From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V7 #379 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Monday, October 5 1998 Volume 07 : Number 379 Today's Subjects: ----------------- "it's a fluid, it's a solid, it's a powder, it's a pill." ["Capitalism Bl] Re: Time Life (no Redbone content) [Eb ] Storefront [Tom Clark ] Re: Time Life (no Redbone content) [Capuchin ] Re: "it's a fluid, it's a solid, it's a powder, it's a pill." [M R Godwin] fwd: storefront hitchcock [Russ Reynolds ] re: Storefront Hitchcock [Russ Reynolds ] Re: "it's a fluid, it's a solid, it's a powder, it's a pill." [Ben ] Re: "it's a fluid, it's a solid, it's a powder, it's a pill." [Russ Reyno] Re: ["Capitalism Blows" ] Re: Yip [Eb ] Re: Yip [Ben ] Re: Yip [Ross Overbury ] re: Yip [Russ Reynolds ] paging Hal Brandt, paging Hal Brandt [Lobsterman ] Re: Storefront Hitchcock [james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan] Re: Yip [Capuchin ] Re: Yip [Eb ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1998 10:51:04 PDT From: "Capitalism Blows" Subject: "it's a fluid, it's a solid, it's a powder, it's a pill." can't think of any other lyrics, but he mentions him all the time. might even be in his contract. <11: The Yip! Song (3:34). Sheesh, another novelty tune. What are the Warner A&R folks up to, choosing to include a clunker like this over such a vast catalog of stronger RH compositions? Pass.> one of the very, very best robyn songs, in my opinion. though i will grant you that it's not nearly as good solo as with the band. but, for you to call it a "novelty song," eb, makes me wonder if you've ever listened to the lyrics? <(But then, I'm the weirdo who always reads reviews of movies *after* I've seen them....)> yeah, me too. for my favorite directors, anyways. i go out of my way to avoid previews, too. no way in hell has Thundering *ever* been performed without deni. what? no Red Meat? no This Modern World? you're losing it, terry! or, are you just recommending comic strips no one's likely to have heard of? is john jonik on the web? np: mr. t experience, REVENGE IS SWEET AND SO ARE YOU ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 11:00:26 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Time Life (no Redbone content) Terrence: >I was watching some infomercial about a Time-Life "Hits of the 70s" >package. Lots of Bay City Rollers, Gary Wright, etc. Not one mention of, >say, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, the Doobie Brothers, Supertramp, Led >Zeppelin or the Bee Gees. My notions of the 70s are all second-hand, but >weren't those groups the definition of "Hits of the 70s"? Well, licensing may be part of the explanation, but also it's a conceptual issue. Those compilations are designed to be collections of lightweight, fluffy AM-radio hits which are mostly forgotten but make you say "Oh yeah, THAT song!!" when you hear them again. Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin (did Zeppelin even get a song on top 40 radio, prior to In Through the Outdoor?) certainly don't fit that category, and like someone else said, Stevie, Supertramp and the Bee Gees may have been AM-radio staples, but folks would buy full CDs by those groups instead. I've seen that infomercial too. Really creeps me out, in the way that only icky '70s schlock can. :) I kinda dig the video clips of Gilbert O'Sullivan, Eric Carmen and 10cc, though. >I don't get Eb's "Chrissie Hitchcock" references. Chrissie Snow, from Three's Company. Played by Suzanne Somers. There's a standard gag on sitcoms, where a female character babbles and babbles, and everyone eventually laughs at how her silly little mind wanders and goes off-topic. Also see Edith Bunker, and more recently, whatever Ellen Degeneres' character was named. Maybe Lucy did this once or twice too? To me, Hitchspew is basically the Monty Python-informed version of the above. Simple question: For those of you who have seen the Storefront film, what songs are in the film that aren't on the CD? The CD is 64 minutes, and I assume the film is quite a bit longer than that. And I believe someone said the film contains no interview segments, so.... Eb, humming Starbuck's "Moonlight Feels Right" and shuddering quietly ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 11:03:29 -0700 From: Tom Clark Subject: Storefront I've listened to the tape five or six times now and I have to give it mixed reviews as well. First off, I find myself FF'ing over the spoken bits. And I don't think it's typical of the solo shows he's done over the past few years. Track by track: 1974 - I really like this song, albeit less now than the first time I heard it. Thundering - OK, but I guess I don't really get the appeal. I'm Only You - A classic. I've always loved the psychedelic riffing at the end. Adequetly reperesentied here. Glass Hotel - A fabulous performance. Finally sold me on