Something about David Mullen’s music has always resonated with me. He’s a gritty, no-frills soul rocker, and his lyrics continually twist and turn in, out, through, and between complexity and simplicity. The man is a true artist.

One of my favourite songs is Functional Faith And Clothing, from his 1991 Faded Blues album. It’s short – 88 seconds long – and so the only clip I could find online is actually a good chunk of the song. If you find it on iTunes it’s easily worth the $0.99. Yes, the penny-to-second ratio is less than 1, so it might not seem like a good deal, but it’s such an amazing & simple little song I can’t see how you’d regret the decision.

Here are the lyrics:

Me and my jeans, we fit together most naturally
Me and purity, should fit together as easily.
You do what you, I don’t care
When it comes to faith and clothing I need something I can wear.
I need functional faith and clothing (repeat this line a bunch of times)

The fun thing about this song is the beatbox/scat with which he opens and closes the song, in tune with his guitar picking. Percussion is a simple djembe flitting around the guitar’s rhythm. The melody is charming yet covers a broad range, and he puts his whole heart into blasting it out.

Simply brilliant.
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