Postmodernism, Poststructuralism, Deconstruction
Optional blog assignment:
Did reading about postmodernism, poststructuralism, and deconstruction later in the game help to clarify some of the other theories that incorporate them, such as postcolonial or feminist criticism, or Lacanian psychoanalysis? Did it make them more confusing?
Optional blog assignment:
Did reading about postmodernism, poststructuralism, and deconstruction later in the game help to clarify some of the other theories that incorporate them, such as postcolonial or feminist criticism, or Lacanian psychoanalysis? Did it make them more confusing?
posted by Jeff at
6:27 AM
2 Comments:
I think you're absolutely right, Beth. Regarding commercial pop music, Lou Reed's first music job was as a lyric writer for a recording company.
I also think the song is about the death of the self (and author, artist, singer, etc.) through language. All of the repeating phrases like 'cut it, spin it, chop it' etc. seem to testify to this.
Also, Matt pointed out to me that the song is on the album The Velvet Undergournd, not White Light / White Heat. Guess I'll make the trip to my CD cabinet to verify next time.
By
Jeff, at 8/16/2006 3:08 PM
I can't believe I just found this blog! Ok, my quick comments, as I have a paper to finish for a certain class, so to speak...
--I saw Mo Tucker in concert once in a small bar in Boston. If you want stories from the concert, I'd be glad to share them. She performed the song with members of her band, and said that it was one of the hardest songs for the Velvets to perform live, because no one could remember the words...all the band members then pulled out lyric sheets to help them. Tucker said that she always asked Reed about the lyrics of the Velvet songs, and said there was always a story he had behind them. However, when she asked about this one, Reed said, "I'm just having fun with words. Sometimes, there is more of a message in the way a word sounds than in what it actually says." She said that she took this to mean that the message in the song is the feeling you get when you hear it moreso than what it is saying. Of course, this is disappointing to all us Velvet fans who wanted a deeper meaning :)
--Reed may have indeed said this to Tucker, but I agree with Beth. Reed was far too obsessed with the Kennedy assassination and pop art not to have referenced them here.
-- As for the Beatles, I am unsure if that was the reference. I am ashamed to admit that I don't get the Beatles for Sale comment you made (I consider myself to be somewhat of a Beatles expert, so I say this with great embarrassment!). I also know that Reed absolutely loved the Beatles, and considered them a chief influence. While the Velvets were a very "postmodern" group, the member that drove them in that direction was John Cale (though by the time this song was released, Cale had left the group). Reed considered himself a rock musician first and an artist second, and like Jeff noted, began his career writing lyrics for record companies. He saw his path (going from the mainstream rock he loved to creating new music that broke away from rock standards) as a similar one to the Beatles', and idolized them because of it. So, I would be surprised if his words there (which are a bit negative) were used for the Fab Four. Of course, I could be very wrong on this one :)
--It should also be noted that the Velvets were very much involved in the postmodern art scene. Andy Warhol even produced their first album (though to what extent he actually worked on it has always been debated).
--My final comment is on Jeff's note that the song is about the death of the self through language. I would argue that while that is an element, that is not the entire message. Beth is right, in that there is too much 1960s history and politics involved here to be solely about the language. The song is called "the muder mystery," and therefore the first question has to be, "who is killed?" The two characters that I see "obviously" killed are the King and Queen. The King is clearly Kennedy--heck, Oswald is even mentioned by name here. But who is the Queen? I would argue that the Queen is democracy and government itself. Once Kennedy was assassinated, the govenment was never the same. Reed is writing this song at a time when Kennedy assassination theories are only just getting formed. The Zepruda (sp?) film was only released a couple of years prior to this. The Vietnam War is raging, and the Left (of which Reed was a card-carrying member) saw Kennedy's death and the war as two signs of a "runaway train" government. The "Queen" is dead...and killed with extreme malice. "bend her over the tub, against the state the country the committee, hold her head underwater please for an hour." If democracy is dead, and the government is no longer under the control of the people, then what is left? Chaos. Totalitarianism. Propaganda. "candy screen wrappers of silkscreen fantastic, requiring memories both lovely and guiltfree...rectify moments most serious and urgent, to hail upon the face of most odious time..." Nothing is real. Hence, the song.
Well, that's my guess. Then again, Lou Reed may just be playing around with words...
--Matt
By
Matt Fisher, at 8/17/2006 6:21 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home