Concepts, Murky-Murk & the Forward Bunch, a Sting moment

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

> I don't think it INCLUDES Lifehouse.  PsychD is somewhat 
> autobiographical, as is usual with PT, and so it's about himself working 
> on Lifehouse

Keets:

That's what I meant. The story as we understand it of Lifehouse is NOT part
of the story as presented in PSYCHO, to be crystal clear. Although the song
Early Morning Dreams was written as part of the Lifehouse story rather than
the PSYCHO story.

> Lifehouse.  It suggests a spider's web more than I'd expected Lifehouse 
> would. 

We don't know, really, how PT intended to present Lifehouse. With or
without dialogue, or what. My guess is without; as I understand it, the
project was to be multi-media so we might have gotten a double LP with
written material, and then gone to see the movie.

> No telling.  I just don't expect that artist types have rational, linear 
> minds.

Depends on the artist. I've always considered Pete very rational. Just not
consistant.

> Well, I'm in.  What do you suggest?  :)

If I had suggestions, this would be the ML list etc. etc. etc. I'd rule the
world! I see the problem, not the solution...

> "I knew then that my life took a turn...
> Goodbye, Sister Disco
> My dancing's left you behind...
> Now I go, I go where the music fits my soul..."

Nothing there about needing to change. Apparently his life changed, but it
appears to be outside his control (as "took a turn" indicates, rather than
something like "I turned my life.").
Here we see (as SO many times before) instead of action, Pete depicts a
moment of realization. THAT is the turn I see in this song; the realization
that Rock music leaves Disco behind. Pete, I coulda toldja.

> Well, you don't expect PT to confine meaning to a single possibility, do 
> you?

There was a time...for instance, MG pounds you on the head with its meaning
like a jackhammer.

> All his songs are murky, and shift as you try to grasp them. 

I don't know about that, either. I believe I understand them, every one.
Which is not to say you haven't found some other meaning in them, but I am
not lost in murk.

> Then it's a matter of opinion?

Everything is. At least, that's my opinion....

> Say PT felt at a dead end with The Who, 

So he himself said. THAT is why he stated that Moon's death was "good for
the band," much to the amazement of most of those who heard it. He saw it
as a way to redefine the band, and so he did try to do.
Any band is defined by its limitations; in the case of The Who, they turned
their weaknesses into strengths. However, there were still the limitations
lurking around the bend, and Pete grew so much that he (mentally) ran smack
dab into them. `Course most of them were self-inflicted and not real
limitations. Like their past history, which by then he felt trapped by.

> but are White City and PsychoD a movement forward?  PT seemed to think 
> so, as they both included scripts and an opportunity to exercise his 
> writing ability and theatrical bent as well as musical talent.

I think so too.

> I just haven't noticed him sounding that bad.  Not so good on cds--he 
> can't do such delicate work as he used to, but he came across 
> outrageously on the tour, and sounds great on the tapes.  It's still one 
> of the better voices around for live work.  

I'm going by the MSG & Oslo shows, not to mention the others I've heard. I
was there, the night before they taped the MSG show, and also in Raleigh
which some consider one of the best shows of the tour (*7* encore songs!),
and "over the air" Rog sounds fine. Great, even. Later, reviewing the
tapes, his weaknesses leap out at you.

> Who else does that radio play stuff?  

Maybe it's because I was out shopping, driving around NC/SC all day
yesterday or because I didn't get as much sleep due to the time change (my
mind is still adjusting), or because I've been slammed today, but I don't
know what you mean by this. Sorry. As Sting would say, it's probably me.


            Cheers                           ML

"Love is like death/It changes everything."
                                                     Flo And Eddie