The tunes review of what’s new

The MC Music Man takes on: Citizen Cope  

By: Dustin Looney
Features Editor

Clarence Greenwood, who is the lead singer and head member of Citizen Cope, first got his musical start in the 1990s as a DJ for a hip-hop group. Greenwood, who’s assumed name is Citizen Cope, combines many genres of music in his solo music, including blues, rock, hip-hop and folk.

Cope first started making music in the 90s, and he released a demo-tape in the late 90s. After his demo was well-received, he was signed to a record label and released his first solo CD under the title “Citizen Cope” in 2002. His first CD received moderate success, but his second CD titled “The Clarence Greenwood Recordings” was released in 2004 and earned Cope much notoriety.

His second release featured such singles as “Bullet and a Target” and “Son’s Gonna Rise,” which both became popular songs, especially in the western part of the United States.

On his CDs, Cope displays his own musical diversity, as he is the lead-singer, keyboardist, guitarist and DJ.

After two years of anticipation, Cope released his third studio album in 2006, under the title “Every Waking Moment.” On this CD, Cope continues his unique musical style of combining many different genres.

The new CD contains 11 tracks, and the following are some of my favorites:

“Every Waking Moment” starts out with a bang, as track one is my personal favorite tune on the CD and it is titled “Back Together.” This song is very upbeat and catchy, and it has become Cope’s most popular song on his new CD. In the song, Cope sings about some unfortunate facts of life: “Cheap women cheap wine cheap money cheap time/ These things do not exist/ But what makes that temptation just so hard to resist.”

The second track on the CD is also a solid song, and it shares its title with the CD. This song is an emotional love song in which Cope sings about searching for a loved one and thinking about her “every waking moment I’m alive.”

The third track on the CD is titled “Friendly Fire.” This song has ambiguous lyrics which are up to the listener to determine the meaning of.

The song immediately following “Friendly Fire” is my second personal favorite on the CD, titled “More Than it Seems.” This song is about Cope’s dream to become acquainted with a girl he has feelings for, and he cleverly combines some meaningful lyrics: “Yeah its a little bit more than it seems/ We can make outside my dreams/ My adorer, they say I don’t know ya/ I sure do know/ Sure do miss ya/ I can’t take it.”

The seventh track on the CD is titled “Somehow.” In this mellow song, Cope sings about loyalty to his loved one and being with her forever. “Cause you believe me somehow/ You’re second to none/ And you got my love/ You got me under the gun/ Cause you will see me somehow/ I’ll stay with ya, stay with ya, stay with ya ‘til the end.”

Track nine on the CD is titled “All Dressed Up,” and in this song Cope sings of how he “couldn’t get enough” of his girl. The song features some witty lyrics about this subject, “Here’s a song for you I play/ From all of my life, from all of my days/ Life is short but the summer is long/ And we could get together a lot before the fall/ And when you get near, close enough to hear, my mind just settles/ The thoughts just clear.”

The next song on the track has a unique blend of music and it is purely instrumental. This track is titled “Awe,” and it opens with my personal favorite instrument, bongos, and contains a catchy beat.
The last track on the CD is titled “Left For Dead,” and this song is a slow emotional song.

Overall I thought “Every Waking Moment” is a solid CD. It contains a couple of very good songs and stays consistent with Cope’s typical slow, emotional style of music.

My only complaint with the CD is the fact that it does not contain as much diversity as some of his past music.

Hopefully Cope gets back to his varied style of music for his next release.