“Burn Out Blues” by Washed Out, Thursday, April 22, 2021

 

In case you missed it, the summer of 2009 was called the summer of chillwave. Chillwave is a kind of electronic music that borrows from ‘80s nostalgia to produce a mellow, psychedelic music that aims to relax the listener. The genre uses lo-fi, a musical technique that takes what sounds like musical or sound mistakes and incorporates it into the sound, kind of like noise pop, but in a more subliminal, relaxing way. If you were to search for Chillwave, you'd definitely come across Washed Out. Their song "Feel It All Around" was released in July 2009, before the EP Life of Leisure in September 2009. The song and EP are said to be the best example of Chillwave. "Feel It All Around" was used as the opening theme for the show Portlandia, and when family members started watching Portlandia, the entire family was turned on to Washed Out, which is very rare for my family. Even my mom was listening to Life of Leisure. 

JUST UNWIND. In the fashion of a true millennial music story, Earnest Weatherly Greene, Jr., better known by his stage name, Washed Out, turned to creating and producing music full time in his parents' basement after unsuccessfully obtaining employment in his field: library science. So far, nothing has topped Life of Leisure. I've listened to a few other Washed Out tracks, particularly on Within and Without and Paracosm. Today's song "Burn Out Blues" comes from Mister Mellow, which takes the indie musician in a totally different direction. "Burn Out Blues" is not pleasant to listen to, and I wouldn't have chosen it. I would have skipped it. The next track on the record is somewhat more annoying. I would have completely cast off this record, except I set the song to my morning alarm this week, and I forced myself to listen to it. I watched the music video. I read the lyrics. Lyrics for Washed Out are usually simple, but then I got it. This song is a reminder how much we need to find our quiet time.

IT'S ALL BEHIND YOU. Washed Out's music and lyrics work as a kind of hypnotism, almost the way that meditation works. Nothing particular stands out as far as lyrics and many tracks fit in a playlist between other songs that seem to be more of a highlight. The melodies might make you think about something while you're driving. I listened to one of Washed Out's songs a lot when I was riding my bike. So one would think that Washed Out would continue to make this mellow music that it lyrically forgettable and musically inoffensive, but isn't it the stressed out that need meditation the most? Once you get past the jarring intro, you can get into the melody and be struck by the message. It's a coffee break rather than a weekend acid trip. It's a micro-dose of relaxation before being pulled into the next thing. It's a two-minute break between four classes in a row. It teaches you to enjoy just a moment before it's gone. Breathe. Now focus on the next thing. Don't burn out. You're in this for the long haul.

https://genius.com/Washed-out-burn-out-blues-lyrics