Leyendecker by Battles:
A little over 11 years ago I began listening to a band called Battles. There sound was fierce, and unlike anything else I had yet discovered. Their first major record, Mirrored, was an exploration of “indie-percussion-rock,” an actual subgenre I believed created primarily for them.
Since then I have listened to this album at least a hundred times, I have listened on repeat, and I have listened randomly throughout the years, and yet there’s more I discover each time.
Leyendecker, upon first listen sounds mainly instrumental with a slight harmony throughout, however there’s a myriad of lyrics to unpack underneath. Former front-man and lead singer Tyondai Braxton uses a unique combination of modulators and synthesizers to change his voice into a simple harmony from formerly sung lyrics.
The music alone evokes a nervous feeling. One of the members gave an interview saying how it’s named after a metro station stop in Munich that was close to a former lover. You put these two things together and its easy enough to see a persons nervousness that they may feel going to a place that you may feel vulnerable in. It’s in the lyrics that I’ve really understood that this interpretation would only be part of an iceberg effect; there’s a well of emotions that are explored within this short song and some that I will continue to reveal themselves over time.
Upon discovering the lyrics, (conveniently placed below this little write-up,) I was enthralled with how it was describing the story my mind would often create with the song. In short, it’s the ancient battle of being nervous on a fundamental level about a decision you have to make…and likely one you don’t want to make.
Lyrics (pretty much indistinguishable but good to know what they are):
There’s something on my mind
But I don’t want to talk about it
I’m saying my goodbyes
Though we haven’t begun to party
Oh baby, it’s all a catastrophe
Oh lover, it’s not how it used to be
I’m just a man who’s battling with his mind
(I’m just a man who’s battling with his mind)
One hundred and eight battles within the mind
Minds forever changing what you began
Life’s a waste of time
It’s just a waste of time
Minds forever changing what you began
Battle with your mind
There’s magic in my eyes
But I don’t want to look into it
There’s thunder in the skies and
I’m frightened of what it’s doin’
Oh baby, it’s all a catastrophe
Oh lover, it’s not how it used to be
I’m just a man who’s battling with his mind
(I’m just a man who’s battling with his mind)
One hundred and eight battles within the mind
Minds forever changing what you began
Life’s a waste of time
It’s just a waste of time
Minds forever changing what you began
Battle with your mind, ha haa
Oh baby, it’s all a catastrophe
Oh lover, it’s not how it used to be
I’m just a man who’s battling with his mind
(I’m just a man who’s battling with his mind)
One hundred and eight battles within the mind
(Within the mind)
Haa
There is somebody out there
Please I want you to help me