No, this song is NOT a cover of the 1992 Body Count* classic but a song written (per Nick) as “part of a prompt-based project . . . for one of the Hugo House’s literary series. Inspired by the construction of their new building, the prompt they came up with was ‘There Goes The Neighborhood.’”
This song seems a slight departure for Nick coming after his more straightforward rock/Americana album Safe Bet, released in 2019. However, it seems like many of us, Nick has been using quarantine over the past 6 months to experiment with more informal recordings, judging by his great new EP released under the moniker Mono A Mono.
That EP, like “There Goes the Neighborhood,” was recorded by Nick on his analog 4-track with Nick playing all the instruments. These combined releases (as well as hopefully future ones) make a strong case for musicians of all stripes to attempt similar recordings for both the inherent creative challenges and the resulting pure sonic analog bliss when done correctly.
On “There Goes the Neighborhood” Nick employs a Scott Walker-by-way-of-Thom-Yorke croon that elaborates upon (without contradicting) his usual vocal approaches. With some tasteful Daniel Lanois-esque reverb on both the vocal and tom pattern, a baroque ’60s California pop vibe comes across despite the relatively austere arrangement.
The lyrics come off as slightly ambiguous; they could be interpreted as being the POV of two neighbors with clashing ideologies or the same individual with conflicting reactions to (as far as I can tell) an undefined incident or circumstance altered.
This ambiguity can’t help but make me hear the song as a partial commentary toward
the recent focus on suburban neighborhoods in swing-states (especially those of Nick’s and my own home state of Wisconsin) needing to be “saved” by a certain current President. And one could very well hear as I do in Nick’s melancholy delivery, the disappointment of discovering your own neighbor’s opposing political beliefs and feeling your own optimism deflated once again.
Whether one buys into either interpretation or not, “There Goes the Neighborhood” can act as a soothing balm for those of us exhausted by the barrage of pre-election information and accusations as the days get colder and the skies turns greyer. It will assure you that you are not alone in your day-to-day battle with dread and search for small victories, wherever they may be found.
*for the unenlightened, Body Count was (and is?) the heavy-metal side project of Ice-T. “There Goes the Neighborhood” was the first single off their 1992 self-titled debut, which also included the controversial “Cop Killer” until Ice-T was pressured to remove said song from the album.