Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Obedience to God


how much of a question is it whether sufjan stevens is great or the greatest ever. stuff like this, i usually play conservative and err with caution with the simple opinion that he’s great. even in this hype oriented day and age, great is still pretty good, so i leave it as that. and songwriting/performing is a non competitive endeavour, after all.

on some level i cannot deny or withstand criticism for a sort of intellectual inertia by not quite properly ranking a particular someone or a art work/performance. i mean, the statement that someone or something is great already differentiates that person or work/performance as something other than good/competent/bad. it hardly seems that wide or unjust of another step to go from great to more greater.

well, i have two excuses: one is that i know nothing about music. and two, there is often a natural bias for the new, or at least inflate the most recent, and temporal distance tempers such unwieldy predilections.

which is to say i really like his new album, the age of adz. much more than i thought i would from reading initial descriptions, or from first impressions. the second track, too much, largely colored my chilly reception, the electronic noise was too odd, jarring, and alien, to the extent that i couldn’t get pass the hard and harsh “experimentation.” but i also couldn’t stop thinking about the songs, or returning to them, or - by now - getting completely seduce by ‘em.

fer sure adz is different from … well, let’s say it is different from his last group of albums, michigan, seven swans, and illinois, that comprises more or less how most listeners are acquainted with sufjan. teh internet sez that his second album, enjoy your rabbit, is more intensely rooted in electronic territories than adz. i don’t know anything about sufjan’s pre-michigan work, so i wouldn’t be quite qualified to say with adz whether sufjan opened a new bag of sound, or he’s returning and or melding his varied musical interest. there are enough of the rough, jagged edges in illinois to say many of the adz elements ain’t new.

but what do i know.

what concerns me a little is if i were to be asked why adz or sufjan stevens is great. cause aside from it and he is, and he is a genius, i’d be hard press to come up with any more persuasive answer. i don’t know nothing about music. i am not sure how much i have to reinforce this point but there it is again. second, while i probably listen to adz - this applies equally in the past to his other albums - over and over and over again, i don’t really pay much attention to the songs or album. or, i listen as a fan, eager to be impressed and astounded, rather than with a critical - as if possible - ear. basically, i only listen to things i like; and however i may analyze or criticize is through a prism of bits and pieces that amazed me, with the corresponding how and why so.

plus, i would not want to persuade or convince anyone. i do not care if say i love sufjan and you (perhaps) do not. if there’s curiosity, i am happy to feed it, or explore together. if there's not, then there’s not. know what i mean?

one thing i know is my favorite gal h (h stands for whoever h is) stated, to me, that she likes sufjan. which is cool. i am not sure how much i wonder what she thinks of the new album, whether she thinks it’s great or the greatest, and such, but i wonder some. i wonder additionally, especially as it is now too late for me, whether she caught his concert in october.

totally honest, i entertained thoughts of picking up some tickets for sufjan’s nyc show, but as i stated privately before which still holds true now, “the truth is that the venue is too far uptown … it takes a lot for me to leave downtown.” i’ma whiny bitch, i know. though the biggest truth is the tickets were too hella costly. then i saw sufjan perform on late night with jimmy fallon, which was interesting, and read what a marvelous spectacle sufjan’s concerts were, and i think it would totally have been worth the cost and commute, after all. but maybe h caught his show, and that’s what i’m wondering.

that is if she liked adz.

this is what i think, considerable e-words have been spilled for impossible soul, adz’s closing track. it is 25+ minutes long, so you know the song was designed to grab attention. how could it be anything but that? i think it can easily be broken to several songs, because there are at least 5 different and distinct movements in it. but if sufjan wants it to be one song, fine. impossible soul is gimmicky and attention seeking, and yet, still a great song. i guess i did give the song special attention due to the hype, but it easily soars above the hype. that opening movement is so soul warming/wrenching, even as impossible soul eventually diverges along a sprawling path, i imagine h would really dig that first part.
Oh, woman, tell me what you want
And I'll calm down without bleeding out
With a broken heart that you stabbed for an hour
Woman, I was freaking out because I want you to know
My beloved, you are the lover of my impossible soul

er, maybe. i dig the lyrics, but could understand how others might find an opaqueness from the lyrics alone, especially without melody or music to shape it or give it expressiveness. the instantaneous charm (and complexity) of impossible soul might not come through via some rote recitation of the lyrics. well, nonetheless, i found it incredibly tender, and like i said, i imagine she’d like it too.

a bummer is that, as far as i can tell, adz is a banjo free album.1 you can’t imagine the immediate erection i get on hearing banjo strings plucked.2 less salacious, not sure how much of this is a known fact or not, but i love bluegrass and folk music, which has everything to do with the banjo featured prominence in those genres. the banjo kicks ass in rock, and anything else, too.

1. some internet sources claim either the opening track in adz or the ending bits of the closing track has some banjo, but as far as i can tell, those internet sources, as shocking as it may seem, are wrong. to my ears, and according to competing internet sources, guitar.

