Counting Crows

I am no music expert. I am not a musician. I have no knowledge in even basic music theory. However, I think all I need to be an expert in listening to music are ears and a heart. One rock band that affects my ears and heart greatly is Counting Crows. Yes, it is true that they were last cool when Kirby Puckett was still in the league. But all four of their studio album masterpieces are among my most cherished musical works.

The major reason that I like them so much is the vocalist - Adam Duritz. Despite his chubby and scruffy appearance, an anonymous female friend of mine has occasional sexual fantasies of him. Sad. Adam does not have a traditionally good singing voice at all – he whines; he sounds shaky and unsure. But like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, that is part of his charm. Adam is the most expressive rock singer I have heard. Counting Crows' forte is songs of love, loss, regret, and pain. Adam has a way of touching all of my emotional soft spots in a way that makes me feel the exact way that he is feeling while he is singing. I know he touches a couple of my friends in the same way.

Counting Crows’ lyrics are not Shakespeare, but they are quite poetic and effective. Symbolic words reappear on several albums and songs – angel, devil, rain, clowns, etc. People may say that means he isn’t growing as a lyricist, and they may be right, but I still love how the common imagery gives a theme to their collection. Another great technique is that he always mentions women and locations by name. This gives each passage a personal connection. Even though I don’t necessarily know those people and places in the song, similar experiences of mine replace the names in my mind and give me strong personal associations. Sad, but true, is that most of the associations are with an ex-girlfriend or girls I don’t know how to ask out. Strange that it still always makes me happy to hear the Crows. Perhaps it is affirming to hear someone singing so passionately about some frustrations similar to mine. Well, enough of this b.s., I’ll get to the music.

You can see their discography here. Here are some of my favorite passages:

Step out the front door like a ghost
into the fog where no one notices
the contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
the angels get a better view
of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.
-Round Here, August and Everything After

we couldn't all be cowboys
so some of us are clowns
and some of us are dancers on the midway
we roam from town to town
I hope that everybody
can find a little flame
me, I say my prayers,
then I just light myself on fire
and I walk out on the wire once again
and I say
goodnight elisabeth
-Goodnight Elisabeth, Recovering the Satellites

We'll I'm all messed up
That's nothing new
Hey monkey, when you open up your blue eyes,
I don't know if I'm wide awake or dreaming
But all I ever need is everything
-Monkey, Recovering the Satellites

A long December
and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year
will be better than the last
I can't remember
the last thing that you said
as you were leavin'
Now the days go by so fast
...
The smell of hospitals in winter
And the feeling that it's all a lot of oysters,
but no pearls
All at once you look across a crowded room
To see the way that light attaches to a girl
-A Long December, Recovering the Satellites

All my friends got flowers in their eyes
But I got none this season
All of the last ten years blooms have gone and died
Time doesn't give a reason
-High Life, This Desert Life

On certain Sundays in November
When the weather bothers me
I empty drawers of other summers
Where my shadows used to be
And she is standing by the water
As her smile begins to curl
In this or any other summer
She is something all together different
Never just an ordinary girl
...
I put my summers back in a letter
And I hide it from the world
All the regrets you can't forget
Are somehow pressed upon a picture
In the face of such an ordinary girl
-Hard Candy, Hard Candy

I been thinking I'd like to see
Your eyes open up real wide
The minute that you see me
But if you don't come through
I wouldn't wait for you
I understand that everyone goes disappearing
Into the greater grey that covers over everyday
And hovers in the distance...
I've been up all night
I might sleep all day
Get your dreams just right
Then let 'em slip away
-Up All Night, Hard Candy