dreams of reality

I want to see movies of my dreams.
(Built To Spill, “Car”)

Home – better build it behind your eyes.
(James Taylor, “Enough To Be On Your Way”)

I wish I had been born a girl, and not this mess of a man.
(Manic Street Preachers, “Born A Girl”)

I can't give up on all these poor helpless dreams
For what have they got if they don't have me?
(Ron Sexsmith, “Poor Helpless Dreams”)

The only problem with going to bed is you have to wake up in the morning.

(Stars, “Today Will Be Better I Swear”)

You can't call it cheating, but she reminds me of you.
(Gin Blossoms, “Cheatin'”)

I'm tired of using technology – why don't you sit down on top of me.
(50 Cent, “Ayo Technology”)

the body as a wonderland

Snow Patrol are one of those bands that do not fare well with the critics, but all the better with the masses. As for me, I side with the masses. I admit to loving Snow Patrol's sonic pathos and megalomania, but also singer Gary Lightbody's lyrical aptitude. The man is obsessed with the human body as a source of metaphor for emotions, relationships, and pretty much everything else you can think of (perhaps inspired by his own surname?). On some Snow Patrol records, references to body parts - particularly arms, hands and eyes - abound in almost every song. Over the years Lightbody has thus created his own lyrical cosmos, very imaginative yet very tangible. I especially enjoy how the pompousness of Snow Patrol's sound contrasts with an imagery made up of the most basic things we have and use every day.

~

My tongue still misbehaves, and it keeps digging my own grave.
("Hands Open")


Broken glass aside, my feelings stay the same
Covered head to toe in blood and fear and spite.
("Gleaming Auction")


I touch the place where I'd find your face
my fingers in creases of distant dark places.
("Set The Fire To The Third Bar")


You cool your bed-warm hands down on the broken radiator.
And as you lay them freezing on me, I mumble 'Can you wake me later'.
("Crack The Shutters")


I have been lost in your hair.
("Crack The Shutters")


If you were here beside me... If the curve of you was curved on me...
("New York")


I knew the beat cause it matched your own beat.
I still remember it from our chest-to-chest and feet-to-feet.
("If There's A Rocket Tie Me To It")


Under your skin feels like home.
("You're All I Have")


The curtains drawn, the winter sun makes patterns on your face
It looks like some kaleidoscopic breathing exercise.
("Same")

beyond words

I hardly know any texts or books that have interesting things to say about music and why it moves people the way it does. Do you? - The book "Voorbij de Woorden" (“Beyond Words”) by Belgian theologian and philosopher Jan Koenot is an exception for me. Koenot argues that modern individuals are no different from earlier generations in that they have a need to anchor their existence in a mythological structure in order to lend coherence and stability to their lives. The best known myths to date are those provided by religion and philosophy. However, Koenot claims, the environment in which we live has made it impossible for many to cling to myths that are logocentric, i.e. based on language and linguistic tradition. Every day, we witness how advertising and marketing try to manipulate us with words, how illusive information channeled through mass media has become, and how self-referential scientific explanations of reality appear. The same goes for the world of imagery, perhaps in an even more drastic dimension. Since logocentric convictions and imagery have become disqualified, Koenot asks, wouldn't it be appropriate to say that for many people Rock music has become a new popular myth, a myth for an era “beyond words” (thus the title of his book)? Koenot describes Rock music as a source of transcendental experiences, and reveals a lot of striking parallels between religious practices and the habits of Rock musicians and their followers.

Most pieces of Rock music do have words in them, but to many they are not as important as the sound, and the meaning of the words is transposed, so to speak, by being part and parcel of a more comprehensive meaningful element (the song). What the words signify becomes more or less a matter of subjective interpretation. According to Koenot, it is the spontaneous, overwhelming and inexpressible feeling of vitality springing from Rock music that binds people together in their mystical musical experience.

It is interesting to hold Koenot's thesis of Rock being a myth beyond words against the theme of this blog. Actually, I think that many of the aphorisms and puns collected here direct listeners' attention precisely to the frailty of the link between language and reality that Koenot expounds. The point of these phrases would often be lost if the same content was expressed in different words. In this they are like poems. They differ from poems however in that they do not purport to be aesthetic objects in themselves, but are rather a vehicle of surprise or disconcertment, pointing to the irreparable gap between the words and the world. Next to the subjectiveness of interpretation that song lyrics afford, this is another means of expressing doubts in the reliability of language as a cultural common ground.

The upshot seems to be that when it comes to our myths, we cannot do without language, but we can use it in ways that remind us of its limitations.

~

I found a fatal flaw in the logic of love. (The Shins, “Gone For Good”)

Desire breeds desire. (Toad The Wet Sprocket, “Desire”)

Since we're through with morality - can I sleep with your wife?
(The Lilac Time, “Entourage”)

We're the stars of CCTV. (Hard-Fi, “Stars Of CCTV”)

I'd have a breakdown, but I don't have the time. (Richard Ashcroft,
“Bright Lights”)

Ain't it funny how it really ain't funny at all. (The Connells, “Back To Blue”)

You've made your point: It's pointless.
(The Lemonheads, “I'll do it anyway”)

Wort ist das falsche Wort. (Erdmöbel, "Wort ist das falsche Wort")

Spring harvest

If you give me your girl and if you give me your trust
and if you give me till the end of the night, I'm gonna love her for both of us.
(Meat Loaf, “I'm Gonna Love Her For Both Of Us”)

