Like I said in my last post proper, I am a big, BIG fan of Jars of Clay. I knew it would be hard to narrow down 10 of their songs that I like the most. I decided that a good strategy would be for me to write down all of the songs that could conceivably make it onto the list.
I wrote down 29 songs. On my first round of cutting, I narrowed it down to 18 songs.
The next round of cutting found 13 songs. And it pained me very much to cut those last three. I mean, it's Jars of Clay. They've made eight studio albums (not counting Furthermore or Christmas Songs), and they've released countless bits and pieces of musical brilliance (see some of the reworked tracks from Stringtown, The White Elephant Sessions, Live Monsters, the Roots and Wings EP, Seatbelt Tuba, etc.). I wanted the list to reflect that, but I most of all wanted it to more or less reflect the 1o Jars songs I like the best.
I'm not really even sure if I made it do that. So many of their songs are musically amazing, and their lyrics are consistently thought provoking and genius as well. So, what's a rabid Jars fan like me to do?
Simple. Cheat.
Yeah, yeah, that's why the "special edition" is tacked up there. I included the extra three songs. They are still ranked as 11-13, but now I can give them a little bit of justice with a small write-up.
OK, here goes. And please, bear in mind: coming up with this list took me a long time.
13. Shipwrecked - Roots and Wings EP
This poignant song about (presumably, anyway) a shipwrecked man with a broken past is one of the most beautifully simple recordings that Jars has produced. It's only Dan's voice, some strings, some guitar picking and some spare piano. But boy, does it tug at the emotions.
12. Light Gives Heat (live) - Live Monsters EP
The "Good Monsters" version of this song is good, but not nearly as good as its live counterpart. This seven-minute track seems to rush by as the band substitutes the children's choir with a melodica and some filled in vocal harmonies. The "think about Africa" ending is brilliant.
11. Fade to Grey - Much Afraid
This is the first song the band ever wrote together, and it's still great. One of the great things about Jars is that they don't feel the need to make every song resolve in a happy, "it's-all-OK-because-of-Jesus" ending, and this song is perhaps the best example of their gift of crafting questioning songs. The insistent vocals and drums make this one.
OK, here's crunch time.
10. Work - Good Monsters
I feel like most "Good Monsters" fans like both "Work" and "Dead Man," but they have to pick a side over which one is better. While "Dead Man" is a good tune, "Work" takes the cake for me. The plaintive and honest lyrics coupled with a driving guitar definitely evoke the desperate feel that Jars was going for.
9. Tea & Sympathy - Much Afraid
Yes, this song is a bit melodramatic, but I still love it, lyrics and all. The expertly arranged strings and guitar perfectly capture the feel of a relationship in which it has become easier to ignore the other person rather than interact and reconcile. This song also thematically recalls Simon and Garfunkel's "The Dangling Conversation," a trait that I noted about their new song, "Scenic Route."
8. Collide - If I Left The Zoo
I consistently forget how good this song is. It's one of Jars' most chaotic and layered songs, particularly in the time before their latest albums. It addresses society's skewed view of true love, and it does so in rockin' fashion. I wished they still played this in concert.
7. Headphones - The Long Fall Back To Earth
Man oh man. This song is beautiful. Katie Herzig's vocals make Dan's normal and falsetto tones sound even better, and the lyrics (about society's easy ignorance of other people's problems) are convicting and well layered within the song's structure.
6. Jealous Kind - Who We Are Instead
This song has possibly the best lyrics Jars has ever written. Not many bands write about God's jealousy, but Jars does it very well, and they do it with the flair of a backing Gospel choir and rootsy guitar and piano.
5. Closer - Closer EP
This is the most electronic that Jars has ever gotten, but it's a great little love song that builds wonderfully. This song is also featured on "The Long Fall..." but I like the opening on "Closer EP" better. The lyrics to this one are very clever, and the production is ridiculously layered.
4. Good Monsters - Good Monsters
The lyrics to this song (dealing with the problem of when good men do nothing) are absolutely great, and the bassy guitars and loud and clear vocals make this song ridiculously catchy. There's some wonderfully clear piano during the bridge, too.
3. Trouble Is - Who We Are Instead
This song deals with problems of identity, but that's all secondary to the gruff, world-weary vocals, energetic bluesy guitar and very slight electronic twinge. Who says white guys don't have soul?
