ACCELERATE: MAN-SIZED WREATH

   Another solid second track. If you were to put an album of second tracks together you'd have: Pilgrimage, 7 Chinese Bros, Maps and Legends, These Days, Welcome to the Occupation, Get Up, Losing My Religion, Try Not To Breathe, Crush with Eyeliner, Wake Up Bomb, Lotus, I've Been High, Electron Blue, Man-Sized Wreath, and All The Best ... not a shabby album. All of these songs are great bridges into the albums they represent and they embody those albums solidly. I love this track, and during the Olympia sessions it's the one Michael is on the fence about. Really great to hear Mike say it's too soon to tell, because this song is perfect and besides it's super short. What have they got to lose? Michael has said this is a response to George Bush's honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the vapidness of those in power who cannot hope to fully grasp the struggle of those they oppress, but will take any opportunity to look like they can. It's unclear if the Bush thing is an example of what the song is getting at as there were a couple of times W used MLK, but his visit to the Memorial Library was in 2008 after the song was written--there was a first-term ceremony when a portrait was hung in the White House, so a precedent anyway. The song is a really catchy, easy to sing anti-war ode to apathy and short-sightedness. This is a great example of the metaphorical Michael, the one who doesn't care how you interpret lyrics, but if you dig deeper ... also, a pretty dope video.



MAN-SIZED WREATH

Turn on the TV

And what do I see?

A pageantry of empty gestures all lined up for me

Wow!

I’d have thought by now we would be ready to proceed

But a tearful hymn to tug the heart and a man-sized wreath

Oww!

Throw it on the fire

Throw it in the air

Kick it out on the dancefloor like you just don’t care

Oh, give me some

Wave the palms, steal the alms, a fist in the air

A motorcade of benign strength shows the people that you care

Owww!

Nature abhors a vacuum, but what’s between your ears?

Your judgment clouded with fearful thoughts

Headlights and a deer

Oww!

Throw it on the fire

(Throw it on the fire)

Throw it in the air

(Throw it in the air)

Kick it out on the dancefloor like you just don’t care

(Kick it out on the dancefloor)

Look at what I found

(Look at what I found)

Everybody look around

(Everybody look around)

Everybody looking like they just don’t care

Oh, give me some

Well, I am not deceived by pomp and odious conceit

But a tearful hymn to tug the heart and a man-sized wreath

Oww!

Throw it on the fire

(Throw it on the fire)

Throw it in the air

(Throw it in the air)

You kick it out on the dancefloor like you just don’t care

(Kick it out on the dancefloor)

Look at what I found

(Look at what I found)

Everybody look around

(Everybody look around)

Everybody looking like they just don’t care

Throw it on the fire

(Throw it on the fire)

Throw it in the air

(Throw it in the air)

(Kick it out, Kick it out)

Kick it out on the dancefloor like you just don’t care

Oh, give me some

Give me some

Give me some

   Great stuff here. A little riff which becomes the Middle 8 as well, cool chord progression, and look at this weird Db again ('Worst Joke Ever'). When Peter finds something he likes, he brings it back again and again. There's some other feedback stuff and backing tracks in the choruses, but they're pretty far back ... to hear those, you should check out the work Jo Ph has posted on YouTube isolating tracks. Didn't post below because I am reticent to go down the overlay rabbit hole.

MAN-SIZED WREATH

Intro

e|-3-3-3-5h-3-------3-3-3-5h-3--------|

B|-3-3-------3-5h-3-3-3-------3-5h-3--|

G|------------------------------------|

D|------------------------------------|

A|------------------------------------|

E|------------------------------------|

Verse

e|-3---3---0---0---|

B|-3---3---2---2---|

G|-0---0---0---0---|

D|-0---0---4---4---|

A|-2---2---5---5---|

E|-3---3---0---0---|

Verse (Guitar 2)

e|-3---3---9---9---|

B|-3---3---9---9---|

G|-4---4---8---8---|

D|-5---5-----------|

A|-5---5-----------|

E|-3---3-----------|

Chorus

e|-0---2---2---0---|-0-3-2---|

B|-1---3---3---0---|-1-3-3---|

G|-2---2---4---1---|-0-0-2---|

D|-2---0---4---2---|-2-0-0---|

A|-0-------2---2---|-3-2-----|

E|-0-------2---0---|-0-3-----|