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20 March 2010

Gil Scott HeronAngel Dust[More:]
I just discovered this by looking up the sample on a hip hop track; that's going to be my sexy new way of finding good 20th century music now. #JoinTheClub

Can I admit something? I don't think I completely understand irony in songs. Like.. on this one he's talking about why you shouldn't do it.. but the whole sound is a seductive one. So on some level isn't he evoking its effects?

I keep running across this with songs where I'm like this outlook is stupid but I get where the character is coming from then the artist turns around and tells oh we're satirizing an outlook. I'm like :( But.. but I was feeling that!
Songs in Question - only happy when it rains (garbage), so rich so pretty (mickey avalon), the new workout plan (kanye west)
posted by Firas 20 March | 10:44
I only recently discovered Gill Scott Heron myself:
my favorite song of his.

I'm not sure why, but I have a hard time comprehending lyrics as they are sung. For some reason the music dominates the input section of my brain, and only after reading the lyrics I find out what a song is about. Irony is usually lost on me for me (at least the first few times a hear a song). This song still cheers me up though I'm not sure it should:
Mr. E's beautiful blues.
posted by charles kaapjes 22 March | 06:31
charles, I think you'd find that's not uncommon, interestingly: people listening mostly to the music. Of course with a lot of songs the production itself minimizes the lyrics or makes them a bit confusing due to the song's arrangement (sometimes I really have to get into a mindset to actually hear songs carefully enough.. letting them loop a few times helps.)

I think I have my own answer when it comes to what I was talking about earlier regarding irony. Basically, not all satire is like Don Quixote, setting the character up with a foil or otherwise ridiculing him from the start. Empathy is a big component of successfully exploring a mindset so artists go and sink into a world even if they're not portraying it positively. So just because something is satirical doesn't mean it's explicitly tongue in cheek in its tone.
posted by Firas 22 March | 18:57
Happy "Won't You Be My Neighbor" Day! || Brilliant portrait of Robert Smith

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