Man Of Action

[Curtster]

your opinion is so wrong it makes me want to punch you in the face.

punching someone with a physical disability would probably be much frowned upon by your peers lol.

[bishopx]

Curtster you need to understand, she's an equal opportunity kind of gal. In fact I think there's some treatise in the Affirmative Action guidelines that applies strictly to whom she can punch. Meaning she'd punch you if you were an old lady, too. Just take it like a man, or old lady and you'll be fine.

[Dan #3]

I agree with Curtster, you can't compare the two albums.

 

I believe I just did draw a parallel, which if I'm not mistaken - and I'm not - I comparing the two albums. Are they both albums containing music? Yes. Are they both albums by the same musician? Yes. Basis enough for comparison, which means you and your good friend Curtsy are wrong.

 

punching someone with a physical disability would probably be much frowned upon by your peers lol.

 

Hiding behind a physical disability on the internet is lame. And yes, I chose lame intentionally, as a double entendre.

[mrs jesus]

punching someone with a physical disability would probably be much frowned upon by your peers lol.

oh good lord. next you'll be telling me it ain't cool to make fun of retarded people.

[LonelyWreckage]

Say what you will about the album in itself, but Man of Action is an explosive opener. To me, it's like the dark twisted older brother of Giant.

A little chill goes down my spine whenever I hear that hum and the beep 'You are now listening to the Audio of Being'

Good stuff.

Fully agreed. Like you're sat in a plane with headphones in; you can hear the noises from the plane while it gradually builds up and BOOM... ;)

[finboy]

AoB is my favorite matt good album, and it is a strong competitor for one of my favorite albums of all time, definitely top 5.

[Goudie]

Audio of Being is my Favorite MGB album, Avalanche my favorite MG album.

[johnerwin]

I've never really got into Man of Action that much, Audio of Being is probably my least favourite MGB/MG album as well. I think Truffle Pigs and The Rat Who Would Be King are excellent tracks, but other than that I don't think it is even comparable to Beautiful Midnight or Underdogs. I would have to say Fall of Man is probably the only Matt Good song I don't like at all. Also, the singles on the album, Carmelina and Anti-Pop, really felt like they were just on there for singles. But I know the album and Man of Action are both big fan favourites, just for me personally not so much.

 

Anti-pop was thrown-in after the record was written...something about the record company calling his management company and then taking to Dave saying that they had to write a hit for the record...there's a good video of it in his facebook profile

[Who]

Funniest thing I've heard in a while about the band lol...

 

For people who can't hear it, here's what he says:

 

There an interesting story behind that song actually. The record company, I had already delivered that entire record to the record company. They use this whole back-chanelling system cause the Matthew Good Band was a very political band. We actually weren't all friends to begin with. It was a super political situation, everyone was always trying to basically fuck everyone else over at the exact same time, and I would juste puke all day. And my record company called my management who called Dave Genn who said "oh you have to write a hit for the record". So I tried to write the worst song I could possibly come up with. And then you know, in true fucking major record company fashion, they put it on the record. That's how stupid record companies are.

Edited March 25, 2009 by Who

[folk singer]

Damn that is an awesome Lyric Dan.

 

Personally I like this line from Tripoli - "In a while, I will awake to be a has been."

 

Sooooo many good quotes from this album. Truffle pigs is my favorite:

 

"your secret's out, but it's too loud to think it"

 

"we're dead somehow, but somehow we're still breathing"

 

"I'm not myself, but somehow I'm still being him"

 

 

 

it's awesome because it's all paradoxical, but has me going "man, I feel like that all the time"

it's beautifully poetic

[Guest jjazz]

The whole build up at the end of that song with the "bring them to their knees" stuff is so powerful

[johnerwin]

The whole build up at the end of that song with the "bring them to their knees" stuff is so powerful

 

That part gives me the chills every time

[bishopx]

I have always felt that way about that line too.

 

Boy and His Machine Gun, has always had a similar impact. It's all in his delivery.

[AnOceanPearl]

BM and AoB are my favorite albums, period, and probably the two most important albums in my life, so it's really hard for me to say which I like better and which I think is the better album. BM has more songs that I get the urge to listen to on their own, and AoB is more of a "listen all the way through" album for me.

[sodamntired]

AoB is more of a "listen all the way through" album for me.

word word on that.

[Gomo]

+1 for support of Ghetto Astronauts. Love that album a ton.

[LonelyWreckage]

^Same !

 

Boy and His Machine Gun, has always had a similar impact. It's all in his delivery.

Fucking brilliant song.

