"He War" is a song by the American singer/songwriter Cat Power

Cat Power

Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...

 and the second single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from her 2003 album, You Are Free

You Are Free

You Are Free is the sixth album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. It was released in 2003 on Matador Records. Dave Grohl of Nirvana and The Foo Fighters plays the drums and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam provides backing vocals on two tracks...

. Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...

' frontman Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl

David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...

 provided drumming for the track. In anticipation of the release of You Are Free, a digital preview of "He War" was released on the Matador Records

Matador Records

Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...

 website.

In 2006, Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

cast member Fred Armisen

Fred Armisen

Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...

 cited Cat Power as "very popular in the SNL offices" and that "'He War' was played all the time." In the same interview, an opposing Chan Marshall expressed strong discontent with the studio recording of "He War" that ended up on You Are Free. She exclaimed, "Horrible song. It's supposed to sound like the original recordings-- more Stones-y. With a live band. But when I went to record it by myself in the studio doing everything, it sounds like..."

Song description

Delicate piano notes serve as an introduction before the guitar rhythm begins. "He War" exhibits clean, electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

 power chords backed by a shuffling drum beat. High, chiming guitar notes provide a lead

Lead guitar

Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...

 section alongside sprinkles of piano. An unrefined, double-track vocal harmony

Vocal harmony

Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are sung at the same time as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical choral music and opera and in the popular styles from...

 by Marshall carries throughout the entire song and builds into a bright, soaring chorus.

Lyrically, "He War" appears to reference the demise of an old relationship and the decision to move forward.

Music video

A video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 directed by Brett Vapnek was filmed for the single. It gained airplay on MTV2

MTV2

MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...

's Subterranean

Subterranean

Subterranean or The Subterranean may refer to:* Subterranea , underground structures, both natural and man-madeIn literature:* The Subterraneans, a novella by Jack Kerouac...

.

Marshall described the video as "good" but elaborated on the discomfort in filming it, specifically acting, lip syncing, and looking into the camera which felt unnatural:

"These videos are so weird, because they had me playing a person. . . So in my video, I am me. It's the weirdest feeling. You are you in the song. . . As far as some sort of artwork, I don't know if that makes sense. It has nothing to do with music. Being in a video, lyrically speaking, your persona has nothing to do with being in a video."

Reception

Allmusic's Tom Maginnis wrote a thorough review of "He War," calling it "one of the heaviest rock songs" on You Are Free as well as one of the most produced. He added, "'He War' show signs of a maturity, of an artist more comfortable in the studio setting and confident enough to make it work to her advantage." It was also named an AMG Track Pick of You Are Free.

Chris Ott of Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 praised the song, noting that "'He War' underscores how remarkable Marshall's voice is, turning an otherwise pedestrian, technically amateur tune into an assured rock anthem draped in sonorous, shrill wails. The tune proves a worthy successor to the detached, bemused innocence of 'Cross Bones Style'."

Track listing

1. "He War"
2. "Good Woman" (featuring Eddie Vedder
   Eddie Vedder
   Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
   
   )
3. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
   (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
   " Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1965. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Richards's throwaway three-note guitar riff — intended to be replaced by horns — opens and drives the song...
   
   " (Jagger/Richards
   Jagger/Richards
   The songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, known as Jagger/Richards , is a musical collaboration whose output has produced the majority of the catalogue of The Rolling Stones....
   
   )

External links

• Matador records Cat Power music page, including He War video clip for download.