Lyzette's Song of the Day #16: "Bull Believer" by Wednesday
The music of North Carolina’s Wednesday is enamored with the casually gritty details of growing up in the American Midwest - environments strewn with cases of addiction and violence. And this is no better represented than in 2022’s “Bull Believer”, which airs out such unpleasantries in a raw, visceral representation of its speaker’s downward spiral. It absolutely rules and it’s the best song from the group I’ve heard yet.
The first part of this eight-and-a-half minute epic, titled “Bull”, crafts an analogy between a bloody bullfight and the experience of watching a loved one succumb to addiction. MJ Lenderman’s guitar tones are dark and ominous, given weight by Karly Hartzman’s vocals, soft and pained, though incredibly impassioned all the way through. It’s a steady rocker through and through, and yet always with a seeping darkness that creeps underneath it all, particularly after each verse when the guitars take a few measures on their own, screeching along like a rusty train on the brink of derailment.
The second part of the song, “Believer”, is much longer, as the song shifts gears after only a couple short verses. The brutality of “Bull” is replaced with a bit of a different sound - the sludgy instrumental is still there, but toned down to softer strums and lighter percussion. Notably, the environment has also changed and Karly now sings of her younger years: “I sat on the stairs with a never-ending nosebleed / You were playing Mortal Kombat”. The present turmoil of the first part gains its contextual history - and it becomes all that more dismal. The characters in this moment have their whole lives ahead of them… and yet, we know what lies ahead. The downward spiral is yet to come, and they are helpless to change what lies ahead.
On the other hand, the downward spiral is here as we now listen. The halfway point of the song has now arrived, as well as its centerpiece. Gradually, the song slows to a crawl, the instruments pull back, and our speaker whispers a single repeated phrase: “Finish him”. Her whisper soon becomes a croon, becomes a belt, becomes a wail. And as her emotions build, so does the music around her - at a certain point, everything seems to stop in its tracks as the instruments simply stab along the mix for a few measures before rolling back along.
And then it becomes agonizing. The ragged guitars, previously only punctuating Karly’s vocals, have now completely enveloped her in all directions. And that single phrase is no longer decipherable, as the singer simply screams along with all that surrounds her. As if she has reverted back to a primitive animal form, in a desperate attempt to frighten away the barbaric bleakness that surrounds her… as well as the overwhelming helplessness within herself. This is easily one of the most terrifying moments in all of 2022’s music; it never fails to send a chill down my spine with each listen.
“Bull Believer” itself finishes eventually, with a coda that pulls everything back once again, allowing Karly to finally have some breathing room after the preceding violence. And is sure is needed after such rich catharsis, after this emotionally vibrant representation of one’s youthful memories colliding with the crumbled foundation of our adult selves. Life is pain, in one way or another, and getting a hold of this pain, right between its shoulders, is a major step in allowing one’s voice to be heard, even if they’ve gotta scream to get it done. She exhales one last “Finish him…” as a closure, and we sense that she’s ready to take that first step toward the rest of her life, just over the horizon.
Listen to “Bull Believer” here.