From: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org (basia-digest) To: basia-digest@smoe.org Subject: basia-digest V4 #5 Reply-To: basia@smoe.org Sender: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "basia-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. basia-digest Wednesday, January 6 1999 Volume 04 : Number 005 Today's Subjects: ----------------- RE: Party at Dennis's! ["Dennis J. Majewicz" ] RE: Yearning [Michael Stanley ] Interpreting Basia's Lyrics ["Joe Palcher" ] RE: Yearning [combee@dacha.yak.net (Ben Combee)] Re: Interpreting Basia's Lyrics ["Ashoke S. Talukdar" ] Re: Yearning ["John Adams" ] Re: Lyrical interpretation Part II [JPovlock@aol.com] Lyrical Interpretation [JPovlock@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 09:03:27 -0500 From: "Dennis J. Majewicz" Subject: RE: Party at Dennis's! On Monday, January 04, 1999 4:20 PM, Meg Evans [SMTP:megevans@interaccess.com] wrote: > > Uh, Dennis (Majewicz) ... > > >- - Body And Soul - Rick Braun > > He really got it together for this one! Sexy, sultry, cool, hip. Spent > >a number of great evenings in the pool with candles burning and this CD > >spinning... > > ... can you post directions to the pool, please? > > > Well. it's under a foot of snow right now. And the candles keep going out. (I'm just outside of Buffalo - but the snow is pretty!) Dennis ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 06:45:22 -0600 From: Michael Stanley Subject: RE: Yearning Ok, folks... I have been lurking about with seldom a whimper. I have listened to the banter, and chat and whatever else we call this thing we do (or mostly what y'all do.) I have even wondered how anyone, especially a technology-career-bound person (Sleepless Ben) could possibly EVER find the time to put a video-morphed-to-cd-compilation kind of thing together, and then another... when I cant even find the time to make it through all of the 1144 messages in my "Basia" repository. After reading Brian's Yearning-ness, I just have to be thankful that I am not alone in this strange world where my Basia sings so closely to my soul sometimes. Not because I need any comforting that I am not REALLY psycho, because... hmm I probably am. :-) or that there isnt REALLY "my" Basia singing right to me, because... ahh, she does! But more that the human psyche can take something so perfect and simple and normal as a Song or a voice and make it _not only_ something so TOTALLY COOL! but a totally DIFFERENT COOL for every single one of us. Anyway... thats all. I just needed to say "hehehe... COOL!" Happy Monday From Texas! Michael ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 18:40:45 -0500 From: "Joe Palcher" Subject: Interpreting Basia's Lyrics Some of you might remember when I talked about "Third Time Lucky," when I said to me it originally sounded like she was saying, "First time, bitter shock. Second helping, not good enough. And third time lucky, and your were mine." When I read the lyrics, I found out that of course, I was wrong. Then at the Basia convention I found out again that I had misheard the Grand Diva's lyrics. At the end of "Clear Horizons," it sounded like to me that she was saying, "Ascend, you're an angel you can fly." Meg and Ashoke properly chastised me when they proved that she really sings "Trust yourself, you're an angel, you can fly." Thinking back at this, it made me remember about something written in the liner notes for Seal's "Seal (1994)" CD: "One of the most popular questions people seem to ask is, 'Why don't you print your lyrics on the album?' Well, the answer to that is that quite often, my songs mean one thing to me and another to the listener. But that's OK because I think it's the general vibe of what I'm saying that is important and not the exact literal translation. How many times have you fallen in love with a lyric that you thought went, 'Show me a day with Hilda Ogden and I'll despair,' only to find that it went, 'Show me a way to solve your problems and I'll be there.' I guess what I'm saying is that the song is always larger in the listener's mind because with it they attach imagery which is relative to their own personal experience. So it is your perception of what I'm saying rather than what I actually say that is the key." I guess this is kind of how I listen to music. For me, reading the lyrics, learning them word for word, and singing along with the song kind of spoils it for me in a way. It is more enjoyable, I suppose, to interpret what the singer is trying to convey in my own way than the "official" way. And like Seal hints, I'm somewhat disappointed when the lyrics that I thought went this way, which I thought were a perfect interpretation, actually go this way, and I feel that I'm wrong. Maybe when I found out the true lyrics to both above songs, I lost a little part of those songs in my heart. It's kind of difficult to convey. Does anyone follow me? :) Not to say that I don't enjoy singing along with Basia's songs--I do it all the time! It's just more fun on MY interpretation. :) This topic is similar to me in a way to how I felt about reading literature and writing essays about them at school. I used to love reading the classics. However, once I started having to do essays on books required for class, I never enjoyed those books. I didn't