Tuesday Tunes

“You can’t be everything to everyone.” Though this has nothing to do with the song below, it’s a popular sentiment, and one that I subscribe to. It’s a concept that Everclear made a song about, and Barenaked Ladies named an album after, but as far as I can tell, has it’s roots in christian scripture. What I found interesting is the fact that the original has Paul becoming ‘all things to all people’, yet today the usage is reversed, cautioning that to do so is folly. I try to appeal to as many people as possible with Tuesday Tunes, but perhaps, instead of trying to talk to everyone, I should be more concerned with …

The Song(s)
Song: Everything
Artist: FM-84
Album: Atlas - 2016 - FM-84
Method of discovery: A t-shirt on a YouTube video

Research: FM-84 is comprised of Colin (Col) Bennett and Ollie Wride, and Atlas is an album that evokes the imagery of the year for which they are named: ‘The sound of a summer long gone’. Col is originally from Scotland, but resides in California. He has a real life DeLorean which recently stole ‘1st in class’ against a Maserati at a car show. Ollie is from England and has most recently released his own solo album, his material evokes the past. Maybe a little more ‘87.

Theory: Everything, weirdly, doesn’t really have much to it. Harmonically, there are two sections that alternate back and forth, until the second takes over and builds until release, and the end of the song. The first section toggles I-IV (x2) , and the second section cycles through vi-V-IV (x2) before heading back to the top. At about the 2:40 mark the build begins, first by dropping the drums, then by introducing more and more elements into a crescendo that bursts and evaporates at 4:13 …

Personal thoughts: It makes me picture a car, a neon DeLorean of course (Edit; I wrote that before seeing the Facebook), racing up the side of a hill, bushes and trees whizzing past, and at the peak the car screeches to rest, you can see the vibrant city below and the sun setting behind it. That’s where the album takes place for me. FM-84 is living proof that the English and Scottish can put their differences aside to make sweet, sweet jams. I found them because a YouTuber, Matt Colville, was wearing a shirt of the album. I found Matt after searching for D&D related videos, and found the shirt, and found the album. Although not their most popular song, Everything sets the bar very high, and distills exactly what the album is about, without needing to overstate itself. It may not be for everyone, but it really is Everything.

Give it a go: If you are a fan of Anglo-Scottish partnerships

Give it a miss: If you prefer Hadrian’s wall be a bit bigger

[links]
Spotify: Tuesday Tunes, Everything by FM-84
FM-84: Website, The DeLorean on Facebook
Ollie Wride:
Other: Matthew Colville (not the video with the shirt, but the video I most recommend watching), Barenaked Ladies Album (Wikipedia), Everclear Song (Wikipedia), Bible Gateway.com