“Anatomy” of the Fray

by Editors

NEW VOICES
POP CULTURE REVIEW

“Anatomy” of the Fray

By Jessica Miles

We’ve all seen those romantic comedies where boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl sees boy as just a friend, and girl later realizes through a series of quirky events that she really does love the boy. And then there is the famous scene: boy is walking through the airport after returning from a business trip feeling hopeless and rejected. The beat of the background music kicks in; a slow drum beat that eagerly picks up as the crowded terminal parts and there she is, waiting for him from across the way. They run toward each other in slow motion and the music consumes the scene.

This way of using music in movies and television can be quite effective. The latest radio hits are constantly featured on primetime shows and this creates buzz among fans. Such attention has also acted as the “big break” for several artists and bands, as fans dash to iTunes to download the featured song.

Often these songs are much more than simply background, especially on television. They can play an intricate role in a show, setting an explicit tone and helping to guide the characters through each scene. Some series are very successful in bringing the music and the storyline together. Grey’s Anatomy, a series about the lives of five surgical interns and their superiors, is one such show that has been praised for its attention to detail regarding music.

Music is not just incidental to Grey’s Anatomy. In an article in Variety.com from 2009, Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes commented that the music is very important to the show and is a vital piece in the evolution of its stories. She noted, in fact, that music has been an essential aspect of Grey’s Anatomy since the pilot episode, igniting the emotions of the characters and the audience.

The decision by Grey’s Anatomy producers to prominently feature the Fray’s song “How to Save a Life” is one strong example of this. The song sets the mood for the series’ viewers as they intently follow the characters and plot.

“How to Save a Life” also has fundamental connections to elements of the show’s narrative. It especially relates to the story of the Meredith Grey character in the show.  The song’s lyrics are reflected in the downhearted storylines in which Meredith (played by Ellen Pompeo) faces several major conflicts, including her unstable relationship with her mother, abandonment by her father, and the ending of her relationship with Derek (played by Patrick Dempsey).

This connection is not surprising.  In a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, the Fray’s lead singer, Isaac Slade, said that the narrative behind “How to Save a Life” is a tribute to a teen he mentored through a drug addiction and how there are no guarantees in such a struggle. This intricate combination of themes such as hope, risk, and cynicism, parallels the successes and failures of the interns on Grey’s Anatomy.

As important as the music may be for a series, the decision by Grey’s Anatomy producers to notably feature the Fray’s music has helped fuel the band’s success. They have risen to fame in tandem with the rising success of the series. The Denver-based band is now recognized internationally for sincere lyrics and infectious melodies in songs such as “Over My Head” and “You Found Me.”

The Fray came from humble beginnings, however.  Before their current success they were like countless other undiscovered musicians. Vocalist Isaac Slade, drummer Ben Wysocki, and guitarists Joe King and Dave Welsh sent their songs to local radio stations, hoping for a break. That finally came in 2004 on a Sunday night radio show featuring artists in the Denver area. “Over My Head” became a hit in the Denver music scene, and fans began flocking to their shows.

Then came exposure on Grey’s Anatomy. When the Fray’s song “How to Save a Life” became a staple on the hit show, it gave their career an additional boost. They have been in fast forward ever since.

The Fray will likely continue to have a presence on television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy. Meanwhile, the band has been busy making new music and is traveling throughout the country on a U.S. concert tour to promote their latest album, simply titled, “The Fray.”

___________

Jessica Miles is a Bread and Circus Magazine contributing writer.

Pictured above: Grey’s Anatomy — The Complete 3rd Season DVD (Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone); The Fray CD (Sony).

_________________________

NEW VOICES is a Bread and Circus Magazine feature in which emerging writers share their views on aspects of contemporary culture.

