Unconscious Archeology

Catching up with the past

Clamence — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 01:34:54 +0000

Back in the 1990s, when I was still an undergraduate student, I heard about a band that refused to sell out: Fugazi. At the time, I was in the midst of discovering a lot of bands that fit within the alternative/college music category, and I noticed — in interviews and articles that featured the bands I was interested in reading and learning about — that Fugazi was name-dropped whenever the topic of major-label record contracts came up. At the time, alternative groups were considered more “pure” if they had remained with a smaller, independent label. Since alternative music had just recently broken into the mainstream with groups like R.E.M., the large, corporate record labels had been trying to snatch up alternative bands to cash in on the trend. Fugazi was one band who refused offers from the major labels which garnered a lot of respect among artists (mostly because it meant turning your back on riches and fame). Despite my having seen their name pop up over and over again, I never once bothered to listen to their music. It was one of many holes in my “musical education.” Well, I am happy to report that I finally checked out their stuff, and I was pleasantly surprised. In the Wikipedia entry for the band, they are referred to as post-hardcore (an offshoot of punk). Here is one of their songs that (IMHO) has a clever structure and some fine guitar playing too:

Fugazi — “Break” lyrics

Can’t ask for more so why unfulfilled
We take apart everthing we build
Had it right here but now it’s gone
On and on
Break

Filed under: Music

Living to the top of your genetics

Clamence — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 18:05:51 +0000

I came across this interview, Ray Bradbury, The Art of Fiction No. 203, a few days ago and enjoyed the glimpse it gave me into the mind of this well-known science fiction writer. Since he is self-educated, Bradbury has some interesting ideas about education and learning how to write. Here is one passage of the interview that stood out to me:

INTERVIEWER

How important has your sense of optimism been to your career?

BRADBURY

I don’t believe in optimism. I believe in optimal behavior. That’s a different thing. If you behave every day of your life to the top of your genetics, what can you do? Test it. Find out. You don’t know—you haven’t done it yet. You must live life at the top of your voice! At the top of your lungs shout and listen to the echoes. I learned a lesson years ago. I had some wonderful Swedish meatballs at my mother’s table with my dad and my brother and when I finished I pushed back from the table and said, God! That was beautiful. And my brother said, No, it was good. See the difference?

Action is hope. At the end of each day, when you’ve done your work, you lie there and think, Well, I’ll be damned, I did this today. It doesn’t matter how good it is, or how bad—you did it. At the end of the week you’ll have a certain amount of accumulation. At the end of a year, you look back and say, I’ll be damned, it’s been a good year.

Filed under: Literature

Nuclear Fallout

Clamence — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:07:21 +0000

Every time I hear or read a news story on the problems with the nuclear plants in Japan, the song “Harrisburg” by the Australian band Midnight Oil, immediately starts playing in my head. The song is from their excellent album Red Sails in the Sunset:. Obviously, the song is about the meltdown at the nuclear plant in Harrisburg, PA. I used to go to college right outside of Harrisburg, so the song always had added meaning for me–perhaps because I wondered if any radiation was still floating around. The impending doom in the song seemed at odds with the rolling, green farmland of the surrounding area. However, one drive through the gray-colored city of Harrisburg (the gray sky, buildings and people) can definitely make you feel like you’re experiencing a post-fallout world. (That’s a joke, by the way.) I’ve never really had too much of a problem with nuclear energy, since coal plants, strip mining, and the effects of other forms of traditional power always seemed much more harmful to the earth. The recent problems in Japan is causing me to reexamine that preference. Hopefully, one day we will have some great non-polluting renewable sources of energy. Then, I can leave the lights on in all of the rooms without having to think I’m contributing to ecological degradation and the destruction of the human race!
Here are the lyrics:

The empire burns
The umpire’s not laughing
The president’s resented,
The ambassadors’s a night club
You cannot get it out

It’s stuff you cannot taste or see
It’s stuff you cannot smell
It’s stuff that’s twenty times as hot
As the hottest stuff in hell

