Saturday, September 1, 2007

Big Deal (Out of Nothing)

From The Whole Shebang

This song (sans sub-title) was immediately a crowd pleaser when Seth Timbs added it to the roster of Spike & Mallets songs as he was playing keys and some guitar for that band in late 2000. At the time, the only other song Seth sang lead for Spike & Mallets was “1,000 Ships.” I was very surprised in 2003, upon being handed an advance copy of what would eventually be called The Whole Shebang, that this song had become a Fluid Ounces song.

I’ve always wondered what elements Seth considers when he’s contributing songs to other bands while keeping his own, what would make him decide that one was more suitable for another band than Fluid Ounces, his main song-writing outlet. For example, I don’t know why “What the Hell?” was played live by Fluid Ounces when it sounds more like a Spike & Mallets song both in its instrumentation and subject matter. “Big Deal” fit very well as a Spike & Mallets song, and could have worked well on their CD, Peep, Jr., which featured no Seth songs. It was a welcome addition to The Whole Shebang, and overall serves to improve the record, and I’ve since become accustomed to it as a Fluid Ounces song. Sometimes I’m a little slow in adjusting to change.

This is another song filled with religious imagery, focusing on the parable of the foolish man who built his rock upon the sand, whose house was subsequently destroyed in a flood, versus the wise man who built his house upon the rock and lived happily ever after in his superior choice of building sites. In the tongue-lashing the song gives its addressee, it then goes on to call him or (presumably) her a Philistine, which makes me wonder just how much Bible Seth was reading before penning the words to this one.

The live mp3 presented here is from December 9th, 2005, at Liquid Smoke on the square in Murfreesboro.

Download Live mp3

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't know that S&M played this one... that was during my 5 year hiatus. Cool info.

no guitar solo on this one though... I only give it 3 stars... ;-)

Juan Horsetown said...

I'm an encyclopedia of factoids about these songs! I didn't expect to provide any new information to you though.

Anonymous said...

Another great Seth gem, definitely an homage to early 70's Elton John.

Kerriffic said...

i like it. At work one night, this cook Luke asked me if I ahd any Ounces, I of course pull some out of my Ipod and make a quick mix. I started it off with this song and Luke's face jsut it up with excitement. he said "this is one of my favorite songs ever!

Tom Foolery said...

Of Seth's two Spike & Mallet songs that eventually migrated home to the Ounces' canon, I always liked "1,000 Ships" better than "Big Deal."

This one fits into that special category of songs that really represent what Fl. Oz. are about but it doesn't quite rise to the level of the Iconic Songs (like "Record Stack").

Purchase Fluid Ounces mp3s Directly from the Band!