2. from deliverance. yikes!

i want to say a couple of things about gulet mohamed.3 super condensed version, an american citizen teenager while traveling abroad was taken to an unidentified location by unidentified captors where he was imprisoned, interrogated, beaten, threatened with more violence/torture, and etc. far from sorting out and or otherwise helping american citizen gulet mohamed, united states government officials were either in cahoots or directing the unidentified captors and their actions. as far as i can tell, and this part is more fuzzy, mohamed is no longer imprisoned but detained in some kind of facility. again, instead of sorting out and or otherwise helping american citizen gulet mohamed, now detained without charge, united states goverment officials state that american citizen gulet mohamed is on a no-fly list, effectively prohibited from returning to his country, and express zero interest in the potential illegal detention and or mistreatment of an american citizen.

3. more & more salient details could be viewed here, among other places.

there are definitely issues and outrages more important, relevant, and thought provoking than what i am going to raise, but. 1) this is the change we were looking for in obama? 2) is at best no interest or at worst full complicit how the government is suppose to behave upon the questionable imprisonment and possible mistreatment by a foreign power of one of her citizen traveling abroad? 3) fuck obama. 4) poor kid. 5) how much should american citizens traveling abroad be scared? 6) how much should american citizens with arab sounding names traveling abroad be scared shitless? 7) fuck everyone in the obama administration who did not stand up against this. 8) right or wrong, i accept the fact that non citizens have less protection or, i think more accurately, might expect less than full constitutional/legal protection, but right or wrong, citizens should expect or, i think more accurately, receive full constitutional/legal protection. 9) i imagine folks with a chinese background - given chinese exclusion, chae chan ping, chang chan, chin bow, etc. - would find greater significance or have deep empathy for gulet mohamed’s circumstance. 10) i am fucking naive, perhaps. 11) poor family and friends of the kid. 12) poor america. 13 but not least) resistance to tyranny is obedience to god.

something on youtube that i have watched not quite infinite loop a lot but let’s say a hella alot4 - and i will repeat, it is well worth viewing all the way through and urge y’all to do so - is diane savino’s ny senate speech for marriage equality back in 2009. her speech was, as she herself is, and i hope her career continues to progress likewise, a brilliant, poignant force for virtue. i am not sure what this means exactly, or how much it really matters, but i am planning a visit to her 23rd (parts of staten island and brooklyn) district area. unless i’ve visited already, then i mean plan a re-visit.

4. enjoy.

not to say the following is more better, or that i prefer it more than diane savino’s speech, but anything to do with the trial of susan b anthony is straight up a-mazement. at least the sentencing part.5 the text from the trial record by itself is electric and inspirational, but is definitely enhanced when read, viewed, or heard. thanks to youtube and the late, great howard zinn, there are several, albeit edited, versions to help pick a favorite: a closer to historical accurate costume and set reenactment; christina kirk’s fiery rendition; lili taylor’s contemplative reading; or melissa leo’s spirited performance.

5. the trial record text.

my favorite is probably by christina kirk. or more specifically, i came across the words from anthony’s trial via a bill moyers journal episode where moyer was interviewing zinn who was doing some publicity work for the television broadcast of the people’s speak.6 the moyers journal excerpt was what turned me on, and the people’s speak version is my favorite. but still, kirk’s youtube version, more stripped down and raw, does the trick too. most likely, the revolutionary maxim should be credited to tom jefferson, with tyrants instead of tyranny. jefferson really had a way with words.

6. starts around the 13 minute mark but worth watching start to finish. the transcript.

my runner up favorite is probably lili taylor.

anyway, that the hows or whys there are some inter-relatedness with anthony and savino is if not obvious then kinda intuit is why i’m not going to belabor the point(s).

by the way, do not extend my admiration for anthony’s life and work to her campaigning in the temperance movement. i think sips from the blood of christ are not entirely wrong. even assuming that the temperance movement might be restricted to cautioning against the dangers of alcohol abuse, and not alcohol in general, that narrow, and possibly justified, focus is hardly ever and without much sincerity adhered to. i do appreciate any concerned remarks given if i have been or am about to drink too much, but it’s hard to be a borderline alcoholic without, you know, drinking.

i hope the topicality and humor in savino’s speech do not preclude its inclusion from the ranks of great or recitation/rebroadcast worthy speeches. 420,000 completed views on youtube thus far, and counting; not bad. we can learn from you, you don’t learn from us. i vote aye.

one thing the ivory coast election mess7 got me to thinking was how much does robust capitalism or industrial oligarchism enable peaceful transition of political power. partly i wonder because where businesses and business interest can survive (or really, thrive) through regime changes, they provide financial support and continued political influence for political leaders exiting the government sector. another way to put it, political leaders are reluctant to cede political power because without a vigorous and secure economic/financial fallback they would be subject to the whims of the new regime. with the emphasis that is placed on held elections, are they enough, or how meaningfully so? i wonder this without meaning to sound pro (big) business because the pernicious outgrowth from the free markets are such that even if vigorous capitalism was necessary for democracy or peaceful transfer of power, taming the harms of free market may be more important (or more necessary) than democracy. or as important. or not at all.

