Songs I Like - Karma Police

I swear I've sung this song dozens of times with guitar classes and students, and every time I do, it leaves me both confused and mesmerized. I absolutely love the chord progressions in this song, and the twists and turns musically. But what was it about?

I know enough about karma because I'm an avid reader of Buddhist philosophy. In the refrain, the line that repeats is "This is what you get." which makes perfect sense to me, karmically-speaking (I know, I know, karmically is not a word!). But lines like "her Hitler hairdo is making me feel ill" and "he talks in maths, he buzzes like a fridge" went right over my head until I did a little research on the meaning of the song.

However, before I explain it, why not have a listen?  You can find the video below.

My interpretation of it is a son trying to enact revenge on his father, but you know, but when I watched the video of the song, well, these video directors and producers just like to play with images flying around in their own heads sometimes, so the video doesn't necessarily explain anything. Here are the lyrics, including chords as I teach them, you lucky dogs!

INTRO: | Am D7/F# | Em G | Am F | Em G | Am D |
       | G G/F# C C/B | Am | Bm D |

Am    D7/F# Em
  Kar_ma Police,
   G        Am
Arrest this man,
   F        Em
He talks in maths,
   G             Am
He buzzes like a fridge
     D    | G G/F#  C  C/B | Am | Bm D |
He's like a detuned ra-di----o

Am    D7/F# Em
  Kar_ma  Police,
   G        Am
Arrest this girl,
    F      Em
Her hitler hairdo,
   G              Am
Is making me feel ill,
    D       G       G/F# C C/B Am Bm D
And we have crashed her  par---ty

REFRAIN:
| C         D         | G   F# |
    This is what you'll get,
| C         D         | G   F# |
    This is what you'll get,
| C         D         | G
    This is what you'll get,
         Bm      | C | Bm D |
When you mess with us...

Am    D7/F# Em
  Kar_ma  Police,
     G           Am
I've given all I can,
     F    Em
It's not enough,
     G           Am
I've given all I can,
    D           G  G/F# C     C/B Am Bm D
But we're still on the  pay---roll

[REPEAT REFRAIN]

| Bm          D    | G 
    And for a minute there,
  D    | G      D     | E   |
I lost myself I lost myself, 
| Bm          D    | G 
    And for a minute there,
  D    | G      D     | E   |
I lost myself I lost myself,

| Bm D | G D | G D | E |

Bm           D      G
   And for a minute there,
  D      G      D      E
I lost myself I lost myself,
Bm           D           G
  Just for a minute there,
  D      G      D      E
I lost myself I lost myself

||: Bm D | G D | G D | E :|| 

So, are you any closer to figuring out what it's about?  Okay, I'll let you off the hook :-).  Here's an explanation from Wikipedia:

"Radiohead members used to tell one another that they would call 'the karma police' on them if they did something wrong. The joke was incorporated as into the lyrics and title of the song. Yorke explained that the song was about stress and 'having people looking at you in that certain [malicious] way, I can't handle it anymore'. Thom Yorke explained the idea of the lyrics to The Independent in 2006, saying, 'It's for someone who has to work for a large company. This is a song against bosses. Fuck the middle management!' Yorke and Jonny Greenwood emphasized in interviews that the song had a humorous bent; Yorke said, '[It's] not entirely serious, I hope people will realize that.' The song includes the line 'He buzzes like a fridge/He's like a detuned radio', a reference to the distracting, metaphorical background noise Yorke calls 'fridge buzz'. Yorke has said that the idea of fridge buzz is one of the primary themes of OK Computer [the CD containing Karma Police];'Karma Police' also shares themes of insanity and dissatisfaction with capitalism."

Now you know :-) 

~ IJ

Songs I Like - Fall At Your Feet

I have to admit that I didn't hear this song until quite recently when I saw Neil Finn perform it live as an acoustic solo on a television show. I pretty much fell at his feet! I have always admired Crowded House, so I'm asking myself why I never bought one of their albums? They have some powerful songs, the songwriting is very solid and their harmonies are simply delicious. "Don't Dream It's Over" was the first song that caught my attention when it was released in 1986. Fall At Your Feet can be found on their 1991 album "Woodface".  You can listen to the song in the iTunes player to the right.

There are a lot of websites or blogs dedicated to song meanings, and on one site I found that most people seemed to have more than one possible interpretation of this one. There seemed to be a general consensus that it had to do with the singer trying to comfort a woman he's in a relationship with. But others thought it might have more to do with cheating or a break-up. The funny thing about lyrics when we hear them is that we tend to stamp our own meaning and experience on them.  So when you're a songwriter, you're always trying to get the idea of a "universal" experience into your lyrics.  If it's too, too personal, others can't make it their own.

I think a key line in this song is "the finger of blame that's turned upon itself", which to me, indicates some kind of flux in their relationship. Also, when he sings the first verse he's singing about "her", whereas the rest of the song is about "you". However you look at it, there's a love song in there, and a break up song, and a song about being brought to your knees by a relationship for any one of a number of reasons.

Here are the lyrics:

I'm really close tonight
And I feel like I'm moving inside her
Lying in the dark
And I think that I'm beginning to know her

Let it go
I'll be there when you call

And whenever I fall at your feet
You let your tears rain down on me
Whenever I touch, your slow turnin' pain

You're hidin' from me now
There's somethin' in the way that you're talkin'
The words don't sound right
But I hear them all moving inside you

Know
I'll be waiting when you call

Hey, whenever I fall at your feet
Won't you let your tears rain down on me?
Whenever I touch, your slow turnin' pain

The finger of blame has turned upon itself
And I'm more than willing to offer myself
Do you want my presence or need my help?
Who knows where that might lead
I fall

Whenever I fall at your feet
Won't you let your tears rain down on me?
Whenever I fall (at your feet)
Whenever I fall

Musically, Neil Finn and his older brother Tim, who co-wrote this song and others on the same album, are brilliant. The plaintive melodic phrase "whenever I fall at your feet" is such a beautiful hook, rising as the bass line is falling. I admit though, that I was actually hooked from the first verse of this particular song. If you've never explored Crowded House, you should give yourself the pleasure of their music. Have a listen to the song in the video below!

~ IJ

Finding Your Private Brill Building

A guitar student of mine recently decided he wanted to get into songwriting for the first time.  Having dabbled in it just a little bit, his first questions had to do with where to start.  I have long since forgotten exactly what my process was (I was only 12!), but I do remember what caused me to sit down and write.  I couldn't really play very many chords, meaning I couldn't play the songs I wanted to, so instead I decided to make up my own.  It came naturally in that I didn't spend too much time worrying about how it was coming out.  I hadn't yet developed an "inner critic" or a sense of having to get "somewhere" in terms of a finished product.

And that is a really important point to remember.  If you're reading this article and you're only just starting out, try not to read or think too much!  You don't write by reading about writing, you write by writing.  It might take you a minute to get your head around that line, but essentially if you start loading your brain up on HOW to write, you may actually impede the process.

So I'm not going to tell you how to write in this article, I'm going to give you some ideas to get you in the mood to write.  If you're 14 years old, outside of school and homework and maybe some chores around the house, you've got lots of time to fiddle around with writing.  If you're 42, you probably don't.  Many songwriters will express the idea of only writing when the inspiration hits them (yes, and I've said that too!), however, it's not always practical to jump out of your chair at work or out of bed in the middle of the night when inspiration hits and start writing.  But you can write it down and work on it later.