Dave Matthews Band "Sweet" Song of the Week
September/20/2012 08:52 AM
Song of the Week: Dave Matthews Band “Sweet”
Dave Matthews Band “Away From The World” Album
September 20, 2012
The news was big, but the album is bigger. “Away From The World” was released on September 11th and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 falling in line with five prior of DMB albums.
The band released this statement on September 19, 2012: “We would like to thank all the fans who helped “Away From The World” debut at number 1 on the Billboard top 200. “Away From The World” also marks a new milestone for Dave Matthews Band in that we are the first group in chart history to have six consecutive studio albums debut at #1 on the Billboard 200.” (via DaveMatthewsBand.com)
Download Dave Matthews “Away From The World” (Deluxe Version) on iTunes
Listen to the tracks on DaveMatthewsBand.com.
The Dave Matthews Band, formed in 1991 in Charlottesville, VA, was “the only band other than U2 and Metallica to score four consecutive number one albums” (via iTunes biography) after they released their fourth album “Stand Up.” With “Away From The World” Dave Matthews Band pulls away from the pack with its 6th album debuting at No. 1.
The band’s South African born lead singer, Dave Matthews has a voice like no other and the band’s sound is a distinct rock / folk sound that never fails to please. From one song to the next the lyrically inspirational album “Away From The World” takes you just where it claims to, away. The mind wanders far and the music takes you beyond the present. An album you can get lost in, there is no distinct order in which the songs on “Away From The World” should be played. Shuffling the music only adds to the effect.
“Sweet” makes Life of a Rock Stars™ Song of the Week because of the way it showcases not only Dave Matthews’ voice but also the band’s versatile sound as well as the transitional way the structure of the song moves. The high notes Dave Matthews hits are indeed sweet and in contrast with his almost Bruce Springsteen deep gruff sound at times the quasi-ballad moves vocally in new directions throughout the song. The simplicity of the opening tempo and the swimming pool underwater sounds is attention grabbing. When the tempo picks up, the song takes a turn and we feel like we have come through the deep end to taste the sweetness.
Highlighted songs on “Away From The World”
In “Drunken Soldier” the mesmerizing opening instrumentals are balanced with long pauses, new sounds, and engaging imaginative composition. By the time Dave Matthews is singing “Keep your head up, try and listen to your heart. Be kind always no matter. We all grow up and someday we’ll say goodbye so shine your light while you got one,” the listener is fully committed to the song. Yet the bridge goes a completely different direction slowing the song back down and entering an almost Eric Clapton universe. Without question, this over 9 minute song is a standout on the album.
“Dave Matthews Band's video for ‘Mercy’ embraces the song's themes of unity and harmony in a new collaborative video, made with the help of a few thousand fans. According to the band, 14,334 people provided original photos and videos for the inspirational clip, a James Frost directed mash-up video that features only glimpses of the band and focuses on the fans.” (via Billboard.com)
Watch Dave Matthews Band “Mercy” music video:
Lyrics Dave Matthews Band “Sweet” via SongMeanings.net
try to swim, keep your head up
kick your feet, never give up, boy
if I could I'd turn it around
let me out, I wanna get out now
you know it gets so deep
you know it
you know it, you're feeling so deep
but if you make it out, it tastes so sweet
sweet
sweet
I'm so high, I wanna come down
I'm to old to wanna be younger now
if I could I'd turn it around
let me out, I wanna go home now
you know the feeling, when you're in too deep
and if you make it out, the taste so sweet
sweet
sweet
cover me, cover me, cover me
till I'm gone
cover me, cover me, cover me
till I'm gone
cover me, cover me, cover me
till I'm gone
gone
you know the feeling, when you're in too deep
and if you make it out, it tastes so sweet
sweet
sweet
I miss, make it oh yeah
In 2008, Dave Matthews Band lost their saxophonist, LeRoi Moore, whom passed away as a result of injuries sustained in an ATV accident. This seventh album “Away From The World” is a beautiful reminder of how precious and short life can be. Each song seems to implore its listener to live life to the fullest.
Produced by Steve Lillywhite, (as were the first three Dave Matthews Band albums), of this seventh album Dave Matthews says in an interview: “It’s hard to compare myself or compare the band to something we’ve done before. I know that the process of making the record was a lot more like the first three albums and the beginning of what became The Lillywhite Sessions just because of the way that Steve works and how he relates to the band. And really in the first three records, it was the most natural sort of relationship with Steve, with Lillywhite. …Coming back together I think we’ve grown--well we’ve definitely gotten a lot older--and maybe are more comfortable in the roles that we play. …I don’t know if it’s going back to the roots, I don’t know if we can ever go back to our roots you know in that way, you grow up. But it definitely was like old friends coming together. …I have a connection to everything that GrooGrux represents as that was one of the most poignant experiences of my life because of what happened with LeRoi and how he felt about what was going to happen with that record. And then him passing having told me, ‘I think this is gonna be a great record.’ Then it really changed my focus on how I want to make records and how I’m a little more selfish about it. So in that way I think there is something that I took from GrooGrux.” [You Tube video interview “Dave & Rodrigo Episode 1” August 30, 2012]
Steve Lillywhite told The Hollywood Reporter in response to a question about why they stopped working together (Lillywhite and DMB), “I was fired when they decided that the album later known as the The Lillywhite Sessions was not deemed right by someone. Yes, it was a dark album, but to some of his fans, they think even the rough versions of those songs were very special, and I never got a chance to finish them. I'd like to at some point. I mentioned it. I don’t know … Dave and I never argued. When I was fired, we just never spoke to each other. But we reconnected, and it was great. We're men, and men are shallow -- we don't remember things like women do. Or we don't bring it up and blurt it out at inappropriate moments. When bridges are trying to be built, we don't detonate them. [Laughs]” [READ THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER ARTICLE “Steve Lillywhite’s Full Slate: Albums By Dave Matthews Band, The Killers, and 30 Seconds to Mars on Deck (Q & A)” August 29, 2012 by Shirley Halperin]
Dave Matthews Band is in concert this weekend:
September 22, 2012 - Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA
September 23, 2012 - Life is Good Festival, Canton, MA
Follow @DaveMatthewsBnd on Twitter
Dave Matthews “Away From The World” (Deluxe Version) on iTunes
Released: Sep 11, 2012
℗ 2012 Bama Rags Recordings, LLC
Broken Things
Belly Belly Nice
Mercy
Gaucho
Sweet
The Riff
Belly Full
If Only
Rooftop
Snow Outside
Drunken Soldier
Gaucho (Live in Hartfotd, CT)
Mercy (Live in Bristow, VA)
Sweet (Live in Cleveland, OH)
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LAST SONG OF THE WEEK:
September 13, 2012
“Always” by Switchfoot
Feat. in the iPhone 5 promo video
Switchfoot, the rock band out of San Diego, California has always been a band that inspires greatness. Their songs are more like mission statements so it was no surprise to Life of a Rock Star™ that Apple launched the iPhone 5 yesterday using the Switchfoot song “Always” off the album “Hello Hurricane” in the promotional release iPhone 5 video. Because we are equally excited for both the arrival of the iPhone 5 and Switchfoot to play LA, we could not think of a more perfect song to carry us through the week, and we dedicate this Song of the Week to those starting anew. Rebirth can be painful, push through. Read SONG OF THE WEEK: SWITCHFOOT “ALWAYS”
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