Julian Price

Five for Fighting - Lyrics, Music, Superman, Chances and 100 Years Songs



Posted: Saturday, February 26, 2011

by Julian Price
http://www.uk-freelance-content-writer.co.uk/

For anyone that has heard and enjoyed the music of Five for Fighting, they will likely tell you that one of the main attractions is the lyrics. John Ondrasik is effectively “Five for Fighting”, and his song writing has the ability to leap into the hearts of listeners around the world.

There is no doubting, in my own mind that Ondrasik is a true poet at heart and his songs are essentially stories and tales of life, woven together in beautifully expressive words. Of course, all of this would be rather pointless if the music wasn’t good.

The music is good! We are definitely in singer/songwriter territory here, where it is clear that songs are created with the pen and the piano in tandem, and Ondrasik’s piano is a key feature throughout. Songs are a mixture of thoughtful, contemplative ballads, more up tempo songs exploring the “meaning of life”, with a scattering of tongue in cheek humour also evident.

Now this sort of music isn’t played much over here in the UK which is a real shame, so how did I happen to hear about Five for Fighting? Well, it was during the now famous episode of Smallville, as Clark Kent is struggling to cope with the fact that he is special and the fact that he is indeed Superman! I heard this amazing song in the background, “I’m more than a bird...I’m more than a plane, more than some pretty face beside a train, It’s not easy to be me” and later perhaps my favourite Five for Fighting lyrics, “I’m only a  man in a silly red sheet, digging for kryptonite on this one-way street.”

I just had to know who this band was, so a few Google searches later; I tracked them down, via a Smallville website! I have had to import most of the albums because many of them are simply not released in the UK.

The band’s discography looks something like this:

Message for Albert (1997) – The only album I don’t have

America Town (2000) – Great album that contains the classics, “Superman” and “Easy Tonight”

The Battle for Everything (2004) – Contains the amazing “100 Years” A real fans favourite!

Two Lights (2006) – Personal highlights are “The Riddle” “World” and “Policeman’s Xmas Party”

Back Country Live (2007) – If you can track this down it has a live CD and DVD with a host of favourites and some music videos too. Great to see John Ondrasik perform live and also get some insight into the man behind the music.

Slice (2009) – Personal highlights include “Chances” and “Love Can’t Change the Weather”

The Very Best of (2011) – Only just discovered that this is available. This one would be a great introduction to the band if you were wondering what they are all about.

So, if you have yet to experience Five for Fighting, take the plunge, listen to the music, listen to the lyrics and “Chances are” you will become a fan!

If you are already a fan, do let me know which is your favourite song and why.
Julian has diplomas in freelance journalism (with distinction), copywriting and proofreading. He is also a creative writer and poet who writes both professionally and for pleasure. Julian has written articles for an internet marketing company and although this medium is often restricted by topic, his writing still maintains a unique and often humourous style, with many of his articles achieving good results on search engines. He has found the discipline involved with this kind of work to be a great writing exercise and believes it enhances and improves other areas of his writing. Julian is becoming an established freelance writer and many of his articles here at searchwarp are a showcase of the variety and quality of his work.

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