2. Mirrors and Smoke - Good Monsters
This duet with Leigh Nash might not deserve to be up so high, but there's just something about it that gets me every time. The guitars are thick, the vocal tradeoffs of the guttural and pristine are perfectly matched, and the song just makes you want to kick back with some good old southern rock.
1. Goodbye, Goodnight - If I Left The Zoo
I'll admit it. This song has personal significance to me, as it was the first song that I ever heard on a Jars of Clay album. I had heard some singles before, but the first time I put this in the player (I think I was 11 or 12), I was confronted with an accordion, a harpsichord (I think, anyway), weird lyrics about the Titanic, a barbershop quartet and simple but grounded vocals and guitars to hold it all together. This song helped show me what music could be, but the nostalgia doesn't take away from the fact that this song still kicks major butt. It's possibly Jars' most unique offering.
So, there you have it. I got it down to 13. However, these songs are all so good that I'm sure that they will trade positions with each other every now and then.
Fans of Jars of Clay will notice some albums that I left off this list. It doesn't mean that I don't like those albums; on the contrary, I like them all. This is just a pretty competitive list. However, I would like to hear your complaints. I feel like Jars invokes all sorts of different opinions.
Also, "fans" of Jars of Clay will notice that there are no songs from the self-titled on here. Get over it.
Runners up include but are in no way limited to: Sad Clown, Boys, Unforgetful You, Oh My God, Take Me Higher (these five are the five of the 18 that I cut), Disappear (live), Revolution (live), Fly Farther, New Math, Sing, Only Alive, The Valley Song, Crazy Times, Hymn, Five Candles, Famous Last Words, Safe to Land, The Eleventh Hour, Drive (cover), Dig (cover) and Liquid.
And not Flood. Sorry, I had to get that one in.
What are your favorite Jars of Clay songs?
6. Jealous Kind - Who We Are Instead
This song has possibly the best lyrics Jars has ever written. Not many bands write about God's jealousy, but Jars does it very well, and they do it with the flair of a backing Gospel choir and rootsy guitar and piano.
5. Closer - Closer EP
This is the most electronic that Jars has ever gotten, but it's a great little love song that builds wonderfully. This song is also featured on "The Long Fall..." but I like the opening on "Closer EP" better. The lyrics to this one are very clever, and the production is ridiculously layered.
4. Good Monsters - Good Monsters
The lyrics to this song (dealing with the problem of when good men do nothing) are absolutely great, and the bassy guitars and loud and clear vocals make this song ridiculously catchy. There's some wonderfully clear piano during the bridge, too.
3. Trouble Is - Who We Are Instead
This song deals with problems of identity, but that's all secondary to the gruff, world-weary vocals, energetic bluesy guitar and very slight electronic twinge. Who says white guys don't have soul?
2. Mirrors and Smoke - Good Monsters
This duet with Leigh Nash might not deserve to be up so high, but there's just something about it that gets me every time. The guitars are thick, the vocal tradeoffs of the guttural and pristine are perfectly matched, and the song just makes you want to kick back with some good old southern rock.
1. Goodbye, Goodnight - If I Left The Zoo
I'll admit it. This song has personal significance to me, as it was the first song that I ever heard on a Jars of Clay album. I had heard some singles before, but the first time I put this in the player (I think I was 11 or 12), I was confronted with an accordion, a harpsichord (I think, anyway), weird lyrics about the Titanic, a barbershop quartet and simple but grounded vocals and guitars to hold it all together. This song helped show me what music could be, but the nostalgia doesn't take away from the fact that this song still kicks major butt. It's possibly Jars' most unique offering.
So, there you have it. I got it down to 13. However, these songs are all so good that I'm sure that they will trade positions with each other every now and then.
Fans of Jars of Clay will notice some albums that I left off this list. It doesn't mean that I don't like those albums; on the contrary, I like them all. This is just a pretty competitive list. However, I would like to hear your complaints. I feel like Jars invokes all sorts of different opinions.
Also, "fans" of Jars of Clay will notice that there are no songs from the self-titled on here. Get over it.
Runners up include but are in no way limited to: Sad Clown, Boys, Unforgetful You, Oh My God, Take Me Higher (these five are the five of the 18 that I cut), Disappear (live), Revolution (live), Fly Farther, New Math, Sing, Only Alive, The Valley Song, Crazy Times, Hymn, Five Candles, Famous Last Words, Safe to Land, The Eleventh Hour, Drive (cover), Dig (cover) and Liquid.
And not Flood. Sorry, I had to get that one in.
What are your favorite Jars of Clay songs?
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