Such is the case with Canadian singer/songwriter Hayden and his song "Bad as They Seem." Originally released on his album Everything I Long For in 1995 in Canada and in 1996 for the rest of us poor bastards, the song might best be described as alternative folk. The critically acclaimed album launched quite the bidding war for Hayden's talents, made him a very rich man, but also a very miserable man. He eventually walked away (well worth the ten minutes it takes to read) from fame and has quietly continued to make music for the past twenty years.
"Bad as They Seem" is ostensibly a song about a young man whose life, amazingly enough, is as bad as it seems. Stuck in a dead end job, still living at home, longing forlornly for the love of his life--and all of it tied around some low string heavy acoustic guitar playing, a harmonica break that's reminiscent of fellow Canadian Neil Young (who was among those involved in the aforementioned bidding war), and it's all delivered in an almost monotone vocal that manages to find the right inflections just when they're most needed. The song manages to convey a hopeful hopelessness--not sure if that's possible, but when I hear the chorus it's as if the protagonist is singing "it ain't gonna happen...but it might." And sometimes that's enough.
And who among us in our darkest hours isn't looking for "someone to be [our] better half"?
Enjoy:
Peace,
emaycee
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