7. i could throw out a link, but, assuming you continue reading, i’d say whatever went down in ivory coast is typical with what seems a lot of 3rd world countries. which is partially the point.

a different thing i thought, as i peaked into apartments in various buildings on broadway one cold night, i have been in few or barely any apartments/apartment buildings. i wonder this because it was only recently - though maybe the only accurate way to put this is at a point in time, a point in time that is definitely and irrevocably beyond return or perhaps only persist in primitive or isolated pockets - everyone knew everyone and or at least has been to everyone’s home/land/business: when making a home involved the whole community making the home, when joining or leaving a place elicited curiosity, assistance, or reflection from the whole community. i understand and respect that these dazes substitute institutions have popped up, like the pub, coffee shop, worship house, corner grocery, etc., to facilitate some communal type activities, or even as the kidz do: facebook, tweet, and check-in. and i recognize the duality of the home not just as a place to welcome and congregate family, friends, neighbors, and other guests but, as well, as a place - as judge lou brandeis might describe - to be let alone, with possessions, thoughts, or plain nothing. and while i confess to heavy luddite leanings, i am also not delusional; close-knit communities have a way of fostering suspicion and fear, of suffocating moral, intellectual, and or emotional life and development, of hosting all sorts of other nastiness. yet, wandering pass buildings upon buildings, besides the fact that these buildings exist, i’d be clueless about the who and why of folks within, i’d be clueless to everything a foot past the building's front door even. aside from not thinking about it at all, or in addition to enjoying the convenience and comfort and all else that is gained in modern/city life, on occasions, there is no reason not to consider or reconsider what is lost or forgone. i am assuming it is something(s) that is precious. again, with no judgment on the exact net trade off.

while watching some movie8 or another, a character recited a poem written by pessoa.9 my memory was never what it should be so i cannot recall which one or much details from it. the poem still was remarkable enough that i wish i remembered. which led to a hunt for the precise poem, which then led to a good deal of wasted googling10 and a purchase of selected pessoa poems, titled fernando pessoa & co.11

8. the trailer. by the way, i caught miguel gomes second featured movie, our beloved month of august - i would have said recently, but as of this writing, any applicability of recently would have long been expired. a little rough at parts, as may be expected, but beloved month is certainly bold and quite good.


9. more likely, poems.

10. which considering not recalling the poem or much details from it, i was screwed from the get go.

11. & co refers to heteronyms, which i’m ignoring for purposes here.


since i have not said it explicitly, i will do so: before said movie i did not know nothing about pessoa. which is odd to be so completely unaware of such an important poet/writer, but at the same time seems perfectly normal as there are likely a gabazillion important poets/writers that i am clueless about. plus i imagine i’d, for all practical considerations, be completely baffled where i to come across things from most poets and writers i have heard or read before.

screwed and unscrewed. more googling eventually tipped off a pretty good lead. specifically, this spicy line from the poem was recited in the movie: “all the woes of the world stem from our caring about each other.” further search turned dead-end as i suspect the subtitled translation was specific to the movie. but some success anyway, as an aggressive skim through the keeper of sheep section in & co struck paydirt. 32. yesterday afternoon a man from the city. & co renders the same line as “all the world’s trouble comes from us fretting over one another,” which i think in comparison lacks some urgency. while an internet source sees, “all the evil in the world comes from us bothering with each other,” which lacks … okay, all three variations are presented,12 you can determine what is lacking, if anything, and how much so, uh, yourself. for me, i’d say movie subtitles won this translation grudge match. anywayz, assuming the movie featured a recital of two (at least) pessoa poems, that’s one down.

12. plus the original too: todo o mal do mundo vem de nos importarmos uns com os outros.

here’s two pessoa poems, both translated by rich zenith:

18. I’d rather be the dust of the road
   (from Keeper of Sheep)

I’d rather be the dust of the road
And trampled on by the feet of the poor …

I’d rather be the rivers that flow
And have washerwomen along my shore …

I’d rather be the poplars next to the river
With only sky above and the water below …

I’d rather be the miller’s donkey
And have him beat me and care for me …

Rather this than to go through life
Always looking back and feeling regret …


Since we do nothing in this confused world


Since we do nothing in this confused world
That lasts or that, lasting, is of any worth,
And even what’s useful for us we lose
              So soon, with our own lives,
Let us prefer the pleasure of the moment
To an absurd concern with the future,
Whose only certainty is the harm we suffer now
              To pay for its prosperity.
Tomorrow doesn’t exist. This moment
Alone is mine, and I am only who
Exists in this instant, which might be the last
              Of the self I pretend to be.

i would not say they are the best examples, but are examples.