Jason Isbell's amazing simplicity

[Doubleneck]

I have been mesmerize by Jason Isbell's "Elephant" even though I have a hard time thinking I can play this out given the F bomb. Probably one of the best songs I have heard in years. I learned it yesterday and am amazed how his simple guitar work show a lot of finesse with very simple fingerings and chords. Reminds me of Neil Young. Never worried about how many notes he played just made sure they were the right ones for the song. I got to get around the F-bomb somehow even though it's the right word for the song, I just can't sing it that way.

[FwL]

You could use "had" or "laid" to pretty much the same effect.
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[Denny B]

I'm a huge fan of Jason Isbell, and saw him last year in a great venue...one of the best live performers I've ever seen and I'm getting up there in my years and go WAY back...

"Elephant" has the impact that it does because Jason is one of the best lyricists in the business...

If I was offended by a word in the song, the song wouldn't have the impact that it does...his lyrics are sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse, but always honest...

Personally, if I heard a singer perform the song (no matter how well done musically) and censor Jason's lyric, I would find THAT offensive...

[Doubleneck]

Originally Posted by FwL

You could use "had" or "laid" to pretty much the same effect.
.
.

Thanks, that helps, never thought of either of those.

[Doubleneck]

Originally Posted by Denny B

I'm a huge fan of Jason Isbell, and saw him last year in a great venue...one of the best live performers I've ever seen and I'm getting up there in my years and go WAY back...

"Elephant" has the impact that it does because Jason is one of the best lyricists in the business...

If I was offended by a word in the song, the song wouldn't have the impact that it does...his lyrics are sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse, but always honest...

Personally, if I heard a singer perform the song (no matter how well done musically) and censor Jason's lyric, I would find THAT offensive...

Wow, it's still only a song, lol

[FrankHudson]

Yup, a very good songwriter and "Elephant" is an excellent story song. And Jason Isbell plays what the song needs. Personally, there's many a time I wish I could play the simple stuff better than I do, so I admire that kind of playing.

Changing lyrics? Opinions differ. But that's always so: opinions differ. Here's mine: I hold with the folk process. I think songs belong to the performer and audience more than to the creator--and I think that even after valuing the creator's (best/long term) interests. Why is that? Because if songs aren't performed and provided with new contexts over time they die. Using Isbell as our current example, as good a songwriter as Jason Isbell is if he doesn't create songs that others will sing and bring new light to, his career will be limited, and his art will be diminished from what it could be.

So if you change the lyric to replace the F bomb, it'll change the song, but some audiences will not be able to hear the song with the F bomb in it. You gain, you loose, you choose, because it's your responsibility as performer to inhabit that song for you and your audience. I suspect as a writer for his own performance, Isbell choose the word because it shows the an aspect of the song's narrator, and in the context of the barroom setting says something specific about where less expected empathy can arise. You'd be tinkering with that craft, but it's your right.

For those who think otherwise, or think I'm just allowing "censorship" of a creative artist's work consider this plausible scenario: as a performer you want to perform this song for a group at an old-age residence. You know that audience culturally, maybe even feel a kinship with them. You know that drinking and bars may be part of their culture, but that performers dropping F bombs isn't. Your choice in your performance is not to confront that but to offer comfort and your empathy to that audience, so you use "laid" or "had" or even "screwed" instead of the F bomb.

In my mind, making that choice is the folk process at work.

[KarlK]

Watch him perform it on Sirius XM.

Fantastic performance, where you can see all the left hand movements.

And his picking and strumming is precise.

[Denny B]

Originally Posted by Doubleneck

Wow, it's still only a song, lol

I can see that you and I are not on the same page concerning how we feel about the art of creating and performing music...

Enough said, and have a good day...

[Doubleneck]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

Yup, a very good songwriter and "Elephant" is an excellent story song. And Jason Isbell plays what the song needs. Personally, there's many a time I wish I could play the simple stuff better than I do, so I admire that kind of playing.

Changing lyrics? Opinions differ. But that's always so: opinions differ. Here's mine: I hold with the folk process. I think songs belong to the performer and audience more than to the creator--and I think that even after valuing the creator's (best/long term) interests. Why is that? Because if songs aren't performed and provided with new contexts over time they die. Using Isbell as our current example, as good a songwriter as Jason Isbell is if he doesn't create songs that others will sing and bring new light to, his career will be limited, and his art will be diminished from what it could be.

So if you change the lyric to replace the F bomb, it'll change the song, but some audiences will not be able to hear the song with the F bomb in it. You gain, you loose, you choose, because it's your responsibility as performer to inhabit that song for you and your audience. I suspect as a writer for his own performance, Isbell choose the word because it shows the an aspect of the song's narrator, and in the context of the barroom setting says something specific about where less expected empathy can arise. You'd be tinkering with that craft, but it's your right.

For those who think otherwise, or think I'm just allowing "censorship" of a creative artist's work consider this plausible scenario: as a performer you want to perform this song for a group at an old-age residence. You know that audience culturally, maybe even feel a kinship with them. You know that drinking and bars may be part of their culture, but that performers dropping F bombs isn't. Your choice in your performance is not to confront that but to offer comfort and your empathy to that audience, so you use "laid" or "had" or even "screwed" instead of the F bomb.

In my mind, making that choice is the folk process at work.

