Charty Chart Chat: Death Becomes Them

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Charty Chart Chat: Death Becomes Them Tuesday September 23, 2003 @ 03:00 PM By: ChartAttack.com Staff "Everything is great when you're dead/The family surrounds you/There are flowers on your head," sings Motorpsycho drummer Hakon Gebhardt on "When You're Dead" on the band’s 2001 album Phanerothyme. What at first seems a morbid song about death really is an uplifting view of a man not fearing death, but embracing its inevitability. This view of death may not sit well with the majority of humans who fear their mortality. Many songs about death speak of its finality; some more religious material focuses on the afterlife, giving the listener hope of avoiding that ultimate end. Rather than dreading death, Gebhardt imagines the great party that will take place, a gathering of family and friends to celebrate the life of the deceased, a much healthier view of death.

The Executioner's Last Songs Volume 1

There are countless songs about death in the pop music canon, such as John Lennon's "My Mummy's Dead," George Harrison's "The Art Of Dying," Nirvana's "I Hate Myself And I Want to Die" and Alice in Chains' "Them Bones." Then there are the many songs that recount the deaths of others, like the traditional folk ballads "Tom Dooley" and "Knoxville Girl," and popular top 40 hits including Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve," Ray Peterson's "Tell Laura I Love Her" and The Adverts' "Gary Gilmore's Eyes." Several artists have written whole albums with a death theme, including Nick Cave's Murder Ballads and the two volumes of The Pine Valley Cosmonauts' Executioner's Songs.

Through out the top 50 Chart for the week ending September 19, there are no obvious album titles about death. In fact, there is a number of uplifting titles such as, Shine A Light, Love Energy, Happy Songs For Happy People and Operation Infinite Joy. Off the top, there is a new #1 for the week as The Weakerthan's Reconstruction Site squeezed up past The Constantine's Shine A Light, which drops to #2. Remaining steady are Ween's Quebec at #3, Metric's Old World Underground, Where Are You at #4 and The High Dials' A New Devotion at #5.

Our Work And Why We Do It

Frank Black And The Catholics’ Show Me Your Tears jumps up one place to #6, while newbies Guided By Voices catapult into the Top 10 as their latest album, Earthquake Glue, rises to #7. The Dandy Warhols' Welcome To The Monkey House drops to #8, Broadcast's Haha Sound also drops to #9 and Hot Little Rocket's Our Work And Why We Do It moves into the #10 position.

The top new entry for the week belongs to Jim Bryson. His new album, The North Side Benches debuts at #28, beating out the Hamilton electronic compilation, Futur*Sonic Volume 1 at #29. The Parkas' Now This Is Fighting arrives at #31, Rufus Wainwright's Want One is at #36 and Martin Tielli's aforementioned happy album, Operation Infinite Joy at #38 also make solid debuts this week.

The North Side Benches

Finally, The New Pornographers' sophomore release, Electric Version has spent 20 weeks on the top 50 chart. They are four weeks short of their record-breaking debut release of 2001, A New Romance. After a look back at all of the charts for the past eight-plus years, the Vancouver super-group (that includes Neko Case and former Zumpano lead-man Carl Newman) are the first band to have two albums break the 20 week barrier. For you baseball enthusiasts, The New Pornographers are the Albert Pujols of the Canadian campus charts. Pujols is the first player in the history of major league baseball accumulate over 30 home runs, 100 RBIs and hit over 300 in each of first three full years of playing in the big leagues. Check back in a month to see where Electric Version will sit as the all-time length leader on the top 50 chart.

—Chris Burland

ChartAttack's Daily Music News:

Tuesday September 23, 2003
REVIEW | LIVE: The Darkness And The Illuminati
DAMN | The Dears Announce Giant Tour
DAMN | Cauterize Need Kids To Star In New Video
DAMN | Red Hot Chili Peppers Announce Western Dates
DAMN | Sum 41, Sonic Youth, Green Day Get Political
DAMN | Bottleneck Take Their Country Sound Across The Country
DAMN | The Headstones Call It Quits
DAMN | Glamour Puss Bring Their Eclectic Sound To The People
DAMN | Peaches F**ks Around With The Father Of Punk Rock
DAMN | Charty Chart Chat: Death Becomes Them
DAMN | Warsawpack Keep It Real
REVIEW | CD Releases: Big Star, Nebula, Rufus Wainwright and many more
Monday September 22, 2003
DAMN | Stink Mitt Rock The Gangsta Rap And The ’87 Love Ballads
REVIEW | LIVE: Sam Roberts
REVIEW | LIVE: Keith's Fest in Halifax
REVIEW | LIVE: Fleetwood Mac
DAMN | The Cottars Rack Up The Awards Nominations
DAMN | John Mayer Plans Three Ontario Gigs
DAMN | New Releases: Rufus Wainwright Leaves Fans Wanting For More
DAMN | Navy Blues For Mes And Yous
DAMN | Headbangers Ball Goes On A Road Trip
DAMN | The Chemical Brothers Recruit Richard Ashcroft, K-OS And The Flaming Lips
DAMN | Colin Linden Tries His Hand As A Movie Star
DAMN | Randy "Macho Man" Savage As A Rapper? Oooh, No!
DAMN | ChartAttack's Weekly Listings For TV, Radio & The Net
Friday September 19, 2003
REVIEW | FILM REVIEW: Underworld
REVIEW | FILM REVIEW: Lost In Translation
REVIEW | FILM REVIEW: Anything Else
DAMN | Calgary Buzz: Bionic, Burning Spear, Buttless Chaps Melt The Snow Away
DAMN | Crash Test Dummies Return With New Album
DAMN | Sisqo Arrested In Shooting Incident
DAMN | Ottawa Buzz: A Brief Tour Of O-Town
DAMN | The Junior Pantherz Go Ballistic On The Road
DAMN | Bionic's Latest Creepy Adventures... In Diary Form, Part II
DAMN | Ryan Malcolm, Glenn Lewis To Rush The Vote In T.O.
DAMN | Nickelback Walk The Long Road
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Elsewhere on ChartAttack:

Check out our online features with: Taproot:Slow Growth Albums, Mudhoney:The Grunge That Never Dies, Luther Wright And The Wrongs: Martyrdom Beyond The Wall Fannypack Share Their Feelings, Sondre Lerche: Music For People, In Flames: Covering Their Tracks, Eight Commandments Of Mars Volta, ChartAttack Stylin with Pete Yorn and many more! Most of these features have exclusive photos and/or content not found in the pages of Chart Magazine!

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