Only the Good stuff (Friday, June 29, 2001) http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicArtistsG/good_matthew.html By MIKE BELL -- Calgary Sun How to write an article about Matthew Good. Hmmmm ... The Canadian rock performer who performs with his band tonight at the Corral, is, after all, an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, versed in profanities, and dressed in a T-shirt -- and to truly do him justice is not an easy task, to say the least. The first thing to do is to transcribe the interview tape. An entertaining process that requires tireless fingers to catch all of his colourful eloquence word-for-word. Next comes the deletion of all instances of his use of the F-word -- and, sadly, not just the egregious ones -- thereby whittling the interview in half. The next step is to consult the Sun's team of attorneys to see if Good's labelling of one of his record company's top executives "a (deleted) idiot" would be considered libelous. Delete that quote. Now comes the really hard part: Trying to figure out exactly what Good means. The artist is notorious for cloaking his true feelings in allegory, metaphor and allusion. For example, when Good says, "I don't need to be famous. I don't need a (deleted) garage full of (deleted) exotic cars, or stupid chicks fawning all over me to basically make me feel like a man, or like I've accomplished something in my life" -- what is he really trying to say? That the material world is spiritually empty, and we, as temporary beings on this earthly plane, need to search elsewhere to nourish our souls? That fame is fleeting -- all we have is all we are? That we should all buy his new EP, Loser Anthems, which is in stores now? What does it all mean? Wait a second. Maybe we're asking the wrong question here. Instead of what, maybe we should be asking "Why?" Because when you're done deleting, when you're done deciphering, when you're done de-mystifying the man -- that's all you're left with: A man. A man with the same feelings, emotions, dreams, hopes, fears and desires as the rest of us. Or, as Good himself said during a moment of naked truth and honesty: "Dude, I fell into this (deleted) business, I really didn't get into it because it was a life-long dream of mine. "To tell you the truth, if I was teaching (deleted) history at the university level I would probably be a far happier person." Dude. Dude, indeed.