FREE ESSAY ON EDWIN MCCAIN

EDWIN MCCAIN

As you sit back and listen to Edwin McCain's first album,Honor Among Theives, McCain's
incorporation of all kinds of music such as rock, pop, jazz, and blues will surely amaze
you. This is consistant with his second album Misguided Roses,which incorporates the same
standards. These two albums provide a great mix of acoustic rock with a hint of jazz and
blues. McCain was successful with his first album which included the hit song Solitude.
He was even more successful with his more recent album which includes the former number
one song I'll Be. Through his lyrical genius and incorporation of different styles of
music, Edwin McCain has risen to be one of the best well- rounded musicians today.
What attracts a person most are the lyrics that Edwin McCain writes. He writes about
life's good times and also the struggles in which people endure. In one of his songs,
McCain writes about a man in New Orleans who lost his father and a week later lost his
wife. In the song, McCain goes on to talk about life's struggles and what we as humans
have to do to deal with these pains (Honor Among Thieves). He shares his view of how life
wears us down when he sings, Like a stone in a stream, life smooths all our ridges 'till
we barely make a ripple anymore (Honor Among Thieves), which is from his song Sorry to a
Friend. McCain's clever lyrics portray his views on young people such as, Youth goes hand
in hand with foolish pride, and his love-as-a-war view saying, The blood that was spilled
in the heartache before left road maps of scars that I never, never could ignore
(Misguided Roses). Singing these lyrics with his soulful voice with a slight touch of
Southern charm, McCain makes you believe every word that soars from his heart.
In addition to McCain's amazing lyrics, his musical skills are also very fine tuned. When
compared to Dave Matthews, a well know acoustic rock star, McCain measures up and even
exceeds Matthews' talents. The two artists both have superior guitar skills, yet Matthews
lacks in understandable lyrics and vocal quality. McCain writes songs about life's ups
and downs while Matthews leaves the listener wondering what is trying to be portrayed.
Matthews' voice is piercing and almost shrill while McCain's soothing tone and and
unbelievable range leaves a listener breathless. Matthews ,like McCain, has his own style
of music, but is limited in the style of his songs. McCain uses different jazz feels and
then hits you up with a blues feel for the very next song. McCain is classified as an
acoustic rock performer which may do him an injustice. Someone who listens to blues would
love 
McCain's raspy voice and the mellow tones of the alto sax. A jazz enthusiast could
definately appreciate the arrangement of the music and the melodic sound of the trumpet
and tenor saxophone.
Edwin McCain is no doubt a well- rounded musician with his usage of different styles of
music and his heart-felt lyrics. He brings his love of blues and jazz into his own style
of acoustic rock. He writes about life and how he sees it like when he sings, It's not
all that hard to survive. You take the good and the bad and the time in between. It let's
us know that we're alive (Honor Among Thieves). These words are another example of
McCain's view on life. Music is about feeling and McCain puts one hundred and ten percent
feeling in his music. For example, in his most recent hit song I'll Be when he says The
strands in your eyes that color them wonderful stop me and steal my breath (Miguided
Roses). This is why Edwin McCain is one of the best all-around musicians today.