bilingual | zweisprachig

Better late than never.

Today’s piece is not really a poem, at least not in the conventional sense of the word. It is a song by Bob Dylan, who, conincidentally, received a Special Citation at yesterday’s Pulitzer Prize ceremony, for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” Even if he had not received this somewhat half-assed award, you would still find him in this post today.

The song is “Desolation Row” from his 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited. If you have never listened to this album, you ought to get a copy first thing tomorrow. It certainly ranks among my top-five all-time favorite records. The same goes for the song. You will hardly find such incredible songwriting in combination with such great music anywhere else.

But enough blabbering. Let the man’s voice be heard and his words be read. The complete lyrics can be had from Dylan’s official website (by the way, lyrics to all of his songs are available there). The full track can be streamed below. All 11 minutes and 22 seconds of it. As usual, do yourself a favor and read the lyrics while you are listening to the song. Just open them in a new window and play the track below. Immerse yourself in some mid-1960s greatness. (More and more often I get the feeling that I was born in the wrong decade.)

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Other poems for April

Poets.org: Caroline Knox, “Line Poem”

Knopf: Edward Hirsch, “Self Portrait” (includes audio recording by Hirsch; the link to that is above the poem’s title)

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The post about the striking writers is going to have to wait. I’m trying myself at a little more thorough research and such stuff (“that dreams are made on”).

Only today have I realized that Radiohead have released a new album on October 10, entitled In Rainbows. The “strange” thing about it is that the band put it up for download at their website, letting people decide for themselves how much they would want to pay for it. So you can put in any price from £0.00 to £99.99 (they don’t allow anything higher than that).

You can get the album here: www.inrainbows.com. And here is a New York Times opinion piece about this stunt.

It was quite weird to type three zeros in the price field because this openly states to the artists, “I’m not going to pay for your great work.” I can imagine it is an even weirder feeling than downloading music from a P2P network, where one at least does not practically rub it in the face of the artist directly. But this just goes to show that there are still musicians out there, popular ones at that, who care more about the music and about delivering it to the public than about the profits from ever declining record sales; most of which would go to the labels anyways. There are plenty of other ways they can earn their livings; concerts, for example. Then they would at least get in touch with the fans again and maybe realize what the true meaning behind their music is and what that feels like.

By the way, In Rainbows is an incredible album, very creative, calm at times, even dreamful. The tunes are catchy and come with a drift-off guarantee—drifting off by the listener, that is, not the music. The music and Thom Yorke’s voice are always one step ahead of the listener’s ear, waiting to catch the mind by melodious surprise, only to take it some place else entirely.

Get a hold of the album and prepare for a wonderful ride.

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Yesterday made me very happy. Not only did I go to a reading (as you can see below) but I also got the new Shins album Wincing the Night Away. [If you go to this link you can also listen to a high quality version of the album's first single, "Phantom Limb."] You might remember my anticipation for this record from one of my first posts.

In order to bridge the waiting period you can have a look at the NY Times’s brief review from the Critics’ Choice on Monday and/or at the one from Rolling Stone from January 10^th.

Gestern bot sich mir zum wiederholten Male ein Artikel dar, in dem es darum geht, daß Menschen sich ständig verhören. Das brachte mich dazu, ein Buch hervorzuholen, das ich vor ungefähr einem Jahr gekauft habe: Der weiße Neger Wumbaba von Axel Hacke und Michael Sowa.

In diesem wundervollen kleinen Büchlein geht es ebenfalls ums Verhören, um das Mißverstehen von Liedtexten, um genau zu sein. Axel Hacke ist Journalist bei der Süddeutschen Zeitung und brachte eines Tages einen Artikel über eben jene Liedtexte, die man nie so richtig versteht. Daraufhin erreichte ihn eine wahre Flut von Leserbriefen, in denen Menschen ihre eigenen "Erlebnisse" schilderten. Aus diesen Briefen und anderen Quellen (Gespräche, Internet &c.) hat er Der weiße Neger Wumbaba zusammengestellt. Michael Sowa hat das Ganze dann herzlichst illustriert. Ich möchte Euch nun einige Höhepunkte daraus vorstellen:

Da wäre zuallererst der Titel des Buches. Aus "… und aus den Wiesen steiget / der weiße Nebel wunderbar" (eine Zeile aus dem im deutschen Sprachraum sehr bekannten Lied "Der Mond ist aufgegangen") entstand "der weiße Neger Wumbaba."

Der Refrain zu Hot Chocolates "You Sexy Thing" wird gleich mehrmals vergewaltigt. "I believe in knuckles" oder "I believe in Malcolm" wurde für dessen erste Zeile gern mitgesungen. Das Original lautet aber: "I believe in miracles / Since you came along / You Sexy Thing." Jemand anders hat die letzte Zeile in "You saxophone" umgedichtet.

Dem "Paperback Writer" der Beatles ist es ähnlich ergangen: "Take the back right turn," "Pay for that Chrysler" und "Hi, barebacked rider" sind nur einige Auswüchse der Phantasien der Musikliebhaber.

Madonnas "La Isla Bonita" ist zwar kein schönes Lied und der Text auch nicht überragend, aber das "Mißverhörnis" ist Gold wert. "Tropical the island breeze / All of nature wild and free / This is where I long to be / La Isla Bonita" wird zu "Just call me an island sleaze / All my body yours for free / This is who I long to be / Louise the Bone Eater." Das ist so weit vom Original entfernt, daß sich jemand bestimmt kreativ daran zu schaffen gemacht hat. Trotz allem könnte ich mir aber "Louise the Bone Eater" als echten Verhörer vorstellen.

