At 1m34s, one could reasonably think that Jakob would be a short, interlude song on a full-length album. But in this day and age of singles, one would also reasonably wonder if such a short song can hold its own as a single. And the short answer is, ‘Yes.’ This is minimax songwriting at its finest.
The first thing you’ll notice in Jakob is the left-right panned dance between the electric guitar on the left and the acoustic on the right. It’s a delicate balance not of machine vs. human, but machine in tandem with human. The eighth-note delay on the electric over on the left and the acoustic eighth notes on the right fit together like a glove. Subsequently, when the electric drops out, you’re left with a hauntingness from the acoustic, which then further develops with some more acoustic guitar layers for harmonies. Very simple. Very well-crafted arrangement. Very likable.
If you’re wondering where narrator’s buddy Jakob is, you’ll still be wondering by the end of the song. He doesn’t answer his phone. But we learn that he’s been AWOL for a couple of months, and that the narrator and Jakob used to jam in high school. We also know that Jakob has impeccable taste in music, having turned the narrator onto John Coltrane. They’d also seen Phish together amongst a bunch of drug-addled fans on Halloween once. I’m really curious about which costume album Phish played that night. Well, now, where is his buddy Jakob? After a minute and a half, we still don’t know, but we hope Jakob isn’t gone forever; he seems like a sound dude.
Written by Greg Gobel
