I've never been exactly sure what Television frontman Tom Verlaine was driving at in "See No Evil," the opener of the landmark album Marquee Moon (1977). In any case, I never got the impression that he was using the phrase in the usual sense (i.e. turning a blind eye to wrongdoing). Considering the rest of the lyrics are somewhat fantastical (i.e. jumping over mountains, flying fountains, etc.), he seems to be using the phrase to mean that, he's so optimistic and hope-filled, that he's seeing the good in everything.
Er. Maybe.
Like any good New Yawk art punk band of the late 70s, things are always a bit more cerebral than they might seem on the surface. And based on what I know about Television's long road to landing a recording contract, my guess is that it's a tongue-in-cheek dig at the music industry.
The band did some demos with Brian Eno, circa December 1974, with the intent of recording on Chris Blackwell's Island Records. Verlaine liked Eno but was disappointed with the results of the sessions. So the project was shelved. But the demos apparently got leaked to other artists at Island in the U.K. Verlaine has even asserted that the entirety of Roxy Music's Siren was a complete rip of the early demos of Marquee Moon!
Anyway, it was 2 more years before the band finally landed a deal with Elektra Records, and even then, Verlaine wasn't allowed to produce the project on his own. (He ended up with engineer extraordinaire Andy Johns as a production partner. So it wasn't all bad.)
So that's why I think "See No Evil" is a bit of snark. Sort of like: we finally have a contract, the A&R guys are blowing smoke up our various orifices, and no one has any ulterior motives. Riiiiiiiight...
I don't know. Just my interpretation.
What I do know is that "See No Evil" is jittery, guitar-driven nirvana, and Verlaine's nasal whine on the word eeeeevillllll! makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. In a good way.
Speaking of Tom Verlaine, my next featured song is "Marquee Moon," the title track of the 1977 debut by the group Television.
Often, Television gets labeled as a post-punk or New Wave band. In my humble opinion, it's difficult to comfortably pigeonhole the band into either genre. Sure, there's a DIY, do-it-yerself aesthetic to their music that fits the punk/post-punk mold. But even with the punky crunch, there's a lot less sneer and much more melodicism and groove, not unlike Television's New Yawk contemporaries Talking Heads and Blondie, not to mention Brits Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. There also are obvious nods to the Velvet Underground and, if you want to reach even further back, Buddy Holly, too.
But, so much for genre. To hell with genre.
"Marquee Moon" is a sprawling track that, on the surface, should turn stale after a few minutes: it's built on a repeating riff that modulates every two bars and then cycles, again and again, for pretty much the entire song.
But it's what happens along the way that makes you wish it could go on twice as long.
First of all, the groove on this song is airtight. Fred Smith (bass) and Billy Ficca (drums) lock in from moment one and don't let go the entire time. Then there's the strategic, twin guitar attack of Verlaine and Richard Lloyd throughout--it's particularly compelling on each bridge leading into the chorus. Plus there's Verlaine's voice--a nasal whine with genuine honesty and sincerity that grabs you from the moment it arrives out of nowhere and announces, "I remember!"
But the crown jewel of the song is Verlaine's guitar solo from about 4:50 - 9:10. It's not a flashy solo; he doesn't fly across the fretboard like some Django Reinhardt or Jeff Beck disciple. Instead, he weaves this impressionistic thread that calls to mind John Coltrane's modal experiments. In fact, there are parts of the solo that have the same feeling as Coltrane's inspired noodlings from "My Favorite Things."
Finally, when it's all over, the song quietly dissolves into these droplets of piano, like beams of moonlight shining through the trees.
It's enthralling. All 10:40 of it.
