Timeline.
June 5th, 2007. Just as with the poems, the songs are all uploaded on the same day from the same footage. This video, sadly, isn't quite up to 1600 views. The last video had over 4500, so I wasn't surprised that it was "monetized" with commercials, but this video has also been monetized. Oh Dan, are you hoping to make a few dollars out of this YouTube career? This is actually the first video with more likes than dislikes, just tipped into the favored 7-6. This one, interestingly enough, has incurred the most comments thus far (that's nine whole comments). One of them, made by ajcraig99, is the observation, "1.06 itchy leg?" I will venture to confirm this in the presentation section. Goreesha promises to buy the song if Mr. Songer puts it on iTunes. Finally, sir rscrob confesses, "I hope, I really hope, that this man was bullied in high school." To wish such harm on a life clearly filled with plentiful disfortune is a true mystery to me.
Presentation.
To start off, Daniel Songer expresses this amusingly genuine surprised greeting, "Oh hey!" It's as if we snuck up on him in his backyard, hoping for him to break out into song. Indeed, if I could find the man, perhaps I would endeavor to do so. Please god no. He does not let go of that hat for a good seven seconds. I have no idea why unless he's just that afraid the wind will steal it. It is funny, though, to note that he holds as if he is riding a bull. Yes, this is the only way in which to hold a cowboy hat on. Giddy up yeehaw good ol' stereotypin'. Once again he is introducing himself as a true Renaissance Man, adding that he "even" wrote a couple of screenplays. It reveals a little defensiveness, as if you already know he's full of shit. Because he knows it. We all know it. Just pretend, though, pretend.
I'm going to avoid analyzing what he goes into next, even though I'm really excited to talk about it, since it belongs more in the content section. I do want to point out here, though, that he seems to be choking up almost, like he's moved to talk about his "purpose in life" as a singer/songwriter. This purpose doesn't last very long, though, does it Mr. Dan "Comedy Act" Poet Man? He is then adjusting his pants in the back galore while he holds up his songbook. At this point Dan seems to be feigning his excitement and gesticulations. I'm not sure if this is nervousness again, but I would put my bets on that. He really does seem uncomfortable here, and I think it's because he genuinely thinks this is his calling and he really wants to do this right.
In the beginning of the song, starting around 1:00, it seems like his fake microphone just fades into being a hand slightly in front of him. The best part is around 1:04, however, when it turns into a subtle air guitar just below the frame, by his right hip. It lasts a good long while. Yes, he does it until 1:18 where he finally lifts his hand up in a fist to emphasize "the fight." Sorry ajcraig99, I'm pretty sure this is not an itchy leg. It's a vaguely committed air guitar that last fourteen awkward seconds. Who am I kidding? Every second of Daniel Songer is an awkward second.
Finally Dan the Poet Man brings back that gesticulating hand. Perhaps its the fact that he doesn't have the songs memorized, thus one hand being busy with the songbook, or that he seems honestly uncomfortable at times, but his normal-for-Dan overwrought gestures have been lacking outside of the poetry readings. Ending the weird itchy-leg-air-guitar, he does a fist for "fight," a hand out to the audience with his eyes closed in passion for "tomorrow," and then he brings that fist back to pound it down onto the air. Yeah, you fight that air Mr. Badass. He does it again, he does a little lasso (I think), and then moves into something strange. I'm pretty sure it's the middle-aged-I'm-dancing dance where he is fo-snapping his fingers, arm bent at the elbow, and elbow to the waist. Sometimes it goes back into that vague-itchy-leg-air-guitar, which is now a coined phrase and official move designed by Dan Poet Man, as far as I'm concerned. It's indicative of awkwardness and discomfort, again, because he can't commit to one particular motion. That's an early rule of theater or presentation, commit to a movement and follow through.
The fake microphone resurfaces for half a second around 1:43 amidst the Middle-Aged-I'm-Dancing Dance, but it finally reaches a moment of bloom around 1:50. Normally, however, he really favors that fist up or hand up thing in order to provide a level of intensity. But there's a moment at 1:58 that I want to highlight because he also scrunches in his shoulders with the invisible microphone. I have absolutely no idea what's going on here, and it's fascinating. Is he cold? Is it supposed to be "intense?" Or is he really that awkward right now? Pause it and consider it a moment. He might even be in pain or something. It's weird.
