othelladub's Diaryland Diary

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paper cuts and highlighters

"I had no idea of originating an American flapper when I first began to write. I simply took girls whom I knew very well and, because they interested me as unique human beings, I used them for my heroines."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald in His Own Time: A Miscellany, ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli and Jackson R. Bryer. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1971. p. 265.


So, this Gwen Stefani girl is going solo, eh? Man, what a shame. What about the other fellas in the band? Tough break. Suppose they'll be stuck sipping the bubbly until she's inspired to tour w/em again. Not a bad deal, though. I know that most of their songs were coated with bubblegum, but they still eviscerate groups like the offspring, nickelback, and especially the whining kids in Linkin Park. Linkin Park seems like it would be really cool to listen to at 16, but just embarrassing after that. Sure, I've rocked out to 'em while driving to and fro, but I'd sooner put a bullet in my head than purchase one of their CDs.

I just realized that while typing this, really. They have some nice rhymes, but they're not saying anything meaningful. Oh, the pain! Oh, the angst! Where, if you look at a band like Nirvana, the lyrics mean something to the person singing them. One might not like the music, but it's saying something. And it's not all about ego-tripping. It's not all centered inward. It's dealing with internal stuff, but still looking outward into the world - interacting with it. And Linkin Park just comes off as if it was all cooked up in someone's bedroom, without much truth besides the acid of rejection. The Smashing Pumpkins, I suppose, fall somewhere between the two on the spectrum. Much more elegance in the delivery of the lyrics, but still largely focused inward, feigning sensitivity more than actually throwing raw nerves out there. I suppose one could argue that the bulk of Corgan's work is more elegantly constructed, but he comes off as a machiavelli-type, whereas Cobain (despite frustrations with his bandmates) seeks a more democratic process, filling in chunks of what he's written with elements of the other artists involved; layering the ambience with the contributions of grohl and novaselic instead of going it alone and demanding a single-minded vision 100% of the time.

While sometimes this approach doesn't work, the sentiment is appreciated. And to make it work, I think, is a much tougher thing, and demonstrates more genius than masterminding, svengali-like, grandiose spraying spit of high-school memory. However artful, it's representative of frustration and fear of others' contributions. Whereas the Nirvana fellow is afraid, is vulnerable, but is willing to wallow and thrash and spin about along with his bandmates - achieving moments of perfection where the Pumpkin guy is settling for a more uniform quality which rarely rises above, due to the single-minded droning of a too- narrow focus. Forgive me, I've been reading SPIN.

Links! (below, of course)






11:17 a.m. - 2004-03-24

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