ONE TALE TOLD
Singer Craig Finn finds glory in the spoken word
The theme, plot and characters in “God in Chicago” recall many of Craig Finn's songs. Its narrative is about two people lost between adolescence and adulthood. There's a road trip, a drug deal, a stab at romance and a muted, almost numb ending. But “God in Chicago,” a standout on the Hold Steady frontman's most recent solo album, “We All Want the Same Things,” is barely a song: Over a faint piano melody, Finn speaks the lyrics, rolling them out with the weariness of a barfly recounting the story to an indifferent audience.
“The song came to the record late, and at first, I attempted to turn it into a more traditional song,” Finn said, ahead of his Wednesday gig at City Winery. “Then Josh (Kaufman) the producer said, `Let's back up,' and just started reading the lyrics.
... The most exciting thing when you are recording is when you find something taking shape in front of your eyes. `God in
Chicago' just happened in front of us, it was not overrehearsed, it was a moment that we captured.”
That moment resonated with many of Finn's fans (a lot of whom are music critics). A score of rock writers — including me — lauded “God in Chicago” as one 2017's best songs, and American Songwriter Magazine went so far as to name it the top track of the year. Finn didn't think the song would have this big an impact, but he suspected he was on to something special as soon as he and Kaufman finished the session.
“I was very excited about it, very happy. I thought, `I love this, I think people will like it, but I love it,'” he said. “But you never know if what you feel will be felt by others.”
When Finn fronts his band the Hold Steady, he and his bandmates often end albums with epic, cathartic songs. (Listen to the closers on “Separation Sunday” and “Stay Positive.”) But Finn thought ending “We All Want the Same Things” with “God in Chicago” might be too obvious. He envisioned it as both the literal and emotional center of the record.
“As a 46-year-old, I think about sequencing records in the traditional manner, like they were LPs,” he said. “So I thought the song would be right to close side one, but it was important to bookend it with other songs. I thought if I surrounded it by songs that worked with it, people wouldn't skip it.”
Finn also recognizes that the success of the song isn't repeatable. While it's not a gimmick, trying for a sequel would certainly feel cheap.
“There won't be a spoken word thing on every album going forward,” he said with a chuckle. “But I kind of have my eye out to find a band that will be doing this in 2018. It's not like we invented the spoken word thing, but we'll probably see somebody attempt a `God in Chicago' this year.”