Wolfie’s Just Fine- It’s a Job [Single Review]
So this is going to get weird when you actually hear where this song comes from. I’ll get down to discussing it in a minute, but first I want to sent my gratitude to none other than Jon LaJoie. Now some of you may be wondering, who the heck is Jon Lajoie? Very unlikely, but let me rejog your memory.
Recognise him yet? He looks like a pretty neat guy, not at all associated with youtube videos about ‘old people burning’ or asking people to ‘show me your genitals’. nahhh, not a chance.
That’s a little more like it. A neat minority of you may still be wondering who this guy is and why I’m trying to get you to recognise him, and understand what he’s been known for in the past. Well you can get a little taster of this comedic gold riiiiiiight here.
Now that hopefully you’ll have (un)educated yourself a little bit, we can see why this song is such a departure, and why I was mind-blown to find out that Jon was the one I was hearing on this song. He’s taken a chance to ‘clean up’ his act a bit, shifting from comedy and satire to come down to earth with a humble music career. He states himself that he wants to try to create music that ‘doesn’t contain any punchlines (at least not intentionally)’.
He’s begun this with the song ‘It’s a Job’, which was put up on Spotify and Youtube roughly two weeks ago. I don’t normally listen to folk, and country style music, but this song is just really uplifting, and I feel that LaJoie needs the recognition he deserves for trying out something new, and quite frankly killing it. It has a real mumford and sons/ George Ezra vibe to it. The song is focused on searching for what will make you happy in life. It talks about the challenges, the ‘cost’ of looking for that job, that calling in life that you will stick with, much in the way that the artist has taken a shift from what he’s known for, and may alienate some of his fanbase by going for something that he truly loves.
The song has a very simple texture, an arpeggiated guitar playing very a mellow progression, but with a jumpy banjo-like rhythm to attract the listener. Everything about this song really awakens us to the fact that spring is on the way, and it’s almost time to start coming out of our houses and enjoying the longer days, the warmer mornings and nights. The percussion is minimal, and at some points non existent, while the harmony on the choruses really brings out the campfire, rural summery party aesthetic of the song. The song’s simplicity is one of the aspects that really will make it quite a hit amongst the people who listen to it, and who may want to bring a guitar along with them and reproduce it around the campfire this summer.
The music video released alongside the song features a boy out in a rural, forest-y , mountain-y landscape, cycling away from home, out into the wild, where he encounters what would otherwise be very menacing viking like warriors (figments of his imagination), who represent the strength to rebel, to break away from conformity, something we all want to do at some point, to show our uniqueness of character. The boy does eventually return home, initially with the intent to attack (?), but eventually realises the reality of life, and returns home (likely just in time for dinner). This adds a layer of meaning to the song. That sense of coming of age, of wanting to be independent, and unique, but also realising that within our desires, we need to come to certain realisations, and pay certain ‘costs’ in life in order to move ahead and develop.
Wolfie’s Just Fine (LaJoie)’s album (yet to be named) is going to be released on the 8th of April 2016. I’m most likely going to be there to review it, and hopefully gain some more insight into this decision to change trade. In the mean time, you now have a new song that I recommend you give a listen to, as it may be a great addition to your Spring/Summer playlists this year. I remind that the song is available both on Youtube and Spotify, as well as the iTunes store. If you like the song, share it with your friends and get them to do the same.
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Let me know what you think in the comments below.
