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deadmandeadman
deadmandeadman
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ANOTHER FROM THE POET LAUREATE

Posted about 1 year ago
Yes, I'll stand by my assertion that"Chuck Berry Is Rock's Poet Laureate":http://mog.com/blog_post/view/138469#comment-524215 and I offer this little number as further evidence.**You Never Can Tell** again finds C. B. at his playful best, toying with the language(s)in such an easy, relaxed yet masterfull way. You won't find any stilted 'Paul Simonisms' in Chuck's works.
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Comments (15)

  1. jerste
    jerste says The quality of the audio is amazing. Bloop?
    Permalink posted 01/19/2008
  2. jerste
    jerste says i posted a comment! Where's my comment? i said: quote bloop? end quote.
    Permalink posted 01/19/2008
  3. debi
    debi says Does that mean you don't think Paul Simon has any poetry in his music??
    Permalink posted 01/19/2008
  4. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says debi, not at all. But Paul Simon always has a studied "Sitting Room" ambience, a dilettante's fastidious arty feel. Oh he's had his moments, but what seems so structured and proper with Paul, seems so easy and Natural with Chuck.
    Permalink posted 01/19/2008
  5. debi
    debi says I can't 't debate the freedom of Chuck Berry vs the quiet introspection of Paul Simon. You're right - Berry makes me want to move, where Simon makes me reflect. I remember my 3 year old son singing Johnny Be Goode with the dance moves and air guitar! Any poet who can bring me back 20 + years deserves all the honors he can get!
    Permalink posted 01/19/2008
  6. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says Yeah debi, that's another reason Chuck's lyrics are so special, for all they specificity(?), they're universally appropriate across time and generations.
    Permalink posted 01/19/2008
  7. AA Coppertop
    AA Coppertop says As you might imagine, another plainspoken and eloquent tunesmith - one John Prine - does a jim dandy cover of this tune.
    Permalink posted 01/19/2008
  8. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says Yes he does, AA C. Thanks for the reminder. John Prine is worthy of mention in any discourse on singer/songwriters, and he's an empathetic interpreter of the work of others.
    Permalink posted 01/19/2008
  9. zarpex
    zarpex says Great song, no question. Contagiously, guilelessly cheerful. The lyrics are witty and keenly observant; they set up a circular narrative (starting with a wedding, and telling how the young married couple make their way to New Orleans - where they get married) that really just exists to work in images like a "coolerator" full of "ginger ale," and to use a ??five?? syllable word as a ??concluding rhyme?? ("anniversary" - believe me; that's tough in iambic hexameter). The real stars, of course, are "the old folks," appearing out of nowhere and repeating the strangely mournful "c'est la vie." By the way, this song is a ballad, believe it or not - technically speaking, a ballad is a song (or poem) consisting only of verses (or stanzas) identical in meter and rhyme pattern. There are VERY few true ballads in rock. Of course, if I wanted to be obnoxious, I could also point out the laziness of "did truly" in the first verse, or an actual "'twas" in the fourth. But that's just ungrateful. We live in a universe where this flower blossomed. Cherish it. Oh; and Paul Simon might not have been the originator Chuck Berry was, but he was roughly five times the songwriter.
    Permalink posted 01/19/2008
  10. dermahrk
    dermahrk says Oh come one! This guy *IS* poetry personified. I have to agree on the audio. Most of the early Chess classics are a little tinny. This one is not.
    Permalink posted 01/20/2008
  11. Bartleby
    Bartleby says This is yet another great musical poem by the Bard of Rock: a life story told in 4 stanzas. Just brilliant.
    Permalink posted 01/20/2008
  12. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says **Oh; and Paul Simon might not have been the originator Chuck Berry was, but he was roughly five times the songwriter** Without denigrating at all Mr Simon's considerable talent, his mastery of the craft of songwriting, his considerable self-esteem, and insightful nature; As a _poet_ he's not worthy to sharpen Chuck Berry's Pencil.
    Permalink posted 01/20/2008
  13. dermahrk
    dermahrk says Nor his ding-a-ling
    Permalink posted 01/20/2008
  14. AA Coppertop
    AA Coppertop says I'd just like to chime in here and congratulate dermahrk on several consecutive weeks of zingers like the one above. Did his funny bone get belted by gamma rays?
    Permalink posted 01/21/2008
  15. dermahrk
    dermahrk says Awww shucks (shuffles foot). Are you sure you want to encourage this juvenile behavior? ;-)
    Permalink posted 01/22/2008

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