Love Her or Hate Her

by Editors

Love Her or Hate Her: The Feminism of Courtney Love

By Kathleen Ginder-Vogel, Contributing Writer

In April 1992, Sassy magazine’s cover article by Christina Kelly, titled “Kurt and Courtney Sitting in a Tree,” began, “The lead singer of NIRVANA and the lead singer of HOLE are getting married. They’re buying a Victorian house in Seattle and want to have a BABY. It is so nice to see a multiplatinum rock star in LOVE with an opinionated, feminist, ambitious ROCKER, not some supermodel in a BOOB TRAY.” Two years later, Cobain and Love had married and had a child, Nirvana was famous, and Hole launched their first album to achieve mainstream popularity a week after Kurt Cobain shot himself in the head. Courtney Love continued her career and continued to be controversial, consistently asserting her feminism in song lyrics and standing out as one of the few successful female rock musicians in the world.

Born to Linda Carroll and Hank Harrison in 1964, Love had four different father figures and seven siblings, moved eight times, switched schools eleven times, and was sent away to Hillcrest Correctional Facility at sixteen, after which she lived with friends and worked as a stripper. She learned guitar, wrote songs, sang with Faith No More, founded Babes in Toyland with Kat Bjelland in 1985, acted in Straight to Hell and Sid and Nancy, and and formed Hole in the late 1980’s, around the time she met Kurt Cobain. Hole released Pretty on the Inside to positive reviews in 1991, and Love and Cobain began dating. After their marriage, Lynn Hirschberg of Vanity Fair published Love’s comment that she had used heroin at the beginning of her pregnancy, which resulted in Frances Bean Cobain being removed from her parents for three months after her birth. Just after this upheaval, Hole recorded Live Through This, released on April 11, 1994, weeks after Cobain’s suicide at the height of Nirvana’s fame.

“Violet,” the first track on Live Through This, features Love’s powerful voice and aggressive lyrics. The song begins tunefully and takes a turn when Love sings, “You should learn when to go / you should learn how to say no.” The music gets more aggressive as Love continues, “when they get what they want / they never want it again,” and the chorus roars, “Go on, take everything, take everything, / I want you to, / go on take everything, take everything, / I dare you to.” The song asserts that women often feel used, objectified, and vulnerable, a theme not often tackled by male rock musicians. The video combines images of female innocence and corruption with empowering footage of Love playing guitar and singing with her band, three of whose members are respected female rock musicians.

“Awful,” on Hole’s 1998 album Celebrity Skin, again addresses female objectification, focusing this time on the record industry’s marketing of female pop stars, marketing to girls, and control over musicians: “And they royalty rate all the girls like you / And they sell it out to the girls like you / To incorporate little girls.” Love’s lyrics also refer to male bullying and manipulation: “They know how to break all the girls like you / and they rob the souls of the girls like you / and they break the souls of the girls.” The song ends on a note of strength, however: “If the world is so wrong / Yeah you can break them all / with one song / If the world is so wrong / Yeah you can take it all / with one song / Swing low sweet cherry / Make it awful / They bought it all, just build a new one / Make it beautiful…yeah.”

Love continued to act and make music, but her drug use and controversial public behavior cost her custody of her daughter twice more. Hole disbanded, and Love’s solo album, America’s Sweetheart, was not a huge hit. However, its single, “Mono,” an anthem to female rock musicians, is yet another example of Love’s feminist lyrics. Love snarls, “Well they say that rock is dead / And they’re probably right / 99 girls in the pit / Did it have to come to this,” suggesting that women bring something unique to rock and reminding us how few women play rock instruments or even attend rock shows. Love continues, “Oh God you owe me one more song / so I can prove to you that / I’m so much better than him.” Recorded with an all-female band, “Mono” is an inspiring reminder that women can rock, producing a unique sound that is a contribution to the world of rock music.

Courtney Love is one of the few women of her generation to play her own feminist rock songs on electric guitar. Her lyrical focus on women’s issues and her outspoken feminism are all too rare in the rock world. Say what you will about Love’s personality, her inappropriate behavior, or even the quality of her singing voice. She is worthy of respect among those committed to women’s issues, because her lyrics assert a rarely-expressed rock and roll feminism that is aggressive, unapologetic, and inspiring to feminist musicians like me.
______________________

Kathleen Ginder-Vogel owns the freelance writing business Poppy Communications and plays drums and electric bass.