Edwin McCain Essay, Research Paper

As you sit back and listen to Edwin McCain’s first album, Honor Among Theives,

McCain’s incorporation of all kinds of music such as rock, pop, jazz, and blues

will surely amaze you. This is consistant with his second album Misguided Roses,

which incorporates the same standards. These two albums provide a great mix of

acoustic rock with a hint of jazz and blues. McCain was successful with his

first album which included the hit song "Solitude." He was even more

successful with his more recent album which includes the former number one song

"I’ll Be." Through his lyrical genius and incorporation of different

styles of music, Edwin McCain has risen to be one of the best well- rounded

musicians today. What attracts a person most are the lyrics that Edwin McCain

writes. He writes about life’s good times and also the struggles in which people

endure. In one of his songs, McCain writes about a man in New Orleans who lost

his father and a week later lost his wife. In the song, McCain goes on to talk

about life’s struggles and what we as humans have to do to deal with these pains

(Honor Among Thieves). He shares his view of how life wears us down when he

sings, "Like a stone in a stream, life smooths all our ridges ’till we

barely make a ripple anymore" (Honor Among Thieves), which is from his song

"Sorry to a Friend." McCain’s clever lyrics portray his views on young

people such as, "Youth goes hand in hand with foolish pride," and his

love-as-a-war view saying, "The blood that was spilled in the heartache

before left road maps of scars that I never, never could ignore" (Misguided

Roses). Singing these lyrics with his soulful voice with a slight touch of

Southern charm, McCain makes you believe every word that soars from his heart.

In addition to McCain’s amazing lyrics, his musical skills are also very fine

tuned. When compared to Dave Matthews, a well know acoustic rock star, McCain

measures up and even exceeds Matthews’ talents. The two artists both have

superior guitar skills, yet Matthews lacks in understandable lyrics and vocal

quality. McCain writes songs about life’s ups and downs while Matthews leaves

the listener wondering what is trying to be portrayed. Matthews’ voice is

piercing and almost shrill while McCain’s soothing tone and and unbelievable

range leaves a listener breathless. Matthews ,like McCain, has his own style of

music, but is limited in the style of his songs. McCain uses different jazz

feels and then hits you up with a blues feel for the very next song. McCain is

classified as an acoustic rock performer which may do him an injustice. Someone

who listens to blues would love McCain’s raspy voice and the mellow tones of the

alto sax. A jazz enthusiast could definately appreciate the arrangement of the

music and the melodic sound of the trumpet and tenor saxophone. Edwin McCain is

no doubt a well- rounded musician with his usage of different styles of music

and his heart-felt lyrics. He brings his love of blues and jazz into his own

style of acoustic rock. He writes about life and how he sees it like when he

sings, "It’s not all that hard to survive. You take the good and the bad

and the time in between. It let’s us know that we’re alive" (Honor Among

Thieves). These words are another example of McCain’s view on life. Music is

about feeling and McCain puts one hundred and ten percent feeling in his music.

For example, in his most recent hit song "I’ll Be" when he says

"The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful stop me and steal my

breath" (Miguided Roses). This is why Edwin McCain is one of the best

all-around musicians today.