Takeshi Kovacs
MOG Meter
Songs You Should Be Listening To
Posts
So, yeah, listening to this album, "Consolers of the Lonely" I can't wait to buy an electric guitar and start figuring this out... wait, then track 3... and I have a piano. Those lyrics, um, Jacko, what's going on? You in my head,man? You comprehending me?
"in the corner of my heart your ignorance is treason"
Right on. O - and don't by any stretch feel that this song is indicative of what the rest of this album sounds like... it's an oasis of a genius in a crowd.
Tak
Cpunks,
"Dark green enough to be blue" - when writing lyrics/poetry, I believe there is a balance one has to achieve between economy of words and the message. There also needs to be a delicate balance between the abstract and the concrete - the more abstract, the more meaningful however with a dash of concrete, the meaning is not grounded. I have had some issues with Jeff Tweedy's lyrics in the past "I am an American Aquarium drinker" (HUH?)and with the album "Sky Blue Sky" he's sorted all those issues out.
"Side With the Seeds"
Tires type black Where the blacktop cracks Weeds spark through Dark green enough to be blue When the mysteries we believe in Aren’t dreamed enough to be true Some side with the leaves Some side with the seeds
The treetops nod the rain applauds The park grows dark And the swings all slowly die But you and I will be undefeated by agreeing to disagree No one wins but the thieves so why side with anything
The streetlights glow Comes and goes When the sun comes back As we all can plainly see Embracing the situation Is our only chance to be free I’ll side with you If you side with me
Comments
Awesome song. Awesome band.
And yeah... I think it's safe to say that Jeff Tweedy's got the whole lyric thing down these days. ;)
takeshi kovacs lives! :)
This is my favorite track off the album (right now anyway) ... you're right about economy of words and the balance of abstract and concrete. Tweedy is getting it right, god love 'im. Here's another nice one:
Sunlight angles on A wooden floor at dawn A ceiling fan is on Chopping up my dreams What is left of them I take to sleep again Where I dare pretend I’m more than I seem
Cpunks,
Just when I had the universe neatly categorized and tucked into this three ring binder in my office, I thought about a curve ball. Instincts. Huh? Where do they fit in? How can I find the connection between instincts and music...? I quote from all knowing Wikipedia: "Instinct provides a response to external stimuli, which moves an organism to action, unless overridden by intelligence, which is creative and more versatile." So, this means that instincts are not creative by nature... umm then why is it that whenever a rad beat comes over my personal airwaves, I instinctfully tap my foot and groove out? I don't believe it's a learned behavior thus ruling out the "overridden by intelligence" theory, it's just happening. And, how much of musical talent is instinctful? AND people, music is damn near the definition of "creative and versatile". So, I'm all confused. Where does music fit in to the biological paradigm of instincts and why does it not fit neatly into the definition?
I've attached my favorite song right now (has been my personal number one for about 6 weeks running) and I beg you to think about the questions in this post, and think about what your body wants to automatically do, when you hear this.
Tak
Comments
As I sit here typing, I am also moving my head to the beat of the office stereo. And of course I didn't occur to me that I was doing this until I read your post. I bet there is someone out there who has written a thesis or paper on instincts and music. I found this quote from a review of the book "The Language Instinct": "For example, Pinker tries to explain music, art, drug abuse and pornography not by arguing that we have instincts to enjoy them, but that they are pleasure technologies, crafted to appeal to our various pre-existing instincts and senses. That is, we do not have an instinct to enjoy music, but we have instincts that music has been designed to appeal to. We do not have an instinct to enjoy strawberry cheesecake, but we have an instinct to enjoy sweet, ripe fruit, the feel of fats in the mouth and the coolness of fresh water. All these things were scarce and desirable in the African savannah where we evolved." Not an explanation of why we tap our feet to music, but thought-provoking nonetheless.
Thanks Kate, you have fed my mental fire on this subject. I'd like to think that music, being the outside stimuli (or cheesecake) illicits an instinct in everyone (that would have to be the first step to saying that the reaction is an instinct - wouldn't it have to have a statistical ratio versus the entire population? Do we all blink? Do we all breath? Do we all sway to Lawrence Welk? hmmmmm an interesting idea is, how does our musical taste relate to our evolutionary chain and how much is learned... damn! this subject gets meatier and meatier and the surface is barely nicked.
And the fact that in a lot of cultures music was less a pleasure than a mode of communication. Think about the Celts, who placed history into songs so that future generations could keep track of their ancestral lifeline. Or African talking drums, where rhythm patterns created tribal news.
Comments
Been listening to the album for a few days now one of the best releases by anyone in a long time
The Hammond B3 and violin on track 4...smokin
I just enjoy the hell out of the guitar the track "Many Shades of Black"... first time I heard it, I actually started to laugh... just fun. Jack White's whimsical nature on the lead... he just rocks it out. Love his style. And hmmmmm will have to scour my collection, I've been listening to some stuff lately, that may or may not be current. I can never tell, it just hits my ears, and it's an instant new release... even though created in the late 60's. shrugs...
Lovin' it. I posted Carolina Drama and it's gotten 246 listens, 1 Like and 2 comments...crazy mog.