Chart Watch: Beck

Title: Odelay (1996)
Label: DGC/Bong Load
Genre: Folk rock/Pop/Rap

Pro-Social Content: Fragmented ideas could be interpreted as positive, but this entire project reflects a disjointed stream of consciousness.

Objectionable Content: General themes are hard to make out, but isolated lines prove problematic. Vague contexts notwithstanding, the word suicide appears on “Hotwax,” “High 5,” and “Novacane.” The artist alludes to bisexuality on “Where It’s At.” “Devil’s Haircut” refers to “discount orgies” amid expressions of hopelessness. Several profanities find their way onto “High 5.”

Summary/Advisory: Feedback. Distortion. An effects-laden background track including what sounds like a dentist’s drill. That’s the “music.” Lyrically, one man’s nonsense is another man’s offbeat street poetry. And while Beck Hansen has toned down the offensive material of his last effort, Odelay falis to clear the hurdle of acceptability.

First of all I know for a fact that Beck himself takes a considerable amount of offense whenever people refer to his lyrics as “stream of consciousness,” but never mind that. It’s always easy to write off something you don’t understand as “nonsense,” but how are you going to call Odelay nonsense and then complain about the message it might be sending? If you truly believe it to be nonsense then doesn’t that by definition mean there can be no discernible message?

Also beware repetitive use of any word in the English language. Watch out kids! If you hear the word “suicide” three times within a 45 minute span, you’ll be unwillingly compelled to take your own life. You’re young, stupid and incapable of making decisions for yourself. Besides, everyone older than you knows three is the magic number… for mind control!