Earlier entries of this series can be found here: http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/forums/vi ... ive#p45337
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“And I just can’t stop messing my mind up/ Or wasting my time”
73. Supergrass – Moving
The facts:
Year: 1999.
Genre: Britpop.
Country: United Kingdom.
Album: Supergrass.
Acclaimed Music ranking: #3808.
Song ranking on Acclaimed Music in the artist’s discography: 5th.
Ranks higher than Emmylou by First Aid Kit, but lower than You Got It by Roy Orbison.
Place in the Acclaimed Music Song Poll 2015: Not ranked.
The people:
Written by Gaz Coombes, Rob Coombes, Danny Goffey & Mick Quinn.
Produced by Supergrass & John Cornfield.
Lead vocals by Gaz Coombes.
Backing vocals by Mick Quinn & Danny Goffey.
Guitar by Gaz Coombes.
Drums by Danny Goffey.
Bass by Mick Quinn.
Keyboards by Rob Coombes.
The opinion:
Every once in a while, Random.org gives me a britpop song to write about in this series. This week we get one of the most successful bands of the genre, but also one of the bands that seems to have faded from public consciousness the most. Not really deserved if you ask me, even if it is also somewhat understandable.
The core of their appeal might also have been their downfall in the long run: they made unpretentious songs that sound breezy. Especially their hit singles sound so effortless that you might forget they are secretly something special. Few bands can make a whole career out of music so giddy and upbeat (regardless if the lyrics are all that happy). Its’s a modus operandi that became a bit more prominent in indie rock during the 2000’s, though, but few acts were at the same time so unabashedly poppy as well as alternatively cool as Supergrass at the time. They had broad appeal.
Moving was one of the last real hits the band had; in fact it was the very last in many areas. Although it is one of the least ambitious songs they ever did it still deserves to be seen as a definite final hurrah. Though I’m aware that a case can be made of much subsequent work as being of equal quality, these mostly weren’t hits. Moving was the last big time in the limelight.
The lyrics are in some way about the downside of the limelight. For musicians it means touring, seemingly endlessly. Gaz Coombes essentially sings about the mental boredom and loneliness that comes from the travelling. He wasn’t exactly the first to do so. I don’t know which singer sung about this the first, but the oldest I’m aware of are Simon & Garfunkel on their classic Homeward Bound. Other notable songs about this subject are the popular Faithfully by Journey and the ode to roadies by Jackson Browne, named The Load-Out. There are happier examples too: the Ramones basically bring an ode to their travel schedule on Touring and John Foggerty celebrated “Rockin’ All Over the World”, which was also a hit for Status Quo.
The thing about Moving is that it has lyrics that sound rather sad on paper, but the song itself doesn’t feel that way. This is not a band given to sharing deep, painful feelings. The opening seems to become a honest-to-goodness ballad, but quickly the chorus sets in and everything becomes both up-tempo and upbeat. In fact, when that chorus hits it feels like an explosion, thanks to both a small second of silence before it and a change in volume. It might not be the most original thing ever, but for me it makes the song, as it is executed so satisfyingly.
That goes a long way in explaining the appeal of Moving and Supergrass. Among their Britpop contemporaries they never had the depth of The Verve, the sense of exploration of Blur, the swagger of Oasis and all of the above of Pulp. Yet on songs like this or the other hit of the album, Pumping On Your Stereo, they delivered shameless pop executed in such a way that it became cool, while still retaining its sense of fun. The handclaps, the hooky chorus, heck even the videoclip that turns boredom into something goofy: everything has an honest celebratory feeling that make all these potentially annoying elements glorious.
Of course, as said there was little depth to all this, musically of lyrically, which might in the long run be the reason people forget about them more easily than other britpop contemporaries. I know I can be dismissive of this kind of unassuming music every now and then, but I also have to acknowledge that there is definitely place for well-executed pop as this.
7/10
Other versions:
For some reason I didn’t think this would be a song that would be sampled for a hiphop track, let alone one about Moby Dick. Still MC Lars used it for Ahab. Then again, Moby Dick is about a long, gruelling trip, albeit a bit more dark than Supergrass’ road tours (I think and hope). The sample works rather well I should say and it is a fun song.
I haven’t been able to locate any actual covers of the song, though.
The playlist:
