REM
With so much recent thinking about myself as a writer, I've been trying to figure out what kind of writer I am. What's my style? Who am I? And if I am some kind of a writer, is it a good kind to be?
Well, tonight I was geeking out on some REM b-sides (itunes style, the record store is on your laptop any hour of the day or night) and listening to excerpts of Stipe talking about himself as an artist. I listened to a clip of "I Wanted to be Wrong" (http://www.amazon.com/I-Wanted-To-Be-Wrong/dp/B00122EW72, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdMjB1j1Mlo) which I hadn't heard before tonight.
Now I know that the sun has shined on my side of the street.
The basket of America, the weevils and the wheat.
The milk and honeyed congregation, scrubbed and apple-cheeked
Salute Apollo 13 from the rattle jewelry seats.
This is class Stipe. This is why I love REM. Taking a classic phrase like milk and honey and turning it into a verb and adjective at the same time.
I remember being 11, 12 years old and trying to figure out what the hell he was even saying, and then, when I had a pretty clear idea of the words, trying to understand what the hell those words meant. This is what kept me coming back to R.E.M. at a time when I was also buying albums by Motley Crue and Young MC. I thought that all lyrics must mean something, and that I was the only one who didn't get it. My adolescent brain tended toward conspiracy and I was certain that if I could only decipher some meaning, it would be so important! So what did Stipe mean by
There are scratches all around the coin slot
Like a heartbeat, baby trying to wake up,
But this machine can only swallow money.
You can't lay a patch by computer design.
Its just a lot of stupid, stupid signs.
It didn't matter, when he could put these words together and make a great song
Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me.
Today I need something more sub-sub-sub-substantial.
A can of beans or blackeyed peas, some nescafe and ice,
A candy bar, a falling star, or a reading of doctor seuss;
The cat in the hat came back, wrecked a lot of havoc on the way,
Always had a smile and a reason to pretend.
But their world has flat backgrounds and little need to sleep but to dream.
The sidewinder sleeps on his back.
I'm not saying I'm a Stipe, but still, I do love playing with words just like he does. I could spend the rest of my life aspiring to his artistry, or even climbing to the top of his Paul Klee circle http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/video/default.htm?program=enoughrope... (please skip to Part 1) and not get very close.
------------- I had a better way of wording the below. My laptop ran out of batteries and a few sentences went down the drain with the power. I soldier on. ---------------------
Stipe is fine with, even rightly proud of, his wordplay and the ensuing "opacity" of meaning that often results. How easy this must be with a few Grammy's on the shelf, not that a lack of those ever stopped him (see Murmur, Reckoning, etc.). I suppose that it's probably easier to get away with too when you're writing songs versus WAIT, what is it I'm writing again?
I often find, when I reread my ramblings that I love pairing words. I love alliteration and rhythm. I don't think that makes a published work, and certainly doesn't make $50k/year. But at least I know what I do (well?). And from whence it came. All those REM cassettes that I ran ragged, the same ones I have tucked in safe upstairs, formed a hefty part of my voice. I fell asleep every night for months, maybe even years, listening to Out Of Time. It apparently left a lasting impression.
Speaking of sleep, it's way past my bath & bed times. I have a feeling I am going to return to this one and do a whole bunch of editing when I'm more lucid (how impressed was I to see that word in a 6th grader's presentation today!). I hope the various quotes & links work. Work for who? I'm not sure. Is anybody out there???!
For all the REM geeks who made it through these shaggy paragraphs, here is an adorable account by Michael Stipe of his meeting with Gore Vidal and Nancy Reagan. I just want to hug him, he's so friggin cute.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/video/default.htm?program=enoughrope... (please skip to Part 2)