Aus "Komm, Herr Jesus, sei unser Gast" wurde "Komma Jesus, sei unser Gast."

Ein kleines Kind hat aus einem Erzbischof einen "Erdbeerschorsch" gemacht. Köstlich.

Laut Axel Hacke heißen solche Verhörer im Englischen "Mondegreen." Das soll Sylvia Wright zu verdanken sein, die 1954 im Harper’s Magazine einen Artikel dazu schrieb. Als Kind hörte sie in dem schottischen Lied "The Bonny Earl of Murray" immer "They ha’e slain the Earl of Murray / And Lady Mondegreen." Tatsächlich heißt es: "They ha’e slain the Earl of Murray / And laid him on the green." Also reden wir heute von "Mondegreens."

Udo Jürgens’ "Griechischer Wein" wird zu "Kriech nicht da rein."

Zum Abschluß noch ein Klassiker der Beatles: "She’s Got a Chicken to Ride." Na, das Original erkannt?

Das Buch kann ich sehr empfehlen. Es sorgt für ein paar schöne, von Lachen erfüllte Stunden. Allerdings nicht genug, denn es ist nur etwa 60 Seiten dick. "Langsam lesen" lautet also die Devise.

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Daily Cartoon [high class humor this time]

No, I am not religious all of a sudden. I was proselytized in a musical fashion, which is sort of religious, I guess. Andrew pointed me to Tom Waits and Greg Brown. It is a shame I did not listen to them before. (I had heard of them but that was it.)

So, yesterday I got my hands on Tom Waits’s latest set of records, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards. It is a three-CD set with mostly old-ish but unreleased tracks. Last night I listened to the first two CDs and the third one, Bastards, is playing right now. Holy Shit, that is some great stuff. His smoky voice, the slow pace, the guitar, the piano &c. are terrific. It has been a while that I took so strongly to a musician whom I did not listen to before.

Greg Brown "surprised" me just as much. How could I not know someone like that? I especially enjoy his "Who Woulda Thunk It" and "InaBell Sale;" great guitar playing and songwriting.

Also yesterday, I happened upon a very-best-of album by The Beach Boys (Sounds Of Summer). It was delightful to listen to the classics. In the end, all these surfer tunes made me dig out a collection I have, Summer of Love, which is packed with the ultimate hippie songs from the ’60s and ’70s. This morning, I listened to all four CDs and got high just from the sound.

With all this fantastic music around me right now I get the feeling that I was born in the wrong country, in the wrong decade. Most of today’s music just gives me constant rashes (figuratively speaking, of course); with exceptions, though (Coldplay, The Shins, R.E.M. and the like)

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For the Daily Cartoon check yesterday’s first post. But I want to link you to the cartoon on the cover of the calender. It really fits into this "environment."

Yesterday, I came upon a blues singer named Seasick Steve. On his website he describes himself as "a real American, trainhopping, jailbirding, cowboying, carnival working, migrant farm picking, occassional tramping, near-fatal heart attack surviving old hobo. The real deal." A ten-minute live video is available on the website and there are three songs from his new album Dog House Music that you can download for free.

So I checked them out and they sound quite promising. The hobo image really comes across but in a very positive way. It is also interesting to know that he customizes all of his instruments, e.g. his "Three-Stringed Trance Wonder." For more info on his unconventional instruments take a look at his Wikipedia entry.

Another blues man whom I have been listening to for about a year now is Alvin Youngblood Hart. I will not go into any details other than that his music is really something. He lives up to his name and plays with a lot of h[e]art. Sample audio bits of the majority of his songs are available on his website.

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This weekend’s New Yorker cartoon (January 6 & 7)

The David Gilmour concert in today’s "Pop around the Clock" event is just over. It was a brilliant appetizer for the Pink Floyd concert 3sat is showing tonight at midnight; "Comfortably Numb" made me shiver again. I would give my left ear just to see Pink Floyd live (actually live), which, sadly, is not possible anymore (my left ear is a little happy, though).

As you probably have heard, James Brown died yesterday morning in a hospital in Atlanta. He was only 73 years old. As usual, an appropriate obituary can be found in the New York Times.

It is sad that at the end of the year another big figure in show business dies. The thing is they normally go in "packs" of three. Last week, Joseph Barbera died, now James Brown. Who will be next? Hopefully no one. But mark my words, it is only a matter of two to three weeks until another very famous person kicks the bucket.

Da ich vor ein paar Stunden schon von 3sat gesprochen habe, will ich die Gelegenheit nutzen, dies gleich wieder zu tun. Zum diesjährigen Silvester, also am 31. Dezember 2006, veranstaltet der Sender wieder einmal, in alter Tradition, ein Pop around the Clock. Normalerweise wird das an Neujahr veranstaltet, aber zu diesem Jahreswechsel haben sie es einen Tag vorverlegt.

Es gibt also wieder, dem Namen entsprechend, vierundzwanzig Stunden Konzertmitschnitte zu bestaunen. Tatsächlich dauert es sogar länger als einen ganzen Tag, aber das nur am Rande. Dieses Jahr sind Auftritte von Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Green Day, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Cream, Coldplay, U2 und über einem Dutzend anderer zu sehen.

Das klingt sehr vielversprechend. Man darf gespannt sein.

Bob Dylan is touring Europe in spring next year. He will perform twice in Switzerland (April 25^th in Geneva, and on the 29^th in Zurich) and eight times in Germany. There will also be a bunch of other shows across the continent. Check out the On Tour page on his website for all the info. Tickets for the Swiss dates went on sale today.