From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V3 #182 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Thursday, June 7 2001 Volume 03 : Number 182 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] duncan and sotw? [jcolb ] [RS] SOTW: The Grocer's Broom [Rongrittz@aol.com] Re: [RS] SOTW: The Grocer's Broom [TRNMT@aol.com] [RS] Paul Simon and tapes worn out ["Norman A. Johnson" ] [RS] Richard's lines/ Mary M. thoughts ["Norman A. Johnson" Subject: [RS] duncan and sotw? > I LOVE Duncan--that and My Little Town are probably my two faves of Mr. Simon. > It is indeed; "weathergene" reminded me of that. I think I wore out my vinyl copy of live rhymin' years ago (obviously) listening to that one. I'm not as enamored of paul's newer lyrics in general as I am of the older stuff, but to me this was one of the finest things he ever did. Since all's quiet on the concert front, anyone up for a new song of the week? jim colbert ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2001 21:03:11 EDT From: Rongrittz@aol.com Subject: [RS] SOTW: The Grocer's Broom >> I think I wore out my vinyl copy of live rhymin' years ago (obviously) listening to that one. << So, like, here's a question. Has anyone ACTUALLY ever "worn out a record?" Just wondering. ;-) >> Since all's quiet on the concert front, anyone up for a new song of the week? << Seems a lot of the action is taking place over on the Dave & Tracy list, thanks to the release of "Drum Hat Buddha", but I'm game. "The Grocer's Broom" is a song that I don't believe we ever covered in a previous SOTW, and it's a song we've just never discussed here much at all, actually. I recall hearing it shortly after he'd written it, at the Turning Point in May of '99 (RonD and sharon were there . . . they remember), and was incredibly moved by how world-weary he was able to make the narrator sound. The song's always gotten pretty lost for me on SNP, but I gave it a few good long listens today, and I absolutely think this is one of Richard's finest character pieces . . . one of those songs that just seems to want to be a short film. I keep seeing Anthony Quinn as the grocer. Dignified, having seen it all, but knowing that the time has come to pack it in. I've never quite understood the significance of the "five" . . . "five hundred," "five thousand," "five million" . . . anyone? And has Richard ever written a better line than "Where silence sits playing her flute"? RG THE GROCER'S BROOM The grocer's broom, back and forth Glides across the worn wooden floor He stirs the dust of the day Counts the change before closing the drawer Thirty years out the door When the landlord wanted five hundred more Some stop by the store Just to see if he's doing ok It's a crime, it's a shame This old neighborhood won't be the same You could take a lazy cruise Over five thousand fathoms of blue To pass those idle days I s'pose I've worked enough for one life anyway I've earned these idle days He shuts the light, says goodnight Makes his way up the wide boulevard Stops to talk, fare thee well Take good care, it's a beautiful night High above, a million stars The city blocks feel like five million more Than five hundred yards He climbs the stoop, finds the key And passes into the dark living room He sees the old sunken chair Where silence sits playing her flute He finds the tune, hums along She will teach him all her five hundred songs They'll pass those idle days I suppose I've worked enough for one life anyway I've earned these idle days ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2001 22:39:48 EDT From: TRNMT@aol.com Subject: Re: [RS] SOTW: The Grocer's Broom Good choice, Ron. It's such a moving song; as some of us are aging (well, I hope), it hits closer to home. For me, in my work, I see businesses come and go regularly; it's the ones that have been there forever - or even the ones that have been there for more than five years - that get you when they decide to close. Sometimes it's the tax man who closes you; sometimes it's the > > > > The song's always gotten pretty lost for me on SNP, but I gave it a few > good > long listens today, and I absolutely think this is one of Richard's finest > character pieces . . . one of those songs that just seems to want to be a > short film. I keep seeing Anthony Quinn as the grocer. Dignified, having > seen it all, but knowing that the time has come to pack it in. > Ron, you're getting sentimental with AQ's passing, though it would be a good choice in another life. Me, I see someone not as old, maybe late fifties,early sixties who is thinking he's too young to be forced into retirement. I dunno ... Richard Dreyfuss (that was random...) Harrison Ford ... > I've never quite understood the significance of the "five" . . . "five > hundred," "five thousand," "five million" . . . anyone? I seem to remember readomg RS commenting simply on the repetition of five (in whatever denomination). > > And has Richard ever written a better line than "Where silence sits playing > her flute"? Playing a tune for nowhere? NT ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 23:16:56 -0400 From: "Norman A. Johnson" Subject: [RS] Paul Simon and tapes worn out I've been a fan of Paul Simon for a long, long time. Not as long as RonG has been playing the guitar but longer than some of this list have been alive. Duncan's one of his best but my fav. PS song is probably "American Tune". I've worn out plenty of cassette tapes including PS's Greatest Hits. Norman ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 01:24:00 -0400 (EDT) From: vcwills@Princeton.EDU (Vanessa Christina Wills) Subject: Re: [RS] SOTW: The Grocers Broom Rongrittz@aol.com wrote: >So, like, here's a question. Has anyone ACTUALLY ever "worn out a record?" >Just wondering. ;-) Not I. But I _have_ worn out a CD--my (first) copy of Duncan Sheik's eponymous debut. Actually, I more burnt a couple serious laser grooves into it than wore it out. And if any of you are familiar with the Princeton Record Exchange, you know that buying a _second_ copy of "Duncan Sheik" there is something of an exercise in self-confidence and the maintenance of personal dignity. It's a good album! hmmph! >I've never quite understood the significance of the "five" . . . "five >hundred," "five thousand," "five million" . . . anyone? I think someone quoted bits from an interview where Richard said that the "five" is repeated only because he thought it sounded good to repeat that number and get a kind of rhythm going that way. I don't buy it--there's gotta be a cat somewhere just yearning to be let out of the proverbial bag. >And has Richard ever written a better line than "Where silence sits playing her flute"? My word, Ron, Yes! He has! First of all, that whole verse always bugs me because it feels like recycling "A Tune for Nowhere," rather than just revisiting it. I'm thinking, "Haven't I heard this song before?" Richard has such winners as "I am the string pulled by the sure hand, animating what was still." Now, few, if any, have written better lines than _that_, including Richard. That line evokes an image and a metaphor that illustrates the courier perfectly. Not the old, worn, facile image of the puppet--but rather, the string, itself. What does "where silence sits playing her flute" mean? I don't mean to be overly literalistic and block-headed about it--I just feel like that line scans well and doesn't do much more. At least, it doesn't do much for me. Any other takes on that? My favorite part of the SNP version is "It's a crime, it's a shame, this old neighborhood won't be the same," because I detect a faint twinge of irony there. As if this is the grocer echoing the empty words of his neighbors and customers. A lot of good their condolences will do him, after all. Of course, that could be my imagination, but, hey--I like it. :-) Peace, Love, and Mischief, Vanessa ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 01:46:31 -0400 From: Jeff Gilson Subject: Re: [RS] SOTW: The Grocer's Broom RonG wrote: > >> I think I wore out my vinyl copy of live rhymin' years ago (obviously) >listening to that one. << > >So, like, here's a question. Has anyone ACTUALLY ever "worn out a record?" >Just wondering. ;-) Yes. The Muppet Movie Soundtrack. There are several songs that won't play on the copy that my parents have. The copy I just bought should play fine, except I don't currently have a turntable. And blast it all, it's not available on CD. jeff. - -- Defied I'm tongue tied when I try to explain how I feel so foreign all blushed with emotion and rough terminology laced up with language o lest you forget me --Susan McKeown - -- writing by osmosis http://www.onefreeradical.com/osmosis/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 01:40:44 -0400 From: "Norman A. Johnson" Subject: [RS] Richard's lines/ Mary M. thoughts RG: >>And has Richard ever written a better line than "Where silence sits playing her flute"? << Yes. The line Vanessa mentioned plus several more... "So, Christmas was as blue for you as it was for me. All those angels trumpheting their ecstasy.... And your husband has accepted the parish in Greenland I met him drowning his vows at the bar" The last one in particular gets me... and as someone (Pat?) once pointed out those vows could be his marriage vows or his vows as a minister. There are some great, great lines from this verse of "The Next Best Western" "Did he who made the lamb Put the tremble in the hand That reaches out to take my quarter? I look him in the eye But there isn't any time Just time enough to pass the tender The highway takes its toll...." The allusion to Blake and all of those double and triple meanings. Poetry in prose! And below are some of the most tender lines Richard has ever written: "But I remember nights we spent Whispering our creed Our rituals, our sacrament The stars our canopy And there beneath an olive tree We'd offer up our plea God's creation innocent His arms surrounding me" You know, until just now, I never caught the connection between plea and innocent--- and what exactly is God's creation? It could be Jesus or Mary herself, professing her own innocence but I think it's all of God's creation. The whole thing. They are pleading innocent not for themselves but all of God's creation. Norman > >My word, Ron, Yes! He has! First of all, that whole verse always bugs me >because it feels like recycling "A Tune for Nowhere," rather than just >revisiting it. I'm thinking, "Haven't I heard this song before?" > >Richard has such winners as "I am the string pulled by the sure hand, >animating what was still." Now, few, if any, have written better lines than >_that_, including Richard. That line evokes an image and a metaphor that >illustrates the courier perfectly. Not the old, worn, facile image of the >puppet--but rather, the string, itself. > >What does "where silence sits playing her flute" mean? I don't mean to be >overly literalistic and block-headed about it--I just feel like that line >scans well and doesn't do much more. At least, it doesn't do much for me. >Any other takes on that? > >My favorite part of the SNP version is "It's a crime, it's a shame, this >old neighborhood won't be the same," because I detect a faint twinge of >irony there. As if this is the grocer echoing the empty words of his >neighbors and customers. A lot of good their condolences will do him, after >all. > >Of course, that could be my imagination, but, hey--I like it. :-) > >Peace, Love, and Mischief, >Vanessa ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V3 #182 ***********************************