology. The elevated band preaches their message to the audience. The audience responds with their engagement. The sing along or cheer in respectful reciprocity. The words themselves provide meaning even if there is a deeper message (Every Breath You Take). It is the comforting lyrics that spellbound the audience.
Queen’s We Will Rock You is an audience song. The entire song resides in audience reciprocity. It is not for the audience to respond with smiles but to actively respond to the band. The band leads and the audience follows like a dance. One foot forward the other backward. One leading the other. The band is positioned at the head to guide the audience through the experience. The audience is permitted to sing along and to cheer. To notify the band they are enjoying the experience. Even wedding bands conduct the dancing. They begin the tune for the guests to circle and follow the beat of the music. A DJ at a club follows the same pattern. Some may be more performance centred than others but the audience is unified in the experience. The band/DJ is the lead with the audience following suite. Following in their comfortable way. There is no right or wrong way whether cheer sing along or dance. Swaying one’s body at the beat of music is elevated with the words only specifying the dance. The tune has is empowered by the lyrical poetry. The body is furthered into engagement by the lyrical hypnosis. The words captivate the audience as the tune rises along. The lyrics are powerful and the audience feels them from the singer’s mouth recited boldly.
Lyrics require attention. Many people listen to classical music when studying since it lacks words. Words are distracting. The lyrics require attention to join the experience. The lyrics imbibe a response. A joy to sing along or revel in their beauty. Try doing work with the lyrics compelling attention in the background. The lyrics demand response. The first time the song is heard, the listener internalises the lyrics to then espouse them on repetition. Even when a song is played on a radio or a phone, the coercion of melodic tones of the words enjoins the listener into the band’s performance. Turning the radio into their own performance. To sing along and turn the car into a performance art. The words are engaging. They are participatory. Whether at a show or in the car, the words are not be listened to but to be joined. The lyrics shout out to the listener for compensation. The scream for reciprocity. To respond in kind. To recognise their worth. The listener is unable to stop himself from preaching their lyrics. They are a party of the experience. The lyrics are profoundly embedded in the performance. Their meaning intertwined into the listener’s cornea. A joy of connection. A joy of linking to the band.
The lyrics take precedence over the tune. The words sound better in this tune. The poetry is highlighted over the tune. The tune only compels bodily movement. Yet the lyrics are the meaning that engages the audience. It is the words that compel the listener. Though to some degree the lyrics are deceptive. The tune is coercive and the lyrics are along for the ride. The lyrics are meaningless without the addictive melody. They have no meaning without the instruments. The melody brings the lyrics to life. It is bland poetry at times absent poetry without a tune. The lyrics are attractive insofar as the melody enhances them. Poetry becomes enjoyable to the bored reader. Able to experience the words for themselves. The words are empowered and the tune takes the backseat. Joining in the sing along only furthers the priority of the lyrics. The melody has empowered them but the lyrics are focused upon whether with meaning endowed or not. The meaning is calibrated by the tune. It is complemented by the melodic encounter. The lyrics are enjoyed in the synergy of the melodic dynamic. It isn’t words alone but constructed into a singing manner. A tuned terminology is attractive that words are no longer stale.
Singing is a unique time for words to take on a new approach. They are no longer monotone. They are beloved and elevated. They have different octave and an irregular tone. An enjoyable beat. Yet if Marshall sang all his statements it would annoy his friends. They is a special place for singing. Singing is not conversational. One can sing in the shower or in the street but it can grow annoying. For the singer the terminological tune is calming but the passerby is annoyed. Singing is intimate to some degree, it is the private enjoyment that inspires bodily movement to the melody’s frequency. The singer is in his own world with the monotones staring in disbelief. Singing is specified for the shower or the concert. It is not to be flaunted in the streets. It is just a burden. Lyrics are harmonising to those who wish to hear them. The bothersome element of words is demeaning when unwelcome. Audiences at concerts wish to hear the prophetic words to join in. The car radio agitates a response even when your kid brother snarls. Lyrics aren’t for listening but for engaging. Meaning is not of the band but of the audience. It is a song for the audience to partake and respond. There are words for a reason. To tag along in the tale. Tone deaf doesn’t matter it is the experience that takes precedence. It is the experience that enjoins the audience.
The classical twist of Charlie Daniel’s Band (hereafter CDB) is to desist from the lyrical tone. To disengage from the terminological tune. To void being caught up in a fabricated experience. In strange meaning. Instead to listen to the band’s message. To hear the whole truth with no strings attached. No hidden meaning or doused words to confuse the audience. No deception just straight music. This method distinguishes between tune and terminology. Music is in the instruments. Yet it is not the classical composer. It is not just a tune but a story behind it. It would as if Led Zeppelin spoke the lyrics Stairway To Heaven in a monotone and afterwards played the melody to complement the story. Melodies have stories to them and they ought not to be buried beneath words. The words are meaningless in the standard lyrical archetype. The tune is sung and the words are caught up in the melody. The words are meaningless insofar as the melody captures their essence and decreases their significance. The audience fails to listen to the band and joins in the experience. They no longer see the band as a mentor but a conductor.
Lyrics are always ruined in melodies. American Pie and Piano Man tell lyrical melodies that capture the strength of the picture. The tune displays the power of the portrait. It adds the emotional piece. The tone enhances the experience as it funnels the audience into the message. Yet they are both sing alongs. They are enjoyable pieces of music but they fail to articulate the story perfectly. They are more about the music than they are the words. CDB’s way is to separate the tune and terminology to ensure the perfection of both. The story must be clear and concise not muddled by changes in octave. Caught up in the melodic harmony, losing touch with the story. The enticement of the melody overwhelms the true nature of the words. The meaning is erased in comfort. The lyrical melody is a riddle. It is an esoteric flight of disdain for the band. Construed subjectivity into a melodic powerhouse. A lesson lost in translation. Separation ensures poetry remains ironclad. It remains liturgy not art. Art is complex but liturgy is straightforward. The story tells the tale how it occurred not its puzzling description. Scarborough Faire is no longer a simple lover tale but a dialectical masterpiece of dividing the good and evil. Even more than that it is an anti-Vietnam song. Head scratching in the melodic harmony.
