4. Craig Finn- “God In Chicago”

There are musicians who write songs, and then there are writers who make music. Craig Finn belongs to the latter group. It seems as if over the years, from his time with The Hold Steady and into his solo career, Finn has only grown and progressed as an artist. I know it’s beyond cliché, but his artistry truly is like a fine wine, gaining more layers and complexity with age. You can sense the lens of wisdom, the depth that comes with the experience of age, and enables the beholder see a person or a situation from multiple angles simultaneously. It’s a concise sense of clarity, where the words become fewer, but each one is so perfectly chosen that it gains an added heft, which in turn gives the meaning an increased gravity as it pulls at the soul of the listener towards it.

Make no mistake. This song is a literary masterpiece. It’s like a short story, or rather a vignette, set to music. Every word is perfectly chosen. So much so that I almost chose to post an audio-only video, so that the first-time listener could appreciate the imagery of the words rather than get distracted by the accompanying visuals. I still encourage you not to watch the video the first time around. it’s sort of like the difference between reading the book and watching the movie. The movie can enhance the book, but rarely does the book enhance the movie after it’s already been consumed. There’s just something about having to use your imagination the first time around that can never quite be replicated or replaced, and I encourage you not to rob yourself of the opportunity.

However, that being said, its not only the words that are beautiful, but rather the story as a whole too. I’ve consumed a lot of books, shows, and movies recently that are based in the Midwest and touch upon the unique culture of the region, as well as the inevitable topic of drug abuse and the opioid epidemic. Being from the west coast (and of a certain amount of privilege), all of it is quite foreign to me. It’s identifiable up onto a point, and then there’s this divergence, almost as if I’m reading about a foreign country or an America of the past, and I don’t say that to sound elitist, but rather to sound humbled, as if there is this whole experience of reality that I for so long knew nothing about, and that for many of us on the coasts (who despise Trump, and often by extension, anyone who voted for him), the people of Midwest are eagerly criticized without even any attempt at understanding.

But I digress… the reason I mentioned any of this to begin with is because this song is able to depict all of the pain, confusion, and beauty of the Midwest in less than five minutes. It’s this perfect arch of tragedy, redemption, and emptiness. I know a lot of the songs on this list deal with death and loss, but I think that speaks to the power of such an experience. It’s hard to escape the shadow of death. It grows better with time, less painful and immediate, but it never truly goes away. I remember all too well that feeling within the house – that feeling of pervasive heaviness, almost as if death was suffocating the living and condemning any chance or glimmer of happiness immediately back into sadness. It made one feel guilty for moving on or even thinking of anything else, and Finn sums it up perfectly when he writes,

“But it’s so goddamn sad in her house right now
He’s still here in everything
She just needs a break from it“

The breaks are necessary, and luckily I was able to find them. To escape and pour myself into a meaningful job or get lost in a group of friends, where for a moment I could remember who I was outside of loss. I didn’t forget about it, and I didn’t ignore it. After all, it had already changed me irrevocably, but those moments were necessary for my own sanity. Finn depicts that experience perfectly. The momentary escape from death, the rediscovery of life, beauty, and meaning, and then the inevitable return to the shadow of death and the emptiness it holds. To walking through the door and suddenly feeling suffocated by the memories and the gaping hole within the fabric of a family. Its an utterly beautiful experience, as heartbreaking as it is awe-inspiring, and a true testament to what can be accomplished in art.