Vines, The - He's A Rocker (Single)
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First of all, thanks to the wonderful people at The Dwarf for helping me work on my complete The Vines back catalogue -including singles. I also got a sweet little poster in this package and, I know I’m lame, but I think I’m gonna frame it.
He’s a Rocker is the single that’s emerged in waiting for the forthcoming album. It didn’t appear on The Best of The Vines, not even as a sort of sneak peak, and there’s a mighty good reason for it.
The song is pretty self explanatory. Craig Nichols and his merry band singing about some guy who is quite obviously…a rocker. All he does is rock out…that’s all he does. I can’t help but imagine that that’s a lie, even though he’s a fictional character, I’m sure he has a fictional job - even if that job is getting high and making sure that Dr. Phil comes on at the right time every day…
So, I guess that begs the question: is it autobiographical? Don’t give me that look! I’m not being mean, we all know the Craig Nichols saga. So my response to my own question is: possibly; if Mr Nicholls were one of The Beatles. That’s probably the best description I can muster of this cute little song. It has a little bit of The Vines aggression but most of the song has a real dumb-di-dumb 1960-something vibe.
I imagine this song might be a heap better live. That it might sound a bit better if they bashed the crap out of it. It’s very commercial radio friendly and it’s a bit easier than most of their stuff to listen to without jumping around.
I like to judge a song based on how badly I drive when I listen to it. When some of my favourite rock songs come on (and yes, it’s a rock song specific test) I drive like a maniac. I nearly die every time Karnivool’s Roquefort comes on the radio. Now I’m rambling, let’s just say there weren’t any near misses when I hit the streets with this little ditty blaring and leave it at that.
