Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis (aka one crazy dude)

I am not all entirely sure why this song appeals to me so much. Despite a multitude of other rock artists I’ve listened to, such as Elvis, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis seems to sound completely different. His craziness is almost refreshing. This guy is the definition of “trippin’” With the insanity; however, I think a certain level of upbeat energy arises from this song. Contrasting my last blog post about Hound Dog, this song is highly dominated by Lewis’ wild and passionate voice instead of instrumental. While probably drunk, the enthusiasm that his voice brings to the song is also intoxicating. There are so many voice fluctuations and vocal ticks in this song, I feel like I’m on a roller coaster of changing pitch. While Jerry Lee Lewis has a rather soothing softer voice when not belting out the chorus, such as at the very beginning introduction (which offers nice contrast and shows the versatility of Lewis as a vocalist), for the most part his singing reminds me of repeated voice cracks over and over and over again. I don’t feel this takes away from the song though. Rather, I think it adds a certain level of attitude and accent to the song. I think without Lewis’ massive range of vocals, this song would be rather bland.

                What was also refreshing about this song was the lyrics had some sort of meaning. In my opinion, this made this song slightly better than Elvis’ Hound Dog (check out my last blog post below) because it included a level of depth. While still not having as profound lyrics as artists such as Adele in modern music, I was impressed by the story told through this song. Past the insane vocals and crazy piano pounding, in less than 2 minutes, I learned about Lewis’ story of love. While conflicting at times, his love is far superior and he is proud to have this particular girl in his life.

 

               His piano pounding skills was so insanely awesome that I think my ears popped when they heard this melody for the first time. With an epic piano solo, Lewis puts the cherry on top of his metaphorical ice cream sundae. While maybe hurting his career, I think that Lewis’ pure lunacy was what made his career in the first place.

Hound Dog by Elvis Presley

Hound Dog offers some very interesting points of musical analysis. I am sort of on the fence about this song. While I feel that it definitely has a catchy vibe and an upbeat tempo, the lyrics of the song itself are basically meaningless to me. I am not sure if the meaning of the lyrics is simply lost on me because of the generational difference, but there seems to be no real depth behind them. I think it’s intriguing to see how successful this song was with how limited the lyrics are. Elvis only sang 30 different words over and over again, yet with those words made arguably one the most memorable songs of his generation! While Elvis succeeded in other songs, some far-surpassing this hit, Hound Dog, in my opinion, sums up Elvis’ whole appeal through three simple concepts: his energy on stage paired with his sexual appeal, upbeat instrumentals, and his crooning, energetic vocals. All of these are illustrated perfectly through this song which is why I believe that the lack of lyric profoundness is almost negligible when everything comes together. Elvis was not necessarily the best vocalist. He was not necessarily the best dancer. He did not necessarily write the most profound songs of the time. But when all of his characteristics came together into a performance, he emerged as the King of Rock and Roll. I enjoy other artists but I am merely amazed at Elvis’ pure ability to entertain his audience. You can see Elvis’ attributes come together in this performance of Hound Dog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzQ8GDBA8Is

This song is so great because it is a massive fusion of musical concepts such as country, jazz and ragtime-esque rhythms and beats. Personally, one of the things I love most about listening to this song is the pure instrumental sections where the guitar will take on a counter melody when there was a break in the verse. The electric guitar effectively takes control in these sections and with good chords and amazing rhythm, excellently supplements Elvis’ distinct voice. Building off of the instrumental analysis, I rather enjoyed the epic snare roll before each chorus. This was catchy, upbeat, and ultimately built suspense. Elvis’ vocals weren’t lost in this song however. His youthful and energetic voice blended well with the upbeat instruments. Fluctuations in his voice towards the ends of phrases like “You said you was high class,” added an accent to the end of each verse which served as an exclamation point to the song. Ultimately it all blends really well, and this all reinforces my opinion that Elvis is one of the best entertainers of all time.