Some Tiny Distortion

Beck “Wave”

“Wave” is placed at the center of Beck’s Morning Phase, and this makes a lot of sense: Every other song on this incredibly calm and sober album seems to connect to this track’s egoless, mindful state. There’s a mournful quality to the droning string arrangement and a note of vague sadness in Beck’s voice, but more than anything, this song is expressing a state of zen detachment: “If I surrender and I don’t fight this wave / No, I won’t go under / I’ll only get carried away.” It gets under my skin a bit because as much as it’s a statement of peace, it also feels a little to resigned, as though he’s about to just walk out into the sea and deliberately give in to the undertow.

I wrote more about Morning Phase here.

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