I agree he chose the F word for a very specific reason (he is a very accomplished lyricist) and I totally appreciate why he did it and where it leads me in the song. I agree changing the word does deminish some of that artistry, but the straight fact is the majority of the places I would play I just could not drop that word. So to me the lesser of the evils is to change it and play it. It may open up someone to Jason's music and they can explore it on their own. In some sense, it's such a great song diminishing it 10% leaves more than enough to make it worthwhile. I learned it from that UTube, cool just him and his guitar, you hear that simple finesse. Like Neil Young looks more simple till you try to play it like him.

[tbeltrans]

This is a powerful song, especially as it dawned on me what it is about. As for the so-called "F-bomb", that is just how people commonly talk these days. The singer is just singing the way he would talk to people he knows, drawing us into his intimate circle about something that really matters to him. It used to be that only certain segments of our society used such words, but that has changed in the past 20 or so years.

During a time when my wife wanted me to go to church, the folks there used terms such as "flippin'", "friggin'", or "floppin'", so that the word started on the correct letter and had the same number of syllables, but was just not quite, the "F-bomb". I heard these being said quite frequently there. In the case of this song, the "F-bomb has a different meaning, so the suggested terms such as "laid", "screwed", or "had" would still get the message across in the same way those church folks were able to "pseudo-swear".

I don't have any particular feelings one way or another about whether the OP should use the "F-bomb". But I do appreciate the poster who linked to the Jason Isbell performance, since I had not heard the song prior to this. I just hope that a time comes when cancer is a thing of the past, the way some other deadly diseases have become in past years, so the pain heard in a song like this is softened to just a memory of history. This performer captures it really, really well. I am impressed.

Tony

[Denny B]

Originally Posted by KarlK

Watch him perform it on Sirius XM.

Fantastic performance, where you can see all the left hand movements.

And his picking and strumming is precise.

And he sounds just as great performing live...a true artist in every way...

If you ever get a chance to see him live, jump on it!

[Doubleneck]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

This is a powerful song, especially as it dawned on me what it is about. As for the so-called "F-bomb", that is just how people commonly talk these days. The singer is just singing the way he would talk to people he knows, drawing us into his intimate circle about something that really matters to him. It used to be that only certain segments of our society used such words, but that has changed in the past 20 or so years.

During a time when my wife wanted me to go to church, the folks there used terms such as "flippin'", "friggin'", or "floppin'", so that the word started on the correct letter and had the same number of syllables, but was just not quite, the "F-bomb". I heard these being said quite frequently there. In the case of this song, the "F-bomb has a different meaning, so the suggested terms such as "laid", "screwed", or "had" would still get the message across in the same way those church folks were able to "pseudo-swear".

I don't have any particular feelings one way or another about whether the OP should use the "F-bomb". But I do appreciate the poster who linked to the Jason Isbell performance, since I had not heard the song prior to this. I just hope that a time comes when cancer is a thing of the past, the way some other deadly diseases have become in past years, so the pain heard in a song like this is softened to just a memory of history. This performer captures it really, really well. I am impressed.

Tony

I actually think his use of the word was more than just to link with how people talk these days. To me there is a juxtaposition between that word which is loveless and non-caring, we often are, to what the song is really saying about real caring, love and loss. Maybe I read to much into it but it to me it is just brilliant writing.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Doubleneck

I actually think his use of the word was more than just to link with how people talk these days. To me there is a juxtaposition between that word which is loveless and non-caring, we often are, to what the song is really saying about real caring, love and loss. Maybe I read to much into it but it to me it is just brilliant writing.

I can see your point as another possibility. In college, I had to take a class that involved reading novels, plays, and short stories. One of the points the professor wanted to get across was that each of these pieces that we read would have different meaning for each of us (i.e. we would each bring a different perspective to the discussion), so that there was never just one correct interpretation. I think that is the case here. You are obviously more involved with the song and lyrics than I am, since I have only heard it once and am not attempting to learn to perform it. If I were, I would not be surprised to concur with your interpretation myself.

Tony

[Steely Glen]

I too love Isbell, his writing, and the song "Elephant," but am not a fan of the F-bomb as a word in general (or what it means/how it's used). I understand exactly why he chose to use the word in the context of the song, but if I played it live, I wouldn't use the word. So maybe I wouldn't perform the song.

One of the main reasons for not using the word is because the song is about love and intimacy and loss and yet, some drunk idiot in a bar would tune out my performance entirely until hearing the F-bomb and then start screaming like I was playing the opening riff of "Free Bird." No thanks.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

This is a powerful song, especially as it dawned on me what it is about. As for the so-called "F-bomb", that is just how people commonly talk these days. The singer is just singing the way he would talk to people he knows, drawing us into his intimate circle about something that really matters to him. It used to be that only certain segments of our society used such words, but that has changed in the past 20 or so years.

During a time when my wife wanted me to go to church, the folks there used terms such as "flippin'", "friggin'", or "floppin'", so that the word started on the correct letter and had the same number of syllables, but was just not quite, the "F-bomb". I heard these being said quite frequently there. In the case of this song, the "F-bomb has a different meaning, so the suggested terms such as "laid", "screwed", or "had" would still get the message across in the same way those church folks were able to "pseudo-swear".

I don't have any particular feelings one way or another about whether the OP should use the "F-bomb". But I do appreciate the poster who linked to the Jason Isbell performance, since I had not heard the song prior to this. I just hope that a time comes when cancer is a thing of the past, the way some other deadly diseases have become in past years, so the pain heard in a song like this is softened to just a memory of history. This performer captures it really, really well. I am impressed.

Tony

I forgot two of the pseudo-F-bomb words folks at that church used: "Freakin'" and "Frikkin'". There may be more, bu that is enough for now. I would bet that most of us in these forums have used most, if not all of these at one time or another by now.

Tony