"They’re like pegs, aren’t they? The way a rock climber will drive in pegs to attach himself to the rock face. You need the big expanse of the mountain, but you also needs the pegs to attach yourself to it."
There are a lot of different tools that a writer can use to provide that hook, and recognizable details are only one of them. But I think there is something impressive about songs that have both the big picture and clear points of attachment.
Edited to add -- I was just thinking today about the Robb Johnson song "Cauliflower Curry" which I think is a great example of what I'm talking about. It is, on one hand, just a description of making curry and, on the other hand, a thoughtful commentary on community, and politics, and what counts as a shared project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ectznn9sJww&list=RDectznn9sJww&start_radio=1
Thanks for reading, and for the link to that piece. I like your comments on that post too, some great examples. I agree about the connection aspect and how we (may) find the universal in the particular. For years my literary examples have been Joe Brainard’s I Remember and other texts inspired by it (which I was also talking about in my Falmouth presentation that led to this post). I also like the point in Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities where Marco Polo says all the cities he’s described are Venice, which connects to the Joyce/Dublin point in the post you linked to.
Fascinating premise for a presentation (my nephew, by the way, went to Falmouth and still lives there working as a surf photographer).
I completely agree that specificity doesn't always translate well (nor does local slang). As I read this post, I kept thinking of the great Michael Head, especially his solo work, but even his earlier work with Shack and the Pale Fountains. Much of Mick's work is *very* English, particularly Liverpudlian'centric. His songs are meticulously crafted and all about telling stories of specific places, childhood memories, and people he's met throughout his life (not just lovers, but past friends and even former neighbors). While I love Shack and Michael's Red Elastic Band, I don't always catch his references. Perhaps that's also why he has never brought his band to the US. He's so beloved in the UK, especially in the North, that he doesn't need to travel thousands of miles to play small venues for a few Yanks who adore his music but feel like the door is only slightly open and that we will never truly be allowed in. That said, I wonder if a Londoner (or Cornish) may feel the same way when listening to Head or Dawson?
I also wonder if you sometimes feel that way when listening to the Americana songs of Michael Hurley and Bill Callahan?
Thanks Michael! Cool about your nephew. That means we both have nephews there! (Well, mine's just up the road in a village called Stithians, but close enough!) It's a favourite place of mine and my wife's, so I was pleased to be able to attend a conference there.
I agree about Michael Head's work perhaps not translating. I saw him perform in Newcastle a couple of years back - very popular, as you say.
I'm also sure that I miss a lot of the references in the work of my favourite US songwriters. At the same time, I feel that there's a greater exposure to US specificity here due to film, TV and music, which was one of the reasons I wanted to turn the volume down on that in this post (as you know, I often write about Americana and feel it has shaped my life in many positive ways).
I'm also aware that British culture has permeated a fair proportion of the globe too. I remember studying Caribbean literature at university and reading accounts of how the colonial education had instilled certain imagery into the culture (snow-covered fields etc.). I was also struck by the popularity of a comedy slot called 'Britcom' that used to be shown on Portuguese TV when I was living there in the early 2000s, with incredibly specific comedy shows like The Royle Family and League of Gentlemen being aired, and I wondered at how that translated.
Richard, thanks for another deep dive, I adore your explorations very much.
Perhaps this is a bit too on the nose, since you referenced regional assumptions about Americana early in your piece, but Billy Bragg did not adapt Chuck Berry’s song “Route 66” because Bobby Troup wrote ( and recorded) that classic American road song.
In some circles Bobby was best known for being the lucky chap who married Julie London, but explore his songs and recordings and you will be in for a treat.
Some nice clips of Bobby and Julie on YouTube as well.
Thanks for that. Perhaps, given my focus on specificity, I should have mentioned the songwriter. I was riffing on Bragg referring to the Rolling Stones in the German video, and thinking that the Stones picked the song up from Chuck Berry. I don't want that to be a distraction, so have removed Berry's name now.
As always, it's interesting to follow your train of thought and many references.
