« King Solomon | Main | Emms, I know math »
June 11, 2007
Word Association: Two for the price of one
To Monty: Favorite Song Inspired By a Work of Literature
Cards on the table: I was more than anxiously awaiting my turn in this little free association game, but when Koren or John or whoever is actually the brains of the operation soft-tossed “Favorite Song Inspired by a Work of Literature” into my wheelhouse I immediately froze up. The primary thing I could come up with was the embarrassed feeling that I should have an answer for that question permanently in the queue. Fortunately for me, the aforementioned pitching duo added that generous word “favorite” to the offer, meaning that in my “take everything literally approach”, I really can’t get this one wrong.
Although I haven’t done the proper legwork in this regards, but I’d be willing to wager that nearly every major literary work “inspired’ some song or another. Some more literally than others: “The Battle of Evermore” by Led Zeppelin comes immediately to mind. And there’s a whole ‘nother can of worms if you want to include Christian rock, which I suppose technically does apply. (But the only ones I considered from that genre would be Pedro the Lion’s excellent pair of “Of Minor Prophets and their Prostitute Wives” and “Secret of the Easy Yoke”.) My initial inclination was to take Ray Charles’s version of “Amazing Grace”, which is certainly an excellent rendition, but I think that’s sort of a cop-out. (Especially since that song sounds so much better when sung to the tune of “the Theme from Gilligan’s Island”.)
No, no, let’s keep this in the rock ‘n roll stratosphere. Canadian progsters Rush went so far as to name a song after one of America’s greatest literary sidekicks, but “Tom Sawyer” isn’t really about the book at all, ‘cept for a few mentions of the titular character. Alas it were called “Huckleberry Finn”, which is by far the superior novel, maybe it would stand a chance. I can similarly eliminate “Animal Farm” by the Kinks and “One” by Metallica. Neither of which are actually about the books, it's the video for the latter keeps its aim on Dalton Trumbo’s phenomenal Johnny Got His Gun. And besides, if I wanted to go for a stretch, I could take the Zombie’s the Odyssey and the Oracle in its entirety.
I am also disinclined to choose the Cure’s first single, “Killing an Arab”, as it comes in a distant third behind The Stranger and the controversy surrounding “Killing an Arab” on my scale of favoritism. Elefant’s “Lolita” isn’t worth mentioning, other than to point out that the Police did a lot better job of name-dropping Nabokov on “Don't Stand So Close to Me” (sorta). I could probably construct an entire playlist of the Decemberists’ songs, but none of the directly literary-inspired (“Billy Liar”, “Song for Myla Goldberg”) come from books that truly stick out in my mind. And it’s just disappointing that Green Day have written the best The Catcher in the Rye song, although Belle & Sebastian do mention it, and Lisa Loeb was cool enough to name her entire backing band after a lesser known Salinger book.
Fulfilling my MS contractual obligation to mention The Velvet Underground, “Venus in Furs” is a splendid if not eerie cut, but I haven’t actually read the novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, I therefore cannot in good conscience give it favorite status. A similar fate befalls “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones, never Guns ‘n Roses, as I, to my memory, have never even seen an actual, physical copy of The Master and Margarita. Recently, there has been an under the table push involving the exchanging of much money and diamonds for me to choose David Bowie’s “1984”, but there’s too much disco-ish theatricality to it, so out it goes
All of the above-mentioned songs fall into the “almost” category. Either I really like the song but not the book, or I love the novel yet it is attached to a song that is, in my opinion, sub-par. In giving my answer, I wanted the kind of track that meets its inspiration in both impact and application. And with that, I came up with a tie.
The relationship between Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and Anne Frank’s the Diary of a Young Girl has been overly documented, but if not for “Holland, 1945” and “Ghost”, I’d be unwilling to acquiesce to that claim. These two are the only tracks on the album that make certain, meaningful mentions of the specifics of the story, disjointedly framing the young girl’s life, “And she was born in a bottle rocket 1929” and “But then they buried her alive / one year in 1945”. The other, circus freak components have little, if anything at all, to do with the Anne Frank narrative.
Neutral Milk Hotel - "Holland, 1945"
I suppose Jeff Mangum could have been writing about a historical event, but I’m going to hide behind the nearly irrefutable shield that if not for the publication of Anne Frank’s diary, none of us would know that part of the story anyway. And for those of you that doubt the literary chops of Anne Frank, I urge you to go back to the source, give the text a chance outside the context of a fifth grade language arts classroom. It is extremely well written, especially when you consider the duress the author was under, such as the Nazi bombing of Amsterdam, at the time of writing, and the fact that it was, you know, written by a fourteen year-old.
Sure, there are some questions as to the exact translation of the text, as Anne’s father likely eliminated some of the more personal and accusatory sections of the diary, but one thing Otto Frank did not touch is the language, (secondary translations show us this) which comes across with a combined feeling of innocence and maturity, not just in sentiment but also in flat out skill, that has never been duplicated in the literary world. And that complex binary is the primary strength that Mangum manages to capture in his songs. While there are certainly some thematic consistencies between the music and the book, it is the emotive similarities, which I imagine are more difficult to mimic, that really connect the music to its inspiring text. In spite of overlaying themes of death, loss and fear, there is a bleak shimmer of optimism that is present in the romping, fuzzed-out, “Holland, 1945”, replete with joyous brass soloing. The Jesus and Mary Chain inspired “Ghost” continues with these seemingly counterintuitive elements in spirit and application, a combination that perfectly embodies Frank’s now-famous closing line.
