The Bunge

By TJ Ryan

Jack Johnson’s smooth song craft and laid-back melodies have been enjoyed by high-schoolers, by their parents and even more so by those that are in between. With his first album released in 2002, Jack Johnson already is a household name. His sing-songy love songs like “Bubble Toes” and “Banana Pancakes” or more insightful songs like “Crying Shame” and “Staple it Together,” has kept a nice balance between “dumb” yet fun songs, and strong social commentary. Nonetheless, Jack still keeps our toes tapping no matter what he’s saying and he continues to show he is a master of pop-folk.

When he’s not wooing with his metaphoric wit, Jack seeks to educate and create awareness in a lot of his songs. Concern over modern media and consumerism seem to be a reoccurring theme in his music. A good example is in the song, “Gone” (Well look at all those fancy clothes/But these could keep us warm just like those). The ironic thing is, the normal concert crowd of mall goers and kids wearing designer surf shop shirts hum along joyously. I’m sure Jack knows, growing up on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, the shops do not exist. But, at least the t-shirts cost 25 bucks, right? Apparently, the music is so laid back a lot of the audience does not realize what is being said.

In a way, (pun alert) Johnson is a Jack of all trades. On top of his musical success, he is an award winning film photographer and a professional surfer. He also reaches out by starting the Kokua Hawiian Foundation to support environmental education in Hawaiian schools. This is not much of a surprise that he cares about the outdoors after listening to his music. It is hard to find a song without something to do with stars (or as he calls them “holes to heaven”), the horizon, or trees (as seen on the In Between Dreams album cover).

Look at Jack’s display of musical and film skill in the song, “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing.”

Now Jack is continuing to do what he does best, but he has switched his focus to a different audience. Jack released Sing-a-longs and Lullabies for the film Curious George in early February. With fun ditties like, “The Sharing Song” and others reminding kids to “Reduce, reuse, recycle”. However, it is not all educational, with the songs like “Jungle Gym,” which talks about the simple pleasures in life and follows the theme of the movie quite well. But, don’t be fooled by the title, this album is filled with a lot of new songs sounding lot what has been heard on past albums. A few friends joined him on the album, with a new duet with Ben Harper on, “Own Two Hands” and other guests include G. Love, Matt Costa and Kawika Kahiapo. Jack also covers the The White Stripes’ song, “I Think We Are Gonna Be Friends” that is seen through a child’s eyes. There a few great new solo tunes on the album, with the lively love song, “Broken” and the bongo beating movie theme, “Upside Down.” Overall, every one loves Curious George and the same will hold for this fitting and fun album in his honor.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2006 at 12:28 am and is filed under Uncategorized, music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.