enjoy being forced to analyze books, analyzing in a way that will get me a passing grade on that essay. And I suppose in a way I feel that reading songs' lyrics, in a way, is over-analyzing them. I just wanted to enjoy, comprehend the books on my terms, in my own way (like I do songs), not by someone else's method. Not to say that I never look at the lyrics. If the singer is singing something that I have no clue on what they are singing, I sometimes check them up. And I look at the lyrics all the time of my favorite Japanese songs because it helps my Japanese. Of course, when I make my delightful drag debut, I better learn all the words to songs that I'm lip syncing, or they'll throw tomatoes up at me or something. :) Take care! raburabu joe ******************************************************************** Joe Palcher jjpalcher@msn.com ICQ#4618534 ******************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1999 00:41:38 +0000 (GMT) From: combee@dacha.yak.net (Ben Combee) Subject: RE: Yearning Michael Stanley writes: > Ok, folks... I have been lurking about with seldom a whimper. I > have listened to the banter, and chat and whatever else we call this > thing we do (or mostly what y'all do.) I have even wondered how > anyone, especially a technology-career-bound person (Sleepless Ben) > could possibly EVER find the time to put a > video-morphed-to-cd-compilation kind of thing together, and then > another... when I cant even find the time to make it through all of > the 1144 messages in my "Basia" repository. Hehehehe.... sleepless Ben, eh? I like it. BTW, SB is about a week and a half away from feature complete date on one product, and in the middle of late testing and QA on another product, alas this affects my time for the CD work. Over the last month, I replaced several computer components -- the new sound card should help a little on the sound quality for the clips yet-to-be-digitized, and I hope the new setup will also do better with synchronization. > After reading Brian's Yearning-ness, I just have to be thankful that > I am not alone in this strange world where my Basia sings so closely > to my soul sometimes. Not because I need any comforting that I am > not REALLY psycho, because... hmm I probably am. :-) or that there > isnt REALLY "my" Basia singing right to me, because... ahh, she > does! "Come to me... I'll soothe your yearning" That line always gets me. - -- Benjamin L. Combee (combee@techwood.org) ....will work for details on Katmai New Instructions.... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 19:09:59 -0500 From: "Ashoke S. Talukdar" Subject: Re: Interpreting Basia's Lyrics Very interesting post, Joe. Particularly that part from Seal. > >Maybe when I found out the true lyrics to both above songs, I lost a >little part of those songs in my heart. It's kind of difficult to >convey. Does anyone follow me? :) > Lyrically, I have very frequently encountered something similar - though not with Basia. You see having grown up in an ex-british colony, I suppose the Brit accent and diction in Basia's singing allows me to get the lyrics mostly WITHOUT reading the them. I learnt "Yearning" and "Reward" that way. However, when I listen to Sade (another very favorite artist), I frequently mis-"hear" the lyrics. In some cases, I do agree with Joe, it does take something away from the interpretation. Actually, a very different form of this incident happened to me the other day. After I came back from Club Isabella (re. meeting with Meg, Joe, Rich and Jackie), I sat down with my guitar to figure out all the parts to the harmony in "Go For You". So the first time around, I thought I had all three parts down pat. Then I started playing the CD and strumming and singing along with it. Of course, very quickly I had to rework quite a few sections because I had the chords wrong - BUT, I almost felt a bit saddened, coz I thought that mine sounded quite ok too! Of course, this is a MUSICAL interpretation rather than a LYRICAL one, but I understand where Joe is coming from. For the records, I think I now have both the CORRECT chord structure and the voice parts. So get ready, Ms. Meg!!! > >This topic is similar to me in a way to how I felt about reading >literature and writing essays about them at school. I used to love >reading the classics. However, once I started having to do essays on >books required for class, I never enjoyed those books. I didn't enjoy >being forced to analyze books, analyzing in a way that will get me a >passing grade on that essay. > Totally with you there. I HATED reading Joyce in college for English. But then I reread it a few years later on my own terms, I couldn't put it down. > >Not to say that I never look at the lyrics. If the singer is singing >something that I have no clue on what they are singing, I sometimes >check them up. And I look at the lyrics all the time of my favorite >Japanese songs because it helps my Japanese. > I am sure you've read LOTS of REM lyrics then. I could never figure out what the heck he was saying except for "Everybody Hurts". > >Of course, when I make my delightful drag debut, I better learn all >the words to songs that I'm lip syncing, or they'll throw tomatoes up >at me or something. :) > And you know how I get with colored tomatoes! One tomato "epiphony" coming up (literally)! ;-D Regards, Ashoke. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 19:36:41 -0500 From: "Joe Palcher" Subject: Lyrical interpretation Part II For the PSB Basia fans. :) I'm trying to think of other artists who feel similar about publishing the lyrics to their songs in their CDs. I can't think of a whole lot. I used to feel the PSB felt similarly to Seal, but I was somewhat taken aback when the PSB published all the lyrics on "Bilingual," the first time that they had EVER done that. I wonder what made them change their minds. Does anybody know other artists that don't publish the lyrics to their songs in their CDs? raburabu joe ******************************************************************** Joe Palcher jjpalcher@msn.com ICQ#4618534 ******************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 19:37:47 -0500 From: "John Adams" Subject: Re: Yearning thanks to all, ever so much, for the intrepretaions of "Yearning." i feel sure the groups opinion that yearning speaks of a homeland on earth is also Basia`s feeling. i thought there might be something more. i have been on a spiritual Journey for several years. my Journey started with a Yearning and over time i have found my Home. within the beauty of the song i found a spritual intrepretation. "a yearing for Home. (i have added the Capital H) Within the beauty of each person`s intrepretaion i found the same thing. As each person talked about finding home, i read it as Home. Homeless in Heart and Soul, no more. i am yours sincerely john adams. ps. what does the following mean? it is the last line of the song "Yearning." szla dzieweczka do laseczka do zielonego yes Michael, the differences that are all the same, are incredible, and make life so wonderful!! - -----Original Message----- From: Michael Stanley To: basia@smoe.org Date: Tuesday, January 05, 1999 5:37 PM Subject: RE: Yearning > >Ok, folks... I have been lurking about with seldom a whimper. I have >listened to the banter, and chat and whatever else we call this thing we do >(or mostly what y'all do.) I have even wondered how anyone, especially a >technology-career-bound person (Sleepless Ben) could possibly EVER find the >time to put a video-morphed-to-cd-compilation kind of thing together, and >then another... when I cant even find the time to make it through all of the >1144 messages in my "Basia" repository. > >After reading Brian's Yearning-ness, I just have to be thankful that I am >not alone in this strange world where my Basia sings so closely to my soul >sometimes. Not because I need any comforting that I am not REALLY psycho, >because... hmm I probably am. :-) or that there isnt REALLY "my" Basia >singing right to me, because... ahh, she does! > >But more that the human psyche can take something so perfect and simple and >normal as a Song or a voice and make it _not only_ something so TOTALLY >COOL! but a totally DIFFERENT COOL for every single one of us. > >Anyway... thats all. I just needed to say "hehehe... COOL!" > >Happy Monday From Texas! >Michael ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 20:35:02 EST From: JPovlock@aol.com Subject: Re: Lyrical interpretation Part II Unfortunately, many artists don't publish lyrics. Swing Out Sister, my second favorite 90's artist (behind only you know who) has only published lyrics in two of their five CD's. I don't care what Seal says, I feel that we want to hear what the artist really is singing, not what we think he is singing. Remember the old song by Creedence Clearwater Revival, where the line goes "there's a bathroom on the right". No, you dummy, it's "there's a bad moon on the rise"!! Let's not leave this stuff open to interpretation - we'll each do that when we can read the real lyrics. Also, I absolutely hate when artists print their lyrics with handwriting that looks like it came from pharmacy school, or when they print their lyrics over pictures, so that it is difficult to read. Does TSI come to mind folks?? Ok, getting off my soapbox, Your comsumer advocate, Jim P. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 20:55:47 EST From: JPovlock@aol.com Subject: Lyrical Interpretation Unfortunately, many artists don't publish lyrics. Swing Out Sister, my second favorite 90's artist (behind only you know who) has only published lyrics in only two of their five CD's. I don't care what Seal says, I feel that we want to hear what the artist really is singing, not what we think he is singing. Remember the old song by Creedence Clearwater Revival, where the line goes "there's a bathroom on the right". No, you dummy, it's "there's a bad moon on the rise"!! Let's not leave this stuff open to interpretation - we'll each do that when we can read the real lyrics. I seem to recall a band in the 70's, and I think it was Blue Oyster Cult, that put out an album with no lyrics, but if you wanted to send like a buck to them they would mail the lyrics to you. What a rip-off! Also, I absolutely hate when artists print their lyrics with handwriting that looks like it came from pharmacy school, or when they print their lyrics over pictures, so that it is difficult to read. Does TSI come to mind folks?? Ok, getting off my soapbox, Your comsumer advocate, Jim P. ------------------------------ End of basia-digest V4 #5 *************************