Common Rotation
Adam Busch – vocals
Eric Kufs – vocals, guitar
Jo… Read Full Bio ↴Common Rotation
Adam Busch – vocals
Eric Kufs – vocals, guitar
Jordan Katz - vocals, trumpet, banjo

“The atmosphere at our concerts," says Common Rotation vocalist Adam Busch, “is one of an intelligent and ironic frat house celebration of the morbid view of mortality.”

Life is short but this won’t dissuade us from its pleasures. It’s at once kinda dorky (like folk music) but also profoundly sage, the only religion worth a subscription. It’s the axis of Common Rotation’s existence, and the thesis of their new album, The Big Fear. “Our shows are a party every time, intentionally and incidentally, conjured by the mix of a teen boredom, alcohol, a visually dramatic performance of catchy upbeat folk tunes with very cynical messages.”

Busch and his good friend Eric Kufs formed the morbid party called Common Rotation in their high school days. Busch had experienced a musical awakening at hearing Elvis Costello; thinking he was the only one (as Costello fans seem to do), Busch was surprised to hear Kufs was also a fan. That and a shared love of folk music forged a bond between the two and a relentlessly prolific collaboration that continues to this day. Their tunes were funny and sad in equal doses—consummately existential, smart but not pretentiously literate.

They began playing coffeehouses, “hitting every open mic night in the Tri-State area” originally, cultivating a following among the venues’ folk-friendly denizens. These morphed into regular gigs at the same places, weekends at larger clubs in New York City, and eventual opening dates with friends and benefactors They Might Be Giants. During that time, they released a quickie album (titled Common Rotation, but credited to “28 Orange Street”). It did well for them, but Busch says it was when he and Kufs moved to California—and donned the Common Rotation as a moniker (partly due to their revolving-door rhythm section) that they began work on the album they’d both envisioned: The Big Fear.

They rented a big house and set about writing and recording three albums’ worth of material, from which ten tracks were chosen (Note: the rest weren’t to languish; the band has a full-disclosure policy, making new rehearsals, demos and live takes available on CommonRotation.com every two days and sprinkling them throughout their constantly changing set list). The environment, Busch says, was especially conducive to creativity, and resulted in the album they’ve both envisioned since their salad days, a marriage of pop sensibilities and the communal, inclusive aura of folk.

“There is a major difference in the maturity of the production,” says Busch. “The first album was recorded in one ten-hour day. The songs on The Big Fear are much more polished in the band’s performance of them and were closely examined in terms of their arrangements.” “Indie Rockin’,” an unrighteous raspberry at elitist hipsters, commences the record thusly, melding an infectious chorus to a troubadour-ish admonition to not take oneself so serious—music is supposed to be fun—and protest (the hipster protagonist admits his “indie rockin’” ethos is a “feeling that I stole”). Henceforth, Common Rotation (Kufs and Busch are joined by drummer Prof. Ken Beck and bassist Mike Uhler, two of several musicians that comprise Common Rotation’s sundry live incarnations) have fun throughout an album that ponders weighty questions and situations (the airy, jazzy “Savior,” acoustic pop gems “Post Modern,” “All My Time”) and inhales life (the jubilant “Sit Down,” a quirk-lite interpretation of They Might Be Giants’ “Don’t Let’s Start,” the summer vibe-y “Prime Time”). The effect is such that one is at once liberated and somewhat blissfully burdened with new questions. Kufs: “The point of writing songs, for us, has always been to release feelings we have at different moments in our lives so we can understand them better. Whether the subject of a song is a relationship with another person or a relationship with society, human nature, a God, etcetera, we feel the need to express our feelings about it without preaching to a listener.”

At the same time, Common Rotation seeks to exist, if only in brief bursts, on the same plane as the listener. Their name intimates as much; we’re all on the same planet, spinning on the same axis. Everybody, everywhere is trying to get through the same crappy day en route to the inevitable dirtnap denouement; we don’t have to dance to the same song, but sometimes doing exactly that is enough to get you through the day.

“We don't know any more than our audience does,” Busch says, “and if we can give them something catchy to sing along with that doesn't invoke any thought by any means other than sincerity, then we have succeeded.”

