"A Man for All Reasons"

When I listened to Nexus recently, I also noticed a small feature in "A Man for All Reasons."  In the line "All his life will be unknown" in the sort of counterpoint vocal part, the phrase "all his life" is sung to notes of all different pitches (A G E), lending some sense of this entirety.

"A Man for All Reasons"

I listened to Argent's Nexus a couple days ago to mark the U.S. release of the "A Man for All Reasons" b/w "Music of the Spheres" single, and I remembered something that I noticed about "A Man for All Reasons" when I listened to the album back in April, although I think I'd been dimly aware of this even before then.  There are changes in the dynamics to represent the lines "And again, there's the man of war" (played forte for bellicosity) and "And again, there's the man of peace" (played piano for tranquility), and of course, these opposite dynamics also mirror the difference between "war" and "peace."

"A Man for All Reasons" b/w "Music from the Spheres"

According to Russo's Collector's Guide, fifty years ago to-day (3 June 1974), Argent's "A Man for All Reasons" (edited) b/w "Music from the Spheres" (Epic 5-11137) was released in the U.S. and Canada.  The U.K. release (Epic S EPC 2448) was on 14 June, coincidentally Rod Argent's birthday.

"A Man for All Reasons"

I listened to Nexus earlier, and I noticed a Biblical allusion in "A Man for All Reasons."  The last verse ends with the repeated line "Bless the man who's the man of peace."  Based on some of the other Christian imagery and references in Ballard's songs, I think this line is meant to refer to one of the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount.  In Matthew 5:9, Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."  The phrasing is different from the line in "A Man for All Reasons," but they do have the same general idea.

"A Man for All Reasons"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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I've been listening to Argent's Nexus every Friday since April, and I started playing along to "A Man for All Reasons" when I listened to it to-day.  I figured out most of the bass part just by doing that, and, after an-other three or four listens, I had the whole thing.

I do make some mistakes (because some parts are a bit difficult to play - jumping between the lowest and highest strings, for example) and I'm pretty sure I have some of the rhythms wrong, but I just learned it to-day.