this song. I Something You - Cute, but I still don't see the appeal. Yip! - I've got no problem with this being included here. Good performance. Freeze - See Yip! Alright, Yeah - Maybe I'm too accustomed to the full band versions, but this comes off too slow and a bit hollow here. Where Do You Go When You Die? - Real cool. Very Invisible Hitchcock-ian. Wind Cries Mary - I've always liked the way Ribyn did this - very sincere. Good performance here. No, I Don't Remember Guildford - Premier debut track on the album. Somber and personal... Beautiful Queen - Good representation. All in all, I was hoping for a little more. The thing I like about his shows of late is the audience interaction, of which there's none on this recording. - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 11:22:18 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: Time Life (no Redbone content) On Mon, 5 Oct 1998, Eb wrote: > Simple question: For those of you who have seen the Storefront film, what > songs are in the film that aren't on the CD? The CD is 64 minutes, and I > assume the film is quite a bit longer than that. And I believe someone said > the film contains no interview segments, so.... I will continue to praise the one, two punch of Airscape followed by Freeze in the Storefront print shown in San Francisco. I seem to recall another Eye song, but I can't think of which. And the openning monologue about Rock'n'Roll personified... "It doesn't say hello to its parents when it comes through the room... it's just THAT defiant." Working. J. ________________________________________________________ J A Brelin Capuchin ________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 19:27:14 +0100 (BST) From: M R Godwin Subject: Re: "it's a fluid, it's a solid, it's a powder, it's a pill." On Mon, 5 Oct 1998, Capitalism Blows wrote: [Re: The Yip Song] > one of the very, very best robyn songs, in my opinion. though i will > grant you that it's not nearly as good solo as with the band. but, for > you to call it a "novelty song," eb, makes me wonder if you've ever > listened to the lyrics? Absolutely - the one song which got me listening to RH again after the insipidity of PI and the moroseness of E. Has he written anything better since? Down I spiral down I spin - - Mike G. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 98 11:29:00 -0800 From: Russ Reynolds Subject: fwd: storefront hitchcock ======== Original Message ======== Anybody out there in fegmanialand fear that the STOREFRONT HITCHCOCK movie might propel Robyn into superstardom and the masses will swallow him up whole and we'll lose him forever ? Moss Elixir on Warner Bros. remember ... Next Stop Beverly Hills ??? ======== Fwd by: Russ Reynolds ======== as one who has seen the movie I can say with utmost certainty you have nothing to fear. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 98 11:29:00 -0800 From: Russ Reynolds Subject: re: Storefront Hitchcock >> THE TALKING HEAD'S???? Yes, that's what is actually written. > >MRG: Keith Waterhouse (journalist and author of 'Billy Liar' etc) has a "or, as they would call themselves, greengrocer's ". let's not forget "The Name Of This Band is Talking Heads"....It must have frustrated Byrne to no end when people inserted an extra "the" into THAT title. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1998 15:13:46 -0400 From: Ben Subject: Re: "it's a fluid, it's a solid, it's a powder, it's a pill." M R Godwin wrote: > On Mon, 5 Oct 1998, Capitalism Blows wrote: > [Re: The Yip Song] > > one of the very, very best robyn songs, in my opinion. though i will > > grant you that it's not nearly as good solo as with the band. but, for > > you to call it a "novelty song," eb, makes me wonder if you've ever > > listened to the lyrics? > > Absolutely - the one song which got me listening to RH again after the > insipidity of PI and the moroseness of E. Has he written anything better > since? Yes. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 15:21:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Terrence M Marks Subject: Re: "it's a fluid, it's a solid, it's a powder, it's a pill." > > > what? no Red Meat? no This Modern World? you're losing it, terry! > or, are you just recommending comic strips no one's likely to have heard > of? is john jonik on the web? I generally don't recommend syndicated strips. Both Red Meat and This Modern World are widely available. I do reccomend this to you, though: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Rampart/6331/red_meat.html (Milkman Dan v. Mr. T. It's entirely clean.) While I concede that Red Meat is a good comic strip, I'm not too keen on it, personally. This Modern World reminds me of Zippy the Pinhead at its most condescending. I've never been fond of it, but that may just be because I don't like the politics therein. Terrence Marks normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 