Harrisburg oh Harrisburg
The plant is melting down
The people out in Harrisburg
Are getting out of town
And when this stuff gets in
You cannot get it out

The company said it would not blow
The government said it might
Harrisburg oh Harrisburg
I wonder who is right

Who can leave it behind, the curtains are drawn
There’s something I must say to you
You cannot get it out

Filed under: Music, Video

Stealing “The Essence” of The Cure

Clamence — Sun, 30 May 2010 15:34:38 +0000

Back in the day, when I was still a collector of all things related to The Cure, a record-store employee told me about this group named The Essence. He said they had a similar sound to The Cure, and he even went so far as to say he preferred them. It took me awhile to hunt down one of their albums, but I was finally able to do it. When I listened to it, I discovered the record-store employee has seriously understated the reality of things; it wasn’t that this Dutch band sounded like The Cure. No, they were a total rip off of The Cure’s sound and had not one whit of musical originality in their bones! I’m almost certain The Cure could have won a copyright infringement lawsuit against them, but why enrich the rat bastards by drawing attention to them? Just to make my case, here are some examples:
The Essence – “Only for You”

Pretty obvious imitation in guitar sound, lyrics and singing style, am I right? Now take a listen to this next one which is even worse.
The Essence – “Like Christ”

Pay particular attention to the line at the 1:26 mark in this video, where he sings, “Hold me up like Christ, you say.” Then, compare that line to one Robert Smith sings in the kick-ass song “One More Time,” beginning at the 2:30 mark in the video below. The lyrics are “Hold me up so high and never let me go.” And, yes, the song by The Cure predates the one by The Essence.

Filed under: Music

Idiomatic Expression #1: The Life of Riley

Clamence — Sun, 30 May 2010 14:41:38 +0000

I hope to post idiomatic expressions and their definitions on this site regularly, but given my record updating this site…I’m not making any promises. I was raised hearing and using a lot of idioms. My father, in particular, made heavy use of sayings featuring horses. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink,” “You can’t flog a dead horse,” and “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” are some of the few horse-related idioms I heard growing up. It wasn’t until I asked my father what these expressions meant that I was able to understand them. When he used them, my mind conjured up images of the Old West–with horses tied up in front of saloons and the click and jingle of cowboys’ stirrups. When I started teaching, I noticed some of my students using these expressions. Eventually, I figured out that they were overwhelmingly from Pennsylvania: just like my father. Instead of the Wild West, I should have been picturing the Pennsylvania Dutch and the gently rolling fields of the PA countryside. Teaching also revealed to me a key element of idioms: their meaning is cloaked to those who have not encountered them before. I actually had to eliminate much of my heavy reliance upon colloquial language in class, since my international students had a hard time understanding my meaning.

I can be pretty lazy when it comes to language. It’s not uncommon for me to use words whose precise definitions I have never bothered to look up. I always ignored the advice of teachers who suggested having a dictionary handy when reading. This really isn’t a problem, since the meaning of most words can be understood through repeated exposure to them in the context of written passages in which they appear. In fact, I would say that dictionary definitions are less successful at communicating the appropriate usage of a word than voracious reading. My students prove this everyday in their papers by using words with meanings similar to the ones they should have used, given the context. However, I stay away from the use of idioms whose meanings are unknown to me, since that has the potential to result in some embarrassing situations. So, I plan to take you folks (my readers–all three or four of you) along with me on an idiom journey from ignorance to enlightenment.

My introduction to today’s idiom, the life of Riley, goes back in my undergraduate days in the early ’90s. A friend and fellow fan of The Cure introduced me to a band called The Lightning Seeds. Here is the video for their song titled “The Life of Riley,” from the album Cloudcuckooland

Although I now find The Lightning Seeds music to be a bit too poppy and soft, at the time I loved them. Despite being a fan, I never bothered to look up the meaning of the idiom they named their song after.
The origin of this expression appears cloudy. This source lists several possible origins, going back to 1890. The Oxford English Dictionary states the expression can only be traced back to a song in 1919, and here is their entry on it:

In colloq. phr. the life of Riley, a comfortable, enjoyable, and carefree existence.

