Where no man ‘has been’ before
So I’ve been listening to the new William Shatner album, Has Been. I was trying it just for a lark, but it’s turned out to be surprisingly good.
I first heard a track on the way in to work several weeks ago when Steve and Preston on the Y100 morning show were talking about the album. They played the third cut, You’ll Have Time, and I had to admit at the time it was pretty brilliant. It starts off with Shatner talking about how we’re all going to die and when we do we’re going to have the time to ask, “Was that all there was, What was all the fuss about? / You’re going to wonder / Why did I waste it? / Why didn’t I taste it?” My favorite part is when the gospel choir joins in and turns the whole thing into a rousing spiritual: “~You’re gonna diiiiiiiiiie”. It even plays the part of the Greek Chorus when Shatner starts listing the names of those whose time has come and gone: “Johnny Cash (dead!), JFK, that guy from the Stones (dead!) /Lou Gerhig, Einstein, and Joey Ramone (Joey Ramoooone…).”
In fact, a very large part of this album is making light of death and failure. Shatner pokes quite a bit of fun at himself, but there are also some serious parts to balance the light that are very sincere and genuine in their treatment of their subjects. The second track, It Hasn’t Happened Yet, is one of these, almost a stream of consciousness of doubts and fears, always returning to the sample of Shatner saying, “it hasn’t happened yet.” One of the tracks is spoken word entirely, a poem about the death of a lover.
I was surprised to find that Ben Folds was involved with this project, contributing both writing and playing, but it seems obvious now in retrospect, nowhere more so than the ranting litany of I Can’t Get Behind That. The humor of this album defintely reveals Folds’s influence.
Anyway, there’s more to this album than meets the eye. I definitely recommend you take a listen if you get the opportunity to.
November 12th, 2004 at 11:08 pm
Common People just straight up rocks.