Music Review: Kongos "Come With Me Now"

Kongos

Come With Me Now

Album: Lunatic

Year:  2011

               Dylan Kongos gets out of his comfort zone in the accomplished  “Come With Me Now”

             Repetitive sounds lead to a folksy accordian solo, setting a fascinating tone.  An extended chorus opens the single. The little voice inside is head is shouting at him,  telling him to try. (“Come with me now/Come with me now/Whoa, come with me now/I'm gonna take you down/Whoa, come with me now/I'm gonna show you how/Whoa, come with me now/I'm gonna take you down/Whoa, come with me now/I'm gonna show you how.”)

              He tells his friends no, he can’t. He’s gonna look stupid and he can see the entire crowd laughing at him. He has been putting several things off for a while. There’s a girl he really likes. However, it’s been several months and he hasn’t managed to say a word to her. He’s wants out of his job and is tired of being there. While he reads the postings, he won’t ever send in his resume, claiming it’s not ready. What if he regrets leaving his current job later? What if he goes on to a series of interviews, only to be rejected again and again? He’s analyzed both situations from every angle and then examined the inner angles. After a couple embarassing and humilating incidents, he stopped trying. His parents raised him to keep going and overcome any challenge. But he couldn’t. However, he sees his life without anything meaningful in it. (“Afraid to lose control/And caught up in this world/I've wasted time, I've wasted breath/I think I've thought myself to death/I was born without this fear/Now only this seems clear/I need to move, I need to fight/I need to lose myself tonight.”)

           The chorus is sung. (“Whoa, come with me now/I'm gonna take you down/Whoa, come with me now/I'm gonna show you how.”)

          His boss tells him no, his solution won’t work. He shakes his head on the way back to his desk, frustrated. There is another option. But he does not suggest it. It could mean he could damage the meager career he has. During conversations with people, he explains things in facts, paraphrased opinions from his favorite online magazines. Nothing much has changed since he was teenager. Now, in his 30s, he realizes he hasn’t truly grown up. He doesn’t know who is. He said out loud he would do anything to be outgoing. Around some people he met last night, he tried being the outgoing guy, the life of the party. HE received blank stares  and annoyed looks. (“I think with my heart and I move with my head/I open my mouth and it's something I've read/I stood at this door before, I'm told/But a part of me knows that I'm growing too old/Confused what I thought with something I felt/Confuse what I feel with something that's real/I tried to sell my soul last night/Funny, he wouldn't even take a bite.”)

      In the bridge, the little voice tells him he has to begin now or live an unfulfilled life. (“Far away/I heard him say (Come with me now)/Don't delay/I heard him say (Come with me now)/Far away/I heard him say (Come with me now)/Don't delay/I heard him say (Come with me now)”

          The chorus is sung again.

           A hungry guitar solos, eager to stop thinking for once solo follows. It leads again to the he accordian, which gets its chance to be angsty and ponder about the consequences.

          The first verse is sung again.

           The chorus is sung again to end the single.

           Kongos’straitlaced vocals put his hand to his forehead and takes a huge breath, knowing he has to face the unknown. Excuses aren’t going to work anymore.

           The brilliant “Come With Me Now” cannonballs into the alternative genre, making a huge splash.