SONG #28: Vigilantes of Love - Skin

Inducted on December 2, 2014

Younger Millenials would be confused with my last entry when I mentioned the BMG Music Club. Back when music was on a round shiny thing called a CD, you could be part of these mail order clubs that sent you CDs. They'd hook you in with a mailing that said you could get 5 CDs for 1 penny each, but when you looked at the fine print you'd find that you'd have to buy 2 or 3 more at regular club price (within the next year or whatever it was). As you could probably guess, regular club price was ridiculous.. somewhere between $19-$25 per cd. It still worked out to be a pretty good deal, but after a while you'd find that their selection wasn't the greatest. There was definitely some music you'd recognize, but then there was a whole bunch of "say what??" albums. Each listing only had a short paragraph describing the album. Well, there wasn't a whole lot available in the Christian music section, so I took a flyer on this album and band, having no idea what they were about.

When I first listened to the album I was blown away. It wasn't my typical style of music. Guitar-driven Americana Rock was not something I was really into. Additionally, his voice really threw me off at first. After a few listens, though, I was pretty hooked.The music was catchy, but it

Back in 2006, Paste Magazine ranked the top 100 living songwriters, and Mallonee came in 65th (higher than Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd, and Fleetwood Mac!). That's quite an honor.. one that truly reflects the depth of Mallonnee's talent. I don't think you can find a better example of this than with "Skin". Personally I'd call this song Mallonee's best work. It's all about Vincent Van Gogh.
Now I haven't quite figured out if it's fatalistic, hopeful, or a little of both. Regardless, it screams of depth both lyrically and musically.

"Sometimes you can't please everyone
Sometimes you can't please anyone at all
Sew your heart onto your sleeve
and wait for the ax to fall."

What I love:
- The pedal steel guitar parts.
- The line "When talking about sin and redemption, you better wear your thickest skin".
- The closing instrumental part, around 45-50 seconds long.