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With the reading of the tea leaves to try to determine if Jenny’s “it’s been nice knowing you” after the final show of this tour meant that RK was breaking up, I thought Jenny’s remarks in Dallas revealed another piece of the now all-too-obvious puzzle. I was standing there, rockin’ out, getting very excited because I’d heard Blake (I think) go into the opening notes of “Better Son/Daughter” when there was a delay…and it became obvious they were deciding what song to play. It was then that Jenny offered the herartbreaking line:
“I don’t want to play that mopey song.” (!)
oh, nooooooo….. so they played “15” instead. Not only was it a bummer because I like “Better Son/Daughter” much better than 15, it’s a bummer because I read it as yet another sign that they are just plain tired of playing the old songs, or at least she is. But while, since I love those songs, I’m disappointed, I also completely understand. Not only have they played the songs a billion times, they are songs that they wrote when they were very different people.
The older songs were the songs of very young people trying to figure out the world, and their own transition into adulthood. Today, they seem to be different people. They’ve grown up. The youthful glimpses of timidity and shyness have been replaced by a full grown adult confidence that they wear extremely well. They seem to have figured the world out in a very deep and realistic way. The difference between the Jenny of the early years and the totally in-charge confident Jenny that stalked the massive stage in Dallas was incredible. The memory of her stage presence that night will be one of my fondest RK memories.
And it appears to me that to them it must seem to be the ultimate charade to go back to playing old songs that are now remembrances of a life and a viewpoint that is almost as removed from their present day reality as their childhood experiences were. And I give the band a lot of credit for growing up instead of sticking to a formula, especially a formula that no longer fits them. While I still love the “mopey” songs, and the inward-looking nature of the lyrics, they are not those people any more. They seem interested now in exploring the great wide world OUT there, after all the inner exploration of their early work. And personally, they have had many of their dreams come true, and thus have the personal works seem to have a much more joyful quality. The Elected’s second album is a great reflection of this, I think.
And I believe the band’s confidence is one reason for the more straightforward lyrical style. Sometimes, more obscure and hard-to-fathom lyrics can come about because the writer is not really confident in saying directly what they want or need to say, or in their ability to say it. As in real life, it is often the case that the more confident you are in what you’re saying, the clearer and more direct you say it.
Both their happiness and their starightforwardness remind me of one of my favorite lyrics ever, from Camper Van Beethoven when they seemed to be at the same stage RK is now:
And life is grand. And I will say this at the risk of falling from favor With those of you Who have appointed yourself To expect us to say something darker… And love is real
And though I realize this is not a deep observation
To those of you Who find it necessary
To conceal love Or obscure it, as is the fashion These wonderful musicians now seem to have acquired a real sense of comfort in their own skins. And they seem geniunely happy right now. And I doubt there is anything that could make all the fans who love them, as people not just as a band, happier. And if it is the end, what a fantastic ride it’s been. From the quirky beginnings of Initial Friend and Takeoffs & Landings, to the rock masterpiece that is The Execution of All Things, to the countrypolitan classics of More Adventurous, to the mouthdroppingly different style led by the beat, the beat, the beat, on Under the Blacklight. Fucking musical genius, from the promising start to the blistering finish. If they do nothing the rest of their lives, they have already created a musical library anyone would be proud of. We owe them an enormous debt of gratitude. Whatever the future, life as a Rilo Kiley fan is grand… To the wonderful, genuine Rilo Kiley fans, who are as caring and empathetic as the band is: it has truly been nice knowing you.
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