I don't fangirl easily. So what's so great about these guys? Big surprise: it has something to do with writing.
Now, while I love all of the Matts, Jo(h)ns, and singular Ethan who make up the band, the reason I have crossed into the country of Obsessed is because of their songwriter and lead singer, Matt Thiessen. And no, contrary to my friends' belief, it not because I want to marry him. (Sorry, twelve years is a little too big of an age difference for me at this point.) It's because his lyrics are unique in how well-written they are. They're not full of cliches, or predictable. He doesn't use the same phrases everyone else does. He thinks up his own. And most of all, his lyrics are poetry. I'm not just saying they rhyme (for some reason, that is the definition of "poetry" for some people?).
Thiessen is a fan of puns, which do rear their heads in Relient K's songs from time to time. But he has been able to use wordplay in his lyrics in a way that is genius, not cheesy (though cheese is certainly present in some silly songs. But it's enjoyable cheese even then. It doesn't upset your stomach, you know?) AND, not only that, but sometimes it's so subtle that I don't catch it the first fifty times I listen to a song, until one day I suddenly perk up and say, "Wait a minute..."
I won't go on and on with examples from every Relient K song - this is already going to be a long post - but I will mention a couple instances of his wordplay.
One of the most prevalent examples is in the song "Sahara," an introspective, regret-filled, solid rock-style number. The speaker is comparing himself to a beast lying in the desert, dead or severely weakened, because he's only a shadow to the better person he used to be.
The song begins with the line, "Lying on my side, knowing of thirst is how I'll die." Then, the next verse after the chorus switches to talking about a lion lying in the desert instead, still talking about the speaker but in a more figurative way: "A lion on his side, was it the lying or his pride which brought him down?" Not only does he start the second verse with the same sound as the first one - "lying" vs. "lion" - but he mentions "lying" again, and here it doesn't mean "to lie down" but rather "to tell a lie" (so apparently the speaker regrets his dishonesty concerning something.) And then, my favorite play on words, "his pride," which could mean a pride of lions or arrogance. So, the lion's pride, his pack, brought him down, and the speaker's pride, his arrogance, brought HIM down. I love that! Here's the rest of the verse which I also really like:
A lion on his side,
Was it the lying or his pride which brought him down?
Once the king of beasts,
But now they feast on the thoughts beneath his vacant crown.
Trying to decide
Was it the lying or the pride that brought it down?
To be alone, to be dethroned,
Believe me, I know all about it now.
You're all probably thinking, "wow, she really is obsessed with this band, analyzing their lyrics like she's in school or something." I'm a writer. I love language. This is how my brain works. I pick up on these things and have to pick them apart (see what I did there with "pick?" I'm so cool.) Relient K/Thiessen's lyrics give me a lot of tasty food to chew on.
"That's great, he makes puns," you say, "but so what?"
That's not the only thing. His lyrics are also neat, meaning they are concise without being boring and don't depend on cool guitar riffs to make them sound good. Some songs you could recite without singing them, and they'd sound like a pretty decent poem. Not a lot of song lyrics can do that. Relient K is a Christian band as well, but not blatantly. In their earlier albums, they have a few worship-esque songs and mention Jesus by name. In their later ones, it's not as obvious, but the themes of redemption, hope, and man's sinful nature are still apparent. Sometimes, Christian artists annoy me because their music sounds too scripted or churchy, but Thiessen gets down and dirty with his issues and who he has to turn to in order to fix them, and he does it all in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Being an English major and being interested in language, lyrics are a very important part of music for me. If a band or singer can't write a unique and poetic song, it's a lot harder for me to thoroughly enjoy them. Sound and artistic ability are crucial too, but the lyrics are what make or break a band for me. Relient K never disappoints.