To Merry Swankster: You Personified as WWE Gimmick
Posted by Randall Monty at June 11, 2007 05:00 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.merryswankster.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/1057
Comments
Venus in Furs is not the best book, trust me.
I dunno what I'd pick. "Killing an Arab" might win for me out of the ones you picked.
X's "Adult Books" is about Jacqueline Susann's books, not they they could be called literature exactly, but it's a sweet little song.
Posted by: Jeff K at June 11, 2007 07:07 PM
I get the feeling that the Cure read only the cover of the Stranger and then wrote the song. "I'm a Stranger / killing an Arab". Really? That's the best theme they could come up with?
Posted by: Randall Monty at June 11, 2007 07:34 PM
I don't think that's exactly fair, there were very specific references to the book, and riffs on its themes. The references to how the protagonist just zones out and is barely aware of his actions.
"Whichever I choose it amounts to the same, absolutely nothing."
Not a bad one sentence capsule for existentialism...
Posted by: Jeff K at June 11, 2007 07:42 PM
Fun question...does White Rabbit count?
Posted by: Yonah at June 11, 2007 08:46 PM
I thought about White Rabbit... about three days too late.
Posted by: Randall Monty at June 11, 2007 10:32 PM
Consider the rest of the lyrics of Killing an Arab
Standing on the beach
With a gun in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring down the barrel
At the arab on the ground
See his open mouth
But I hear no sound
I can turn
And walk away
Or I can fire the gun
Staring at the sky
Staring at the sun
Whichever I choose
It amounts to the same
Absolutely nothing
Your dismissal of the song with "the Cure read only the cover ... then wrote the song" seems a little high literaturesqe. Not everyone has sat through an existentialism lit class and analyzed the living hell out of Camus. I think the Cure did a pretty passible attempt at turning a book into a song. better than most, and better than your choices. I enjoy NMH much more, true, but if the goal was to make a song inspired by a work of literature, I think the Cure did a much better literal job at it.
Posted by: dan vaughn at June 11, 2007 10:56 PM
As another minor footnote Nabakov was namedropped in "Don't Stand So Close to Me" not "Roxanne".
Posted by: doctashock at June 12, 2007 02:10 AM
The good docta is correct (I missed it), but I'm sure that's what Monty meant, so I'm just gonna do a little editorial switcheroo if no one objects...
Posted by: Jeff K at June 12, 2007 08:30 AM
A fine overview indeed--and you didn't even have to farm it out. If I may add one that you missed, it's the title track from Kate Bush's The Sensual World, which is not only based on Joyce's Ulysses, but uses phrases from the novel, as well, including the repetition of "yes" from Molly Bloom's famous solliloquy. Singularly sexy and literary at the same time.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 12, 2007 11:54 AM
I guess I took "inspired" to mean that the music shared a sort of kinship with the book. "Killing an Arab", even though two of you have rightly pointed out that it does in fact reference the story, does not seem to match the spirit of the Stranger. It's more of a song about the book opposed to a song that seems inspired by the Stranger.
Posted by: Randall Monty at June 12, 2007 01:26 PM
I concur with you Randll on the "inspired" part. However my personal pick would have been "1984" of the Diamond Dogs album from David Bowie. Check out the cover of that album...now who wouldn't want that hair and body???? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/Diamond_dogs.jpg
Posted by: Kelli Douglas at June 12, 2007 04:50 PM
Uh...maybe any guy who doesn't want to look like a cross between a drag queen and a Mexican Hairless?
Posted by: david at June 12, 2007 06:44 PM
You know, it occurs to me that the whole Diamond Dogs album was conceived as a 1984 musical, so is Diamond Dogs on the table? That one's exceedingly awesome. Rebel Rebel?
Posted by: Jeff K at June 12, 2007 07:12 PM
The Diamond Dogs album may have more literature inspired songs than just for Orwell's 1984. "We Are The Dead" is a line definitely taken from 1984 but it's also from John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Field".
Posted by: Kelli Douglas at June 13, 2007 11:37 AM
I was a bit surprised that you missed "Wuthering Heights," Kate Bush's rather unlikely hit single from 1978. While it is admittedly sophomoric, it certainly fits within the parameters.
Posted by: Magister Ludicrous at June 13, 2007 03:23 PM
I don't know why I like that song, but I think it has something to do with the video...
Posted by: Jeff K at June 13, 2007 03:35 PM
As a WWF/WWE/ECW/WCW fan I can't wait to see what the Merry Swankster chooses to personify himself through. There have been countless historical moments in wrestling that regular folks could parallel into their own lives. The return of Mick Foley off the ambulance stretcher that The Undertaker had so decidely put his arse on during the King of the Ring match has to be on of the best moments in wrestling. Two years of hate and disgust was built between these two wrestlers and this was a climatic fight in which there were no disqualifications and a winner would be named. When Foley returned to the caged ring, a bag of thumbtacks was thrown on the ground...this backfired on Foley and The Undertaker slammed his body into the tacks and that ended the fight. While the result was not what I had wished for it still was one of the most memorable moments in wrestling history. Now who can't draw a parallel b/w that and being thrown onto a floor of thumbtacks in their own lives??? (I think my boss does this to me almost daily)
Posted by: Kelli Douglas at June 14, 2007 10:30 AM