Intensity. I don't think Daniel Songer will ever know how to encourage intensity other than volume or ridiculous gesticulation. He lifts his hand up and pushes it out to the camera and the sky at 2:00, reaching up to the heavens for some sort of power or intensity. Reaching to the sky is often done either in spite of heavenly forces or in order to channel them. Or so I, Mr. Genius, would think. My point is that though his hand his out in a way that would express "NO STOP PLEASE" I really think it's meant to be pulling power and intensity from the Almighty. And if you follow to his next movement, Almighty has been directly pulled into that invisible microphone. That stupid fucking invisible microphone. Talk about failing to achieve some sort of intensity.
Dan also is bouncing up and down like crazy during this song. It's like he's moving to invisible music that is accompanying his song, or that there's truly a crowd behind the camera, or that we, sitting in front of our computers, are truly compelled to scream out, pump our fists, and bounce up and down with him. There are a number of those songs that are designed to be sung either with or by the audience. The worst one I can think off the top of my head was P.O.D.'s song "Youth of a Nation." Yes, that's a real song. It's during all of this bouncing and "fight fight fight" and "right right right" air-pounding that Mr. Songer does when I begin to think that perhaps this song is also designed to be sung with or by the crowd of people at a live show. I'm serious, I think in his head there's not just invisible band members and music and a stupid fucking microphone with him, I think he's feeding off of the invisible crowd in front of him, too. And, you know, despite his complete lack of creativity and sincere effort to educate himself in these vocations before decidedly claiming he's a part of them, I've got to say that at least he's got a decent imagination. Sure, it would certainly benefit from reading a book or getting an education before he considers himself a writer or a singer, but at least he's fucking imaginative.
He actually pulls of a spin at 2:11, and then he turns his head strangely as some sort of expression of "twisting." Let's not also forget how Daniel Songer has gotten so into this song now that he's practically out of breath, his face is red, and I'm seriously damn fearful of him passing out mid-song. I'm pretty sure the twist, head turn, and hat grab, along with his feet that are off frame, that he also has some form of dance in mind that everyone should be doing along with him as well. Somewhere around 2:44, also, I think he's just out of ideas about how to move. Everything from here on out is more or less a repeat, but he does also end the song with a very contrived and hilarious "Yeah!" which only belongs at the end of eighties movies.
Content.
The first major thing to note is that Dan the Poet Man exhibits, for the first time, something resembling self-awareness, nay, even self-criticism. Before he even starts singing he says, "I may need some help in the department of singin', but uh, you know what they say, 'practice makes perfect.'" Since he uploaded all these videos on the same day, I don't think he was reacting to any YouTube comments on his singing voice. What bothers me here is, if he knows he can't sing, then why in the hell is he making videos of himself singing and uploading them onto YouTube for all to see? And no, good practice makes perfect. If I keep kicking my feet awkwardly every day, I don't suddenly know how to line dance. It doesn't work that way.
I want to emphasize that this song is meant to be a Country song. This is going to be a part of my analysis throughout, because I really don't think this song has much in the way of design that can really call itself Country. Also, just to point out, the description refers to "Country Song Gone WILD." Whatever that means. On this note, I feel the need to analyze Daniel Songer's introduction of this song as Country.
Country. I know y'all country people out there love the Country music.First off, he has never used the term "y'all" before, and I'm even noticing a deliberate move to give his voice a draw or twang. It's fake and stupid and pandering and I hate it--and I don't even like Country music. I also just love the astute observation that all those country people love "the" Country music. Why is it "the" Country music, anyway? I'm pretty sure it's just another fake way for Mr. Songer to attempt to sound southern, because his cliche southern voice he's suddenly donned also seems to think that country people are stupid. I just love that there Country music! Stop. Just stop. Let's continue.
And it's comin' up, isn't it? It's just...so enlightening and it makes you smile and keeps you movin' forward.It's coming up? In 2007? It's already "come up" forever ago. Coming up? Is Country music the next big thing? I really don't get this part. Country music is old and draws from classic rock, and it's been evolving just like any other genre of music (whether or not you like that evolution), and in no way is it new or somehow "coming up." I can't stand this, because it comes off just as pandering as this whole fake accent thing he's doing, which wasn't even done right from the beginning. It's like, once talking about Country music, he suddenly feels the need to act like Country music. I imagine if Daniel Songer ever had a conversation with someone who spoke in broken English, he would start to talk in broken English back to them. Not as a means of communicating better, just because he's so easily influenced. And, to add to that pander, he stumbles as he finds the words "enlightening" "smile" and "movin' forward." These terms could not be more vague or applicable to a great many things.
