Leo wrote:
I totally agree with the brilliant MM List post of eternal PhD candidate of Brown U., Jesse Hochstadt :>) , who once described Verlaine's strong tendency to use 'impressionistic' lyrics.
Thanks for the compliment, Leo, but I must append a small correction: I (successfully) defended my doctoral dissertation in April 2004. I'm still at Brown, though, doing postdoctoral research. So while "candidate" is wrong, "eternal" is right (at least for the moment).
Speaking of "Words from the Front," one thing I've liked about a lot of Television/Tom Verlaine's music is that it has - at least to my ear - a martial quality. Earlier today I was listening to a version of "Venus" (I've been working my way through the Santadog Funpack on my MP3-playing Walkbeast on my walks to and from work) in which I was reminded of this quality. I sometimes feel this taste of mine was influenced by the fact that as a small child I used to listen a lot to a Folkways record of Civil War songs that my parents owned.
In addition to "When the Levee Breaks," the other song that's been coming to my head in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is Peter Gabriel's "Here Comes the Flood" - and I bet I'm not alone.
- Jesse -------------- To post: Mail tv@obbard.com To unsubscribe: Mail majordomo@obbard.com with message "unsubscribe tv"