7th Floor, Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band, from Take Me To The Land Of Hell, 2013
7th Floor incorporates some really interesting sounds. From the groovy percussion (nice bongos/congas), which has a Talking Heads quality to it, to the funky guitars, which are perfectly layered with varying degrees of distortion. The synths and B3 organ fill in the spaces excitedly. My favorite part of this song is the ascending riff behind the vocals right before the chorus. Ono’s spoken word approach to the vocals enhances the surreal content of the lyrics which have a nightmare-like quality to them.
“So I slowly stepped outside
And stood over the body
Maybe it was not me after all
It was only a shadow”
Her screams and throaty vocalizations at the end are quiet intriguing too. Her voice is mixed very well throughout, with well timed delays emphasizing certain words like “shadow”. Ono sounds inspired and confident with the power of her wailing words.
Other cool tracks to check out on Take Me To The Land Of Hell:
- Take Me To The Land Of Hell
- Bad Dancer
- There’s No Goodbye Between Us
- Cheshire Cat Cry
Isolation, John Lennon, from Plastic Ono Band, 1970
“You’re just a human...a victim of the insane”
What can I say about Isolation? It’s one of my all time favorite Lennon songs. The moving, yet soulful piano, the simple drums (sans hi hat) and meandering bass lines, and quaint lyrics just resonate with me. Plus, the bridge is phenomenal the way it breaks down to just kick drum, piano, and Lennon’s aching doubled voice panned hard left and right. After a rather condemning description of the world and our place in it, Lennon absolves humanity by wittingly pleading insanity in one long sustained cry, at which point his doubled voice pans to the center of the spectrum and merges into one (each voice no longer isolated from one another).
In honor of John Lennon (Oct. 9th 1940 - Dec. 8th 1980)
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