[prototypepariah]

boy and his machine gun is #2 on my list all time.

[johnerwin]

I actually really like Ghetto Astronauts, I would actually rather listen to it than AOB most of the time. I think though that it isn't fair to compare LOTGA to the other three MGB albums. I think Matt was still developing as a song writer and musician when they did LOTGA, and that is quite evident. I still think it was an excellent album, especially considering it was their first major album and how young Matt was at the time. I think because of those factors it isn't fair to compare LOTGA to the other three MGB albums, similar to how it is hard to compare the MGB albums to the solo albums.

 

I think that Alabama Motel Room is comparable to Everything is Automatic, and Symbolistic White Walls is still one of my favourite MGB songs. I think She's Got a New Disguise, Fearless and Haven't Slept in Years are also amazing songs. Sure there are song weaker tracks like Radio Bomb but again I think considering that it is a first album it was very good.

 

I just found out that every guitar on the album was acoustic (just ran through Marshall amps)...which is pretty crazy to think about, but when you go back and listen to it, it becomes pretty obvious. Still a great album though.

[gwencrist]

I was actually just gonna make a post singing the praises of Fall of Man and Under the Influence, but good i found this.

 

yeah those two songs stand as examples of the best songwriting around.

the lines in fall of man: "i look in your eyes. you look for some teeth. like nickels at night, left under the sheets."

and the lines from under the influence: "If i roast marshmallows over their bodies do you think god will still find their souls?" are really what elevates them

 

i could actually write a essay (literally) each on these lines (trying to resist the temptation to post some essays)

 

but yeah the genius of them is in the sheer number of implications, associations and (the lesser number of) rhetorical devices packed into these few lines

 

for fall of man, theres a metaphor (i look in your eyes, u look for some teeth), and a simile in the metaphor (like nickels at night), and a very evocative complex phrase inside the simile (that being nickels at night, left under the sheets). there are so many implications and associations and such packed into this last phrase that i am tired just thinking about explaining them all so yeah.... i'll just say some...maybe.

 

the nickels at night thing would be like if someone's going to sleep and they're in their bed and all of a sudden, they find some nickels. But the discovery isnt a pleasant one, you can see from the song. so they would find these nickels by suddenly feeling cold metal sticking to their skin.

 

but not just that! theres more!

 

why would there be nickels under the sheets? it could be that someone else slept in that bed, wearing pants with pockets with change in them, and as they slept, some of the change slipped out. So this could be a motel/hotel bed, or it could be a personal bed, that someone else has slept in.

And why would someone wear their outdoor pants to sleep? it seems to be that this person anticipated being in a big hurry when they got up, with no time to get dressed.

Why would this person be in a hurry? Well, if they were in a motel it could be because they were worried about safety and thought they would have to vacate the premises if they were woken up or they could just have to go to a meeting (probably the first since this song is about the fall of man) and if they were in a hotel, it would be the latter (cause of good old hotel security), and hence its probably not a hotel.

 

not gonna go into the whole personal bed thing for the sake of brevity

 

so yeah so far we have the two ominous ideas: 1) someones either in a unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar place, or in their own bed which someone else has been sleeping in and 2) wherever they are, there's this idea of danger and the need to get out of there fast

 

also the fact that the "you" felt this cold metal on their skin means that this person isnt wearing outdoors clothes themselves. theres a sense of vulnerability here, added to by the fact that this "you" seems to be a girl (cause of general vulnerability in the lyrics). So I picture a girl wearing a nightgown probably, or something like that, asleep in this dangerous area. Not good, especially considering that a nightgown isnt exactly the best thing to run away in.

 

i think thats enough about this; i dont want this to turn into an essay.

but a few extra points.

theres kind of a overall feeling of rape in this line; kind of the ominous, half-realized fear of rape. That points to more ideas about the whole nature of the fall of man. like what are we falling from, and what are we falling to. And also it does say man. Maybe its kind of reverse sexism.

 

and yeah just picture this; this whole idea of an vulnerable girl sleeping in a bad area and not realizing it. Think of that picture as being the teeth in this guy's eyes.

 

such a goddamn cool sick line

 

and yeah im not gonna get into the line from under the influence, but its just as cool, complex and subtle as the one from fall of man

 

 

 

 

oh i feel bad now

 

my post is so long. but yeah like i said i could write a couple of essays. i did try to keep it short

[johnerwin]

i think you could probably write something this long about pretty much any line on that album, for the most part..

[blk7]

I think the Anti-Pop refrain "You're not my girl, you're just tired" has got to be an awesomely brutal put down.