From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V12 #304 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 Tuesday, February 5 2013 Volume 12 : Number 304 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] "Pointlessness" [Chris Foxwell ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2013 10:47:20 +0300 From: Chris Foxwell Subject: [RS] "Pointlessness" On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 10:49 PM, Vanessa Wills wrote: > > Chris Foxwell pointed out a few years back that Richard is experimenting > with more abstract lyrics that do not have a "point", moving more towards > "descriptive" rather than "narrative" songwriting ( > http://www.smoe.org/lists/shindell-list/v09.n211). "Mavis" and "Ants" > both, > quite arguably, represent moves toward that more "descriptive" style. ... > Impressive memory! Or impressive archive-scouring skills. Take your pick... > Is it that we won't hold "pointlessness" against a song? Is it that we like > "Clara" *in spite* of its "pointlessness" (I'm pretty sure the > "pointlessness" of "Clara" is an integral part of what I like about it)? Do > we tend to be less enamored of "Mavis" and "Ants" because we perceive them > as "pointless" or is it for some other reason? Was Richard right when he > said melody and chord-progression mattered, but lyrics, not so much? > Excellent musings. Looking back over my list of votes, I'm seeing that "pointlessness" tends to increase rather than decrease my attraction to a song. ...or, well, shall we say "interesting pointlessness". Some (*cough*Ron) have wondered how anyone could possibly choose Clara over Last Fare, and I think that for me, the curious, pointless whimsy of the former wins out over the straightforward narrative of the latter -- no matter how poignant or well-constructed that narrative is. (And Last Fare surely qualifies as both.) Last Fare is a beautiful song, but it doesn't really make me *wonder*, you know? It makes me reflect, it makes me appreciate, it captures things beautifully, and it stirs my emotions, but it doesn't really stir my *imagination*. Clara, for (because of?) all its pointlessness, sends my mind whirling down trackless European hills along with the hapless traveler and that curious, curious mule. (Naturally, of course, whimsy/pointlessness isn't the only factor going on there. I get a big smile on my face just thinking about the soft percussion and light, meandering guitar.) Similarly, perhaps I found the choice of Mavis vs. Parasol Ants difficult because they can both be viewed as pointless, though the former definitely contains a narrative. My choice of the former over the latter reflects, I think, the fact that it represents the best of both worlds: a pointless/ambiguous narrative. Though, as I remarked on my ballot, I could easily have voted the other way. Chris - -- "We were born in a dark age out of due time (for us). But there is this comfort: otherwise we should not know, or so much love, what we do love. I imagine the fish out of water is the only fish to have an inkling of water." --J.R.R. Tolkien ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V12 #304 ************************************