Title Fight: "Boredom"

Woodblock illustration from the Korean text Inja Suji, c. 1600

Boredom is a tricky concept to portray in any artistic medium - it's a common and valid human condition, but it's not a feeling you want to have associated with your art. So it's weird to have two very good songs about boredom. Late-'60s prog-rockers Procol Harum put a great track called "Boredom" on their third album Salty Dog, an album that I'm only lukewarm on (I have a hard time believing that the title track was actually a big hit in the UK). Procol Harum's "Boredom" lopes along in a directionless way that evokes that feeling without making me tune out right away. The folksy percussion and woodwinds go nicely with a laconic delivery from Gary Brooker - it's a twee little number that could easily have come from a boredom-inspired jam session, but I'll admit that it wears out its welcome about halfway through

Clear Tigers' "Boredom" is a different animal altogether, an uptempo number that addresses the idea of boredom lyrically with the music as a counterpoint. In retrospect, Clear Tigers looks like a late-2000s cliche - a one-man bedroom project of Brooklyn musician Nathan Akin, turning out quirky pop songs with creaky Clap-Your-Hands-style vocals, Clear Tigers were blogger-darlings for about six months and then dropped off the radar completely. From the excellent Brutal album, "Boredom" wins me over immediately with that "whoa-oa-oa" backing vocal and bouncy piano line (not dissimilar from the Sloan piano line from yesterday). The song doesn't really have a chorus to speak of, but Akin keeps things interesting at the 2-minute mark by dropping the peppy backing track for a slower ending section, singing, "I'm tired of being bored" over a descending piano arpeggio. The Clear Tigers' "Boredom" starts strong just like the Procol Harum track, but it follows through better by addressing boredom without invoking it.

Winner: CLEAR TIGERS

"Boredom" by Clear Tigers

"Boredom" by Procol Harum