Best Songs of 2009: "Corvette" by Chad VanGaalen

Chad VanGaalen, by all accounts, is a pretty weird dude. Not weird because I'm sure the two of us have different hobbies (I think it's unlikely he's a big NBA/Raptors guy), but more because he writes really strange songs that typically surround the topic of death. "Corvette" from the Soft Airplane B-Sides EP, of course, is not really a whole lot different. I mean, the song isn't entirely about death, but the song does start out with the premise that "he" got reincarnated as a corvette, meaning, of course, that he died -- unless I'm way off base with my understanding of the basic tenants of reincarnation.

Despite dealing with blood/guts/death and other such subject matter, the tone of CVG's music, like in "Corvette", is always is more of a imaginative curiosity about death rather than, say, dealing with the subject in an I want to die sort of way. He kind of reminds me of, and I'm sure I've said this before, Tim Burton. Of course, the two generally find themselves operating in two different mediums (though CVG has animated a couple of his own videos), but I'm not sure things like Beetle Juice and The Corpse Bride are too far off Infiniheart and Soft Airplane.

The CVG/TB connection, for me, runs beyond even the obvious thematic connections of their work into their ability to create these backwards, bizzare dream worlds of life and death and whatever exists inbetween. So, while I'm not sure I'd want to permanently reside in alternate universes that CVG/TB create, it's a fun visit every once in a while.

[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - Corvette

PS - I'm pretty sure he's still giving away the entire B-Sides EP at softairplane.com.