Ryan Shane Owen hits the sweet spot between Seinfeld and Edwin Starr with his new single and video War: What Is It Good For? — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
After releasing a trilogy of melodic, catchy dance albums and singles over the past few years, the independent Canadian artist has begun to shift his music in a new direction, incorporating more comedy — always a big artistic influence in his work. Exhibit A: The disarmingly upbeat War: What Is It Good For?
While brainstorming one evening while the news was broadcasting the horrors of war, Ryan recalled the Seinfeld episode where Jerry jokingly told Elaine the original title for Leo Tolstoy’s novel War And Peace was War: What Is It Good For?, referring to the 1969 Edwin Starr classic War.
Believing the line would make a great song title, Owen he came up with a melody and lyrics to what he imagined as a sort of stadium-rock anthem that bears no resemblance to Starr’s single, other than the title:
“War, what is it good for, we can’t take it anymore
We don’t need to kill each other now
War, what is it good for, we can’t take it anymore
We’ve got to live together somehow.”
“Although it often seems like a very dark and hopeless place these days, try not to give up on the world,” Ryan says. Intended not to refer to any specific war, but rather as an inspirational message of peace, hope, and unity, Ryan certainly means no disrespect to veterans or the military.
With a storied and colourful background in many aspects of arts, Owen has lived across Canada from Victoria to Montreal. He grew up learning classical piano, taught himself guitar, and moved on to electronic music production. A prolific composer and multi-disciplinary artist, Ryan now has some 50 original songs to his name.
Watch the video to War: What Is It Good For? above, sample more from Ryan Shane Owen below, and catch him on his website, Twitter and Instagram.
