Quite often I wake up with a song in my head - it often comes out of nowhere; what I mean is its not like I have listened to it the night before - sometimes I haven't heard the song for a good month or more but suddenly upon waking up, there it is. Today was such a day. Today's song in my head is Collective Soul's No More No Less.

No More No Less is the 3rd track listing from their fourth album, 1999’s platinum-certified and critically acclaimed 'Dosage' album, released in 1999. Its a hard song to pin down for Genre -its not really a rock song even though it's quite guitar heavy, and its not a pop song (due to the guitars) .. it also has almost a bluesy swing feel to in in the chorus' and bridge.. its unique as all Collective Soul songs are.

The song starts out with what sounds like breaking glass and drums, and just builds from there - add a wicked bass line for 4 bars, then keyboards for 4 more bars before singer Ed Roland comes in with the first vocals and is joined by lead guitar into the first chorus. It's a smorg of many different instruments each with their own part and all totally distinctive from the other - you can hear each clearly and precisely. The bridge is after the second verse and chorus and has a very bluesy flair to it which just gets you moving no matter how hard you try not to - the entire song is catchy (as all Collective Soul songs are!) and by the end you'll be singing the chorus even if it's your first time hearing it.

Ed's vocal's are crisp and clear as are bassist Will Turpin's backup vocals. The drums are snappy and sharp and the double beat in the verses drives me mad it just sounds so good to me. The end of the song has a wicked wandering bluesy guitar solo which melds to sound like two guitars (but which may be guitar and keyboards?) and the song ends abruptly but I quite like it that way. I can well imagine this song played live with a very extended version!

As for the lyrics themselves - Collective Soul songs are always open to interpretation; Ed Roland does not often explain what the song is about or directed towards, preferring instead for the listener to connect with his songs on their own interpretation. I've included the lyrics below, as well as a link to listen to this song for yourself. As for myself, I cant really explain what this song does to me, or how I interpret the lyrics either. Collective Soul songs have the uncanny ability to look simplistic and even lacking, on paper... but combine those words with the music, Ed's tone of voice (happy, angry, soft, questioning etc) and you suddenly have something deeper - something that is much more than the sum of its parts. This song is such a song for me - depending on the mood I'm in or what I'm dealing with in my life when I listen to it, I find I pick up on totally different parts of the lyrics each time I listen to it.

You can listen to No More No Less here: BLIP FM I'd love to hear how this song makes you feel too so be sure to leave a comment after you listen to it.

Here I lie motionless
Catch me if you can
My properties of no defense
So, strike at your command

But don't bring me down
All right
Don't bring me down
Cause there's purpose
For this night

Save me come tomorrow
Lead me to my urgency
See I'm no more no less
Of an angel
Than you'd have me be
So let's shake it like this

Steady here I cast my lines
Only to expose
A weaker sense and
No constraint
Now my true self shows

But, don't bring me down
All right
Don't bring me down
Cause there's promise
In the night

Save me come tomorrow
Lead me to my urgency
See I'm no more no less
Of an angel
Than you'd have me be
So let's shake it like this
(just a little bit like this)

(killer bridge)

don't bring me down
All right
Don't bring me down
Cause there's promise
In the night

Save me come tomorrow
Lead me to my urgency
See I'm no more no less
Of an angel
Than you'd have me be
So let's shake it like this
(a little bit like this,
lets shake it a little bit like this)

Cool blog, I also love this song. It is really very distinctive and unique in their catalog!

thanks

and yes - its a very unique song isnt it? for me this song never goes out of style - it has that ageless quality to it that doesnt date it as a 70s or 80s or .. etc.. style. could have been written yesterday.