I've lost count of all the songs featured here on Friday Night Jukebox that were originally brought to my attention by my beautiful daughter and this week's tune is yet another. Unfortunately for her I don't get paid a dime for this service, because by now she'd have earned a hell of a commission....
Courtney Barnett was born in Sydney, Australia in 1987, and worked as a pizza delivery driver while trying to make her way into the world of music (the Australian dream, one supposes). In 2009 she began playing guitar in the first of a number of bands, before embarking on a solo career in 2012 when she released her first EP. She next released another EP, before releasing a double EP encompassing her first two EP's...at which time this week's tune became a hit with its video garnering over a million views on YouTube. Barnett would release her first studio album in 2015, after which she was nominated for eight ARIA Awards (Australia's version of our Grammy Award) and won four. She was also nominated for a Grammy and a Brit Award. For her career, Barnett has released three studio albums (all of which have hit the top five in her native Australia, and her first two have reached the top twenty in the U.S.), one collaborative LP, two live albums, three EP's, and twenty-two singles. Barnett has toured the world over, including appearing with the Rolling Stones in London. Not at all bad for thirteen years of work....
Fun Fact: Not that anyone gives a shit except for me, but Barnett, like myself, eschews the use of a pick when playing the guitar, preferring to pick and strum with her thumb and her index finger (as do I). Alas, she is good enough to make a career out of her guitar playing ability, and I...am not.
"Avant Gardener" was the first single release of Barnett's career, originally appearing on her second EP, the rather cleverly titled How to Carve a Carrot into a Rose. As noted above, the song rose in popularity with its appearance on her also cleverly entitled double EP, The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas. Despite its popularity on YouTube, the single never charted (in any country), nor did her second EP (ditto), while the double EP hit #165 on the Billboard 200.
"Avant Gardener" is a delightfully embellished stream of consciousness rant about an actual event--Barnett decided to do some gardening in her home, was severely allergic to the weeds she was pulling, and an ambulance had to be called to give her an epi shot and asthma inhaler to help her breathe. The song has no chorus, and its witty lyrics (see below, among several others) are conveyed with a deadpan delivery that manages to capture both the ennui of daily life and the humor therein. While it isn't your usual top forty fare, it's easy to see why it became a hit--Barnett walks the fine line between overplayed novelty song and smart pop single with dexterity and a flair for self-deprecation (the quirky video didn't hurt either).
Lyric Sheet: "The paramedic thinks I'm clever 'cause I play guitar/I think she's clever 'cause she stops people dying..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Losers
Peace,
emaycee
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