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The initial statement below may be surprising to anyone who has any kind of relationship or knowledge of who I am. Brace yourself kids...the first blow may hurt (and it even gets its own paragraph), but it gets better!
I realized rather recently that I'm getting really tired of listening to showtunes.
Shocking?!
Yes, I know there are other genres of music out there and yes, I'm listening to everything else out there too. It surprises me though how much I am tiring of showtunes...I'm going through a dry spell I suppose. I have my standard staple of shows that I love and will always love, but you can only listen to those so many times. Then, there is the newer stuff that just...isn't any good. So...the only music from the genre I can tolerate (and rather like) is still JRB's (Jason Robert Brown for you newbies of my blog). I decided to take a re-listen to Parade and guess what, I like it. I never really got into Parade in '99 (the year it was nominated for and won Tony Awards) because it didn't really appeal to me. Now though, after careful listening and an understanding of the story, it has become my album du jour (or des jours...cos heaven knows I'll be listening to it for awhile).
After I stumbled upon JRB's The Last 5 Years (TL5Y) (and loved it), I became absolutely fascinated by his work. I sort of went in reverse order when "discovering" the remaining body of his work -- first came TL5Y then came Lauren Kennedy's album of his songs, JRB's own solo album, then Songs For A New World and finally through process of elimination came the show that first brought him to the greater public's attention: Parade.
Though I've had Parade for sometime now and have listened to it often enough, I never really discovered its sound and its story. On the whole though, everything I've heard that he has composed is just so rich and multi-layered. Listening to his work is like eating a gourmet meal...haha, JRB's work is like a feast for the ears! When JRB writes, what he writes means something. There are few words that are lost in meaning or intent in his shows and songs. Heck, even his blog is interesting! It is witty, intelligent and fascinating...kind of like his songs.
What I discovered from my careful, almost obsessive listening to JRB's work, is that his music has a very distinct sound, and his lyrics for the most part are substantial, meaningful, intricate and carefully constructed. When he writes a song, it makes a statement and its intent is so hauntingly beautiful that it stays with you. Example? This week, I can't stop listening to the song "All The Wasted Time" (click to listen) from Parade. In short, this show is based on the story in Atlanta, GA (1913) of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory owner falsely accused and convicted of murdering young Mary Phagan. The song "All The Wasted Time" marks the emotional climax of the show sung by Leo & his wife just before he is kidnapped and executed.
After I stumbled upon JRB's The Last 5 Years (TL5Y) (and loved it), I became absolutely fascinated by his work. I sort of went in reverse order when "discovering" the remaining body of his work -- first came TL5Y then came Lauren Kennedy's album of his songs, JRB's own solo album, then Songs For A New World and finally through process of elimination came the show that first brought him to the greater public's attention: Parade.
Though I've had Parade for sometime now and have listened to it often enough, I never really discovered its sound and its story. On the whole though, everything I've heard that he has composed is just so rich and multi-layered. Listening to his work is like eating a gourmet meal...haha, JRB's work is like a feast for the ears! When JRB writes, what he writes means something. There are few words that are lost in meaning or intent in his shows and songs. Heck, even his blog is interesting! It is witty, intelligent and fascinating...kind of like his songs.
What I discovered from my careful, almost obsessive listening to JRB's work, is that his music has a very distinct sound, and his lyrics for the most part are substantial, meaningful, intricate and carefully constructed. When he writes a song, it makes a statement and its intent is so hauntingly beautiful that it stays with you. Example? This week, I can't stop listening to the song "All The Wasted Time" (click to listen) from Parade. In short, this show is based on the story in Atlanta, GA (1913) of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory owner falsely accused and convicted of murdering young Mary Phagan. The song "All The Wasted Time" marks the emotional climax of the show sung by Leo & his wife just before he is kidnapped and executed.ALL THE WASTED TIME
Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
LEO
I will never understand
What I did to deserve you,
Or how to be the man
That I'm supposed to be.
I will never understand
If I live a thousand lifetimes
Why you did the things you did for me.
Just look at you -
How could I not be in love with you?
What kind of fool could have taken you
For granted for so long?
All the wasted time,
All the million hours,
Pushing you away,
Building up my walls;
All the days gone by
To glare, to pout, to push you out,
And I never knew anything at all
I never knew anything at all.
LUCILLE
I will never understand
How all the world misjudged you
When I have always known
How lucky I must be.
I will never understand
How I kept from going crazy
Just waiting there till you came home to me.
Now look at me
Now that you're finally here with me -
Now that I know I was right to wait
And everyone else was so wrong
For so long
All the wasted time
LEO
All the wasted time
LUCILLE
All the million hours.
Years on top of years
Still too proud to crawl -
All the days gone by
To feel that I don't satisfy
And I never knew anything at all
I never knew anything at all
LEO
All the wasted time
LUCILLE
All the wasted time
LEO
All the million hours.
BOTH
Leaves too high to touch,
Roots too strong to fall.
All the days gone by
To never show I loved you so
And I never knew anything at all.
LEO
I never knew anything
At all...
Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
LEO
I will never understand
What I did to deserve you,
Or how to be the man
That I'm supposed to be.
I will never understand
If I live a thousand lifetimes
Why you did the things you did for me.
Just look at you -
How could I not be in love with you?
What kind of fool could have taken you
For granted for so long?
All the wasted time,
All the million hours,
Pushing you away,
Building up my walls;
All the days gone by
To glare, to pout, to push you out,
And I never knew anything at all
I never knew anything at all.
LUCILLE
I will never understand
How all the world misjudged you
When I have always known
How lucky I must be.
I will never understand
How I kept from going crazy
Just waiting there till you came home to me.
Now look at me
Now that you're finally here with me -
Now that I know I was right to wait
And everyone else was so wrong
For so long
All the wasted time
LEO
All the wasted time
LUCILLE
All the million hours.
Years on top of years
Still too proud to crawl -
All the days gone by
To feel that I don't satisfy
And I never knew anything at all
I never knew anything at all
LEO
All the wasted time
LUCILLE
All the wasted time
LEO
All the million hours.
BOTH
Leaves too high to touch,
Roots too strong to fall.
All the days gone by
To never show I loved you so
And I never knew anything at all.
LEO
I never knew anything
At all...
Ok, so its obvious to anyone who reads this blog that I have an on-going love affair with the music of JRB. Maybe the reason other modern musical theatre writers (except for Adam Guettel -- he's amazing too) bore me is because they don't have the multidimensional complexity that JRB's music does. For you musical theatre naysayers, JRB is different; he's fresh, modern and doesn't so much possess the schmaltzy quality in his work that some writers (past and present) have been known for.
JRB: I know you'll see this at some point...and I know its usually the crazy people who claim their sanity, but really...your work reminds me how much I love modern musical theatre.
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