Not to be too much of a party pooper, but I've always felt that taking lyrics away from their home (the song) and making them stand naked on a white page or a computer screen robs them of their essence. Nonetheless, I'm planning to go by CD Alley and pick up one these CD things you so highly recommend, along with the new Edith Frost, which I am hopeful about.
Well, while I agree with you in most cases (I would not put they lyrics to a Paul Westerberg song here for that reason--even though he is one of my favorite songwriters of all time), I feel that with Destroyer it is different. The lyrics are so strange and unusual that they actually do stand pretty well on their own. That is why the Bejar-o-matic if funny and cool--because Destroyer lyrics are so hyper-literate and articulate and do make good reading.
Additionally, since the interview excerpt was about lyrics--and it related to the previous post about lyrics--I thought that it would be a good idea to post some just to give an example.
Oh, and: yap.
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I think these stand up better on the page than most lyrics. But I also have all the music in my head so I can sort of sing along when I read them. Others may not have that luxury. When I saw the lyrics to Virgin With A Memory and that you called it a Clint favorite, my first response was "NO! You've got to hear the music with it!" (I should be slapped for such a stupid response but anyway...) Cause man those chords and that melody, plus that first line about Fitzcarraldo, O it is the combination that is so satisfying. Here are the chords, play them for yourself and see! : Fmaj7 for 2, then D7 on 3 and G7 on 4. Played in an almost samba 4/4. On a nylon-string guitar.
The Bejar-o-matic works because it just gives you one line. He writes great one-liners. The cool thing about seeing his song lyrics unexpurgated is that it reminds you how knotty his lines are and how he fits them into such tight places with grace so you don't even notice all the crazy shit that's going on. He does that really amazingly also on "Jackie, Dressed In Cobras" on the new New Pornos album. Even if you don't like the NPs, this song is probably the fullest expression I have yet heard of l'essence du Bejar.
For discussion on poetry-on-the-page vs. lyrics, see this post I originated a couple months ago:
http://
www.americanbookcongress....id=1330_0_1_0_C
Word. Since I don't know the music, I'm reluctant to even look at the words. Maybe I'm just too anal about this, but when I would buy a new album back in the day, and listen to it, I try would to discipline myself to not read ahead in the lyrics. We've been listening to the Eagle's "Hell Freeze's Over" here at the bookstore, and I assume everyone knows the music to this poetic gem, that surely can stand on it's own:
"Her mind is Tiffany-twisted She got the MERCEDES bends
She got a lot of pretty,pretty boys she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard Sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember Some dance to forget "
Actually, that's not so bad.
that sort of sounds really profound on its own like that.
As much as we'd all like to be first in line at a Don Henley assassination party some of their songs are incredibly tight with incisive lyrics (Tiffany-twisted is awesome and feels good to say = good lyric), and the guitar solo in Otel Carlifornia blows my guitar tech mind every time.
But still I hate the fucking Eagles.
a) I hear what you are saying ric, and agree, and didn't mean to harsh you, but I was in this instance talking about literature and not music.
b) Hotel California is a great song, so perfectly constructed. I chanllenge you to layer that many guitars and have it not sound cluttered. Each pass around at the beginning adds a new one. Damn, tight.
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