Then the song starts. And the pain. Oh, so much pain.
I'm a night dreamer and a day gleamer!What. The. Actual. Fuck. RobotBacon, who has now made his second appearance as a commenter on Dan Poet Man's videos, notes in a comment the phrase "day gleamer." What in the world is a "day gleamer?" First off, the word "gleamer" is not a real word, so I suspect that Dan is taking some poetic license on this one. The word "gleam" is usually meant to be a focused source of light, like flash or beam. So I assume that Mr. Songer is a man that gleams day. He is flashing or shooting off a beam of daylight or something. I suppose I've actually analyzed this phrase into something understandable, but I have to really emphasize the need to stop and take a minute before comprehending such a ridiculous phrase. Let's also not forget just how much it sounds like a disturbing sexual innuendo.
And I'm locked in memorable lane.
I dwell in the good times,
but the bad times try to consume
the magic of yesterday!
The creative juices then really begin to clog in the following lines. No imagery, no metaphor, just teenage-style "symoblism" known as "the feeling is the name of a place now." So, imagine that Daniel is locked in a place called "Memorable Lane." I imagine this as a road, what with the word "lane" involved. Now it's not "Memory" lane, because he'd be stealing a well-known colloquialism, so the word "Memorable" feigns some sort of creativity and originality. Instead, however, this image has become a road that is memorable. But when we call something memorable, we don't really think of it as amazing or special, just something interesting enough that we won't forget it. So he might as well be singing "Slighty Interesting Lane." So Dan's locked in some above average road--which makes no sense visually, since it's he would be on the lane, not in it, but whatever--and now he also lives in "the good times." Maybe this is a part of town on the Memorable Lane. He's in The Good Times Valley, all the while worrying about The Bad Times Mountain trying to consume the magic of yesterday. Okay, I'm really lost. What's going on?
There's no way for this to make sense, I'm sorry. The inconsistency of the image is too frustrating and complicated to ever put it into an ordered world. "Words are supposed to have meaning, Daniel," I imagine his mother saying. "You can't just say things in a certain tone with a certain sound and expect them to communicate anything." This really is a new low for his lyrical prowess. He's locked inside a memorable road living in the good times, but the bad times are trying to eat the magic of yesterday. I'm not fucking sure what the magic of yesterday is or what it has to do with anything, needless to say how it's supposed to be getting eaten by the bad times. On a completely theoretical level, I guess I can see what he's trying to say, which is basically: "I'm locked in a place full of memories. I like to remember the good times, but sometimes I remember the bad times, and that makes me sad. I don't like to remember the bad times, because I like to think about how awesome things used to be." Or something like that.
I remember life's atrocities.My assumption is that this is what would resemble a pre-chorus. It's nice to know that, even at the bottom of the outhouse, deep in the shit slosh, they remember structure. I guess that takes away a lot from pop music though, doesn't it? There's nothing very complicated here. Dan's poetic nature leaves nothing to be desired. Yeah, from an eighth-grade writer. So, uniquely, Daniel Songer remembers the past in order to not make the same mistakes. And today he fights, hoping for magic tomorrow. Oh surprise, hoping, magic, and tomorrow. The theme of this man's whole life, apparently.
So I don't repeat them.
And now today I hold on
To the fight!
For the magic of tomorrow!
I wanna FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!Once again, Dan leaves nothing to the imagination. That's probably a good thing, considering how bad he is at creating images. You know that even a small change in these lyrics would show even the slightest bit of skill or thought process, or that thing called drafting. I almost wrote the second line of the--stifle your vomit--chorus down wrong because I was inherently trying to connect two lines. Why not "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT" for what is "RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT?" Instead the chorus is just three disconnected sentences, one of which is just so clever and catchy we've got to repeat it with a little build up. There's also an amusing bravado hiding in these lyrics here, but that's something I want to get into later.
I need what is RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT!
I'm twistin' in Memorable Lane.
I'm twistin'
I'm twistin'
I'm twistin' in Memorable Lane!
I guess the following is actually just supposed to be its own thing, possibly a post-chorus/intro or something. It's the two lines he sang before the first "verse." "I'm a night dreamer and a day gleamer! And I'm locked in memorable lane." I so terribly wish to be a day gleamer. Let's get into the second verse, shall we?