Taken from www.commonrotation.com

Hollywood
Common Rotation Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Get this table off my back
And let me teach you how to clap
We'll sketch out all our dreams
And write down our elaborate schemes
We could clone ourselves
Despite what they might say
Put them up on an immortal shelf and save them for a rainy day

Come on come on
Let's hear that laugh before I make a sound again
Invest yourself in one more trance

It's an uncomplicated jest
That locks you in with all the rest
It strangles all the mood
But it keeps you here subdued
We could sneak out the back way
Though it looks just like the entrace
Yes, it's important what they say
They all stay put with a vengeance

(Chorus)
Come on come on
Let's hear that laugh before I make a sound again
Invest yourself in one more trance
Darling, it's on it's on
It's always on
I know that's what you've found, my friend
Subject yourself to this new true Hollywood romance

Well you look like Greta Garbo
With a 1960s shape
Well I look like Katrina Neils
All dressed up in drag

You're so daring so dashing
Your skin's the shiniest star
It's so brilliantly smashing
When I sing:
La lala la la la lala

(Chorus)

Come on come on
Come on

Come on come on
Come on

Overall Meaning

In the song Hollywood by Common Rotation, the singer is full of frustration and desperation towards the artificiality, fake glamour, and pretension of Hollywood. The singer is trying to escape from the oppressive and suffocating environment of Hollywood where every feeling and expression are controlled and, every move is being watched. Through the lyrics "Get this table off my back, And let me teach you how to clap," the singer is trying to get rid of the burden of pretending and faking, and trying to teach people how to clap through their genuine emotions and feelings. The lines "We'll sketch out all our dreams, And write down our elaborate schemes" indicate that the singer is dreaming big and has a strong determination to achieve those dreams without any external interruption.

The singer further emphasizes escaping and freeing themselves from the Hollywood scene through the lyrics "We could sneak out the back way, Though it looks just like the entrance." The singer is urging people to move away from the fake nature of Hollywood and experience the real emotions and expressions of themselves. The chorus of the song "Come on come on, Let's hear that laugh before I make a sound again, Invest yourself in one more trance," expresses the urgency and desperation of the singer's longing for the genuine emotions and expressions of the people around them.

Line by Line Meaning

Get this table off my back
I have a lot of responsibilities weighing me down.

And let me teach you how to clap
I want to show you how to appreciate the good things in life.

We'll sketch out all our dreams
Together, we can make all our dreams and aspirations come true.

And write down our elaborate schemes
We can plan and plot our way to success.

We could clone ourselves
Imagine how productive we could be if we had multiple versions of ourselves.

Despite what they might say
We shouldn't listen to the naysayers and pessimists.

Put them up on an immortal shelf and save them for a rainy day
Let's keep our plans safe and preserved for future use.

Come on come on Let's hear that laugh before I make a sound again Invest yourself in one more trance
Let's enjoy life and make the most of every moment, even if it means losing ourselves in the moment.

It's an uncomplicated jest That locks you in with all the rest It strangles all the mood But it keeps you here subdued
The glitz and glamour of Hollywood may seem exciting, but it also traps you in an artificial, soulless world.

We could sneak out the back way Though it looks just like the entrace Yes, it's important what they say They all stay put with a vengeance
We can learn to live life our own way, even if we have to be sneaky and go against societal norms.

Come on come on Let's hear that laugh before I make a sound again Invest yourself in one more trance Darling, it's on it's on It's always on I know that's what you've found, my friend Subject yourself to this new true Hollywood romance
The allure of Hollywood is powerful and draws people in, but it's important to remember that it's all a façade.

Well you look like Greta Garbo With a 1960s shape Well I look like Katrina Neils All dressed up in drag
We can be whoever we want to be in this world, even if our appearances don't match up to societal norms and expectations.

You're so daring so dashing Your skin's the shiniest star It's so brilliantly smashing When I sing: La lala la la la lala
The glitz and glamour of Hollywood can make people seem larger-than-life and untouchable, but they're still human and have their own quirks and charms.

Come on come on Come on Come on come on Come on
Let's keep moving forward and enjoying every second that we have.

Contributed by Oliver A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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