" I'm not proud of the fact that I never learned much,Just feel I should say,
what you get is all real,
I can't put on an act,
It takes brains to do that anyway."
"The Mayor of Simpleton" by XTC
2006-06-09
The Mayor of Simpleton
" I'm not proud of the fact that I never learned much,Just feel I should say,
what you get is all real,
I can't put on an act,
It takes brains to do that anyway."
"The Mayor of Simpleton" by XTC
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7 comments:
Oh boy, I opened a can of worms, didn't I?
So you're an XTC head too, eh? I've been a slappy for the band for years.
You know, I really love "Oranges and Lemons", but I never got into much of the other stuff. I think at the time I heard "Skylarking" I didn't dig it for some reason. I remember hating "Dear God" as a good Christian lad.
I think I heard one other record a little later, but never heard much else.
Listening again for the first time in probably 10 years, "Oranges and Lemons" is about as close to a perfect pop record as you can get. Five Stars
I don't understand this post, but I think it provides support for my hypothesis that musical lyrics cannot survive without music to cover them and a voice to present them.
Paul,
This is a reference to a song by Slinger's favorite band XTC. The name of the song is "The Mayor of Simpleton". The lyrics posted are from the bridge, and they certainly could apply to your "Simpleton and Chief".
Additionally, I linked "The Stupidest Things President George W. Bush Has Ever Said". These statements further the perception that your president is incompetent.
I know how you pride yourself on your intellect and knowledge, so it still fascinates me that you would vote for such an idiot, whether you agree with his policies or not. I don't understand how you could vote for the moron who would say, "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?"
Can you explain your insanity?
By the way, the Beatles fan in you would love XTC's album "Oranges and Lemons" which contains the song "The Mayor of Simpleton."
And I believe you are wrong. Lyrics can stand up without the melody if the context is understood. Often they can be read as poetry or even as prose.
This is not to say that all lyrics will withstand scrutiny, but some certainly do. Within context, the lyrics posted could easily be put in the mouth of King George. Even if I have "misunderestimated" him.
I have never come accross a song with lyrics that could survive without both the music and vocal presentation, Beatles included. One of the easiest possible jokes to pull off is to read aloud the lyrics of a song. This view takes away nothing from the genius of lyrics, but rather illustrates just how profoundly different are the activities of writing lyrics vs poetry. Convesersly, what works as poetry rarely ever works as song lyrics.
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