Lindsay Buckingham "In Our Own Time"

If I tell you that, when judging a song's merit, I listen to the whole song, you probably would simply say, "Yeah. Duh!"

But you know, that's not always the case.

Anyone who "judges" music for a living (radio station program directors, club owners who book bands, record label promotion people) can tell you that in most cases, they can listen to a song for 30 second, maybe a minute, and hear everything they need to hear.

It's true. By the time a minute rolls around, you've heard the verse and you've gotten to the song's hook, and either it's strong or it's not.

I mean, next week, we'll probably add two songs to rotation at mvyradio. But I have 86 songs on my iTunes playlist vying for those spots. If, in 60 seconds, a song can't establish itself in the mind of someone who cares deeply about putting the right song on the air, then the casual listener isn't going to hesitate to hit the next preset on the car radio.

But . . .

Once a song has passed the 60 second test, you still have to give it a full listen through, and today's song illustrates just why.

I think Lindsay Buckingham in a F-N genius. Genius writer, genius guitar player and a genius in the art of studio craft. And if it's possible to call one of the main creative forces behind one of the best loved, best selling albums of all time, "under-rated," well yes, I think his playing is wildly under-rated.

This song holds the line of previous Buckingham solo efforts of being precise, and a bit quirky, with a surprisingly catchy vocal hook and guitar figure.

And I think any serious guitar player would listen to this song and just think to themselves, "Fuck! That guitar part is so intricate/incredible/amazing!"

But, in the case of a genius, you can be too smart for the room.

Late in the song, Buckingham's guitar playing takes off, and the guitar figure gets faster, more intricate. The notes ping-pong back and forth between speakers. He keeps playing slight variations on the same theme, over and over again.

A trained ear, focused on the technical prowess of the playing, might be wowed by it.

But to a casual ear, it kind of feels like the repetitious noodling that a casual listener wouldn't have the patience for. It plays more like an irritant.

I guess it's another "context" question. The song is amazing as part of a Buckingham album. The end-of-song playing works really well in the live context, where it fires up the audience, and the response fires up Buckingham (as seen in the live video below). But as a song sandwiched between, say "Hungry Heart" by Springsteen and Mavis Staples "Wrote A Song For Everyone" I don't think it will work.

What do you think?


See the live performance on Youtube.