The Guster of Oz

Song / Album / Artist

What You Wish For / Lost & Gone Forever / Guster

"... once had this dream, crashed down in oz
not black and white, but where the colors are ..."

Come Downstairs And Say Hello / Keep It Together / Guster

"Dorothy moves to click her ruby shoes
Right in tune with dark side of the moon ...

...

Voices calling from a yellow road
To come downstairs and say hello ..."

I have found after many years of intent listening to The Beatles that they have several themes of imagery that they reuse in many songs. The most obvious example being the use of the sun and rain (Here Comes the Sun, Sun King, I'll Follow the Sun, Rain, I Am The Walrus "... Standing in the English Rain"). The sun tends to represent hope or greatness. Rain is melancholy. Paul, in particular, uses birds, usually to describe fear or loneliness, (Blackbird, Bluebird, Free as a Bird "John never completed this song, Paul picked it back up", And Your Bird Can Sing). John even intentionally reuses their own lyrics or song titles (Glass Onion, How Do You Sleep?, All You Need is Love)

There are others. The sum of which weaves a cord or continuity to their collective works. It also gives a common lexicon of important keywords that can describe the purpose of the lyrics without a lot of verses.

Having been trained to find such continuity by The Beatles, I tend to pick up on these things in other bands. Thus, I caught in two Guster songs on two different albums (referenced above) that they must have a thing for The Wizard of Oz. Funny, that the two aforementioned songs are probably my favorites off each album. I wonder what their fascination is with The Wizard of Oz. They use it rather effectively. It tends to add a touch or surreal or dreaminess (stoned?) to the song.

I think I am really starting to dig Guster. If I can compare them to The Beatles, that's a lot in my book.