Fegmaniax Digest Volume 4 Number 79 Send posts to fegmaniax@ecto.org Send subscribe/unsubscribe commands to majordomo@ecto.org Send comments, etc. to the listowner at owner-fegmaniax@ecto.org FegMANIAX! Web Page: http://remus.rutgers.edu/~woj/fegmaniax/ Archives are available at http://archive.uwp.edu/pub/music/lists/fegmaniax/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Topics: ------- ------- Working this thing... one long pair of eyes Re: Working this thing... Re: Robyn Responds....... Re: Working this thing... Why are we Fegs? electric "Globe of Frogs" Re: Working this thing... Re: Why are we Fegs? Re: Working this thing... FSH songs on new album q: are we not fegs? RE: Working this thing... Follow the gourd! ------------------------------ From: RxBroome@aol.com Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 01:28:25 -0400 Subject: Working this thing... Am I alone in having always assumed that the "thing" of "How Do You Work This..." is the same "thing" Robyn implores us to point at Gran? Maybe it's just because, in HDYWTT, Robyn's so concerned about making it point directly, and not into the chicken coop. Anyway, I think of both "things" as either instruments of euthanasia (gun, long distance injector, or remote control of life) or sort of "revivifiers" with dangerous side effects... like providers of euphoria-inducing, but ultimately destructive drugs or illusory states. I'm kind of interested in a thread of "What songs has Robyn swiped from?", but it would be infinite! The lyrical swipes are always self-conscious and usually include a twist-- eg "All you need is love, but all you get is a frame" (sic-- another interesting online variation would be "a flame"), or "Everybody must get stoned", or my personal favorite, "Hear My Brane". Musically, I think I hear more stylistic nods than actual lifts; as Susan said, there are only so many chords and so many ways to arrange them. (She's right, dammit!) For that reason, people who have probably never heard Robyn seem to have ripped HIM off-- last year, lounging poolside at Las Vegas's Luxor, my friend Charlie and I heard a song by some unknown Hootie-like band that featured what we both instantly recognized as the "Flesh No. 1" riff. But it was too banal to be actually related. Robyn likes Tanya Donnelly?!? That's interesting. I wonder what he makes of Tanya's stepsister, Kristin Hersh? For my money, everything that's "original" about Tanya's writing is utterly derivative of Kristin, her former bandmate in Throwing Muses-- although Tanya's otherwise a perfectly serviceable writer of mildly twisted pop tunes. I can see why Robyn would prefer Tanya, as she's a little "quirkier" and more "whimsical" than Kristin, and he might find Kristin (as may people do) a little pretentious or over-serious. To me, though, Kristin is beautiful, terrible force of nature, an artist of comparable stature to Robyn himself, and all the other songwriting demigods we regularly invoke (we should have a shorthand for dylanlennonbarrett, as often as they're mentioned in trinity on this list). Tanya Donnelly is merely the best (by far) in the crowd of little-girl-voiced writers fronting confectionary power-pop bands. IMHfrigginO. Rex ------------------------------ From: savinien@ea.oac.uci.edu Subject: one long pair of eyes Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 03:53:13 -0700 i most likely way off on this one, but i was thinking about the rhyming slang in "kingdom of love" (about the "butcher's") and was wondering if there's anything close to that in "one long pair of eyes" (in the line about "tattered rags that hangs on nails"). is there something going on there, did i mishear the lyrics, or is it just bad grammar? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 09:05:25 -0400 From: big ox laughing Subject: Re: Working this thing... Also sprach RxBroome@aol.com: >Am I alone in having always assumed that the "thing" of "How Do You Work >This..." is the same "thing" Robyn implores us to point at Gran? you're alone. maybe i'm a prevert (well, maybe maybe), but it seems pretty clear that the thing in "how do you work this thing?" is some sort of sexual device. "it must reinflate when you use it, so you can have yourself another go." a-yup, indeed. >eg "All you need is love, but all you get is a frame" actually, in the virtual interview, robyn confirms that the lyric is "afraid", not "a frame". both make sense, and i'm a bit disappointed that it's not the more intriguing "frame", but hey. >For my money, everything that's >"original" about Tanya's writing is utterly derivative of Kristin, i disagree! they are very different songwriters. kristin hersh writes denser, more twisted songs, while tanya's are just plain pop gems. *very* different and hardly derivative. get thee to a cd player and listen to _the real ramona_ and compare and contrast "hooks in her head" and "not too soon". i expect an essay by monday. >To me, though, Kristin is beautiful, terrible force of nature, >an artist of comparable stature to Robyn himself, and all the other this i can not deny. with the exception of _red heaven_, every album by throwing muses or kristin solo has been profoundly wonderful. > Tanya Donnelly is merely the best (by far) in the crowd of >little-girl-voiced writers fronting confectionary power-pop bands. nor will i deny this, but i, apparently, maintain a higher opinion of power-pop than you do. woj ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 14:35:03 GMT From: Rob Collingwood Subject: Re: Robyn Responds....... In his message Bayard writes: > > 13. Who is the female you most admire? Why? > > Women have more shit to contend with in this world than > men, so are generally more admirable. Two that spring > to my mind are Germanine Green and my mother, Joyce. ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ Should that be Germaine Greer? Author of The Female Eunuch. Ex-columnist of the Guardian, sacked/resigned for writing something controversial/nasty about another, female, Guardian columnist. Thanks to Bayard for getting all that together and typing it in. ObHitchcock -Does anyone know where I can get hold of 'Queen Elvis' in the UK. I've tried second-hand cd shops and record fairs, but no joy yet. Tho' I did get 'Rout Of The Clones' and 'Invisible History' last week. -- Rob Collingwood ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 11:11:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Terry Marks Subject: Re: Working this thing... > usually include a twist-- eg "All you need is love, but all you get is a > frame" (sic-- another interesting online variation would be "a flame"), or According to Robyn, it's "All you need is love, but all you get is afraid" Terry ------------------------------ From: RxBroome@aol.com Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 13:20:37 -0400 Subject: Why are we Fegs? This isn't a deep question, and it's probably been addressed before, but... None of my dictionaries offer a definition for "feg", much less a reason why anyone would experience a mania for one. The word never appears in Robyn's lyrics, either. What gives? It evokes both "fez" and "fig", both of which suggest Northern Africa in the same way that the monicker "the Egyptians" does. Any connection? Rex ------------------------------ From: Alpacaprod@aol.com Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 13:33:08 -0400 Subject: electric "Globe of Frogs" Thanks for the response to our inquiry. We thought it might have been the flip side of "Balloon Man", but we've never seen a copy on cd, much less another copy on vinyl. Other than Mrs. Wafflehead, does anyone know where else we might look or write for a copy of this track? Vinyl, cassette, or cd--any format would be exciting. Great stuff that interview! --Andy and Jenni ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Working this thing... Date: Sat, 27 Apr 96 11:48:40 -0700 From: Tom Clark OK, Major revelation time. Here's my theory, Dennis. The theory which is mine. "How Do You Work This Thing" is a story about our hero relieving himself of his manly pressures. Apparently his female companion is "out of commission" ("Who's been feeding tomatoes to the cat?"), so he his left to pleasure himself. Yet, poor Robyn is unfamiliar with the art of self love. Finally, he gets it right, but is shocked at the outcome (excuse the pun): "How do you turn it off quick? It's spraying your feet and it's spraying my face. And it's making the customers sick!" Please discuss. -tc ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 10:52:56 -0800 (AKDT) From: Brett Cooper Subject: Re: Why are we Fegs? I think that "Feg" doesn't really have a meaning, other than it sounds very Robynesque. It sounds like something that he and his unique fans would come up with. I like it. I've been intrigued by this name since I first joined the Sandra & Trudy fan club some eight years ago! Brett _______________________________________________ "...And I laughed to myself at the men and the ladies, who never conceived of us Billion Dollar Babies..." -Alice Cooper, "Generation Landslide" _______________________________________________ ------------------------------ From: Hedblade@aol.com Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 20:30:00 -0400 Subject: Re: Working this thing... >(we should have a shorthand for >dylanlennonbarrett, as often as they're mentioned in trinity >on this list). It certainly isn't short hand, but given the choice of "trinity" I couldn't help but think "The Father (Dylan), The Son (Lennon) and The Holy Ghost (Barrett)" is eerily appropriate. Would FSH do, or is it simply too contrived and obscure? Waiting for the flames, Jay ------------------------------ From: rooneya@pilot.msu.edu Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 23:05:43 +0000 Subject: FSH >It certainly isn't short hand, but given the choice of "trinity" I >couldn't help but think "The Father (Dylan), The Son (Lennon) and The >Holy Ghost (Barrett)" is eerily appropriate. Would FSH do, or is it >simply too contrived and obscure? FSH would do nicely; FISH would be nicer, but Lennon was anything but an Immaculate Son. In any case, I think that you have embarked upon solid support for the One True reason why a fish became a symbol of Christianity....albeit you still need to prove that Israel was an English speaking nation before English was ever a language...hmm...can you do it in a song format and use the word "fnarple?" Chairs, - A & W ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Apr 1996 01:33:07 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric R Neffke Subject: songs on new album I don't know if anyone here will know this, or even care. But there was a song that RH played during an appearance on Toronto radio station CFNY about 2 years ago called "This is how it feels," which at the time, he announced as a new song. Does anybody know if this will be on the album, or if he's released it anywhere else? Because it's a really good song and I've almost worn out my tape of the song that I taped off the radio. (He also did "Balloon Man" but I couldn't find a tape in time to get that one.) Eric N. ************************ "Sometimes when I'm lonely, baby then I'm only you." -Robyn Hitchcock ************************ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Apr 1996 11:51:17 -0400 (EDT) From: Bayard Subject: q: are we not fegs? about 6 months ago there was a rash of personal postings where we described ourselves. I believe I have most of them. does anyone have all of them? someone was going to collect them all and give them to woj for the fegpage. if they no longer are going to do this, I can do it... i need to clean out my inbox anyway... as you can well imagine if it has messages dating back to october in it... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Apr 96 21:10:51 UT From: "Kenneth Johnson" Subject: RE: Working this thing... so what would that make robyn? peter? thomas aquinas? buddha? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Apr 1996 00:43:32 -0400 (EDT) From: James Isaacs Subject: Follow the gourd! I hate to be the separatist, but I do not think there is a trinity, but rather a tetrarchy, including Captain Beefheart in the fold. I own no Lennon albums, no Dylan albums, one Barrett album (and some Floyd), but I have six Beefheart albums. Just one reporter's opinion. James (the other one) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End of this Fegmaniax Digest.