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May 14, 2007

Numerology Counterpoint: Triskaidekaphobia

So, admittedly, you're going to have to be willing to follow me through some flaming hoops of logic here. Pixies or Big Star would be tough customers for any number, obviously, and to displace them for a track that so blatantly flaunts the bi-laws of this enterprise would seem a quixotic undertaking at best. There are no lyrics, no enunciation of the key integer, and what would seem to be a tenuously arbitrary connection to the numeric value. In his official wisdom Prof. Klein dismissed my chosen usurper as unfortunately beneath consideration. But this is no ordinary number we're dealing with here. If ever a number had an ingrained cultural meaning understandable to all, it's thirteen. If the point of this series is to find the ultimate musical expression of every number there is, shouldn't the intrinsic meaning of said numbers be a consideration in determining between strong contenders? Well?

So, let's forget the rules for a second and consider, shall we?

The common folklore is that number thirteen gained it's cursed status when Judas pulled up the thirteenth chair at the last supper. Of course, the bad 13 mojo isn't confined solely to the Christian world, as even those wacky Norsemen proclaimed their murderous trickster god Loki (known by Marvel Comics readers for his golden helmet and tight green tights) as the thirteenth deity. But it's more prevalent than that. Some trace the fear of thirteen to general calendar mistrust. The Gregorian and Islamic traditions for example, with their twelve month standard, turned up suspicious noses at the crunchier, slightly pagan, 13 month lunisolar version. It's not a done deal that we can pin any of this on orthodox religion at all, though. Apparently there are references to general 13 related heeby jeebies in Hammurabi's Mesopotamian Code circa 1760 BC. Those are only the historical explanations. We're ignoring the creepier tidbits, such as the uniformly thirteen lettered names of Theodore Bundy, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Jack the Ripper. We also haven't even dipped a toe in the somewhat mysterious origins of the ill-ease over Friday the 13th, birthdate of evil folk such as Fidel Castro, Margaret Thatcher, the Olson Twins, and Fantastic Four director Tim Story. 13 has an unsettling power that crosses cultural and historical lines, making otherwise practical folk like high rise architects ban all mention just to be safe. There's just this unreasonable, inarticulate dread there.

So how do our top contenders look in this light? Big Star's "Thirteen" is more appropriately described as a perfect distillation of thirteen the age rather than thirteen the number. This isn't such a problem for numbers like sixteen, seventeen, or twenty-one, whose cultural identity is more firmly based on their correlation to an age, but here the stand alone meaning's gotta be factored. While there's clearly a boatload of dread surrounding the junior high years, this admittedly gorgeous song about chatting up girls and listening to the Rolling Stones is a bit too romantic in its details to express any sort of centuries old, unspoken evil. Pixies' "No. 13 Baby" (the eventual victor) has a bit of mean streak, sure. But like many of Black Francis' lyrical turns, the death and darkness is all mixed up in sex. His tattooed lust object may very well be inspiring some strong feeling, but unreasonable dread isn't it.

Which brings us finally to the point. There may not be a simpler, better example of pure, non-logical dread in music than in John Carpenter's 1976 soundtrack for his film, Assault on Precinct 13. First, to dismiss Klein's point that this song's 13 relationship is sullied because the film's besieged police station actual bears the number 9. Well, Carpenter's no dummy. As odd as it is that the movie's specifics change the title's location, at least he understands the inherent power. He gets that 13, when included in a title, is going to predispose audiences to a bit of nervous tension. For a film that uses techniques and imagery from zombie films morphed into an urban police thriller (and hopefully that brief description lengthened a few NetFlix queues out there) a name prominently featuring the less spooky numeral was not going to cut it.

Enhancing Carpenter's cagey film making smarts, it's the film's score that really ratchets up the suspense. The main title music (which repeats in different variations throughout the movie as the faceless street gang keeps bearing down) is basically just one repeated synth line rumbling through on a repeated loop. Carpenter's time and money restraints on recording led to the simplicity and permeating blood red fuzz. The director has said that he simplified Lalo Schifrin's Dirty Harry theme, which was in turn a simplified version of Led Zeppelin's "the Immigrant Song". Well, the distillation from complexity to bare essentials plays in its favor. Without any words to guide us, the listener is immediately affronted by a progression of notes that can't be stopped or reasoned with. A refrain that's coming to get you, no matter what. It's the things that go bump in the night, pumped directly from your speakers. As such, it's the perfect thirteen song. It may not make sense when held to the strictest letter of the law, but that's sort of the point. It's got nothing to do with straightforward logic.

This digit goes deeper than that.

John Carpenter - "Assault on Precinct 13 (Main Title)"

// John Carpenter - Assault on Precinct 13 Original Soundtrack - buy

Note: Although it was re-released in 2004, a quick look at the untamed wilderness of Amazon's used market tells us that scarcity has already driven prices for the reissue up to the 80 dollar range. Easy come, easy go.

Numerology is our pal Dave's ill advised quest to find the definitive song for every number from one to a hundred. He'll probably coast on teen angst for awhile, but there are rough times ahead.

Previously: No. 1, 2-4, 5-7, 7 (counterpoint), 8, 9, 10/11, 12/13

Posted by Jeff Klingman at May 14, 2007 01:15 AM

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Posted by: david at May 14, 2007 11:33 AM

Posted by: Randall Monty at May 14, 2007 01:14 PM

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