Singles

Jack Johnson - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Mike Mantin 14/02/2006

Rating: 2/5

The cover says it all, really. Jack Johnson strolls along a beautiful beach, acoustic guitar in tow, not a care in the world. Yup, he's just a simple pro-surfer-turned-multi-million-selling-singer-songwriter going about his business. The music's equally care-free: over a soft acoustic guitar, Johnson croons, "must I always be waiting, waiting on you?" He's probably talking about sitting in the queue for surf lessons. It's all very calm and nice. But where's the pain, man?! You're a singer-songwriter, where's the angst, the pain or, more importantly, the edge? The modern demands for singer-songwriters (a far too overcrowded market) are far greater than nice man sitting beneath a tree strumming a ukulele. Oh wait, no they're not, because last year a certain ex-army individual spent over a month at the top spot with a song which opened with the line, "My life is brilliant, my love is pure/I saw an angel, of that I'm sure."

Johnson, while not nearly as despicable as Blunt, has found similar success by peddling in lazy simplicity, and even though "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" is a nice tune, he still deserves a minor slap for helping make the phrase "popular singer-songwriter" an insult to true music enthusiasts.