After releasing a trilogy of melodic, irresistibly catchy dance music albums (and a few singles) over the past few years, (independent Canadian artist) Ryan Shane Owen has begun to shift his music in a new direction. Looking to incorporate more elements of comedy, which has always been a big artistic influence in his work, Ryan has been looking to various comedic sources for inspiration.
One evening while brainstorming, with the news on broadcasting the horrors of war in the background, a phrase came to mind that Ryan remembered from one of his favourite 'Seinfeld' episodes. In the episode, Jerry jokingly tells Elaine that the original title for Tolstoy's "War and Peace" was "War, What Is It Good For?" To Elaine's chagrin, she believes him, and embarrassingly relates the 'story' to her book-publishing industry boss. Jerry's joke references a line from the 1969 song "War" by Edwin Starr.
Check it out on YouTube here:
Ryan entertained the idea that the line would make a great song title, and as his concept developed, he came up with a melody and lyrics to what he imagined as a sort of "stadium-rock" style anthem. He decided to release it as a single. Although the idea came from the Seinfeld episode, "War- What Is It Good For" is a completely original new song by Ryan Shane Owen, with no resemblance/similarity to "War" by Edwin Starr, other than the title.
War, what is it good for, we can’t take it anymore
We don’t need to kill each other now
War, what is it good for, we can’t take it anymore
We’ve got to live together somehow
Witnessing the unbearable tragedy of war is something that unfortunately, has again deeply touched all of humanity. Especially in these recent years, when so many of us have suffered with grief, loss, and hardship, Ryan hopes to offer words of encouragement. "Although it often seems like a very dark and hopeless place these days, try not to give up on the world", Ryan says. Intended not to refer to any specific war, but rather as an inspirational message of peace, hope, and unity, Ryan certainly means no disrespect to veterans or the military.
Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/track/6LjGu1ffbcQVYcOJYPsnJM
With a storied and colourful background in many aspects of music and the arts, Ryan has lived across Canada from Victoria to as far east as Montreal. He grew up learning classical piano, taught himself guitar, and moved on to electronic music production. Over the years, he's worked with many fellow artists, more in the background rather than as the 'frontman’ and has been involved in almost every aspect of music, as well as the visual and performing arts.
Although he had some vocal training and experience over the years, it was just over the past four years in which he really began to develop his voice as a singer. His variety of life experiences and various struggles has provided Ryan with a rich tapestry to draw on as he continues his life-long artistic journey.
With a soaring melody, Ryan's latest single lends itself well to being covered and re-interpreted by other artists in different styles, something which Ryan would love, as he enjoys songwriting for other artists as well. A prolific composer and multi-disciplinary artist, Ryan now has approximately 50 original songs to his name. His love of learning cover songs is part of how he has of developed his songwriting abilities, now a 4 to 500 song strong repertoire.)
Before releasing his original music, Ryan spent a few years releasing a diverse variety of cover songs on YouTube and Instagram, which he still enjoys doing. Tune into his social media to check out his covers of anti-war classics which he is currently putting out to coincide with the theme of "War-What Is It Good For."
