“The quintessential cover of a song that yearns for transformation, the ultimate anthem of self-reflection, and a number full of nuance that gets me every. single. time…”
In the latest episode of Themes and Variation, I (your stalwart podcast shepherd, Mahea Lee) am joined by magnificent musician and occasional co-host Jeremy Young as well as singer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and all-around treasure of the Soundfly community, Lana Cenčić to discuss our all-time favorite “Cathartic Songs.”
This episode features selections from the short-lived psychedelic soul icon Baby Huey & the Babysitters, the King of Pop himself Michael Jackson, and the Malibu-based indie rock outfit Simon Dawes. What’s the maximum amount of emotion that can be carried by a single human voice? If you ask nicely, will the man in the mirror ever change his ways? Is it possible for a music school graduate to love a song for nearly two decades without realizing it it contains more than one time change?
If these are the kind of questions you’re up for contemplating, or if you’re just looking for a healthy dose of catharsis yourself, come along for the ride and check out the latest episode of Themes and Variation here:
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Episode 204 Highlights
1. Jeremy on Baby Huey and the album The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend…
Jeremy: “His star burned brightly when he was alive. And I think that’s sort of where the album title came from. When he was alive, I think he was just this living legend. Like he was just walking amongst us as this massive personality. Ironically, the band never really reached that kind of acclaim while they were still together and when he was still alive. They were pretty big in Chicago. They did a little bit of touring around the Midwest and stuff, but they didn’t really like take off because they hadn’t really recorded.”
2. Lana on Siedah Garrett and “The Man in the Mirror.”
Lana: “She called Quincy and she was like, ‘You gotta hear the song… Please just call me when you hear it.’ And he’s like, ‘Okay, okay.’ He called her apparently after a few hours and he was just like, ‘Wow, I think this is the best song I’ve heard in the last ten years.’ And then he was like, ‘Okay, I got to show this to Michael. I’m not sure if he’s going to want to record it because you know, he has a mind of his own,’ but Michael loved it too. And the week after, they were already in the studio and Michael loved the way Siedah sang the song and he actually wanted to sound like her. So he invited her in the studio and he was like, ‘Please teach me how to sing this.’”
3. Mahea on the effective “sneakiness” of Goldsmith’s writing.
Mahea: “Well, it’s sneaky, right? It’s doing all these things, but it’s never just like, ‘Here’s a giant high note.’ And it has interesting chords, but it’s not like, ‘Here’s a chord from a different key’ or anything… And I realized today for the first time in whatever, like, over a decade of listening to the song that there’s an extra beat, but it doesn’t sound like an extra beat… (it’s) just like, your body can’t continue moving the way that it was before, basically.”
Episode Playlist
With every new episode of Themes and Variation, we launch a new Spotify playlist that includes the songs mentioned in this episode and more. Here’s this episode’s Spotify playlist!
We’ll see you in a couple weeks with a new theme, new guests, and some new songs to break down. If you have any comments, questions, or theme suggestions, drops us a line at [email protected] or find us on Twitter.