The phrase is freq. said to owe its origin to one of a number of late nineteenth-century songs (as, for example, in W. & M. Morris, Dict. Word & Phr. Origins (1962) 215, and S. J. Raff in Amer. Speech (1976) LI. 944 ff.) but has not been traced earlier than the song of 1919, which gave it currency.

1919 H. PEASE My Name is Kelly (song) 3 Faith and my name is Kelly Michael Kelly, But I’m living the life of Reilly just the same.
1923 E. RICE Adding Machine VI. 85 This is the life of Riley all right.
1936 H. MILLER Black Spring 142 The old man’s leading the life of Reilly.
1949 J. B. PRIESTLEY Delight 7 The life of Reilly, which some people imagine me to lead, has been further away than a fading dream.
1960 20th Cent. May 387 The executive is..living the life of Riley by tax evasion and expense account.
1965 J. PORTER Dover Two vi. 70 The native cunning which had enabled him to live the life of Riley with no visible means of support..failed him dismally now.
1978 Daily Tel. 8 Feb. 6/7 It is simply not true that we don’t pay tax and are living the life of Riley.

Now that I have read its dictionary definition, it pretty much meshes with what I had figured out based on its usage. I had thought it meant a good or happy life, so I would have been safe using it in a conversation. Of course, I still doubt I will ever use it, since I would probably then have to explain what it means (followed by a revelation about just how much of a nerd I am, when I discuss its OED definition and origins).

Filed under: Language, Video

A book I must have

Clamence — Tue, 18 May 2010 01:32:40 +0000

I ran across this website titled: Shit My Dad Says. Turns out it is also a book. I am obviously an uncouth, dirty old man in training, since the quotes this guy gleans from his dad make a lot of sense to me. They also make me want to roll on the floor laughing. I don’t actually roll on the floor, and I’m pretty sure others who type “rofl” or “lmao” aren’t actually on the floor or assless–but it’s my sense of humor nonetheless. Here are a few of my favorites:
“A parent’s only as good as their dumbest kid. If one wins a Nobel Prize but the other gets robbed by a hooker, you failed.”
“The whole world is fueled by bullshit… What? The kid asked me for advice on his science fair project so I’m giving it to him.”
“Son, no one gives a shit about all the things your cell phone does. You didn’t invent it, you just bought it. Anybody can do that.”
“Sometimes life leaves a hundred dollar bill on your dresser, and you don’t realize until later that it’s because it fucked you.”
“The universe does not give a fuck about you. You are a speck in its shit.”

Filed under: Humor

Major General Paul D. Eaton: Old-School Warrior & Patriot

Clamence — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:51:13 +0000

My family ancestry goes back to before the founding of this nation — one of my ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence — so I am fiercely patriotic. My family also has a long, proud history of military service, so I absolutely hate, with a passion you have to see to believe, cowards that drape themselves in a false cloak of patriotism. They are nothing more than manipulative, Machiavellian jingoists. Major General Paul Eaton is one of those American soldiers willing to speak truth to power. Check out his record of service and the awards he received. He has a proud record of service to our nation, and he didn’t spend his youth trying to avoid military service, like the coward he calls out. He heals much of the disgrace I felt as an American during the Bush years. I salute him.

Posted in Uncategorized

A Hollow Tension

Clamence — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:01:04 +0000

Whenever I listen to The Smiths’ album Hatful of Hollow I always get a little ferklempt when the song “This Night Has Opened My Eyes” plays. It is a beautifully constructed song; it works because it creates a hollow tension between happiness and sadness, and then it refuses to resolve it. The form fits the content: this is not a black and white issue, and in life there are rarely simple answers or pure and clear emotions. Neat resolutions are for children and Disney. Tension is a truer reflection of the world — not that I think verisimilitude is a requirement for art — and that makes me appreciate the song for it’s artistic skill and value, leading ultimately to a connection with it on an emotional level that would not have occurred had the song said things in a clichéd manner.

