Pile "Leaning On A Wheel"

Up until this point of the blog I have attempted to keep things a bit tame. My goal of this whole thing is to broaden tastes; to explore music that we may not ever have considered listening to. And to be completely honest, its also just a way for me to write and share music; two of my favorite things. So just as a heads up the songs that I choose to share with you will progressively get weirder and perhaps harder to wrap you head around. Music that takes a keen and focused attention to appreciate.

I know how this sounds and it's what I am trying desperately not to present myself as; some snobby know-it-all with a "better taste in music than you". I love all sorts of music and have really endeavored to keep my mind open towards music. So I want this to be a journey together. There are individuals out there that have FAR more knowledge of music than I do. And that's what I appreciate. I want to meet these individuals; I want to share and connect with them. I want to share and connect with you. I also implore you to maybe stretch the limits of your own tastes and broaden what you think you might like. Music is a universal language that rides solely on our emotions and experiences.

So with all that...I give you Pile.

Pile is strange rock band from Boston. Headed by the underground superstar Rick Maguire. Known for their out-of-this world live shows (which I have yet to see), gnarly dynamics, and bare-bones rock music, Pile is something akin to "top underdogs".

However, their music requires focus. They aren't necessarily a band you just throw on for background music. To get the full experience you need to attach yourself to their music and dig with them. Their songs ooze of deeper meaning. A great example is "Leaning On A Wheel", from their latest album "A Hairshirt of Purpose". Like most good songs, the lyrics can be taken in many different ways. It is clear to me, and my own opinion, that the song cores around one of life's biggest enemies...ourselves.

"Gettin' in our own way" the first lyrics sound. "And blaming traffic" the song Magquire continues. We get the sense of the choices, actions, or decisions we make as individuals that we really don't want to make, or feel forced to make.

Maguire continues..."Not happy, Not in love, But let's have a baby to save the marriage that we made up". This is a great example of a problem not being handled or dealt with...but expounded on. "Our marriage is failing, we aren't happy with one another...maybe if we have a kid we can revive things?" But this isn't a sure thing. This choice is at the expense of a new human being.

The title of the song appears around the third verse, and it is such a good picture of what these situations look like in our lives. "Head down, and eyes peeled, I wouldn't call it driving more like leaning on a wheel". WOW. We've all had that moment. Stuck in traffic. Ready to get home. Tired of dealing with this annoying ass bumper to bumper monster preventing us from freedom. What do we do... lean our heads down on the wheel and surrender in frustration.

This is a great relation to similar areas in our lives. Problems... maybe it's drinking, relationship problems, difficulties at work, insecurity. Whatever it is we have a tendency to surrender...lean on the wheel in hopefulness.

As the song meets its crescendo Maguire announces, explicitly, my favorite line in the song; "We're all giving ourselves head, each in our way, pairing off with whatever will lighten up our days... or you hope". Here's another turn in the song that reveals our efforts to deal with these problems in unfortunate and warrant-less approaches. Maybe it's drugs, pride, cheating...things we hide, but give us temporary relief from the shit we are dealing with.

The song is a great way to reflect on how we all deal with hardship. And that we aren't the only ones. Remember...there are a lot of people out there, and they all have different ways of dealing with their own shit.

Give the song a good hard listen. You won't regret it.