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You Can’t Stop Keane By Kathleen Olinares No guitar? For pursuing the alternative rock genre, or anything of that matter, you’d think a guitar would be somewhere in the mix. But as British band Keane sat down to bring together their debut album, leaving out a guitar is exactly what they did. Formed in 1997 the band was comprised of four members: Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley, Richard Hughes and Dominic Scott. After Scott’s departure from the group in 2001, 2004 brought along Keane’s first album, Hopes and Fears (Warren). By earning awards and making it to the top of many European charts, Keane let the world know that they were rising to stardom. The band proved to be big in Europe, and its music has shown that staying within a specific genre doesn’t limit you to a specific sound, or a specific instrument. Keane started off as a cover band, performing songs from popular bands such as The Beatles and Oasis. In the article, “Producing Keane’s Hopes and Fears”, Tom Flint interviews Andy Green, producer of Hopes and Fears. He writes of how Green was introduced to the band after associations with another band, Alpinestars, which then led to eventual collaboration with Keane. After listening to a few of their CDs, Green began working with the group to start recording in the studio. Prior to this, the band had been recording their songs in bassist and keyboardist, Tim Rice-Oxley’s home (Flint). Many of these recordings and previous instrumentations were later used in actual recordings of the songs. Already touring before meeting Green, Keane was eager to record and get their album out. During the interview, Green wrote of how Keane did not want to hinder their sound by defining themselves by a single genre (Flint). Despite the fact that most of the band’s songs 1 sound as though there very well could have been a bass guitar, Keane recorded every song on the album without the use of one. Instead, bass lines that drove the songs would be played by Tim on the piano, oftentimes consisting of him pounding hard on the keys in order to get the same effect as a bass guitar. Here is where Keane was able to produce their sound, differing themselves from other artists of that time and genre. Though songs such as “Everybody’s Changing” and “Somewhere Only We Know” were more commonly known, Keane’s song “Can’t Stop Now” has always captured my attention. Starting with the powerful beat of a drum then joined by the piano, the song sets an upbeat tone that would seemingly lead into words to match its sound. But as you listen, it becomes something more than just a great instrumental, but a fairly accurate take on how we as people tend to overlook one another. “Can’t Stop Now” opens with Tom singing of the disconnection felt within the world:- “I noticed tonight that the world has been turning/While I’ve been stood here dithering around/Though I know I said I’d wait around ‘til you need me/I have to go/ I hate to let you down” (Keane). Attempting to understand these lyrics takes time and deep thought, as does trying to decipher many of Keane’s songs. I’ve come to find that their songs address problems that we often forget about. Yet despite our lack of attention, Keane showcases these matters clearly and often. They speak of living in a world full of people but still having that feeling of emotional distance, something many of us can relate to. The song then goes on to the chorus:- “But I can’t stop now/I’ve got troubles of my own/Because I’m short on time/I’m lonely and I’m too tired to talk.” (Keane). We often worry about our own lives and miss everyone else around us. We don’t see that we’re all in need of interaction. The last line talks of being too tired to even talk, but that may very well be due to the fact that we choose to totally disregard each other. 2 This was the reason behind “Can’t Stop Now”. To show us that we are alone because we’ve placed ourselves in that position, whether it be on purpose or not. We go about our days worrying about what we as individuals have to get done, but miss each other in the process. This is not always intentional but in society now, we’ve become distant and secluded. We enjoy each other’s company, but often close ourselves off to the emotions and feelings of others. Though the song is saying that we want to be left alone, Keane may very well be telling us that we should do the opposite. That if we continue to not stop for each other, we will all soon fade away as the rest of the world lives on. Throughout Hopes and Fears, Keane targets issues such as identity, loss and awareness of the things and emotions around us. The band has managed to not only create its own sound, but pair it with lyrics that do much more than just appeal to the surface. Keane may be overlooked as just another band, but the fact that they can make a teenage girl think deeper and see wider shows that their work is far from unimportant. The band rose to the top and have stayed there since Hopes and Fears debuted. There should be no doubt that their work today, and to come, will do the same. Music isn’t just about influencing the ears anymore, it’s about influencing the mind as well. Work Cited Keane. “Can’t Stop Now.” Hopes and Fears. Island Records, 2004. Mp3. "Producing Keane's Hopes and Fears." SOS (2004): n. pag. Producing Keane's Hopes and Fears. Aug. 2004. Web. 03 Feb. 2013. 3 Warren, Bruce. "Keane - Hopes and Fears - Interscope Records." Wxpn 88.5 (2004): n. pag. Keane - Hopes and Fears - Interscope Records. 25 May 2004. Web. 04 Feb. 2013. 4 .

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