Take a listen and follow along with the lyrics. The music kicks in at :23, so don’t make yourself deaf by cranking it up too loudly before that:

In a river the colour of lead
Immerse the baby’s head
Wrap her up in the News Of The World
Dump her on a doorstep, girl
This night has opened my eyes
And I will never sleep again

You kicked and cried like a bullied child
A grown man of twenty-five
Oh, he said he’d cure your ills
But he didn’t and he never will
Oh, save your life
Because you’ve only got one

The dream has gone
But the baby is real
Oh, you did a good thing
She could have been a poet
Or, she could have been a fool
Oh, you did a bad thing
And I’m not happy
And I’m not sad

A shoeless child on a swing
Reminds you of your own again
She took away your troubles
Oh, but then again
She left pain
So, please save your life
Because you’ve only got one

The dream has gone
But the baby is real
Oh, you did a good thing
She could have been a poet
Or, she could have been a fool
Oh, you did a bad thing
And I’m not happy
And I’m not sad
Oh …
And I’m not happy
And I’m not sad
Oh …
And I’m not happy
And I’m not sad

I discovered, while searching for the lyrics online, the song is inspired by a play titled “A Taste Of Honey.” The play was written by Shelagh Delaney, and, according to one comment on and online message-board, it contains the following lines:

“You can’t just wrap it up in a bundle of newspaper.”
“…and dump it on a doorstep.”
“That river, it’s the colour of lead.”
“I’m not sorry and I’m not glad.”
“Oh well, the dream’s gone, but the baby’s real enough.”

Online message boards discussing the meaning of the lyrics reveal people’s common lack of understanding that art can have multiple and simultaneous meanings, as the interpretation below reveals. However, I still liked the overall interpretation of this person — someone with the internet handle of LessThanZero”:

It’s not about a gay friend.
It’s not about a doctor.
It’s not about rape.
Rapists don’t make promises (“Oh he said he’d cure your ills”)
The song is not about abortion, but giving up the child (“Dump her on the doorstep, Girl”)
What this is is a story of a young girl and a slightly older man. They promise each other the world as their relationship turns intimate. Always promising each other a pure painless future. But in all actuality, their acts of love turn their lives upside down. This love they felt that would end all pain and suffering has only made life more miserable.
Adult acts, a child as a result.
A childish act (giving the baby up), nothing but guilt and memories.
This song is truly about how dumb love makes us.
We think only good imaginative things can come of it.
When in reality, living in this fantasy makes life hell.
Now, they both will live out their lonesome lives bathing in guilt of what could have been had they kept the child.
Everyone has been there.
Fallen in love, thought the world was your oyster.
You THINK you can control the outcome of your life so as long as you have this person beside you.
Always looking to the future, never looking to the past.
The result, a love child neither parent wants to claim.
THIS NIGHT HAS OPENED MY EYES AND I WILL NEVER SLEEP AGAIN.
Love blinds consequences until that night…

Posted in Music

Article on the Orewellian phenomenon of FoxNews

Clamence — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:56:42 +0000

Fox News isn’t even pretending anymore: Want proof that journalism has devolved into entertainment? Watch “the communications arm of the Republican Party,” By Gene Lyons.

Posted in Politics

Me Likes

Clamence — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:55:00 +0000

New Order can still put out stuff that sounds just slightly different enough from their old stuff to be worth listening to:

Or maybe this one is more your cup of tea:

If you began to think to yourself, “Those bass and rhythm guitars sound exactly like The Cure’s sound,” you’ve got it backwards; those are sounds The Cure stole from New Order.
But then this same album has a crazy dance track like this:

Posted in Music, Video