Germaine Greer loves Morrissey, hates Dylan
- Thread starter Uncleskinny
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Hey, great find. Especially pleasing as I can't stand Bob Dylan!
Thanks.
PS Here's the full excerpt...
When Morrissey sings a Morrissey song, he knows exactly what colour every part of every word is meant to be, and whether it crosses the rhythm to build up tension, or cannons into it to gain emphasis. If Morrissey repeats a line, he may vary it in a new context, or he may keep it exactly the same, as he does with "Every day is like Sunday", because part of the point of the song is the anguish of monotony as perceived by hapless youth - but the music catapults the repetition towards us like a javelin. The music does what the words alone cannot do. To present the words without the music is to emasculate them.
Thanks.
PS Here's the full excerpt...
When Morrissey sings a Morrissey song, he knows exactly what colour every part of every word is meant to be, and whether it crosses the rhythm to build up tension, or cannons into it to gain emphasis. If Morrissey repeats a line, he may vary it in a new context, or he may keep it exactly the same, as he does with "Every day is like Sunday", because part of the point of the song is the anguish of monotony as perceived by hapless youth - but the music catapults the repetition towards us like a javelin. The music does what the words alone cannot do. To present the words without the music is to emasculate them.
raincoated lover
concrete sister
Here Here!
Worm
Taste the diffidence
This is sort of nice but, um, on the repetition thing, don't most pop songs, including many Morrissey tracks, do the same? Greer would have been safer to point out, not the repetition of the chorus (d'oh!), but Morrissey's drawing out of the phrase, emphasizing each syllable, to evoke the boredom and monotony: Ev-er-eeeee-daaaay is liiiiike sun-daaaaaaaaaaay.
I did like that she bothered to mention the music, though. The vital complementary relationship between words and music almost seems like a radical idea in some quarters.
sistasheila
tjekket
didnt morrissey read her "female eunuch" book quite often ?
Worm
Taste the diffidence
Oh yes. I'm sure he knows the color of every word.
sistasheila
tjekket
there was a funny story related
couldnt quite get it together
somewhere in the late 70ties : tht he was wearing some kind of "offensive "badge and then retuning home to read greers book
..hmmm..she did not be a source for his lyrics but by looking through his fave books which included some feminist reading
he surely has read it..
.so germaine quotes him,david bowie and nancy sinatra did sing a song of him...not bad.
couldnt quite get it together
somewhere in the late 70ties : tht he was wearing some kind of "offensive "badge and then retuning home to read greers book
..hmmm..she did not be a source for his lyrics but by looking through his fave books which included some feminist reading
he surely has read it..
.so germaine quotes him,david bowie and nancy sinatra did sing a song of him...not bad.
Kilt Uncle
Active Member
Germaine Greer is superb, but i don't really agree that Dylan can't write lyrics.
I find him difficult to listen to because he sounds like he's got a Kazoo stuck in his throat.
Thanks for posting though..
I find him difficult to listen to because he sounds like he's got a Kazoo stuck in his throat.
Thanks for posting though..
sistasheila
tjekket
Germaine Greer is superb, but i don't really agree that Dylan can't write lyrics.
I find him difficult to listen to because he sounds like he's got a Kazoo stuck in his throat.
Thanks for posting though..
i second that he writes great lyrics but his voice makes me cringe
Anaesthesine
Angel of Distemper
He was a very good lyricist, in my opinion, but...
He's like aural sandpaper. I wonder if he would have been as effective, though, if he had had a pretty voice.
As effective as what? He's not exactly wallowing at the bottom of the rock pantheon, unlike, oh, I don't know--Morrissey?
You just never turn off the brutal do ya?
I do believe that I've never turned it on here in these forums.
Please do. I'm bored and crave entertainment.
Not worth the effort. I come here to relax. Besides, I have to watch my blood pressure.
Oh, the irony of craving entertainment when one lives in Las Vegas.
Awwwwwwwwww.
vicarinatutugal
can't reMember
Anaesthesine
Angel of Distemper
Happy Mondays, eh?
As effective at pressing people's buttons, and getting people all riled up.
Jeez, I'd rather be wallowing with Morrissey than hanging out with Dylan, any day. I wonder what Bob's forum is like?
That's true. Songs like "Blowin' in the Wind," "The Times They Are a-Changin," "Subterranean Homesick Blues," "Like a Rolling Stone," and "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35", didn't rile anybody up at the time. They merely helped shape an entire generation's worldview. Sheesh.
But that's not what we're talking about here. We're discussing whether Dylan's lyrics are really "doggerel," while Morrissey's are somehow perfectly colored. Or something.
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