Zac Jr – Queen City Sounds and Art

Zac Jr takes on a sardonic, self-deprecating tone on “Don’t Listen To Me.” The keyboard melody though subdued gives an undeniable air of whimsical daydreaminess that flows well throughout the song riding the crest of finely accented percussion All the while the vocals are like a monologue that suggest taking some advice while offering the opposite of advice with every line. One gets the impression that Zac is singing to his younger self or singing to his current self from the future words that could really benefit anyone who is clinging to foolish illusions and conventional wisdoms that you sometimes take the better part of a lifetime are arbitrary and not useful in real life. And the pushing forward with aspirations conditioned by social expectations rather than your actual drems. There’s the line about “Alone you’ll turn weak” taking aim at the way so many of us seem to think that individual achievement and effort is the only kind that’s legitimate and which defines our dignity as humans in western psyche. But the best line comes near the end of the song with “Faith won’t lead the fervent to mountains of god, but/Lean on your dreams when the ground starts to fall” because every foundation upon which you place your whole world will fail you at some point and living with the flexibility of being comfortable with doubt while not psychologically satisfying in a conventional and traditional value system and Western metaphysics might actually better prepare you for rolling with what may come your way. Fans of Get Lost period Magnetic Fields will appreciate Zac Jr’s command of unconventional pop songcraft in assembling the simple elements of this composition to express complex ideas in a way accessible and thought-provoking. Listen to “Don’t Listen To Me” on Soundcloud and connect with Zack Jr at the links below.