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Ally Kerr

pete

Brassica Oleracea
Staff member
Administrator
All righty, then. Let's see how this works out!

I've been listening to a piece by Ally Kerr called "The Sore Feet Song," from the album Calling Out to You (2005). It's the opening credits song from an anime called Mushi-Shi.

Let me talk about the song a bit.

First, the anime does not have the second verse, which starts with "I stole ten thousand pounds...." IMO, the second verse is a) a tad trite, b) more than a tad forced, especially with the joke ("I rob convience stores 'cause I thought they'd make it easier") and c) it just doesn't "fit" with the first verse -- and I could also say that the synthesizer swell into the ending is also a tad forced; shoulda just stayed with guitar and voice. However, I really like the "stillness" of the song, which fits extremely well with the anime. Plus, I always have admired the ability of some singers to sit down with (say) a guitar and just belt out a song, without the need for heavy effects and/or processing.

Let me talk a little about the anime.

I think some of you may be more familiar with Cartoon Network's "Samurai Jack". One of the hallmarks of that series was that quite a few of the episodes and/or chunks of each episode really didn't use or need incidental music or, for that matter, dialogue. That, in and of itself, creates a completely different mood because most of us are so used to having a literal cacaphony (yah, I can use big words). At the very least, you'll notice the absence of music and talking. That's one of the reasons why "The Sore Feet Song" fits this anime so well: it's not loud, boisterous music. It's ... still. Mushi-Shi is also an interesting anime because it's sometimes an anti-action show: each episode just has a pretty good story. Blockbuster special effects aren't always needed for that.

One final reason why the song's a good fit: the title character of Mushi-Shi, Ginko, has to keep traveling or he'll attract too many mushi, which is sometimes a really bad thing. I bet he has sore feet :).
 
I know this post is an old one done 13 years ago, just am surprised that no one replied.

I got an ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE error message clicking on the "Sore Feet Song", link is no longer valid, but found the song at:


However here, his performance is live. First time I heard him, is a little different. On his website he has a sampler of different movie scenes where I guess his music is displayed, sort of the grandious type sci-fi type tracts. Until you pointed it out in this post, I have never heard of the man.
 
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