The fire is at my feet.Okay, so Dan the Poet Man gets a little more poetic, again. Do we dare try analyzing these rhymes? Or rather, rhyme? Please stop. So "the fire is at my feet" is pretty self-explanatory. This comes from an old phrase to hold someone's "feet to the fire." It's basically "torture someone to consent to your will." I can get behind that. So Mr. Songer is being tested, I guess, and the world, I think, is trying to make him into something else. He follows with an awkwardly written and delivered rhyme (no rhythm, as usual) that implies he isn't moving to this will. He stands still, but by doing so he sinks like concrete. This is a new image: concrete in water. I assume the world is also water and gravity, pulling him down, because he's sturdy and consistent like CONCRETE, even with the fire at his feet. Or water. Whatever. Consistent images are for the weak.
And by standing still I sink like...CONCRETE!
I've got to keep movin' on.
And watch out for the chance
to catapault into paradise!
And as much as I like my interpretation and consider it not entirely stupid, the following line betrays the concept of Daniel being strong, firm, and still, because he has to keep "movin' on." And then we get basic and literal again, with him looking for a chance to shoot himself via catapault into paradise, which I can only assume is either a good life or heaven. If he stays still too long he'll sink and drown, get pulled down by all that every day bullshit and his past. But I suppose the image he wanted with "fire at my feet" had nothing to do with the standard saying that's used regularly, but something that is right behind him, trying to light him on fire. Literal, I guess, as always. It would have been okay if he stayed with that image. Sometimes you can do a lot with one metaphor. The problem is that he quickly moves to the concept of concrete and sinking, which all reminds us of the mob bosses with their concrete shoes. Not a bad image, but it's really done more for the sake of rhyming feet with concrete, all at the expense of the images, consistency, and that thing called communication. For a Poet Man like Dan, it's all about the sound, even if that sound is gibberish.
What follows is the chorus and that thing I'm going to call the post-chorus. And then I think we've reached the bridge. It's a two-parter, because the "rhythm" changes pretty abruptly after this, so let's just look at these lines first.
Memorable Lane is now.Once you think you've got it all figured out, once you think you're on the same page as the Almighty Artist, once you have that feeling like you know what's coming and it's so obvious, that's when The Master changes gears on you. And Daniel Songer is nothing if not a Master. Okay, so he's nothing. "Memorable Lane is now," is it? Well, that certainly changes everything. I really appreciate you saying something so direct after an entire song with this poorly defined lane. In fact, the only word to really describe this lane has always been the word memorable, an adjectival form of the word memory, which is something always in relation to things in the past. You know: not now. Instead, suddenly, after all this time, that past slightly-interesting (memorable) lane is current, happening now. I suppose I could take this as some artistic notion that we are creating these memorable moments in the present, "now," if you will, but if you're going to have the song take an artistic turn, the bridge is something to help us make that turn. It's not, however, a time for you to explain that you're suddenly changing the meaning of a phrase in the song, in order to add that layer. For instance, a novelist, poet, or songwriter knows (usually knows) that the story is really about something deeper than we originally think it is, just like parts of our lives! So a song that sounds like a whiny break up with a girl, slowly it reveals interesting facts and issues through images, and then suddenly you realize, based on those images, that this song is about a falling out with god. What if, though, instead of slowly divulging images to make that concept clear, within the bridge, you just wrote a simply line "It's not a woman that broke my heart, it's the non-existence of an eternal creator and judge." Hey, same thing, right? Yeah, minus all the art.
A swinging door (?)
Forever I will create my memories
by the induction of pure heart.
And we'll...the will is...to conquer the fight!
Sorry, there's a little bitterness over that line. The following line is unclear to me, it might also a be a "swindle" or "scandle." Regardless, it's a stupid line and that really just fills space with a random image. Words have meaning, Daniel. Speaking of words and their definitions, anyone want to cover the word "induction" in this context? He creates memories--which sounds like something your mother would say to you when you're five and miserable, "create a memory"--and he does this by the "induction of pure heart." Okay, so creating a memory, which I assume is the same way we all create memories, by living, and these ideas are connected with the word "by." So in a way, this is how these memories are created, by "the induction of pure heart." Here we are at the word induction, which I'm confident Dan has no fucking idea what this word means and just heard it at his work or something. Induction is a formal way of putting someone (or something) into an office. So his heart has been put into office, apparently. The office of creating stupid memories like this one.
Finally, Dan begins to lose his spot here, finishing with "the will is to conquer the fight." I still don't know what "the fight" is, but who cares? Certainly not Mr. Songer. We're not trying to establish anything sensible, just say things that sound cool to a middle schooler. I guess we could argue that "the fight" is life or something. Whatever who cares.
