Mason Jennings (born March 19, 1975 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American pop… Read Full Bio ↴Mason Jennings (born March 19, 1975 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American pop-folk singer-songwriter currently based in Minnesota. He is well known for his simple yet catchy melodies, intimate lyrics, literary and historical themes, and distinctive voice. His music has appeared in the surf film "Shelter".

Born in Hawaii, Jennings moved with his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at an early age. Jennings learned to play guitar at the age of 13, when he began writing songs. Jennings later dropped out of school and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota to pursue his musical career.

Jennings produced his self-titled debut album in 1997 on an analog four-track in the basement of a rented home, manning all instruments himself. In October 1998, after bringing drummer Chris Stock and bassist Robert Skoro on board, he began a weekly gig at Minneapolis' 400 Bar as the Mason Jennings Band. Garnering local praise and a wide fan base, Mason began touring nationally.

His 2000 album Birds Flying Away revealed Jennings' political activism and penchant for singing first-person narratives of imaginary rustic characters. Following the release of this album, Noah Levy took over drumming duties from Stock.

2002 saw the release of two albums: the studio piece Century Spring and a "fans only" collection of acoustic rarities, Simple Life. An EP supporting Century Spring was also released, featuring the album's opening track, "Living In The Moment," two live tracks, and the previously-unreleased "Emperor Ashoka." Jennings released all three discs -- and re-released his earlier albums -- on his homebrewed record label, Architect Records.

In 2003, Skoro and Levy left the band (the former to pursue a solo career), and were replaced by bassist Chris Morrissey (formerly of Bill Mike Band) and drummer Brian Mcleod.

On 10 February 2004, Jennings released Use Your Voice, which notably included the songs "Keepin' It Real," a foot-stomper ostensibly written at the request of Shrek 2 producers (but not used in the film), and "The Ballad of Paul and Sheila," an acoustic dirge for late Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone. On the 30th, September of that year, the band released a DVD entitled Use Your Van, which chronicled the recording of Use Your Voice and part of the promotional tour. The DVD was filmed by Andy Grund.

On June 17, 2005, news broke that Jennings had finally signed with a major label: Glacial Pace, a subsidiary of Sony's Epic Records headed by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock. Minnesota's Star Tribune broke the story, and credited Brock with convincing Jennings to sign after the Mason Jennings Band had opened for several Modest Mouse shows in 2004. Jennings had long avoided the major labels, citing desires to maintain creative control and dodge big-label politics.

Jennings recorded his sixth album, "Boneclouds," at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, MN. The album was released on May 16, 2006 by Glacial Pace.

After considerable success on "Boneclouds", Jennings released his seventh full length album "In the Ever" in 2008. The album was released under Jack Johnson's "Brushfire Records".

In September 2009, Blood of Man was released on CD and vinyl format. In late 2010, Live at First Ave., his first ever live album, was released.

Rudy
Mason Jennings Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I was standing by the village gates when I first heard the news
The king had sent his men to seize Gabriel's land
And when Gabriel he refused, the men took both his daughters
And cut the wedding ring fingers from their hands
The next three days I heard three times separate similar stories
The king was taking what was ours for his own
Deep, deep down in the pit of my chest my fear turned to fury
When I thought about my family and my home

Good kind Rudy stood before the king
His mighty sword in his hand
All through the valley we could hear him swing
And a joyful cheer filled the land
Nobody's ever gonna treat us like that again
Late that night all the men in the village
gathered in a clearing in the forest
And we elected Good Rudy to lead us now

He decided right away that the king must die
Every head bent forward as he told us how
We split up into two large groups
and headed for the castle on the hill
My group stormed the front, all the guards came running

Rudy's group snuck up from the back and laid
their ladders up against the castle walls
Nobody ever saw them coming

Good kind Rudy stood before the king
His mighty sword in his hand
All through the valley we could hear him swing
And a joyful cheer filled the land

Good kind Rudy stood before the king
His mighty sword in his hand
All through the valley we could hear him swing

And a joyful cheer filled the land
Nobody's ever gonna treat us like that again

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Mason Jennings's song, "Rudy," depict a story of a town under siege by a power-hungry king. The singer stands by the village gates when he first learns of the injustice being wrought upon them. The king sends his men to seize Gabriel's land and when Gabriel refuses, the men take both his daughters and mutilate them by cutting off their wedding ring fingers. The singer hears this story repeated thrice from different sources.

The king's actions ignite fury in the singer, and he decides to take matters into his own hands. Good kind Rudy, a local hero, steps up to challenge the king. In an epic battle, Rudy slays the king and brings justice to the people. The song ends on a triumphant note, with nobody ever again daring to treat the townsfolk like that.

The lyrics can be interpreted in a few ways, with some seeing it as an allegory about power struggles in society, and others seeing it as a straightforward tale of a hero fighting against injustice. Sonically, the song is dominated by Jennings's acoustic guitar and his raspy, emotive voice. The melody is catchy and the lyrics are easy to sing along to, which makes it a popular track among his fans.

Line by Line Meaning

I was standing by the village gates when I first heard the news
The singer was present near the village gates when he first heard the news.

The king had sent his men to seize Gabriel's land
The king ordered his men to take over Gabriel's land.

And when Gabriel he refused, the men took both his daughters
After Gabriel refused to surrender his land, the king's men kidnapped his daughters.

And cut the wedding ring fingers from their hands
The men cruelly cut off the fingers of the daughters that had the wedding rings.

The next three days I heard three times separate similar stories
For three consecutive days, the artist heard stories of similar happenings.

The king was taking what was ours for his own
The king was taking over lands that were not his own.

Deep, deep down in the pit of my chest my fear turned to fury
The singer's fear turned into anger that he felt deep within his chest.

When I thought about my family and my home
The artist's thoughts were focused on the well-being of his family and home.

He decided right away that the king must die
Good Rudy immediately decided that the king must be killed.

Every head bent forward as he told us how
Everybody listened closely as Good Rudy explained his plan.

We split up into two large groups
The men divided into two groups.

and headed for the castle on the hill
Both groups made their way toward the castle located atop the hill.

My group stormed the front, all the guards came running
The singer's group attacked the front of the castle, causing the guards to spring into action.

Rudy's group snuck up from the back and laid
Good Rudy's group quietly approached the castle from the back and set up.

their ladders up against the castle walls
They propped up ladders against the castle walls to climb over.

Nobody ever saw them coming
The attackers caught the castle guards off guard.

Good kind Rudy stood before the king
Good Rudy faced the king.

His mighty sword in his hand
Good Rudy held his sword firmly.

All through the valley we could hear him swing
Everyone in the valley could hear the sound of Good Rudy's sword swinging.

And a joyful cheer filled the land
The people rejoiced.

Nobody's ever gonna treat us like that again
The villagers will never tolerate such mistreatment again.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS

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