Ever feel as though someone's characterization of you is inaccurate? Maybe the person characterizing you doesn't have much information to go on, or they happened to see you in uncharacteristic circumstances, or a few verbal brush strokes in summing someone up is not the strong suit of the person describing you. Maybe you have an appearance and personality that lends itself to an accurate description every time, but if so, I'd suspect you'd be in the minority. People are complex pieces of psychology, after all - changeable, contradictory, self-aware only in certain matters and often governed by conflicting principles (if at all). I'm fond of telling the story of my first meeting with Curtis Leippi, my musical collaborator and friend of 15 years, for example. To make a long story short, he took an instant dislike to me, and it wasn't until we found some musical common ground that he gradually thawed (over a span of about five months). In fairness, I'm a pretty reserved guy on short acquaintance, so he wouldn't have had much incentive to thaw anyway.
I don't know how true the story is, but I heard that in an interview, Tori Amos brought up the subject of vandalism soon after the release of her first album. Specifically, someone had been going around town locating Tori Amos concert posters and painting tears running down her face. She tried to explain to the interviewer that she isn't actually a sad person by nature - even though her first album was pretty dark and tortured, albeit beautifully.
I've been a Cheap Trick fan for many years, and although I found it disturbing upon the first few listens, I'd still count their first album as my favourite of their catalog. On the cover, they look fresh-faced and fun (tho' perhaps a little wing-nutty thanks to Rick), and their song topics are as follows: Fast-life burn-out, pedophilia, tax evasion, depression, suicide, lust, marriage remorse, a gigolo, communication with the after-world, and a glimpse into the mind of mass-murderer Richard Speck.
They lightened up a bit for their following albums.
I should qualify - I didn't enjoy the album because of the lyrical topics per se, but there was such a fearless, devil-may-care irreverence to those tunes that is at the heart of great rock tunes, in my book. To the best of my knowledge, songwriter Rick Nielsen was not investigated by social services, the IRS or his wife thereafter.
As for me, I'm sometimes a bit bemused as to what composite character sketch someone might draw of me based on my own song lyrics. I'm the first to admit that neither my songs nor I have ever been accused of being excessively cheerful. I can claim, though, that songwriting is often a cathartic exercise for me - or at least consoling. We all have our issues to resolve, or at least ponder - and attacking some of these issues by welding them into two or three verses and a chorus works for me. The composer Charles Ives believed everybody should write music in their spare time, and I wonder what the result would be if everyone took up songwriting for a few months; not with a view to writing the next Sgt Pepper, but just for the health of it. No musical training required, no quality control, no criticism, no inferences - just expression for its own sake. I'd highly recommend it to anyone reading this. Would it create a world of great music and improved mental health? I like to think so...certainly more likely than a planet of brooding Cheap Trick fans....
I don't know how true the story is, but I heard that in an interview, Tori Amos brought up the subject of vandalism soon after the release of her first album. Specifically, someone had been going around town locating Tori Amos concert posters and painting tears running down her face. She tried to explain to the interviewer that she isn't actually a sad person by nature - even though her first album was pretty dark and tortured, albeit beautifully.
I've been a Cheap Trick fan for many years, and although I found it disturbing upon the first few listens, I'd still count their first album as my favourite of their catalog. On the cover, they look fresh-faced and fun (tho' perhaps a little wing-nutty thanks to Rick), and their song topics are as follows: Fast-life burn-out, pedophilia, tax evasion, depression, suicide, lust, marriage remorse, a gigolo, communication with the after-world, and a glimpse into the mind of mass-murderer Richard Speck.
They lightened up a bit for their following albums.
I should qualify - I didn't enjoy the album because of the lyrical topics per se, but there was such a fearless, devil-may-care irreverence to those tunes that is at the heart of great rock tunes, in my book. To the best of my knowledge, songwriter Rick Nielsen was not investigated by social services, the IRS or his wife thereafter.
As for me, I'm sometimes a bit bemused as to what composite character sketch someone might draw of me based on my own song lyrics. I'm the first to admit that neither my songs nor I have ever been accused of being excessively cheerful. I can claim, though, that songwriting is often a cathartic exercise for me - or at least consoling. We all have our issues to resolve, or at least ponder - and attacking some of these issues by welding them into two or three verses and a chorus works for me. The composer Charles Ives believed everybody should write music in their spare time, and I wonder what the result would be if everyone took up songwriting for a few months; not with a view to writing the next Sgt Pepper, but just for the health of it. No musical training required, no quality control, no criticism, no inferences - just expression for its own sake. I'd highly recommend it to anyone reading this. Would it create a world of great music and improved mental health? I like to think so...certainly more likely than a planet of brooding Cheap Trick fans....