Stell dir vor, dass Erlösung nicht nur für Religiöse wär.
(Wir Sind Helden, “Alles”)

I'm contemplating thinking about thinking.
(Robbie Williams, “Undone”)

Live a lie, dance forever.
(Pet Shop Boys, “Hit Music”)

Working for the church while your family dies.
(Arcade Fire, “Intervention”)

As drunk on life as death is sober.
(Ron Sexsmith, “Hands Of Time”)

My life is at home.
(The Promise Ring, “My Life Is At Home”)

Wir wissen alles, nur nicht weiter.
(Schöftland, “Der Sturm”)

Who will ignore me when you're gone?
(The Wallflowers, “Here He Comes”)

twisting and turning

Friedrich Nietzsche needs to be in this blog. Not because of the moustache, but because of his fondness for both music and aphorisms. His famous quote „Without music life would be a mistake“ is relevant enough here. But what' also interesting is that Nietzsche deployed aphoristics as a means to undermine the fallacious systematicity of traditional philosophical approaches. According to him, philosophical thinking and writing should mirror the subjective and associative character of the human mind, and aphorisms are the appropriate tool to achieve this. In the same vein, I think that aphorisms can serve to break open the formulaic nature of pop songs. There are only so many topics that you can deal with in a traditional pop song, but there are lots of ways in which you can reflect its boundedness by twisting and turning the words, thereby establishing an ironic, self-commenting look-out right in the middle of things. The playfulness and "unconventionality" at the heart of pop music can thus be restored. The best way to illustrate this is with lyrics about love; things being as they are culture-wise, there can hardly be anything more banal than a pop song about love; in fact love is so banal a subject that as a proficient consumer one tends to screen the words off because one is subconsciously certain that there is really nothing worth listening to. But sometimes a gifted mind manages to capture banal truths in extraordinary words, recovering listeners' attention. Witness (and add):

If you wanna hear ‘I love you’, then say it.
(Tonic, “Roses”)

~

Lousy lovers do well with their hands but I'll reach you like nobody can.
(Jakob Dylan, “This End Of The Telescope”)

~

Love is a lie, which means I've been lied to.
(Maximo Park, “Our Velocity”)

~

You can steal what you love but you can't love what you steal.
(Idlewild, “Future Works”)

words from Northern Britain

Some songs are saved by a single extraordinary line in the lyrics; others are merely graced by one.

Glasgow's Teenage Fanclub are a band that I adore for many reasons, not least for the way that they smuggle aphorisms into their tunes. Not only are they equipped with three songwriting geniuses inventing melodies that leave me breathless - the lyrics too are permeated with lines that make me think “God, I wish I had thought of that myself”. Like the fantastic harmonies, great lyrics are brought forward with such understatement you have to listen twice to believe what you hear. Right in the middle of “Tears”, a song of exquisite and exceeding sadness, there appears the line “You're no sucker, so don't blow it”. Out of context it sounds rather goofy, but listen to the song a few times and you realize that these words are exactly where they belong, completely at one with the surrounding mood.

When a music journalist once informed the band how amazing he thought their records were, the bassist answered “You know, they're just some songs we wrote.” I am glad that they're not.

~

God knows it's true, but I think that the devil knows it too.

(“God Knows It's True”)

Don’t always look for comfort in a song.

(“Fear Of Flying”)

I’d steal a car to drive you home.

(“Don’t Look Back”)

Your love is a paradigm for a man just looking for the next cheap rhyme.

(“The Sun Shines From You”)

Come on over, the future's here.

(“Fallen Leaves”)

You're no sucker, so don't blow it.

(“Tears”)

Seasons change everything.

(“Winter”)

When I see you cry, I think ‘Tears are cool’.

(“Tears Are Cool”)

Of all the stars I’ve ever seen, you’re the sun.

(“Hang On”)

Just kick my feet off the ground, I’ll embrace the sky.

(“Going Places”)

Here is a sunrise – ain’t that enough.

(“Ain’t That Enough”)

a time to every purpose

According to a popular aesthetic classification, painting, sculpting and architecture are “spatial arts”, whereas poetry and music are “temporal arts”. Artworks of the former type are concretely and uniquely realised in a certain portion of space, whereas those of the latter are virtual in nature and need to be materialised in the dimension of time. The dependency of music on time might be a reason why reflections on time are such a common subject in pop lyrics. A quick search through my digital music library reveals 153 tracks with the word “time” in their name (compare: “space” -18 hits, “banana” - 1, “Alejandro” - 0).

From a listener's point of view, I am amazed how time starts to fly by as soon as I sit down by my stereo to pick random tracks from my CD collection.

----------

If time will tell I’m listening.
(Izzy Stradlin, “How Will It Go”)

It's not about you, it's not about sunshine, it's about time.
(The Lemonheads, “It's About Time”)

I’m perfecting the finest art of wasting hours.
(The Jayhawks, “Big Star”)

So sorry for all the days that came only to go away – always.
(Tommy 16, “Griefless Days”)

Time exists, but just on your wrists.
(Travis, “Indefinitely”)

The past is gone, but something might be found to take its place.
(The Gin Blossoms, “Hey Jealousy”)

Time wasted is time well-spent.
(The View, “One-Off Pretender”)

My past, my future, my disease.
(K's Choice, “Now Is Mine”)

Is yesterday tomorrow today?
(The Stereophonics, “Is Yesterday Tomorrow Today”)

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. Any fool can do it.
(James Taylor, “The Secret Of Life”)