Poetry itself is not coherent at face value. Yet the CDB’s style isn’t to provide poetry but to tell stories. Poetry is written of subjective manner. It is of personal art. The alternative is tell another’s tale. To teach by speaking. A tale that is clear to the audience. American Pie is a riddle. A catchy historical tune with obvious themes and symbols that are speculated by the audience. The goal isn’t to understand the symbolism but to enjoy the tuned terminology. How the words fit together and how they sound. Every Breath You Take is a beautiful love song. Sting’s initial reason for writing the song nor sure meaning irrelevant but how the audience interprets it. There is a hint of deception since the audience assumes they know the truth but they are incredibly ignorant. They enjoy the words they hear and interest to their liking. Born in the USA is anti-war song but is hailed as a patriotic champion of pro-American ideology. The misinterpretation is the semantic conclusions by listeners. The tuned terminology is falsified by the listener. It beckons to their feelings. They sing along and adjust the words. The tune is pleasant so the words must be positive. The meaning behind the song is misconstrued by the audience. There is a disconnect between the band and the audience. They share an experience but a fictional encounter. A hyped embrace with divergent conclusions.
The Devil Went Down to Georgia is clear in its intent. Here is the story of Johnny the devil and fiddle contest. The music complements. It is only there to enhance the story. An audiobook with periodic bursts of cheers. The melody is behind the lyrics. They do not overpower the words. They are background music. They are but special effects to bring a little more grace to the story. To make the story a more engaging. To bring a more flare to the narration. It is a performance. For the audience to remain at bay. To listen from afar and enjoy the narrative. The audience is separate from the band. The band stands on the stage and prophesies their intent. They do not ask the audience to partake in their symphony. The audience is to sit back and enjoy the show. It isn’t pure passive entertainment but an engaging story with instruments to enhance the performance. The audience is at a play and they are at the band’s mercy. The band performs and the audience listens in excitement. Some cheers but not lyrical invasion. The words are of the singer alone. He speaks the sermon with the band following along. The audience watches in awe.
Not all of CDB follows this theme. Long Haired Country Boy may be construed as singing and Simple Man as well. Yet listening to the Decade of Hits album or even his 1974 Fire on the Mountain album and there is lacking a true singing genre. The latter has multiple instrumental songs. Much of the singing is following the musical tune. Yet it is not tuned terminology. There are exceptions but there is a consistency of speaking the song instead of singing it. The dialectic of speaking and melody are intertwined in a curious exchange. The stories themselves aren’t always so compressible by the layman. Yet the conversational enterprise is to clarify in the same sense that a medieval play may sound a little foreign yet is conversational. The unique mix of verbal monotone and melody behind challenges the listener to pay attention. To listen closely to the song. To break forth and internalise the message. Fondly cradle the story in a harmonious melody. A melodic soliloquy. A message for the audience to learn. A story of enjoyment and growth. It is a story not art. A novel not poetry in motion. It is not an idea but narrative. Listen close to the lesson.
Their style is theatrical. It is based in the separation between band and audience. The song is the band’s to relay to the audience. The words are so important. To not be tainted by the powerful drums and eloquent strumming. Bolding the terms emboldening the message. A methodology lost to time. Focusing on the tune over the words. The words are reduced to the melodic tone. A monstrous eradication of the message. The inclusion of the audience into the performance. A lost art of distance and mentorship. A respect for authorial intent. The instruments are a part of the act but it is the band’s act not the audience’s permission to invade. Performance has become all-inclusive. There is beauty to this but it muddles messages into infinite interpretations, even more so at times to audience preferred over the original cause. The audience hijacks the song for their own cause. It is a shared experience for the audience to claim its right. Yet this muddles Sting’s initial intent. The esotericism is erased from history. Only the musician is aware of the true nature of the song but such purpose may be irrelevant. As the public is enthralled with the melodic symphony. With the monotone narration there is a clear esotericism conveying a profound point to the public to be guarded and remembered forever.
CDB’s style may not be the most attractive or the most enjoyable to the slumped tuned society. Loving the tuned terminology. Classical music is a bore. Where are the lyrics? Where is the meaning? What is the song about? CDB ads lyrics to the melody but cautions to ensure the melody isn’t denied its truth. The melody receives narration while retaining is beauty. It retains it might and clarity. The narration is an entertainment ploy. A message but do not forget about the melody. The melody on its own is fantastic. Blue Sky weaves solos to manifest the instrumental layer. Keeping the melodic harmony front and centre but the singing has already been infused in the song. The listener awaits the end of the instrumental for the singing to restart. Singing is toxic. It implants the attractive tuned terminology. Once it is grasped it is difficult to let go. Will Jagger sing again or is this just the credit scene. How long will this solo last. Blue Sky anticipates a return to the singing but the listener desires lyrics. CDB salvages that carnal urge by narrating. The monotone is a song with ending. A story that leads somewhere with the pure melody behind the words. the words are no longer purging the purity. Solace in the troubled narration over the melody. Recognise the difference there’s no distortion.
A unique style yet one that focuses on the instrumental use while still maintaining a hold on the power of narration. Simple Man is tuned terminology but only slightly. The point is to keep the melody strong and the audience happy. To provide an engaging message with a more beautiful melody behind it. Drawing the public in to the story only for them to be overwhelmed with the melodic harmony.
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