The Greatest by Cat Power

by Lana Fleischli

This past week was a lot, and I would tend to digest the day on my 30 minute drives home as the sun was setting. It was the perfect time to listen to Cat Power’s The Greatest. It gave me a sense of great comfort and at the same time, a sense of deep sorrow. 

It started with the album cover and the title track, “The Greatest.” The cover is a bright pink with a gold chain adorned with gold boxing gloves. The song, “The Greatest” seems to be about giving up on hopes and ego with lyrics like, “Once I wanted to be the greatest.” The boxing gloves and gold chain seemed to symbolize greatness, but it’s actually about the loss of passion. 

Then there is the song, “Could We,” which is my personal favorite on the album. When I heard it in the context of the rest of the album, it sparked the realization that the music in each song fits the lyrics. Yes, I’m aware that that is literally every song ever, but let me explain. When she says, “Could we take a walk?” the music gets a little jolt in it, as if she is beginning to take a stroll. That idea kind of continued throughout the album, especially when it came to instrument choice. 

In “Islands,” the music is very reminiscent of hula dance music with the use of ukuleles. When I listened to it in the car for the first time I didn’t look at the name of the song, but the minute it started, I thought about how it sounded like music I’ve heard in Hawaii. In other songs, like “Lived In Bars,” she takes advantage of wind instruments. She uses a completely different mix of instruments in each song, and makes them really stand out. In “Living Proof,” she starts with only a jazzy drum beat. It takes something that people often think isn’t too complex and says otherwise. The drum beat sounds incredibly complex and almost sounds like multiple instruments because of the way they layer and overlap. 

It was really nice to listen to this album the past week because it is so deep, and while I was listening to it, I was able to kind of tune out everything else and just try to really hear it. Like most albums, the more you listen to it, the more you get out of it.