Dave SparksOK Go are well known for their video making antics, from dancing on treadmills to making crazy Rube Golberg machines, they have become a bit gimmicky for some people with the videos attracting much more attention than their music. In all honesty their music sadly isn’t in the same league as their videos but they still have some great songs.
I remember when they first burst onto the UK music scene with Get Over It and it was, well, one hit wonder. But it wouldn’t be the first or last time I’ve bought an album off one hit and enjoyed it, this was certainly one of those.
I also remember introducing my girlfriend at the time to the album, it was about the only thing we could agree on to listen to in the car when we went anywhere, I ended up buying her a copy – which she lost and on finding my copy in the car blamed me for stealing it. She did eventually find the CD and I was vindicated.
Now my wife, I think it’s one of the few albums where our musical tastes cross and we now own two copies.
Return was one of those songs that I just kind of sang along to without thinking too much until Jen actually asked me what it was about. Listening properly it certainly seemed like a tragic song, a lament at a life cut short – “You were supposed to grow old”. This led to a bit of googling and I eventually found out that the song was about a friend of the band who fell through a window at a party and died.
The song obviously feels a little different after learning that, a bit more haunting, but it’s still a great track and for me proof that OK Go do manage to make good music as well as great music videos.
