If there's one thing to take away from the past year of lockdown life, it's the lesson of taking more time and sometimes we need music to match of new slower pace. Enter to indomitable songwriter John Murry who is well known among Americana fans and we're making the argument that if you haven't tried it yet, give "Oscar Wilde (Came Here To Make Fun Of You)" a try. The steady and sporadic percussion acts like a layered metronome to keep us in the same easy step of Murry who uenrushedly delivers his composed lyrics. Where the song really hits its stride is when those classic, winding Americana guitar notes come in with a complimentary backing vocal, all of which adds an unexpected atmosphere of lightness. Listening closer to Murry's words, there's a hidden narrative between the lines of his Oscar Wilde-esque quips and that's one of violence. Absolutely not meant to glorify acts in violence, this song is a matter-of-fact telling that, yeah violence happens and we can't ignore it.
As the American songwriter (who originally hails from Mississippi) shares:“Violence has been a big part of my life,” he says. “It has been inflicted on me in ways that I was unable to control as a teenager, and as a child. I grew up in a place that was violent. I grew up in Mississippi. I grew up in a way that forced me, in order to survive in a culture like that, to posture. You don't realise until later that that becomes a part of the way you see the world. The world becomes this intrusive thing and you're protecting yourself against it. I also realised early on that if you don't fight you're just going to have to fight more.”
Below you can also find the accompanying music video for "Oscar Wilde" directed by none other than John Murry's good friend Aiden Gillen.
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