A taste of reality
Sometimes writing can be profound not because what is said is original and said beautifully or elegantly written, but simply because it is said, period. Sometimes the most painfully obvious statements can be the most moving and thought-provoking. Nicolas Jaar’s “History Lesson,” off of his new album Sirens, has some of the most brief and simple lyrics you’ll find; he walks us through the different “chapters” of history, bluntly stating how we (humans) “f*cked up,” “did it again, and again, and again”, “didn’t say sorry,” “lied,” etc. Jaar, known for his dark, purposeful, melancholy, ambient productions, lays down some of the slowest and most basic beats known to man, leaving lots of empty space on his sonic canvas. At roughly 70 beats per minute, unimaginably lethargic by today’s standards, Jaar, for most of the song, employs nothing but alternating quarter note kick and snare thwacks and half note surges of muted synths behind the melodic hum of background vocals and his sparing lyrical quips.
