Real Music: Ben's Weekly Music Column

I’ve mentioned Arthur Alligood on here before, but I’ve gotta do so again. This week I got his new album, Under The Gray, and it is too incredible not to write about. The lyrics are simply incredible. Arthur is so real emotionally, willing to delve into the depths of his pain, yet he is full of hope. And of course, musically he’s incredibly unique. His voice is among the most expressive I’ve ever heard. Stylistically, I love the raw, stumbling, not-all-that-melodic sort of thing he does. There’s just so much emotion in the music. I wish I could give some favorite quotes here for you to see the quality of the songwriting, but to do so, I’d have to quote whole songs. Because Arthur’s songs are just that: songs. There are clever lines here and there, but his songs aren’t about clever hooks, or catchy lines, but they are about communicating a deep-seated emotion. Often you’ve gotta look at a song as a whole to really let it hit you full force. And when you do, it’s pretty powerful. I said I wouldn’t do this, but I will. Here’s a good example of how honest and skilled a writer Arthur is:

Where to Begin
By Arthur Alligood

The red glare on the streets of downtown
The glow from the computer screen round 2 A.M.
The big, bright sign flashing “Babes, Babes, Babes.”
Crude drawings on bathroom walls
Boxes of back issues stacked in the hall
Late night commercials with a number begging you to call

Look around at this cell that we’re in
At the chains on our ankles and wrists
I think we’d like to get out, but don’t know where to begin

Do you remember life without this darkness?
Didn’t we have eyes once like the sun?
Weren’t we free then of what we’ve become
Somehow this world became one big, long grocery line
Magazine racks stacked high on both sides
And we turned our eyes to the left and to the right and let it all in

Now look at this cell that we’re in
At the chains on our ankles and wrists
We’d like to get out, but don’t know where to begin

Movie store, top shelf videos
Late night hotel, cable TV shows
The girl on the corner stretching out her pantyhose
Asking “looking for a good time?”

I know that you see this cell that we’re
You see the chains on our ankles and wrists
Come quickly, Lord, we don’t know where to begin
Like Israel in the palm of Pharaoh’s hand
We don’t know where to begin