Re: Even MORE lyrical sparring!

["Mark R. Leaman" <mleaman@sccoast.net>]

> I'm offering the theory that the lyrics to "Baba O'Riley" are spontaneous

Keets:

Where is any evidence that Baba was written spontaneously? In fact, all I've
seen suggests otherwise: there are two demo versions (three, really, if you
count the edited version) and one is instrumental and more than 13 minutes
long! Since there is no finished (that is, singing included) long version
one can assume he worked long and hard on the music. OK, then since Baba is
part of Lifehouse, which was a concept album unlike Tommy because the
narrative wasn't to be driven by the songs themselves, it would therefore
seem that he was thinking it out, taking the story forward (especially as it
seems Baba was to be the opening song...don't you think that would mean he
planned to set the stage?
BTW, simple lyrics do not mean n0 time was spent. Give Blood has simple
lyrics but volumes of meaning. And let's not forget the importance of HOW
something is performed as a factor in getting across a meaning. Baba is a
dinosaur stomping across the ground, trampling all in its path (including
the listener).

> and the lyrics to "I've Known No War" are considered.

I've got you on this one. We know Pete had been thinking long and hard about
this subject, as he speaks of it in the White City interview.

> Remember that Pete was/is famous for nebulous, crazy ideas that take a

Only Lifehouse falls into this catagory, and I think "nebulous" and "crazy"
might be descriptions from people who didn't understand it. I don't see it
so, but then I'm a Science Fiction fan. I can imagine George Lucas
encountering the same sort of attitudes when he proposed Star Wars (which is
fairly standard stuff).

> "Pinball Wizard" take all of five minutes to write?  I don't think he
> considered any of that stuff.  It's pure talent.

He certainly considered PW, as he wrote it to influence Nic Cohn (I believe)
to give the album a good review!

> I'm not saying any of them are really bad.  Only that some are average.
You
> don't really think all of them are on the level of "Baba O'Riley" and
"Won't
> Get Fooled Again" do you?

No...who could hit that standard every time? But it's unfair to take his
best and then say it's the average, I think.
Besides, Pure And Easy is better than either of them.

> Cleverness can often be only a shallow, surface trick.

But you're arguing from the wrong side. Just because something "can be" that
doesn't mean that it "is." With Pete, it's not.

> It takes depth to
> produce something that resonates and feels right to an audience.

Oh, yeah? Ever hear any Loverboy? REO Speedwagon? Steve Miller?

> Why would a man who goes to great lengths just to make a *demo* of a
possible
> song be so flippant & haphazard with the lyrics?

Scott:

I'm with ya, pal! You're alright for a Carly Simon fan.

> Yet you say the early lyrics are "spontaneous" & not as deep as the later
lyrics.
> Maybe it's the other way around!

That's certainly the case! The early stuff was great but lyrically simple:
"I used to wake up in the morning/I used to feel so bad..." as opposed to
something like: ""And my heart starts gravitating when I think my guess was
wrong..."

> meaning! Perhaps instead of Tony Bennett he should have been listening to
A
> Flock Of Seagulls or Toni Basil or any other pop star who didn't bring up
> nasty subjects like nuclear proliferation, the greed culture or, gasp,
> maturity. I can only hope he never grew up.

Brian:

I do believe that many, including Pete Townshend, has a deep belief that
Rock can only be kids music (which is why we get Tommy and Quad on
Broadway). And he's as wrong as the rest of them.

> I wonder what CREEM thought of the album I was listening to this morning,
> SANDINISTA! by The Clash. It forty times more preachy and serious than
IT'S
> HARD. Why do I suspect it didn't inspire such vitriol from CREEM?

You're probably right, but Sandinista was the beginning of the end for The
Clash.

> Many of these lyrics are only average, about average material and any
> songwriter could have written them.

Keets:

Your scale on this is suspect. Besides, the right way to do it would be by
comparing it to what was being written by his peers the same year. Check out
the Stones in 1982 ("I'm not waiting on a lady/I'm just waiting on a
friend...") or the Kinks ("I've been around the dial so many times but
you're not there/Think I'll sell my radio now that you're not there...").


"It's so much easier to quit on somebody than to remediate."
          George "my IQ is 91" Bush


               Cheers                 ML