Why
Why? (often stylized WHY?) is an American hip hop and indie rock band. Originally the moniker of Berkeley, California artist Jonathan “Yoni” Wolf, WHY? became a full band before their 2005 release Elephant Eyelash with Doug McDiarmid and Matt Meldon, as well as Yoni’s older brother, Josiah Wolf.
When Matt Meldon left, the band became a three-piece, with Yoni as the primary songwriter and an additional keyboardist at live concerts. In 2008, the group added bassist Austin Brown to their lineup, making them a four-piece once again. In their arrangements, WHY? leans more toward folk and indie rock, as opposed to the more hip hop styling of their label-mates. Their lyrics also tend to be very abstract, focusing more on imagery than on any particular story. WHY? is also a member of the Anticon collective of Oakland, California. More…
The Song
The Lyrics
Listenning for the hoofs of the rescue party
Waiting for some ghost pony
To glide into Berkeley
With an old fish bowl for a tear trap
Strapped to its ghost saddle
It moves slow like an excercise bike
On an airport walkway
Yeah
Something that wouldn’t smell like ground ants
Or glossy magazine cologne
But a wet street after light late summer rain
A wooden match just lit
Or something new in the green
Subject of a landscape painting
Or something new in the foreground
In a poster of some Asian mountains
That says “patience” in a funky Italics
