I fell in love with Cee-lo during the first thirty seconds of Goodie Mob’s “Soul Food” video (still one of my absolute favorite hip-hop videos to date). In character, he’s sitting on the sidewalk with a fellow homeless man and after commiserating with the elder about how hard it is “out here,” he breaks into song. “Lawd, it’s so hard/livin’ this life/a constant struggle each and every day/some wonder why/I’d rather die/than to continue living this way,” he croons.
In that moment, I knew this cat was something special. And in that moment, I knew this cat was a dark individual.
You don’t have to delve too deeply into his Goodie Mob work or either of his solo projects (Cee-lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections or Cee-lo Green is the Soul Machine) before you find yourself sucked into a bottomless vortex of emotion and philosophy. It starts off creative and hopeful, but then it starts to contemplate death and destruction.
Case in point:
Whether rhyming or singing, Cee-lo’s voice is what I imagine you’d hear while trapped in the very quiet eye of very destructive storm. That is to say, it forces you to look around and take in all the world’s chaos, before coming to the realization that the more chaotic things become, the more awe-inspiring and breathtaking they can be. It’s an amazing voice, guttural and heartbreaking, so distinct it’ll never be mistaken for anyone else’s and so keen you can hear his lips pulling upward when smiles while singing a line.
Suffice it to say: this writer kind of adores Cee-lo and makes no apologies for it.
So when Cee-lo met Danger Mouse and the two joined forces to form the “urban/alternative*” super-duo Gnarls Barkley, I very protectively assessed the partnership to see if entering it was in Cee-lo’s best interests. Were Violent Femmes covers and tunes about necromania going to serve him well?
Turns out they served him famously. “Crazy” was easily 2007’s radio anthem. Gnarls Barkley’s debut project, St. Elsewhere, went on to become a platinum, Grammy-winning, mind-boggling sensation—and I got to watch Cee-lo cradle a microphone at the center of massive sold-out stages across the country wearing everything from a pilot’s uniform to a Cowardly Lion costume.
But in previewing Gnarls Barkley’s new project, The Odd Couple, my old overprotective instinct couldn’t help but resurface. Point blank: this CD is a depressive’s dream. It’s like the In Rainbows of the “Urban/Alternative” set. Even the album’s first single, “Run” (the most upbeat song on the album), is about running for your life. “Either you run right now or best get ready to die,” Cee-lo admonishes, before following up with the equally ominous, “Hurry, little children; run this way! I have got a beast at bay!”
Where “Crazy” was an unapologetically anti-social artist’s lament with operatic background vocals, a bangin’ bass line, and Cee-lo’s mid-tempo moan to anchor it all, “Run” is a harried, hurried (it’s only two and a half minutes long) hymn that evokes nothing so much as frenetic images of race riots.
I mean, I like it, but other reviews complain that “it’s no ‘Crazy'” (of course it isn’t) and seem to favor other of the CD’s tracks, particularly “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul,” “Whatever,” and “A Little Better.” The first of these is a slow wail of a song, wherein the singer processes the titular question. “Whatever” is among The Odd Couple’s most playful tracks, with Cee-lo opting for a nasal, tattletale-ish sound, which isn’t saying much for the duo’s idea of “playful,” considering the first line is: “I don’t have any friends at all/’cause I have nothing in common with y’all.”
“Would-Be Killer” is this disc’s “Necromancer.” Take from that what you will.
For me, The Odd Couple’s standout tracks (aside from “Run”) are:
- “Blind Mary,” a circus-inspired ode to marijuana (or a literal blind girl…) that contains such sad-clown lyrics as: “She’s my friend. She doesn’t judge me. She has no idea I’m ugly. So I’ve absolutely nothing to hide because I’m so much prettier inside.”
- “Neighbors,” a somber lamentation that seems to warn against the folly of romanticizing celebrity. (Favorite lines: “Now my neighbor likes my clothes, but hasn’t seen me with my scars exposed.” and “But I invited him over, in order to make a new friend, but once I got to know you, wish I’d never let you in.”)
- “She Knows,” which I’ve ignorantly decided is about his ex-wife. I really don’t care to be corrected on that, as my mind’s totally made up. “No other woman will wear your clothes. And it goes with saying, she knows?” Come on.
Anyway, yeah, The Odd Couple’s a lot more sedate than St. Elsewhere and, depending on your point of view, that could be a good thing. For me, it just means more wondering about whether or not Cee-lo is okay (dude seems to get more melancholy with every passing year)… and whether his isolationist tendencies will eventually lead him back to another solo project–one that’s equal parts rhyme and melody.
Here’s hoping.
* The Grammy committee categorized Gnarls Barkley as “Urban/Alternative,” when it awarded the duo two statues in 2007, one for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for “Crazy,” the other for Best Alternative Music Album for St. Elsewhere.
