Unread post
by gcom007 » Wed Jul 16, 2003 12:50 am
Ok, Mayer is a good guitarist, i know that, everyone knows that, but people, including you, are mistaking that for good songwriting. mayer does great guitar work, but nothing else. he knows that people are going to see his guitar playing, moving his hands real fast, and keep listening to him because it gives the illusion that he is amazing at everything he does. take a song like YBIAW, where mayer doesnt use even a fraction of his guitar skill. the song sucks!!! that is just a small example of how mayer's guitar skill is the only thing good about him. dave doesn't show off how good he is, which is why he doesnt do solos, he keeps himself an equal part of the band, and doesnt like to stand out too much. this is why just about every DMB song has Leroi, boyd, carter and stefan solos, not just dave singing non -stop from beginning to end. dave does just enough with his guitar to be the backbone of great songs.[/quote]
mayer doesn't even move his hands around real fast in most of his songs...that's not something I would use to distinguish the two. trust me, I know every song by each musician inside and out and there is just no comparison to the quality of the writing. the only people in the world who say dave matthews is a good guitarist is the hardcore dmb songs. everyone else in music even if they like the band says dave is pretty mediocre with his axe. your whole reasoning about how he doesn't try to be flashy is just jacked...give me a break!!! that is by far the stupidest assumption that you hardcores come up with. how do you justify his pathetic jimi thing solo's then? is he just trying to hold back and not show off??? umm, sure... seriously, take two seconds and think rationally about that and tell me again that he just doesn't want to show off. now let's talk about your body is a wonderland...simple song at root, but musically it's far more complex than dave's arrangements. the verse is a simple riff, but then he throws in the whole pre-chorus thing to jack things up a bit in a perfectly melodic manner, then the bridge is just tight musically. they jam it out a bit live as well. furthermore, john often throws in fills in this song that demonstrate an avid knowledge of technique. ok, and this...
"he knows that people are going to see his guitar playing, moving his hands real fast, and keep listening to him because it gives the illusion that he is amazing at everything he does."
you don't honestly believe that, do you? please tell me that is not your rational thoughts on the matter, please? that is just stupid. plain and simple. it's just a terrible, terrible argument. I wish you could tell that to one of the guys I train under so I could watch him poke you in the head and tell you how he needs to drill truth into you as he literally demonstrates the process with his finger...that's what he'd do if you said something like that in his presence. you are not thinking straight at all. that is just about the dumbest reasoning I have ever read. moving his hands real fast, and he knows, HE KNOWS, this is john mayer's secret everybody...he mesmorizes people with his hands and they become caught up in the notion that everything he does is great. that explains it...somehow he manages to telepathically plant images of his ferociously fast hands into our heads via simply audio through CD's and the radio as well...no small feat there, after all, 95% of the people who listen to him probably have never seen him play the songs literally...man, that must be another attribute that comes with his fast moving hands. mindblowing...
another thing...people down his lyrics it seems simply on the basis of them not being incredibly deep or universal or something. yeah, they aren't, but does that make them bad??? he comes up with original and poignant ideas in his lyrics that take on very vivid representations. "I played a quick game of chess with the salt and pepper shakers..." not the deepest line, but think about that in relation to the song, point, and situation he's describing. everything he's put out is full of stuff like that. I'm not saying it's not somewhat corny or mushy, but does that make it bad? he weaves his words together well, they harmonize with the music perfectly and are always very vivid. keep in mind, john is not trying to give his opinion of the way the world should be run. that's not his gig, he knows it. he just writes about simple things in life, and he does that well. the only lines that I will completely toss out the window are "bubblegum tongue" and "whatever happened to my lunchbox" although the latter is mildly humorous and almost endearing.
let's never forget dave's lyrical masterpieces now..."I was there when the bear ate his head, thought it was a candy"
"I call you up, you pick up"
the song that jane likes and how much sense it makes...
or just the fact that dave can write a direct line to save his life half the time and it has nothing to do with trying to leave things open to interpretation and everything to do with just trying to get something down. so yeah...fast hands...
-Elliot
--President of nDMB Discussion
http://www.myspace.com/ElliotRyanLive
March 28, 2004: The nDMBc Revolucion!!!
I retired from messing around on here...now I'm just around...every now and again...saying stupid stuff...like this...