The challenge brings the extreme.This part is apparently a jig-dance that builds back into the chorus. Basically what he's saying here is "you need to be challenged in order to accomplish great things." You know, what we've all heard since we were kids. It's the equivalent of "no pain no gain." But this part is so catchy! Don't you just want to dance to it? This is still one of those parts where we can easily understand what he means because we've been listening to him so often. It doesn't mean the words actually make sense when broken down. For example, if you want to make "the dream," which does make sense, you've got to want destiny, which makes no sense. Destiny happens whether you want it or not, that's the very meaning of destiny. You remember the Emperor telling Luke Skywalker, "It is your destiny," don't you? He's saying Luke has no say in the matter, he should just give in and accept his purpose, his obvious call. If anything, the fact that Luke challenged the concept of his destiny is what made him great, not the other way around. It would be that Daniel Songer "wants" his destiny, though, because that would still leave all the work to some outside force pushing him into what he was "meant to do." No hard work neccessary!
The one [who] wants destiny makes the DREAM!
And then we finish on the same old chorus. If that change in the bridge I talked about was really an artistic move, the chorus should change or have new meaning. Does it? I don't think so. But perhaps we can make something up! That's the purpose of the following section!
What exactly is going on?
There are a few things going on that are worth exploring, and I'm pretty certain Dan the Poet Man is unaware of these elements. The first is the obvious: how is this country? There's no twang. There's no ice cold beer, boots, pick up trucks, dropped tailgates, honky tonks, or the-all-important Jesus. There's just a cowboy hat and an attempt at a jig. Does he think fighting and needing what is "RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT" makes it country? Speaking of which...
What is with the tough guy bravado going on in this song? It's not enough to just yell "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT" and "RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT," he's got to yell a lot. I thought Queen of the Thunder yelled a lot, but he's just so big and strong and FUCKING ANGRY. I think that's part of what Dan thinks is country. It's just being "a man." So much so that he's got to yell out the word fight, as if this is going to get everyone in the crowd pumped up to fight with him. He even does the fist shake, as if there's an invisible audience yelling it along with him, doing that stupid fist shake as well. I mentioned that Mr. Songer doesn't fight fight fight for what is right right right, he just wants to fight, and just so happens to also need what is right. This is actually more telling than just poor lyricism, because there's a reason he was drawn to keep these lines disconnected: it's bravado. It's fake manliness. He doesn't actually want to but his fists where his mouth is. He's a coward. You know how loud and obnoxious little dogs are, even though they're little and harmless little assholes? That's what's happening here.
My biggest recurring issue with this song, especially, is Dan's inability to properly communicate. You're just getting pissed about that now? It's not that he hasn't had this issue before, but it's reached a new level in this video. Lines like, "It's comin' up" when talking about country music, or phrases such as "day gleamer" and "induction of pure heart." At some point it becomes abundantly clear that one day he just woke up and considered himself a writer. He didn't sit down and read a book or two on music and writing, read books and songs, write and redraft them, and begin to really understand his own voice and methodolgy. He just decided one day to be this stuff and that he could do it. Hell, anyone can do it! So his voice is a hodgepodge of different popularized "poetry" and "songs," without any real understanding of them, anyways. Country, to Dan, is saying "y'all" and "comin' up," and cutting the g out of the present progressive form of words. That's using the word sayin' instead of saying for those that aren't grammarfags. Country is just saying "twistin'" and maybe actually spinning around, grabbing your cowboy hat and turning your head awkwardly to the left or right, as if that's some sort of country dance. And imagery is just another form of being literal to him. Poetry and songwriting is just about being able to rhyme and maybe hit a note or grab an invisible microphone. The elements are such a misunderstanding of simple surface-level elements that aren't even necessarily indicative of the things he wants them to be. A cowboy hat doesn't equal country music. Dancing or getting the crowd to yell out isn't unique to country, either. And some of the greatest poems out there don't rhyme or have poor attempts at rhythm, they just hold a metaphor or an image and communicate through it. His understanding of these "callings" is so flimsy and based on such little knowledge, it's no wonder he's such an embarassment. You're only ever as good as your talent and your influence can allow. Your influence doesn't have to be amazing (Tarantino loved his B movies), but you have to be familiar with your influences and techniques within that in order to do something creative with them. You also need to have talent. And the more you lack in the latter, the more work you have to do in the former. And since Daniel Songer has virtually no talent, he needs to a lot more of the homework side of things. But he doesn't. And that's where he truly fails.
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