I would only say that Specificity can be a way for the listener to connect with a song
Mike Taylor makes that argument here -- https://reprog.wordpress.com/2014/11/14/specific-is-universal/ and I like Gavin Burrows comment on that post, that the specific details are:
"They’re like pegs, aren’t they? The way a rock climber will drive in pegs to attach himself to the rock face. You need the big expanse of the mountain, but you also needs the pegs to attach yourself to it."
There are a lot of different tools that a writer can use to provide that hook, and recognizable details are only one of them. But I think there is something impressive about songs that have both the big picture and clear points of attachment.
Edited to add -- I was just thinking today about the Robb Johnson song "Cauliflower Curry" which I think is a great example of what I'm talking about. It is, on one hand, just a description of making curry and, on the other hand, a thoughtful commentary on community, and politics, and what counts as a shared project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ectznn9sJww&list=RDectznn9sJww&start_radio=1
Thanks for reading, and for the link to that piece. I like your comments on that post too, some great examples. I agree about the connection aspect and how we (may) find the universal in the particular. For years my literary examples have been Joe Brainard’s I Remember and other texts inspired by it (which I was also talking about in my Falmouth presentation that led to this post). I also like the point in Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities where Marco Polo says all the cities he’s described are Venice, which connects to the Joyce/Dublin point in the post you linked to.
Fascinating premise for a presentation (my nephew, by the way, went to Falmouth and still lives there working as a surf photographer).
I completely agree that specificity doesn't always translate well (nor does local slang). As I read this post, I kept thinking of the great Michael Head, especially his solo work, but even his earlier work with Shack and the Pale Fountains. Much of Mick's work is *very* English, particularly Liverpudlian'centric. His songs are meticulously crafted and all about telling stories of specific places, childhood memories, and people he's met throughout his life (not just lovers, but past friends and even former neighbors). While I love Shack and Michael's Red Elastic Band, I don't always catch his references. Perhaps that's also why he has never brought his band to the US. He's so beloved in the UK, especially in the North, that he doesn't need to travel thousands of miles to play small venues for a few Yanks who adore his music but feel like the door is only slightly open and that we will never truly be allowed in. That said, I wonder if a Londoner (or Cornish) may feel the same way when listening to Head or Dawson?
I also wonder if you sometimes feel that way when listening to the Americana songs of Michael Hurley and Bill Callahan?
Thanks Michael! Cool about your nephew. That means we both have nephews there! (Well, mine's just up the road in a village called Stithians, but close enough!) It's a favourite place of mine and my wife's, so I was pleased to be able to attend a conference there.
I agree about Michael Head's work perhaps not translating. I saw him perform in Newcastle a couple of years back - very popular, as you say.
I'm also sure that I miss a lot of the references in the work of my favourite US songwriters. At the same time, I feel that there's a greater exposure to US specificity here due to film, TV and music, which was one of the reasons I wanted to turn the volume down on that in this post (as you know, I often write about Americana and feel it has shaped my life in many positive ways).
I'm also aware that British culture has permeated a fair proportion of the globe too. I remember studying Caribbean literature at university and reading accounts of how the colonial education had instilled certain imagery into the culture (snow-covered fields etc.). I was also struck by the popularity of a comedy slot called 'Britcom' that used to be shown on Portuguese TV when I was living there in the early 2000s, with incredibly specific comedy shows like The Royle Family and League of Gentlemen being aired, and I wondered at how that translated.
Richard, thanks for another deep dive, I adore your explorations very much.
Perhaps this is a bit too on the nose, since you referenced regional assumptions about Americana early in your piece, but Billy Bragg did not adapt Chuck Berry’s song “Route 66” because Bobby Troup wrote ( and recorded) that classic American road song.
In some circles Bobby was best known for being the lucky chap who married Julie London, but explore his songs and recordings and you will be in for a treat.
Some nice clips of Bobby and Julie on YouTube as well.
Thanks for that. Perhaps, given my focus on specificity, I should have mentioned the songwriter. I was riffing on Bragg referring to the Rolling Stones in the German video, and thinking that the Stones picked the song up from Chuck Berry. I don't want that to be a distraction, so have removed Berry's name now.