Shit Written Down From My Head

Tony Levin. Bassist. Peter Gabriel. King Crimson. Yes. Pink Floyd. Solo. To name but a few of his past accolades. And it’s from the unlikeliest of bands that I pick two awesome songs. The Tony Levin Band. Both off the Resonator album.
First up, Places To Go. This shows off Tony Levin’s lyrical side. Here’s what the main man has to say about it:

Even more unusual - background track is just bass, played with crabbing thumb and fingernail technique, and percussion. The song, “Hello Mars, it’s good to be back. Gee we left here in a hurry, didn’t even bother to pack.” starts with reference to the panspermia theory (that life came to the cooling earth from elsewhere) but moves on to verses about Boston and Heaven(!)

Lyrics excerpt:

Hello Mars, it’s good to be back. Gee we left here in a hurry, didn’t even bother to pack

It’s a beautiful planet you’ve got here, lovely shade of pink.
It seemed bigger when we lived here, but we were just spores then I think

the dressing room’s still still dingy and the manager’s still stingy

I’m gonna kick off my Reeboks, sit back and light up a smile,
cause it feels like home and baby I might stay a while

that road stretches long and I had a lot of places to go

Really should give that song a listen, great stuff.

Next!

What Would Jimi Do?

Lyrics excerpt:

Lately I’ve been digging back into my salad days

Thought we had a generation that talked about peace and wanted to live it too
But I read the news today and I ask myself, Tell me what would Jimi do?

In all honesty, these are two fantastic songs. What Would Jimi Do? is fantastic live, the guitar pieces really try and recreate what Hendrix did and the lyrics are fun too.

Resonator is an under appreciated album in my eyes, a good amount of fantastic songs. I haven’t had the opportunity to hear Levin’s latest, Stick Man, but I hope to soon!

And of course, these aren’t the only two songs Tony Levin has been involved with that make him awesome. Practically every song he has been involved with just reiterates that. Check out Liquid Tension Experiment to hear how much he can rock!