They gave people lean musical arrangements with lyrics that were so honest and uncomfortable that even the most cynical critic had no choice but to all but build a shrine to the band in their front yard. Instead of giving you a simple repetitive groove like, say, The Ramones, the Lovers stayed on one or two key chord progressions that dynamically came and went depending on the desired lyrical accents. If vocalist Jonathan Richman felt that a verse was important and the crowd wasn’t paying enough attention, he had no qualms about just stopping the band altogether to recite the stanza in plain voice. No one had ever attempted this type of connection and honesty in rock and roll.
Read the rest (and listen to mp3s of "Modern World" and "A Plea For Tenderness" from Songs of Rememberance) at RetroLowFi
more about Songs of Rememberance (track listing and lyrics)
additional info at sime's jonathan richman pages
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