12:23:39 -0700 From: Mark_Gloster@3com.com Subject: Re: Storefront Hitchcock >Well, the Feglist has been awfully sleepy lately...the below comments will >change that, I suspect? You definitely have a gift. All in all, I think dearest Ebeneezer you're being pretty generous, considering we're into October and Robyn has something in your top 20 for the year so far. >I finally listened to Storefront Hitchcock tonight, and took some notes. >The asterisked tracks are the songs that struck an emotional chord with >me...the others, not so much. I'm a little dismayed at the generous nod to >Robyn's cute, wacky side -- is this what he's gotta do to sell records >today? I hope not. I think that some of his serious side comes across as well. For me it seems that there is a slightly more sad and contemplative Robyn than even in the movie. A couple of the monologues included some real honesty about Robyn's feelings and orientation about social values and dogma, sometimes intersperced with wacky brit bits. *2: 1974 (5:00).... This one requires a few listens. I used to pass it off entirely, but now I like it. Of course, I remember 1974 pretty well, being one of the ancients, myself. 3: SPOKEN .... Sorry, LOVED "spleens a-go-go." >4: Let's Go Thundering (3:36). Deni plays violin.... I kinda like this one, in a Katrina and the Waves kinda way. I like Deni's bit too. I haven't really listened to the lyrics, but it sounds quite a lot like a good ditty for a young person's adventure flick. 5: SPOKEN (1:32). Babbles on about churches... I appreciated his real gutfelt beliefs. I don't think this was in the movie print I saw. >*7: Glass Hotel (3:33). OK, a surefire oldie. Definitely a highlight. It's one of the deeper versions I've heard him do. >9: I Something You (2:35). I really don't like >this song much. As, perhaps, a more supportive fan than yourself, I'm trying to find a nice way of saying this is probably singularly my vote for RH song I don't need to hear again. >11: The Yip! Song (3:34). Sheesh, another novelty >tune. What are the Warner A&R folks up to, choosing >to include a clunker like this over such a vast >catalog of stronger RH compositions? Pass. Just to piss off the reviewers. This is one of those things Robyn can do: give us a seemingly silly ditty about something that is desperately painful. It's a song about his dad dying. I'm hoping to be able to pull something off this well in my songwriting life and not have to lose a member of my family to make it happen. >14: SPOKEN (1:41). He introduces Tim Keegan...meat >cleaver...Oh well. I liked this part. I feel the same way about muzak as Robyn seems to. >*18: No, I Don't Remember Guildford (6:15). I guess I'm getting pretty nostalgic, but this one impressed me. I think it got to Nick even more. Maybe you have to be old farts like us to like some of this stuff. ;-) >*20: Beautiful Queen (7:20)....A nice sliding guitar >solo, and Deni's violin works well on this one >throughout. Ends with eerie psychedelic "aahs" at the >end, and then a spoken signoff to the concert. Yep. This was a very effective track. Ithinks the violin was doubled via a pitch shifter down 2 octaves. A lot of people were upset with the ME version of this song because it lacked this arrangement. I'm glad I have both. As I said after the flick, it doesn't seem to me that Robyn and Co. marketeered this movie to filch their way into the pockets of a new audience. I am, frankly, amazed at the song selection. I think it is a nice gift to the fans, it gives people a well-recorded way to experience Robyn live, it might attract a few new fans, and might allow him to be remembered better. I think I would have made other song choices, but I can make my own damn movie (that's the way I would see it from his shoes.) An aside: once I saw Stan Ridgway play and someone requested "I Wanna Be A Boss." He said, "If you put yourself a band together, you can hear it as often as you like." That was the song that killed his Geffen contract. I suppose he really didn't want to hear it for a long time afterward. I think all the performances were good, but as an audio-only recording it wasn't as good as the experience of watching the movie. Also, these between-song banterings are not as good as his best when he's really "on." Thanks for sharing your opinion. You got some guts. another aside- Say Eb, aren't you the guy who forwards D#'s posts to us? I'm not asking you to stop, but to understand the CB radio and bathroom wall implications of using this medium. Happies, - -Markg ps. re: Freedom Rock and Paper Lace. I hold "The Night Chicago Died" and "Billy Don't Be A Hero" with greater contempt than any other song or person I can right now think of. Congratulations on finding all of my prickly musical tastings with one surgical tactical nuke. Most of what was my neurological system has now disintegrated. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 15:26:09 -0400 (EDT) From: Terrence M Marks Subject: Re: Time Life (no Redbone content) > > I've seen that infomercial too. Really creeps me out, in the way that only > icky '70s schlock can. :) I kinda dig the video clips of Gilbert > O'Sullivan, Eric Carmen and 10cc, though. I'd buy those disco or 80s compilations they sell if they sold the videos instead of the CDs. Why don't they market those? Terrence Marks normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1998 15:24:50 -0400 From: Ben Subject: between song chatter: yay or nay? Without hearing the album, I can still bet I will be skipping past the spoken tracks after the first listen. Sometimes I do it on tapes as well, it seems that the between song chatting that is at every show (and Robyn is so good at) is like a joke in that once you hear it, it's not the same afterwards. So I am surprised that they decided to put so much on the CD. On the other hand I remember there was some interest in a spoken word tape tree here, so maybe there are some who like to listen to the chatter more than once? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 98 12:43:00 -0800 From: Russ Reynolds Subject: Re: "it's a fluid, it's a solid, it's a powder, it's a pill." ======== Original Message ======== M R Godwin wrote: > On Mon, 5 Oct 1998, Capitalism Blows wrote: > [Re: The Yip Song] > > one of the very, very best robyn songs, in my opinion. though i will > > grant you that it's not nearly as good solo as with the band. but, for > > you to call it a "novelty song," eb, makes me wonder if you've ever > > listened to the lyrics? > > Absolutely - the one song which got me listening to RH again after the > insipidity of PI and the moroseness of E. Has he written anything better > since? Yes. ======== Fwd by: Russ Reynolds ======== I'm not sure if that "yes" is an agreement to the thought or an answer to the question, but I'll chime in with my thoughts on the song too. I think it's one of his best. Anyone who calls that a novelty song hasn't been paying attention. I will agree that it doesn't fly as a solo acoustic piece, though. - -rUss ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1998 12:44:36 PDT From: "Capitalism Blows" Subject: Re: oh my fucking god!!! there's a "mr. t resource archive," as well as a mr. t webring!! terry, you get a gold star of the month, maybe of the fucking year! thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! shocked! shocked i am to hear such heresy coming from such a nice young man. still playing: the mr. t experience! ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 13:16:24 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Yip Calling "The Yip Song" a novelty tune is perhaps a little harsh, BUT... 1) There's really no way to know the song is about RH's father dying, without reading this in an interview. In typical Robynesque fashion, he obscures the song's specific nature by only calling his dad "this old man." This not only hides the character's identity, but gives the song a (dare I say novelty?) nursery-rhyme feel. Also, it's barely even evident that the old man died. "Septicemia always wins" and "this old man is gone" are as close as the song to gets to mentioning death, and that's not concrete enough to nail down the meaning unambiguously. Again the truth is obscured, thus robbing the song of its potential impact. Robyn is hiding behind his language yet again. Another distancing move: Robyn says he WAS sorry that the old man's gone, instead of using the present tense. 2) YOU folks may have sought out all the RH articles and interviews, but any new listener who stumbles across that song with all its "yips" and "Vera Lynn-n-nn-n-nn-n-nn-n-nns" is going to get a strong "novelty" impression. To sum up: I still don't like that song. Hey, I just heard my first Super Furry Animals cd, Fuzzy Logic. Yes! Good stuff! (Over the weekend, Aron's Records in LA had their semi-annual parking lot sale. I basically bought about 20 discs for $40, including the above. Among my other purchases were a Globe of Frogs cd for $2.99 -- I only had this one on vinyl -- and the So You Think You're in Love cd5 with "Eight Miles High" and "Watch Your Intelligence" for 75 cents. They also had a mint Respect cd for just $.99, incidentally.) Eb ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1998 16:45:45 -0400 From: Ben Subject: Re: Yip Eb wrote: > 2) YOU folks may have sought out all the RH articles and interviews, but > any new listener who stumbles across that song with all its "yips" and > "Vera Lynn-n-nn-n-nn-n-nn-n-nns" is going to get a strong "novelty" > impression. > > Yes, but think of all the great Beatles and Kinks songs that are blatant, cliched "novelty" tunes on the outside but truly deeper than that. Would you deny that a song such as "When I'm 64" is prestented in a "novelty" style, but is nevertheless