Christian Kiefer, Matthew Gerken, & Jefferson Pitcher
Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs For 43 U.S. Presidencies (Standard Recording)
By Leah Urbom
Published: November 4th, 2008 | 10:19am
On the cusp of the conclusion to the most influential presidential race seen by this generation, a project emerges that manages to knock some things into perspective. Christian Kiefer, Matthew Gerken, and Jefferson Pitcher began penning songs for Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs For 43 U.S. Presidencies as part of February Album Writing Month (fawm.org), which challenges artists to write 14 songs in 28 days. A huge undertaking in and of itself, they actually wrote 42 songs, save “George Walker Bush (Though the Night),” — which, understandably, took a bit longer to compose. Beautifully dark, rich, and witty, Of Great and Mortal Men weaves 43 of its own affected tales concerning those that have led our country.
Of Great and Mortal Men’s splendor comes from each track’s tendency to shy away from conventional hooks and choruses in favor of more poetic arrangements. Add to that a reliance on a large and diverse array of modern instruments intertwining with traditional folk tools: snare drum, trumpet, keyboard, and saxophone mingle and flirt with banjo, lap steel, flugelhorn, and organ — not to mention a few instrumental credits filed under “clanking metal stuff” and “noise.”
It’s no wonder that the written intro declares it as “a musical and sadly hilarious history of the American presidency.” Peppered throughout three discs are recurring themes of filtered societal vision: “Scrubbed from existence / In an early attempt / To create history / Simply with these talking points” (“The Little Magician”); delusions of grandeur: “No, I don’t regret a thing / Why would I / When everything I did / Was blessed by God?” (“Benevolence”); and George Washington’s hippo teeth: “But still they stalk the bedside table / And sing songs of presidential teeth / That told all my lies” (“Washington Dreams Of the Hippopotamus”).
Of course, generational linkage cannot be ignored, come the end of disc three; George H.W. Bush’s song (“It Was Foreshadowed Here [The Beginning Of the End]”) asks us, “Has the chapter been born yet? / Will the history fail? / Can the pattern then be broken? / Or will we sleep out the day?” just as George W. Bush’s “Though the Night” laments, “Because I believe in Jesus / But I wonder sometimes if he believes in me.”
The incentive to purchase this collection, aside from the music, is the book that it comes packaged with. Contained in it are bios of the 60 plus musicians that contributed to the venture, along with 43 illustrators, since each song is printed alongside an artist’s rendering of the man it sings of. If paying close attention, you may notice that the printed lyrics don’t always match up exactly with the recordings; but there’s a kind of muddled perfection in this flaw if you view each page as a poem, and each song an interpretation of such.
Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs For 43 U.S. Presidencies is an extensive, imposing narrative — epic, even; although the title alone suggests to those contemplating the journey that it is a lengthy one: Limited only to those who possess a patient wit, the ability to tread lightly, and a musical soul.
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Official project site
Official MySpace page
Issue #35
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