Original_To:  ALLM
Original_cc:  MARCO'S PHILOSOPHY IN 99 LINES,OLIVOTTO
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Tue, 5 Jan 1993 08:51:00 N
From:         "Out,
              out - you'll not feel the fall-out..." <OLIVOTTO@ITNCISCA.BITNET>
Subject:      Marco's philosophy in 99 lines

Hmm...
        the nastiest thing of this list is that just when one is spending his
last few hours at the office for a while, with the boss sitting right in front
of him, having to catch a plane in 24 hours and not even a T-shirt in his suit-
case, the flood of messages comes in and something at the back of his (MY) mind
forces him to write back... :)

>From: Paul Heroy <HEROY@LSUVM.BITNET>
>Subject: RE: school

>I agree nearly completely with what Michael said about the issue of rock
>music being treated from a purely lyrical standpoint, and I have never really
>understood this kind of focus. It's especially hard to understand when you
>consider that the lyrics to many great songs - well, don't necessarily just
>suck rotten eggs, but don't exactly hold up very well, either chronologically
>or analytically. The only time I remember encountering any study of rock music

        If we speak about the "purely lyrical standpoint", I agree -- in ge-
neral lyrics are not even poems in themselves, so the lyrical point of view
is weak to say the least. In some cases, though, music becomes a simple vehi-
cle for the lyrics (the early Dylan being an hyper-abused example), and at
that point the whole thing is not so weak anymore...
        Hammill told me once that several people in England/America find it
hard to cope with his music because of the lyrics, which are extremely com-
plicated and yet emotionally straightforward: when they listen to the music,
they catch the words too -- and they tend to recoil. In different areas where
English is not the main language (neither the second, as in Italy for instan-
ce) people are more attracted by the music first -- and *then* they try to
see where the lyrics lead. Apparently, they don't recoil that much at this
point :).
        Personally, when I write my own lyrics, I am torn in two -- so to
say: on one hand I would like to be as correct as I can (metrically, I mean),
whereas on the other I feel that some of my solution surely do not help the
listener/reader (<--- let's keep all the doors open!) to get a picture of
what I mean. This might even start a huge discussion about the necessity of
getting some sort of meaning through to the people, actually: but let's sup-
pose this makes sense, for a while. At that point, my question is always:
"where does the song lead?". Usually, and trying to look at it neutrally,
I manage to make up an idea of its aim. Well, I have to admit that 90% of
the time people listen to or read the words and get the meaning completely
wrong. This is simply because I try not to write "ooh, my baby left me -- and,
ooh, I am so blue": I'd rather prefer the odd line like "my name turns into
a weal of weary eyes that go 'round the remnants of my will"... which is abso-
lutely clear to me (egotism) but apparently not so clear to the rest of the
people (egotism^2 = solipsism).
        This is just an example I can talk about, since my point is that ly-
rics, though not necessarily important in themselves, are somewhat important
when they help connect the music to reality. Whether they are more important
to the listener or the writer this is an open question... :)

>From: Ilia <CC29@IONA.BITNET>
>Subject: Crimson's middle album (widened)
>
>Well, it surely is a matter of taste, but I never really thought of
>_In The Court Of The Crimson King_ the way I think about later albums.
>It contains a lot of interesting (more or less) innovations, such as
>extensive use of 'traditional' instruments on, say, "Epitaph", or a
>long 'free' jam on "Moonchild", but generally, it is not nearly
>as original as the things Crimson did some two years later. _In The

        On this I fully agree. And, as you say, it's a matter of taste.
The point I was more or less hiding in my now seemingly old message was
that there would have been no _Lizard_ without _In The Court..._.
        The evolution of Crimso was amazing to say the least, in fact,
and walked more or less like a mad monkey for the whole period, pre-
and post-1974. The very reason why I think _In The Court..._ is a foun-
ding stone is admittedly not strictly musical: other albums were better,
but they wouldn't have been that way without that first essay. Just my
humble opinion, of course!

>From: Babak Sehari <sehari@IASTATE.EDU>
>Subject: What new innovation, software or products do you want to see?
>
>What type of new innovation, software or products do you want to be
>introduced to the market place.  No answer is stupid.  The things
>that might be unachievable to you, might be very easy to produce
>by others.  You could become part of history by initiating the process of
>innovation.

        An intelligent mailer, able to send postings like this back to the
sender, in as many copies as those he sent out and with no human interven-
tion. Life would be far better. Oh, in case you haven't noticed, he writes:

>P.S.  This message is being automatically posted to all unix wide bbs'.
                                                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
        Well, I may ask him to send out TNR electronic flyers next time,
whaddyathink...? ;)

        And now, and definitely,
        bye bye -- I'll be back in 2 weeks! ;)

        Ciao, Marco "take a jumbo 'cross the water -- like to see America"

P.S.: getting avalanches of votes as "kindest and friendliest person of the
      list" is starting to worry me: is there anyone out there suspecting
      the truth? Which is, I am a nasty ego-maniac psyched pig-headed racist
      and bloody-minded idiot? If not, contact those who will meet me in a
      few days when I'm off their backs again... :) :) :)
      Thank you, everybody.
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