brilliant? That's what is great abut "The Yip Song", it's got the goofiness mixed with death. And I think even the new listener will pick out the theme of death even if they don't know what it specifically refers to.... I did!!! So phoooey!!!! :) > > > Hey, I just heard my first Super Furry Animals cd, Fuzzy Logic. Yes! Good > stuff! (Over the weekend, Aron's Records in LA had their semi-annual > parking lot sale. I basically bought about 20 discs for $40, including the > above. Among my other purchases were a Globe of Frogs cd for $2.99 -- I > only had this one on vinyl -- and the So You Think You're in Love cd5 with > "Eight Miles High" and "Watch Your Intelligence" for 75 cents. They also > had a mint Respect cd for just $.99, incidentally.) > > Eb Careful, Eb. If you buy too many singles with rare b-sides, next thing you know you'll be collecting live tapes.... enter WEENIEISM!!! :) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 98 16:49:58 EDT From: Ross Overbury Subject: Re: Yip Eb shared his feelings with us: > > Calling "The Yip Song" a novelty tune is perhaps a little harsh, BUT... [snip] > > 2) YOU folks may have sought out all the RH articles and interviews, but > any new listener who stumbles across that song with all its "yips" and > "Vera Lynn-n-nn-n-nn-n-nn-n-nns" is going to get a strong "novelty" > impression. > Yup. I also dismissed this song as a novelty number when I first heard it. Then I read about it on this list. That allowed me to get past the yips and enjoy it. That's one thing I like about fegmaniax. - -- Ross Overbury Montreal, Quebec, Canada email: rosso@cn.ca ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 98 14:41:00 -0800 From: Russ Reynolds Subject: re: Yip >1) There's really no way to know the song is about RH's father dying, >without reading this in an interview. In typical Robynesque fashion, he >obscures the song's specific nature by only calling his dad "this old man." >This not only hides the character's identity, but gives the song a (dare I >say novelty?) nursery-rhyme feel. Also, it's barely even evident that the >old man died. "Septicemia always wins" and "this old man is gone" are as >close as the song to gets to mentioning death, and that's not concrete >enough to nail down the meaning unambiguously. Again the truth is obscured, >thus robbing the song of its potential impact. Robyn is hiding behind his >language yet again. I miss the the old days when reviewers used to read between the lines. Guys like Dylan & Lennon would have had a rough time of it if "hiding behind" their language was looked down upon. - -rUss ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 15:08:46 -0800 From: Lobsterman Subject: paging Hal Brandt, paging Hal Brandt where are you?? your isp says your mailbox is full full full, too full for a message from me!! - -jbj ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 11:32:33 +1300 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Re: Storefront Hitchcock >"digging Led Zeppelin in [something that sounds like 'Crimspee']" -- help >again? even though I've not heard the track, I'd venture that this could be Grimsby, a bleak industrial and fishing city in the east of England. >> singsong novelty tune. And it is, pretty much. Consecutive mentions of >> Lester Square in two tracks...hrm, more repetition of buzzwords? either Leicester Square, the place, or Lester Square, member of the band Monochrome Set (who also, IIRC, had an ex soft boy in their line up? Please correct if my memory has falled through another hole) >to playing guitar. At certain points, there seems to be some sort of >electronic processing on Deni's violin, so that it plays in two octaves? um, possibly an octaver? James Dignan___________________________________ You talk to me Deptmt of Psychology, Otago University As if from a distance ya zhivu v' 50 Norfolk Street And I reply. . . . . . . . . . Dunedin, New Zealand with impressions chosen from another time steam megaphone (03) 455-7807 (Brian Eno - "By this River") ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 15:51:19 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: Yip On Mon, 5 Oct 1998, Eb wrote: > 1) There's really no way to know the song is about RH's father dying, > without reading this in an interview. In typical Robynesque fashion, he > obscures the song's specific nature by only calling his dad "this old man." Well, does it matter if it's his father or just some old man? After all, as far as we're concerned, his father is just some old man we don't know... as the song says. > This not only hides the character's identity, but gives the song a (dare I > say novelty?) nursery-rhyme feel. Certainly the nursery rhyme feel was intended. But not to make a novelty and jest of his father's death (or of any of the suffering in the story), but to emphasise the epic and universal nature of the theme. Ring