| Edwin McCain A Modern Musician Essay, Research Paper
As you sit back and listen to Edwin McCain’s first album,Honor
Among Theives, McCain’s incorporation of all kinds of music such as
rock, pop, jazz, and blues will surely amaze you. This is consistant
with his second album Misguided Roses,which incorporates the same
standards. These two albums provide a great mix of acoustic rock with
a hint of jazz and blues. McCain was successful with his first album
which included the hit song “Solitude.” He was even more successful
with his more recent album which includes the former number one song
“I’ll Be.” Through his lyrical genius and incorporation of different
styles of music, Edwin McCain has risen to be one of the best well-
rounded musicians today.
What attracts a person most are the lyrics that Edwin McCain
writes. He writes about life’s good times and also the struggles in
which people endure. In one of his songs, McCain writes about a man in
New Orleans who lost his father and a week later lost his wife. In the
song, McCain goes on to talk about life’s struggles and what we as
humans have to do to deal with these pains (Honor Among Thieves). He
shares his view of how life wears us down when he sings, “Like a stone
in a stream, life smooths all our ridges ’till we barely make a ripple
anymore” (Honor Among Thieves), which is from his song “Sorry to a
Friend.” McCain’s clever lyrics portray his views on young people such
as, “Youth goes hand in hand with foolish pride,” and his
love-as-a-war view saying, “The blood that was spilled in the
heartache before left road maps of scars that I never, never could
ignore” (Misguided Roses). Singing these lyrics with his soulful voice
with a slight touch of Southern charm, McCain makes you believe every
word that soars from his heart.
In addition to McCain’s amazing lyrics, his musical skills are
also very fine tuned. When compared to Dave Matthews, a well know
acoustic rock star, McCain measures up and even exceeds Matthews’
talents. The two artists both have superior guitar skills, yet
Matthews lacks in understandable lyrics and vocal quality. McCain
writes songs about life’s ups and downs while Matthews leaves the
listener wondering what is trying to be portrayed. Matthews’ voice is
piercing and almost shrill while McCain’s soothing tone and and
unbelievable range leaves a listener breathless. Matthews ,like
McCain, has his own style of music, but is limited in the style of his
songs. McCain uses different jazz feels and then hits you up with a
blues feel for the very next song. McCain is classified as an acoustic
rock performer which may do him an injustice. Someone who listens to
blues would love McCain’s raspy voice and the mellow tones of the alto
sax. A jazz enthusiast could definately appreciate the arrangement of
the music and the melodic sound of the trumpet and tenor saxophone.
Edwin McCain is no doubt a well- rounded musician with his usage
of different styles of music and his heart-felt lyrics. He brings his
love of blues and jazz into his own style of acoustic rock. He writes
about life and how he sees it like when he sings, “It’s not all that
hard to survive. You take the good and the bad and the time in
between. It let’s us know that we’re alive” (Honor Among Thieves).
These words are another example of McCain’s view on life. Music is
about feeling and McCain puts one hundred and ten percent feeling in
his music. For example, in his most recent hit song “I’ll Be” when he
says “The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful stop me and
steal my breath” (Miguided Roses). This is why Edwin McCain is one of
the best all-around musicians today.
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