Grant Brünner: Bassguy

Note: This post contains copious amounts of gushing about Jonathan Coulton.

My people, fellow nerds, often pigeonhole Jonathan Coulton as a novelty musician or a comedy musician. This saddens me because I think some of his best material is his sappy love songs or his songs about self doubt/internal struggle. Sure, most of his music is shrouded in humor and some silly lyrics, but that man can evoke emotion as well as any person in this world.

Let’s look at Code Monkey, a song one might call his breakout hit. Does it feature nerd references, purposefully broken english, and a catchy tune? You’re damn right it does, but that is kind of the beauty of it. Underneath the layer of novelty, there is actual emotion. An actual story that I think anyone can connect with. Unhappiness, yearning, and feeling of unfulfilled potential. That song strikes a chord with people not only because of the nerdiness or the monkey-speak, but also because Jonathan is expressing human emotions in the form of a song.

When You Go and A Talk With George are two of my absolute favorite Coulton tracks. It feels good to listen to them. They are great songs, but it is more than that. I connect with the lyrics on some basic level. I don’t think that you can ask for more than that out of a song.