The song “Same” by Said Sara explores the theme of emotional pain and trauma through vivid verbal imagery of witches, warriors, and deities. It is a laid-back folk song that adopts minimalist arrangements, driven by an acoustic guitar and deep vocals, ultimately leaving the listener with a heady feeling.
Said Sara, aka David Benson, is a San Francisco-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Said Sara, an alt-folk acoustic, is a true extension of singer-songwriter David Benson’s musical and psychological essence. His music is as universal as it is personal. He grew up listening to the singer-songwriters of the 1970s: Stevens, Croce, Taylor, and Buckingham. But Said Sara was and is a punk and a metalhead (yes, both) in the 1980s, 1990s, and beyond. In the early to mid-1990s, Said Sara wrote somber, stripped-down hymns that never saw the light of day until his self-titled EP was released in 2020. In the two years that followed, with a renewed interest in composition, the singles “I Star as You,” “Bleedways,” and “Sea” were released.
Said Sara is the drummer for Acephalix, a San Francisco-based crust punk-turned-death metal band whose triumphal Theothanatologist album (produced by Grammy winner Greg Wilkinson) topped numerous year-end lists. Said Sara spent 15 years as the guitarist/vocalist of this genre-defying avant-garde band, whose 1994 full-length, Spine, was released on the ultra-legendary SST Records.
“Same” is the first single of 2023 and maybe the only one that has been released this year, on February 10th. After rearranging songs by Belly and Sinead O’Connor for a solo acoustic concert, Said Sara sat down to write in the atrium for the first time in several months. Acephalix, the death metal/crust punk warhorse for which he plays drums, had just played festivals in Seattle, Washington, and Copenhagen, Denmark, in recent months, with their latest release “Theothanatology” (20 Buck Spin) turning heads and twisting necks. Though Acephalix’s aggression output is significantly more surface-level than Said Sara’s, the emotionality shown is not that different. Said Sara recognized “Same” as a true outpouring, both emotionally and sonically, with Jesse Winchester’s “Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding” tailgating menacingly in the rearview.
“Same” is a flowing, attractive, and laid-back folk song. This piece adopts a basic backdrop illustrating how minimalist arrangements can be kaleidoscopic, driven by an acoustic guitar yet with an obscure insertion of the banjo. This track may not have the same head-banging strength as metal tracks, but it is considerably more intimate and soul-stirring.
While the acoustic-inspired melody may stand on its own, it is Said Sara’s deep vocals that elevate “Same” to a new level. “Same,” produced as a labor of love with producer Jesse Nichols of Atomic Garden Studios, catches your breath, sends sentimental goosebumps down your spine, and leaves you with a heady feeling – all with a very basic tune. The lyrics of the song proved to be a more difficult task. David Benson had thoughts on the strains of wanting and missing the hazy emotions associated with emotional concealment and pain, as well as the ways in which we torture ourselves even more when we are in that torment.
Furthermore, the theme of trauma was always present, as Said Sara who is an inner-city high school teacher, played a role. Suffering is depicted in “Same” via the verbal imagery of witches, warriors, and deities, as well as their tragic affection and deaths. Jesse Nichols of the palace-like Atomic Garden Studios has served as mastering engineer once more. Writing and recording for Said Sara is an isolatory process by design, and Jesse Nichols has an uncanny ability to capture and unleash that passion.
You should add this amazing masterpiece to your playlist Now!
For more information about Said Sara, click on the links below.
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