Danny Caudle, "Calm Down," Mp3 Review

What first caught my attention about Caudle's tune, "Calm Down," was the very punchy opening drum and piano riff. Simple and effective, it's a good groove from the start. I also enjoyed the production, as the first verse is entirely panned left and the vocals have a bit of the old-time record player sound. As the second verse kicks in, the full stereo effect comes in, filling out the audio space nicely. The electric guitar solo in the middle was a bit rough and out of tune, but that could be attributed to either a bad take in the studio or an intentional injection of edginess into the song. I really like this tune.

I found the lyrics in this song to be well written and intriguingly complex. It's not my job to determine what a song is about, though I often try. However, "Calm Down" had me entertainingly pulled in two completely different directions. On one hand, I felt as if the theme was about speaking our mind on certain issues, which ultimately will anger or offend someone. I refer to Caudle's lyrics, "I'm gonna take a stand up for myself and for my right / for your day and for your night." On the contrary, the repeated line, "Hey come down, yeah you calm me own," pulled me in a direction to where I thought, maybe this freedom of speech wasn't offending, but was actually encouraging and inspiring the other character in the story. I liked my interpretation, but something didn't feel right.

So, I had the pleasure of contacting Danny Caudle and asking him some questions behind his lyrics. He confirmed that in fact that there are contrasting themes in this tune, but his description of the events that inspired him to write this tune were nowhere near what I was expecting. He didn't know it, but he taught me a lesson.

First of all, he showed me that he's capable of composing a simple yet perplexing tune that nearly drove me nuts trying to analyze. More importantly, I was reminded that a listener can interpret a song any way he or she desires, and there's really no wrong answer. That's the beauty of musical art.

I won't tell you what Caudle said the song was about. That's up to him to share, and it's up to us to listen and interpret the music however it strikes us. All of that said, I really like Danny Caudle's song, "Calm Down," and look forward to hearing more of his creations in the future.

Artist Website: www.myspace.com/dannycaudle

Review by: ListenersGeneration.com