There is a moment in the film Meeting People is Easy, the Radiohead documentary, which details the furor that erupted around the band following the release of OK Computer that has always represented depth of feeling I have for songwriting. After a triumphant show in New York, Thom Yorke waxes philosophical about how his band and their songs could mean as much to their audience as his idols meant to him. It is truly touching. Then, shortly afterward, the bouncer at his own after-party tells Yorke that he is not on the list of people permitted to enter the club. As Thom walks away, the bouncer bellows, “Radiohead, ‘Creep,’ write a song about it.”
To me, there is little more that a person can or should do when to process experience than write a song about it. Songs encapsulate feelings, moments, emotions, and allow for not just the creator but also the listener to absorb and, if necessary, get over those experiences. There should be no mystery about why there are so many songs about standing up for yourself and not taking anyone’s crap or brokenheartedness.
The Unlikely Candidates clearly share a similar vision, though their latest work is far less trivial than the events Mr. Yorke experienced. Their new single, “You Love Could Start a War” is a hooky blast of alternative rock that expresses their feelings in response to unthinkable tragedy.
On December 4, 2014, Kyle Morris and Brenton Carney, vocalist and guitarist for the band respectively, filled Times Square with several thousand fellow concerned citizens, to protest the senseless death of Eric Garner, a man suffocated by the NYPD while being arrested for selling loose cigarettes. The two men walked through the square, absorbing the sadness, the fury, the rage and imagery and heat of the moment. Then they walked one block up Broadway to the old Quad Studios, and set those feelings down in song.
The band says, “The song tells a story of a love formed under passion and pressure. Two forces bound to, and dependent on, one another—both fighting for control over their love. In love and war the lines of decency and humanity begin to blur. The song is a tribute to that imbalance, and the imbalance witnessed that December in New York City.”
It is yet another reminder of the awesome power of song.
