Thanks for that. I was lucky enough to go to Ireland a couple of years ago, and to spend a week going from one side of the country to the other and back. The music really won me over. Came home with a book of Irish music for guitar, which is unopened on my shelf. I hadn’t realized before how many Irish Americans there are, and how tied Ireland is to the U.S. With a lot of sadness.
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In case you hit a paywall:
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New Arrested Development?
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He recorded this album in Haiti.
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Interesting read:
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Interesting… but that was just under 100 years ago now, and I doubt that the modern logic of plagiarism applies to songs back then? The older practice of sharing tunes for songs but changing the lyrics was more recent and the pre-sound recording era when that was the norm was in lived memory… So, while the song might sound similar, I don’t know we can think about it in same terms we do today, where the whole concept of copyright and intellectual property are far more ingrained in our understanding of culture than they would have been in the 30s…
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Good point. Otherwise, we would owe Britain’s pubs for The Star Spangled Banner!
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Earlier weird stuff by the band…
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I love Messer Chups!!! Got hip when a blog posted about their greatest hits comp, Cocktail Draculina.
Ages ago, I’d taught my bassist BF the Russian phrase очень хорошо (OH-chin KHAR-A-sho [“horrorshow” in A Clockwork Orange]), which means “excellent.” We were both best pleased that he remembered it when he performed at a show with Messer Chups. He said the bass she used that night was also V sexy, so when they were backstage together, he told Svetlana it was очень хорошо.
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I am loving the first two songs from St. Vincent’s new album that’s coming out soon. The one that came out today I really love.
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Counterpoint, from 1981
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I’m thinking War Pigs from 1970 myself.
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A deceptively simple song, to be sure…
Same with the exploited, I think…
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This song is hypersexual, positive, and fun. I love how some of these artists mix folk music elements into the dancehall mix.
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I write sometimes write poetic lyrics with non-personal themes and so am always actively involved in finding and relating to other people who do similarly and value music that enables that. IME it really is a dying art practiced by weirdos who know damned well no one cares. But that just kind of makes it a subculture that isn’t hot in popular culture right now.
It’ll come back though. Everything old becomes new at some point anyway.
Personally, I think ass-shaking and footwork are a true social good… most people will always love a good rhythm and a chance to dance because it feels amazing. So I think you’re just going to see that remain popular on some level outside of religious extremists who hate it precisely because it feels amazing.
Music that enables dance, socialization, and sexuality is actually doing people some good in a way that people can directly perceive. Contemplative lyrics though kind of belong to another sphere of art and inspire a different kind of musical space. I don’t see that kind of space in popular culture right now anywhere. Thinking of, like, Donovan sitting cross-legged with a guitar and talking in between song-poems. That’s just not a scene that I’ve found naturally occurring in modern culture though I can see evidence of it being a big in the past.
Thoughtful lyrics that don’t distract but only reward upon closer inspection require god tier talent, and poetry that drives a musical experience is so damned hard to pull off that trying is kind of egotistical in the first place. Ime most people, musicians included, just aren’t entertained by that effort even in theory.
In music, ultimately, lyrics/vocals themselves are optional and often people don’t really want them there at all.
Negativity, hate, and anger though… I think people really will get tired of that. I know I’m tired of it at least!
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