Re: More lyrical sparring

["Scott Schrade" <schrade@akrobiz.com>]

> > > Who really is the Pinball Wizard?
> >
> >Well Tommy *became* the pinball wizard after defeating the local champ, 
> >right?
> 
> Tsk, tsk.  It's Pete.  ;)  The deaf, dumb and blind kid that leads the 
> masses.  He has this amazing, meaningless gift that people admire, until 
> they turn against him in the end.

Note to self:  Pete = Pinball Wizard.  He *does* have a supple wrist!

> Like I said, there are folks that feel the sanitized, intellectualized 
> version is better.  

The best Who has that nice balance of intellect & raw emotion.  Equally large
amounts of both.

> Emotion somehow seems unacceptable in art these days, 
> like it's childish, or feminine, and unsuitable for adults.  

Maybe Pete needs to tap into his feminine side again (he said, as Timothy White
grinned).

> > > We also got to hear "Crossroads Now" develop last summer.
> > > That was actually a wonderful experience, BTW, to hear it form up out of 
> >nothingness.
> >
> >Slight as it was, you're right, it was nice to see.  A little morsel of 
> >creativity.
> 
> Not just a little morsel.  I thought that was a major composition on Pete's 
> part.  

Not to go all O&S on your ass (!) but -  I thought it was just a little morsel.

> Does it seem that it gets harder as it gets older?  We had that discussion 
> here a while back, too, and lots of people seemed to feel it didn't.

It shouldn't but this is Rock & Roll we're talking about; an art form still too 
much entangled in youth.  Maybe a hundred years from now people will
laugh at youthful Rock artists who haven't yet gained the maturity of their
later years (wishful thinking?).

> I will agree that it likely takes a while for Pete's ideas to form up and 
> then suddenly they click, but I don't think the man sat down and thought, 
> "I'm going to write a song.  I'm going to use a work archetype here, and a 
> man/woman archetype there and a play on words here at the end," and then 
> carefully chose the wording to present these ideas.  

See, I think he *did* approach many of his songs with that kind of pre-thought.
And maybe too much pre-thought is hindering him now.


- SCHRADE in Akron