Randy Newman - Lonely At The Top
Writing about this music I am going down memory lane. The songs of the compilation Lonely At The Top by Randy Newman is the first music I remember perceiving. The LP is a compilation of Newman’s ‘best’ tracks ranging from 1968 until 1983. In this span of time he released 6 albums in total. Each of the records is focused on a particular topic and displays a dense set of issues that Newman addresses. Indeed, each of the record would deserve its own review to actually be able to cover the content, however I chose the compilation in particular, as I grew up with it and know it the best out of his records.
As a child it was very exciting for me to discover sounds which previously I was unfamiliar with – even now, I can still relate to the musical perception I had as a child, and I still love to listen to Newman’s music. Considering I was born after Randy Newman composed his music its timelessness stands out above all. It is not only his melodies and musical arrangements that underline why one can ongoingly listen to it. Also, his complex lyrics still prove to be relevant to current topics. His focus lies on the American culture, history, people and its idea of “the American dream” in relevance to climate change, police brutality, veiled racism or machismo.
Randy Newman likes to be extreme: extreme in the descriptions he finds worth criticizing; extreme in the use of satirical implementation and dark humor.
For each of the topics he deals with through his music, Newman takes on the reality of the person he scrutinizes, and tells their stories. He creates some kind of lyrical impressionism, painting pictures or portraits of people to lay out their perspectives. Thus, enabling the listener as an outsider to this perspective to be able make sense of their reality. However, this also shines a light on the insanity of some of the questionable views and moral attitudes that (still) exist in the US American society.
His cynical thoughts about “the American Dream” are best shown in „Sail Away”- a dream of a promised land as it might have been presented to black Africans during slavery. He writes from the view of a slave trader, who uses the American dream create an incentive.
In America every man is free
To take care of his home and his family
You’ll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree
You’re all gonna be an American
Sail Away — Sail Away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Outspokenly in „Foreign Sience” he also criticizes foreign policies of the 70s at the time. An unknown narrator suggests to “drop the big one and see what happens”, highlighting chauvinistic mentalities against other countries.
Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot and Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us
Another big topic in his songs is racism which he brings out by portraying views long held in the south of the US and their unreflective and glorifying hometown pride, for instance heard in the tracks „Birmingham” or „Louisiana 1927”.
Such harsh and straight statements normally do not get away with any outrage of the accused: Even though his exaggerations, who were not at all subtle and suggest him being sarcastic, Newman often got misunderstood and taken at face value.
Especially the song „Short People”, was misinterpreted by many of his listeners. As obviously exaggerated, he talks about short people, he denounces racism and narrow-mindedness:
Short people got no reason
To live They got little hands
And little eyes
And they walk around
Tellin' great big lies
„I have real respect for the intelligence of the audience”, Randy Newman said to the Guardian in an interview to make them think out of the box with his irony. „Ambiguity interests me because things aren’t black and white. I’ve always hated people who were sure they were right, on either side. I have to take sides, though. In a song like ‘My Life is Good’ I want people to notice that the guy is an asshole.” -And sure, the guys stubbornness and self-conviction comes across very clear, trying to impose how well everything is going for him by almost streaming loudly at the listener.
As defiantly as Newman’s lyrics are, the musical arrangement also support the critic it supposed to deliver. So, the instruments in „Short People” play choppily as if they won’t listen and will stuck to their way no matter what. To highlight the glorification of hometown pride he uses pompus, orchestral arrangements to create a romanticizing feeling such as in „Baltimore“ or „Sail Away“. You could transfer this musical observation of his technique to any of his songs. He always finds the right tone of music to create a particular mood. Concerning the people he sings about, he finds the fitting melody or instruments to be able to highlight their characteristics and attitudes to make it as authentic for the listener.
Being able to have the comparison of my child’s ears, Randy Newman’s music can get discovered through different approaches: Either, like a child, being overblown by the music, its orchestral sound, that tends to change its mood swings, which was so exciting to follow along. Then, which was not possible to capture as I child, you can focus on the wide range of topics, analysis and facts, which enables you to find out a lot of information, as authentic, informative but still entertaining at the same time.
Listen to Lonely At The Top on Spotify:
