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.