Peggy Lee :: Is That All There Is?
Albert Camus famously claimed that “there is only one truly philosophical problem, and that is suicide.” While he answers this question or “problem” by suggesting that we rebel against the Absurd and find ways to infuse our godless existence with meaning, I find the approach suggested in Is That All There Is? a bit less daunting.
The song, written by Stoller & Lieber (of Yakety Yak and Hound Dog fame) is based on the story Disillusionment by Thomas Mann. In this story, Mann writes that disillusionment is “not a miscarriage in small unimportant matters, but the great and general disappointment which everything, all of life, has in store.”
Is That All There Is? takes Mann’s concept of disillusionment, and, with the help of Peggy Lee’s emotionally detached vocals, describes several momentous life events: witnessing a fire, going to a circus, and losing a love. In each case she experiences some feeling, but not as much as she expected. She also, in each instance, ultimately asks the same question: is that all there is?
Is that all there is to a fire? A circus? A love? Really? This is what all the fuss is about?
If that’s all we can expect from life’s supposedly spectacular events, then break out the booze and keep dancing, because behind every event is immanent metaphysical hollowness. Depressing as this all sounds, Lee conveys the sentiment with a content, if not cheerful, resignation. I mean, once you acknowledge that life maybe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, you can sit back and at least enjoy the pleasant moments.
So to answer Camus’ question directly, why don’t we just kill ourselves?
Because we’re not ready for that final disappointment.
Is That All There Is? (6.1MB MP3)
Peggy Lee (homepage)
Animal Collective :: Peacebone
Just as I don’t understand or enjoy modern dance and avant-garde theater, I have a somewhat conservative ear when it comes to music. Until recently, I felt this way about Animal Collective.
That all changed when my friend played Animal Collective’s most recent album, Strawberry Jam for me. Listening to Peacebone, the first track, I could not believe that this was the same band that had scared me off so many times before. Although the song was every bit as unusual and experimental as their other material, it came in a far more accessible package. Having heard this album, I am now able to enjoy AC’s full catalog of material, including the albums I had previously found unlistenable (with the exception of Here Comes the Indian; that album is still too weird for me).
But my inspiring story of the triumph of music over a conservative ear is not why I love the album and song. More important, is that Peacebone makes me gush with happiness at every listen. The playful vocals and lyrics, the uplifting marching beat, and the random noise bursts in the background compel me to feel as bubbly and joyful as the song suggests (for those of you who know me, you understand that this is no small feat).
This song is easily my favorite tune from the last couple of years. I loved it at first listen, and I’ve loved it the many, many times I have listened since. I hope you will too.
Peacebone (6MB MP3)
Animal Collective (homepage)
PJ Harvey :: Rid of Me
The year was 1993. I was in bed with a bronchial infection, and asthma prevented me from moving around very often. The mail came, and I opened my copy of PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, an album I had ordered after reading a blurb in Spin Magazine.
So I put the CD in the player, pressed play, and heard nothing. As I turn the volume dial up a bit, I hear some faint drumming and even fainter singing. So I turn it up some more, put the CD on repeat (I wanted to limit the amount of times I had to get up), and returned to bed. About a minute later, PJ starts wailing and I leap out of bed to turn the volume back down.
Surely I am not the only person to have made this ‘error’ in volume adjustment.
I would also like to think that PJ (or perhaps Steve Albini, the album’s producer) found some humor in surprising or duping listeners into blowing out their ears or speakers in this manner. That is, of course, in addition to the great aesthetic effect of having such varied dynamics — a device that perfectly compliments the song’s lyrics as PJ vacillates between fantasies of total possession of her man, desperate pleas to stay, and unadulterated rage.
I always knew that I was a feminist of some sort — I mean, of course women are equal to men — but I had never identified with the largely folk-driven music by women that I had thus far been exposed to. This is why sitting in bed that day as an asthmatic, angsty adolescent girl, I felt such immense relief at hearing a woman so unapologetically rock.
Rid of Me (6.2MB MP3)
PJ Harvey
the Silver Apples :: I Have Known Love
Simply put, I Have Known Love, is a love ballad driven by nine throbbing oscillators.
Manipulated by eighty-six manual controls, the oscillators pulse, drone, hum, buzz, and beep through an electronically-generated masterpiece detailing the full spectrum of delight and agony that flows from being in love. The wading in the golden streams to being imprisoned on the moon — it is all part of love’s package.
Tritely put, it is better to have loved than to have never loved at all.
So drink out of the magic urn and dance between the stars. Ignore the warning voice. Surrender. Do it even though you will almost certainly burn your fingers on the sun
This song is my kind of love song. My kind of beauty. Oh yes. I have known love.
I Have Known Love
the Silver Apples (homepage)
Pulp :: Mis-Shapes
A message to those unfortunate not to have already caught Pulp-fever: roll up your sleeve, throw away your rabies vaccinations, and please allow me to bite you.
Marching though a triumphant musical arrangement and lyrics that amazingly rise to the occasion, Mis-Shapes virtually commands the listener to get a fist out and start pumping.
It’s okay to have a brain!
It’s okay to be a misfit!
Like Bowie said, “Oh no love, you’re not alone!”
Goosebumps form. My mouth foams. Occasionally, a weird moisture accumulates in my eyes. But it is the perfectly simple guitar solo at 2:30 that really kills me.
Brothers, sisters can’t you see?
Mis-Shapes
Pulp (PulpWiki site)