Wow, Richard, I am in awe of your passion, research, and level of detail you have given these three pieces! They are extraordinary. I am also somewhat overwhelmed and wish I could offer more, but I don't know Dawson's music/art, and I'm unsure where to start. I did, however, love the quilting analogy in Part II, and coincidentally, when you posted it, I was looking at Pacita Abad's large quilt tapestry pieces!
You have definitely inspired me to explore and listen deeper to Dawson's music. However, I wonder if his work is so quintessentially English, like, say, Michael Head (who I love, btw!) that his lyrical references are missed on many listeners outside of the UK. That said, I did live in England (albeit London) for 14 years, and my wife is English. However, as Dawson is a Northerner, there still may be things lost on my ears and even my wife's (she grew up in Cambridge and London).
Nevertheless, I respect and applaud you for the deepest of dives you have taken us on. I also hope you have shared this three-part essay with Dawson. He would no doubt be chuffed to read it. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thanks, Michael, that's very kind of you. On the 'translation' issue, you might be right, and I think it's something Richard was aware of when performing in the US, where there's a shared language but fewer shared cultural references (especially when it's in the UK to US direction rather than the other way). I was watching a couple of his US gigs posted to YouTube, in which he jokes that there will be a second set of equal length just to offer a glossary of terms that came up in the first! (https://youtu.be/hoWAKyNIyCU?feature=shared&t=841 and https://youtu.be/tA_R4T3MqpE?feature=shared&t=422).
That localness is one of the things I love about his music. I wish more British artists were brave enough to do it.
As for sharing this with Richard, I probably will, though there was an earlier version of the material which I did as a podcast a few years back and sent the link to him. He's a modest chap and prefers not to read or listen to too much about himself, but we'll see.
Nice piece. Your mention of “ The Waters of March “ was timely I am off to listen to it again.
Thanks. I’d like to write more about that song at some point.
I will just mention a version that I think is well done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJNF_78_TnQ
Wow, Richard, I am in awe of your passion, research, and level of detail you have given these three pieces! They are extraordinary. I am also somewhat overwhelmed and wish I could offer more, but I don't know Dawson's music/art, and I'm unsure where to start. I did, however, love the quilting analogy in Part II, and coincidentally, when you posted it, I was looking at Pacita Abad's large quilt tapestry pieces!
You have definitely inspired me to explore and listen deeper to Dawson's music. However, I wonder if his work is so quintessentially English, like, say, Michael Head (who I love, btw!) that his lyrical references are missed on many listeners outside of the UK. That said, I did live in England (albeit London) for 14 years, and my wife is English. However, as Dawson is a Northerner, there still may be things lost on my ears and even my wife's (she grew up in Cambridge and London).
Nevertheless, I respect and applaud you for the deepest of dives you have taken us on. I also hope you have shared this three-part essay with Dawson. He would no doubt be chuffed to read it. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thanks, Michael, that's very kind of you. On the 'translation' issue, you might be right, and I think it's something Richard was aware of when performing in the US, where there's a shared language but fewer shared cultural references (especially when it's in the UK to US direction rather than the other way). I was watching a couple of his US gigs posted to YouTube, in which he jokes that there will be a second set of equal length just to offer a glossary of terms that came up in the first! (https://youtu.be/hoWAKyNIyCU?feature=shared&t=841 and https://youtu.be/tA_R4T3MqpE?feature=shared&t=422).
That localness is one of the things I love about his music. I wish more British artists were brave enough to do it.
As for sharing this with Richard, I probably will, though there was an earlier version of the material which I did as a podcast a few years back and sent the link to him. He's a modest chap and prefers not to read or listen to too much about himself, but we'll see.
Thanks for the shout-out on the protest song post, Richard! And for your contribution of Fulfillment Center.
I'm waaaaay behind catching up on other people's posts, looking forward to catching up on yours this week.