LogFAQs > #954497184

201. Courtney Barnett Avant Gardener (2013)
from the album The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcnIhzaDTd0

Key lyrics:
The paramedic thinks Im clever cause I play guitar
I think shes clever cause she stops people dying

The instrumentation of Avant Gardener is pretty simple. After a pounding drum intro, the guitar drones along somewhere between folk and psychedelic rock. A brief yet effective squealing guitar solo comes in around halfway through. Though the instrumentation is fine enough, this is a singer/songwriter track clearly relying on some stunning delivery to truly sell itself.

Luckily, Courtney Barnett kicked off her career with some truly phenomenal lyricism. She shirks off any idea of universal themes, instead penning a song about trying to garden and immediately having an asthma attack. Her sing-song delivery matches the droning of the guitars, suggesting a truly tiring and overwhelming experience. Her lyrics are clever in a dozen ways, painting such a finely detailed image that one must believe this all really happened. Yet she also relates this very singular moment to her life at large, a rare moment of inspiration shut down and forcing an immediate retreat to the safety of her mundane existence. Her wordplay is the truly mesmerizing element, managing to rhyme emphysem-ing with kerosene and while also tossing out words like pseudoephedrine like its nothing. The ramble of her voice adds to this delivery, simultaneously suggesting a dreamlike haze and absolute lucidity. This is the perfect example of a song stronger than the sum of its parts, with Barnett juggling several familiar sonic elements while crafting a whole that is uniquely her own.

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/