Around The Rosie, anyone? Three Billy Goats Gruff? Nursery rhymes contain dark truth. > Also, it's barely even evident that the > old man died. "Septicemia always wins" and "this old man is gone" are as > close as the song to gets to mentioning death, and that's not concrete > enough to nail down the meaning unambiguously. Again the truth is obscured, > thus robbing the song of its potential impact. Robyn is hiding behind his > language yet again. > Another distancing move: Robyn says he WAS sorry that the old man's gone, > instead of using the present tense. I don't believe these are distancing moves to bring himself away from the subject but to bring his audience closer. For one, I don't think a song is more effective or impacting if it lays everything out for you explicitly. I knew the song was about death and the trouble and absurdity of lingering death protracted by surgery and hospital stays long before I realized it was about his father in particular (even though the first time I heard this song was the day after his father died and he did mention the event). I don't need everything spelled out. I'm a smart kid and listen intently. Playing with words doesn't obscure truth, it enhances meaning. You can say so much more metaphorically and impressionistically than you can if you have to give all the straightforward details on top of the feelings and circumstance. Second, we discussed this song in detail on the lyric list on more than one ocassion and eddie brought forward a pre-Respect version of the song with a much better final verse. Instead of "This old man, he was gone. He was gone and I was sorry." the line reads "This old man, he was gone. he was roses, ash, and holly." This line is more final and represents the death more directly and vividly. I'm not sure who brought forward the idea, but I'm of the opinion that the line, written while his father was dying in an effort to accept the death as a fact of life, was replaced after the actual event of his father's death because the original was TOO final and painful and difficult to accept. I don't consider that hiding behind words. While an artist's life is the inspiration for her art, it need not be subjected to the scrutiny of her intended insights. > 2) YOU folks may have sought out all the RH articles and interviews, but > any new listener who stumbles across that song with all its "yips" and > "Vera Lynn-n-nn-n-nn-n-nn-n-nns" is going to get a strong "novelty" > impression. Well, in two different versions of Storefront Hitchcock, he introduces the thing by saying "It's about dying from cancer" or something similar. Is this not on the disc you have? Also, in the film, there's a nice little visual displaying the name of Raymond Hitchcock and his lifespan. I think that's all it takes to clue in most folks. Please don't serve meanings to me. And please don't expect anything you do to impact me emotionally. You do your thing and I'll interpret it (or just ignore it) as I please. Je. ________________________________________________________ J A Brelin Capuchin ________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 16:42:30 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Yip Capuchin: >Well, does it matter if it's his father or just some old man? After all, >as far as we're concerned, his father is just some old man we don't >know... as the song says. Well, everyone is saying that the song is so touching because it's about his father. If it was just about any old man dying, it wouldn't be perceived as so affecting and personal. >Certainly the nursery rhyme feel was intended. But not to make a novelty >and jest of his father's death (or of any of the suffering in the story), >but to emphasise the epic and universal nature of the theme. Ring Around >The Rosie, anyone? Three Billy Goats Gruff? Nursery rhymes contain dark >truth. You're rrreaching. >I'm not sure who brought forward the >idea, but I'm of the opinion that the line, written while his father was >dying in an effort to accept the death as a fact of life, was replaced >after the actual event of his father's death because the original was TOO >final and painful and difficult to accept. OK, so he soft-pedalled the content. Doesn't win any points with me. >Well, in two different versions of Storefront Hitchcock, he introduces the >thing by saying "It's about dying from cancer" or something similar. Is >this not on the disc you have? Also, in the film, there's a nice little >visual displaying the name of Raymond Hitchcock and his lifespan. I think >that's all it takes to clue in most folks. Exactly. Most folks need to go outside the song to understand it, and the filmmakers realized this. The song wasn't enough -- visual content had to be added. (No, the CD doesn't include any talk about dying of cancer.) Eb ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V7 #379 *******************************