Omar Bowing – “Tyrant” / “Tyrant” (Instrumental)

Omar Bowing – “Tyrant” / “Tyrant” (Instrumental) – Singles Review

According to the man himself, “Tyrant” is “an intellectual protest against political corruption and political Tyrants. Lyrics are a speech by the Tyrant that is represented by a hybrid human (Vlad the impaler)/vampire, all this without meaning to be disrespectful to Vlad III as he is a National Hero of Romania.”  Like I always say around these pages of ours, we all gotta write about something, right?

Honestly, it’s not too often that you get two versions of one song that are likely to appeal to two completely separate crowds, but I’d reckon there’s a good chance that’s the case with this latest cut from Omar Bowing.  Word on the street is that he’s been spending a lot of his time writing and recording lately, but working solo as of late, without the band we’ve heard in the past singles like “Paradox,” “Already Missing You,” and other releases by OB.  The main version of “Tyrant” comes out really well for the man…he’s got a session vocalist performing on this single for ya, and I’d say the majority of what you’ll hear is more akin to Spoken Word as opposed to straight-up singing.  I suppose that’s why I’m sayin’ it’ll appeal to two different audiences when you consider the main version and the instrumental.  Listeners who dig music with singing in it will usually have no real problem adjusting to an instrumental variation…it typically ain’t gonna be their first choice, but they’ll listen.  Dedicated fans of instrumental music don’t really mind something with Spoken Word in it, because that’s still a relevant form of art that they can get behind.  Those out there that can’t handle instrumental music at all usually feel the same way about Spoken Word and have no use for that either.  Chances are, you fall into one of those categories of listeners yourself, it’s just a matter of which.

So…look…as a protest song…I’m not saying that “Tyrant” doesn’t work, but it’s fair to say that the tie-ins you’ll find to interpret it that way are fairly loose.  There are moments where the intentions are fully unmistakable for sure, but overall, “Tyrant” plays out more like a fictional tale, theatrical experience, or story being read aloud to ya.  Nothing wrong with that of course, it’s just a matter of whether or not that’s gonna be good enough to satisfy Omar as the songwriter.  I have no doubt that Bowing could have gone in a more direct & straight-ahead route if he wanted every single one of you out there to get what “Tyrant” was really all about…but I suspect he enjoys hearing what other people might think about his music too.  Is the main single engaging and entertaining?  You bet!  Is it something you’re gonna sing along with or chant aloud in protest?  Probably not, no!  And again, that’s okay – I felt like this was one of those moments in music that you really wanna sit still & pay attention to instead – and that ain’t bad!  Everything has ya right on the edge of your seat like you’re practically watching a movie as you listen, and that’s a genuinely cool effect that “Tyrant” achieves.  The vocals are extremely performance-based, and the music has a superb amount of drama & tension within the composition to make everything work in a very convincing way.  Whether or not it’s the words or the music, every move you hear along the way is made with decisive purpose and intent…and ultimately, the conviction in this sound is what resonates the most, with quite the profound impact by the time all is said & done.  Love the final verse in this track too – “Tyrant” has a great ending to it that makes you wonder whether or not this is really over, or if in fact we might simply be at the start of an ever larger story developing, still yet to be told.  It works though…I really do think it’s likely to appeal most to those that dig their Spoken Word stuff and enjoy taking in a performance at their local theater & such…but there’s a whole lotta those folks around.

While there are moments in the main single version you could consider to be sung aloud, I’m simply saying it’s not the dominant trait is all.  Being closer to the Spoken Word realm somewhat makes a song automatically more niche, or appeal to a narrower slice of the potential audience out there for some reason, and I couldn’t for the life of me tell ya why that is other than a bizarre flaw in our human nature.  In any event, it’s because of that, that the instrumental version ends up being the more accessible cut of the two, almost by default.  Obviously without the words, “Tyrant” becomes even less of a noticeable protest song, but with your mind being able to fill in the blanks, feel free to choose your own rebellion!  I found verifiable merit in both versions of this single that I’ve got here…and I’ll talk to ya more about the video that comes along with it in the days to follow here on the homepage before this week is over – but yeah, I suppose even I’d say that I’m a bit more partial to the instrumental version because I’m such a fan of the way that Omar Bowing plays & the music he makes.  I’d never go so far as to say that the words in the main single hinder our ability to hear the musicianship, but obviously without any barriers in between our ears and the instrumentation, sure, you can get to the music that much more clearly.  It’s exciting, intense, and extremely well thought-out…and even without the vocals, it still sounds vividly cinematic…Omar’s quite the composer as many of you regular readers here already know, but I’d firmly say that he’s really taken his music to new heights when it comes to what makes it connect and appeal to our ears with this instrumental take on “Tyrant.”

Make sure to find out more about Omar Bowing from the official page at Facebook here:  https://www.facebook.com/OBowing

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