Matisyahu: Live at Stubbs (2005) and
Youth (2006)
JDub/Epic/Or Music, $13.98 and $9.48
by David Krusch
Never has Jewish-themed
music been so much at the forefront of the
American cultural mainstream as it has since
Hasidic reggae
singer/rapper Matisyahu achieved commercial success.
With two certified Gold records, a Top 10
Single on the Modern Rock charts, and numerous
television appearances, Matisyahu has been
bringing his energetic and soulful mix of
reggae/hip hop/Jewish inspiration to the
masses since 2004.
Pennsylvania-born Matthew
Paul Miller, recorded his first album, Shake
Off the Dust...Arise, while he was
a student at Yeshiva Hadar HaTorah in Brooklyn.
The album was released in 2004 by JDub
Records, a non-profit record company in New
York City,
but did not chart.
His next two albums — the concert
album Live
at Stubbs and his second studio
album Youth — brought
Matisyahu and his band Roots Tonic international
acclaim. Both albums are outstanding, and
deserve to be listened to indepth to truly
understand the Jewish overtones prevalent
in each.
Live
at Stubbs is a live concert album recorded
on February 19, 2005, at Stubbs in
Austin, Texas.
This album captures the true essence of a Matisyahu
live show at its best, and is full of energy, danceable
music, and biblical references. The album opens
with the song “Sea
to Sea,” which
starts with a
simple bass groove, and evolves into a reggae-laden nigun that
morphs into the introduction of the Amidah prayer.
Matisyahu’s first words on the album are: “HaShem
s’fasai tiftach u-fee yagid tehilasecha...Open
up my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise.” This
short yet profound opening song serves as a kind
of call to prayer, to prepare the audience and
the listener that there is more spiritual music
to come.
The next track, “Chop ’Em
Down,” is reminiscent of the early dancehall
reggae that has heavily influenced Matisyahu’s
music. This song is full of biblical references as
he tells the story of Jewish slavery and the Exodus from Egypt:
Joseph descended sold as a slave
thrown into a dungeon cause
he wouldn't be swayed
Interpreted pharaoh’s dreams
and Egypt was saved...
Pharos getting worried let’s make them pay bound in
chains
First born was sent down to their graves
Moshe was saved and a prince he was raised...
Take my Nation from Mitzrayim I see the suffering...
In fact, slavery is a major
theme of Matisyahu’s music, and is emphasized
in the live version of “King
Without a Crown.”
Matisyahu sings of the slavery in which human
beings sometimes bring upon themselves through
materialism and hubris: “You're
a slave to yourself and you don't even know/You
want to live the fast life but your brain moves
slow/If you're trying to stay high then you're
bound to stay low/You want G-d but
you can't deflate your ego/If you're already
there then there's nowhere to go/If you're
cup's already full then its bound to overflow.” “King
Without a Crown” is
an upbeat reggae tune with a high level of
energy, which is only intensified by the guitar
solo toward the end of the song. The song has
been the band’s biggest commercial
success, breaking into the Modern Rock Top
10 and peaking at #7.
The highlight of Live
at Stubbs however, comes in the song “Aish
Tamid,” which is Hebrew for “a
continuous fire.” Matisyahu explains at the beginning
that the song is about the destruction
of the Second Temple in Jerusalem,
and how he is awaiting the rebuilding of the Third Temple.
The song describes a vision of what the destroyed Temple
may have looked like: “Flash
back patches of grass growing wild in fact/Cracked walls
burnt black like a kingdom sacked.../Air intermingling
ringing with the singin/of songs once sung, hung, flung
into the rafters/Catastrophe struck the sound stuck...” Matisyahu
makes a metaphorical connection between the Temple lying
in ruins and a person who has lost faith. However, he
believes that each person has “a continuous fire,” and
if they continue to hold onto to their faith in G-d,
it will be possible for the Temple to eventually be rebuilt.
Whereas Live
at Stubbs captures the raw energy of a live performance, Youth is
a polished, well-produced studio album that one would
expect from a band that now benefits from the resources
of a major record label (Epic Records). Once again,
on top of Matisyahu’s
singing and beatboxing, the tremendous musicianship
of the members of Roots Tonic make this album sound
extraordinary. Musically, Youth is
so much more than just a rehash of the reggae style
that made the band famous; elements of hip hop and
indie rock are added to give the album new
flavor.
Although this album will mean different
things to different people, it is supposed to serve
as a call to arms for young people to become spiritually
and emotionally involved in the world around them.
Matisyahu implies that the youth in this country are
in a constant state of confusion and spirtual emptiness
because they do not know what to do with their lives,
and that they are hungry for a world with meaning.
As he proclaims in the title track, “Young
man control in your hand/Slam your fist on the table/And
make your demand/Take a stand/Fan a fire for the flame
of the youth/Got the freedom to choose/You gotta make
the right move.” Throughout the album, Matisyahu
urges young people to take control of their lives and
choose a life full of meaning.
One song that stands on its own on Youth is “What
I’m Fighting For” because it does not fit into
band’s normal style. The song is stripped down to
only a few musical elements: acoustic guitar, keyboard,
and Matisyahu, who shines on this song. He begins by
saying, “What I’m fighting for/is worth far more
than silver and gold.../is a chance to unite the past.” He
wants Jews, the “sons and daughters of Abraham,” to
“lay down to a higher command” and return to Zion as a united people.
The most poignant track on Youth is
the hip hop tune “Jerusalem,” in
which Matisyahu paraphrases the biblical adage from Psalm 137: “Jerusalem,
if I forget you/fire not gonna come from me tongue/Jerusalem,
if I forget you/let my right forget what it’s supposed
to do.” In this song, he alludes to the Holocaust,
and how throughout the history of the Judaism,
some force has always tried to destroy the Jewish people.
In the second verse, he sings, “Rebuild
the temple and the crown of glory/Years gone by, about
sixty/Burn in the oven in
this century/And the gas tried
to choke, but it couldn't choke me.” He then
asks, “Why is everybody always chasing we/Cut off the
roots of your family tree/Don't you know that's not
the way to be.” Despite the fact the Jewish
people have been faced with destruction on several
occassions, especially during the Holocaust,
they have always managed to continue existing and have
never forgotten the importance of Jerusalem.
Youth also
contains the studio version of “King Without a Crown,” which
is musically pleasing, but lacks the impact and
fervor of the live version. A special track, “Old
City Beat Box,” is available only if the album is bought
online in a digital format. It is a short video of
Matisyahu standing in the Old
City of Jerusalem beatboxing,
and at a live performance; this is highly recommended
for those who want to witness Matisyahu in action.
After listening to Live
at Stubbs and Youth,
one can only hope that Matisyahu’s next album
measures up. These are powerful records, full of sincerity,
spirituality, and professional musicianship on all
fronts. Although there are numerous Jewish and biblical
references in these albums, anyone can enjoy them because
the music is so accessible.
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