poetry

["L. Bird" <pkeets@hotmail.com>]

>I refuse to believe things that I am told to believe.  I will not be 
convinced of something until I have convinced myself, and I have yet to 
convince myself that Mr. Townshend is anything more than an average Joe 
with an above average talent for writing.

Well, the man definitely has an artistic temperment.  I do think you're 
right to an extent that he's a victim of circumstance.  Obviously he 
never started out to be a rock star.  He'd planned on a nice quiet 
existence doing ad copy or something like that.  Instead he was snatched 
into this deadly profession--and the really scary thing was that he 
could do it.  

The music really is something outstanding, and as an artist I would say 
it puts him on a level with Dickenson et al.  Aside from the verbal 
ability, PT is a terrific composer.  A lot of that old stuff ought to be 
scored for orchestra (a la DST) and played on classical stations.  Most 
of the newer stuff is jazz.
 

> When Dickinson ran into a situation she was having trouble with (i.e. 
not being able to find a suitable rhyme), she would invent herself a 
solution.  If a suitable rhyme were alluding her, she would create a 
rhyme (i.e. by using like rhymes, eye rhymes, exact ryhmes, vowel 
rhymes, suspended rhymes, etc.)  Because Townshend never does this in 
any of his work, that I am aware of, it would be very difficult to 
suggest that he even comes close to her level of genius with words. 

Look at all that work she put in, though.  Pete Townshend can stand up 
in front of several thousand people and wing it--he actually comes up 
with rhyme and double meaning, too.  (Check out "You Can't Do It 
Alone.")  That's quite a talent.
 

>> No symbolism?  Hmmm.  Then what's the Acid Queen?  The Empty Glass?
>>"Drowned" seems to be a fairly decent metaphor.
>
>You seem to be confusing imagery and symbolism.  The Acid Queen, and 
all of Tommy, is full of imagery, but mostly devoid of symbolism.  The 
Empty Glass is indeed one of his few symbols, albeit a weak and obvious 
one.  And unless I'm missing something big, Drowned is just imagery 
again.  If it is metaphorical it comes at the wrong point in the story.  
It should be near the beginning, not near the end if it is intended to 
be a metaphore for something.  By the end of a story, it is too late to 
start drawing philosophical connections.

Well, I've been accused of imprecise usage before, but actually I don't 
think I'm that far off.  Sometimes you can't separate the elements from 
the art.

Symbolism is representing one thing by means of something else.  Imagery 
is wording that evokes pictures in the mind of the listener.  Metaphor 
is similar to symbolism, but it's supposed to be created within the work 
you're dealing with.

You can argue that the Acid Queen is a metaphor and not a symbol, but I 
don't think you have grounds to say she's only imagery.  There's a 
procession of figures who appear in Tommy and all of them represent 
something that can happen to a kid growing up: abuse, drug and and 
alcohol addiction, gaming adiction, etc.  The Acid Queen represents the 
drug and alcohol addiction, and I'd consider her a symbol rather than a 
metaphor because of her broad function in the work as a whole.  These 
days I get images of Tina Turner and Patti Labelle when I think of Acid 
Queen, but neither of these was actually built in.  

Here's an excerpt from "Drowned":

There are men high up there fishing,
Haven't seen quite enough of the world,
I ain't seen a sign of my heroes,
And I'm still diving down for pearls.

I'm flowing under bridges,
Then flying through the sky,
I'm travelling down cold metal
Just a tear in baby's eye.

These words do form nice images.  I visualize fishermen in little boats 
and pearl divers, and waves and etc. etc.  But Jimmy isn't actually a 
pearl diver, and he isn't actually water flowing under a bridge.  If you 
say "I'm like a pearl diver," it's simile.  If you say "I am water," 
then it's a metaphor--classic, even.

There's a symbolism that runs through this song, as well.  Besides Jimmy 
wanting to die, it represents his urge for oneness with nature, an urge 
to be a part to something better.  This is represented rather than 
clearly stated, which makes it either symbol or metaphor--choose your 
favorite usage.  At the end of Quad, it's right where it belongs.  It 
expresses Jimmy's disillusionment with his gang associations.
  
 
>I wasn't comparing there subject matter, so much as I was comparing 
their styles.  I always felt that Townshend tried to write like a 
combination of Whitman and Dickinson.  He wanted to use Dickinson's 
unparralled language skills, with Whitman's mysticism.  

Sandburg still sounds right to me, though.  He has that common quality, 
the, uh, down to earth language, and all that.  I've never thought PT's 
work leaned heavily toward mysticism.  It does address states of being, 
if that's what you mean.  Not too many songwriters will take that on.

 
>One final point:  When you have a Ph. D. you may spell words any damn 
way you feel like!

Tsk, tsk.  No you can't.  You blunder into Freudian errors like that 
"analize."  Plus, the English majors will kill you.

keets

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