Sep
29
On "Sun in an Empty Room," by The Weakerthans
Filed Under music, weakerthans | 5 Comments
Sun in an Empty Room
The Weakerthans (lyrics mainly from here; song available here)
Now that the furniture’s returning to its goodwill home
With dishes and last week’s papers,
rumors and elections,
crosswords, our unending war
the black in our fingers smear their prints on every door pulled shut
Now that the last month’s rent is scheming with the damage deposit
Take this moment to decide (sun in an empty room)
If we meant it if we tried (sun in an empty room)
Or felt around for far too much (sun in an empty room)
From things that accidentally touch (sun in an empty room)
The hands that we nearly hold with pennies for the GST
The shoulders we lean our shoulders into on the subway, mutter an apology
The shins that we kick beneath the table, that reflexive cry
The faces we meet one awkward beat too long and terrified
Know the things we need to say (sun in an empty room)
And said already anyway (sun in an empty room)
By parallelograms of light (sun in an empty room)
On walls that we repainted white (sun in an empty room)
Sun in an empty room (x 8)
Take eight minutes and divide (sun in an empty room)
By ninety million lonely miles (sun in an empty room)
Watch the shadow cross the floor (sun in an empty room)
We don’t live here anymore (sun in an empty room)
Comment:
It’s a weird feeling after a relationship to be strangers to each other. In fact, the estrangement happening while the relationship is ending - that’s probably the weirdest thing. We have routines for dealing with the people we’re fishing for pennies to pay the tax (GST) to; routines for bumping into others on the subway; routines even for people at cafes or restaurants.
You’d think breaking up doesn’t go through a routine, that it would be unique. But there are just things “we need to say, and said already anyway.”
Maybe something lies in that silent falling of the sun. There isn’t just routine in these lyrics - there’s movement away. Maybe something good is happening here?
The death of routine opens the song. All the problems we had with a lover could have just been put on a newspaper and used to wrap those dishes going back to goodwill. Memories of those problems are fast becoming smudges, and expenses from the time together are just beginning to come together.
It could be that a clean slate is a very good thing at a particular moment - those expenses can be dealt with later, after all. Plenty of couples break up because each partner wants something more, and costs from the past are no object. The walls are repainted white, and the sun is allowed to brighten the room and bring its own natural framework of light and shadow with it. This is a couple mutually breaking up. They feel their time together was an accident, and they tried to make too much of it.
“Movement away” vs. “touching” alone doesn’t tell us whether something good or bad is happening, though. Something underlies both of these themes that tells us what’s happening is an awful thing.
It’s sight which is the issue, and the light which allows for sight. When this couple looks at each other, they look at each other like awkward strangers. It’s the beginnings of love and only the beginnings of love - not caution because something exciting might happen, but perpetual “I can’t let this define me.” The sight is why the movement away - the line “The faces we meet one awkward beat too long and terrified” is more final than the speech or the touching.
But then how does one say the things needed for the breakup? What allows for the final routine to take place? It’s that image of the sun taking its own back that’s the key. This empty slate that both want - the only thing both can look at, because they can’t really look at each other - means they’re both homeless, just like light is while moving. They’re back to being wanderers again. The sun travels, but for all those miles, it has some place to occupy. Our couple doesn’t - goodwill is where the stuff is, not where they are.
Sep
28
Consumed/Consuming
Filed Under music, politics | Leave a Comment
The latter is always worked with sensually - we the audience are drawn to think of those times ourselves through a number of images. Each image brings up a moment in our own life we regret not experiencing anymore. The images connect both artist and audience in what we had, and what we’ve lost.
The feeling of possessing/losing that pervades the images brought up also describes the relationship between the artist and the audience on a deeper level. The artist has to hold your attention, otherwise he’s not a good artist. A reaction has to be created in you, the audience, that you can’t so easily turn away from.
I’m not saying this is manipulation. It isn’t necessarily - even Platonic philosophy is presented as drama: Who wants to be bored? In our consumer culture, it does seem more like cheap manipulation at times, but most of us can just label the worst offenders “bad artists” and move on.
What I do want to say is that a life centered around getting and giving only in the context of having - a life centered around the erotic - can probably only see political things as an extension of that “logic.” I don’t know that political things are reducible to love and lust, though. It is possible to see political things in the light of “trying to do your best for everyone:” that’s not necessarily utility, but a good for the group that can’t be seen as analogous to any good for the individual, perhaps.
Technorati Tags: politics, music, art
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Sep
27
On the Phrase ‘The Most Beautiful Thing:’ A Thought Experiment
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The trouble with using the phrase is that when employed, we have to wonder what we’ve said about every other thing that might not be beautiful in the same way - are they less beautiful because of the existence of that one thing?
At the same time, a clue about this is given to us by those who always stand like parents over us, and tell us we can’t use that phrase. “There’s no such thing as the most beautiful piano piece.” Our initial reaction to them is anger at their self-righteousness: “Really? I might have some taste, and that seems like a pretty good candidate for ‘best piano piece.’ Maybe you’d recognize it as such if you worked on your tastes and didn’t depend on a cheap ‘you’re not tolerant as I am’ argument to make your case.”
I think our initial reaction is spot-on. Something is indeed problematic about the phrase, but something that’s worse happens when moral considerations are immediately applied to the use of the phrase.
It looks like tastes are contingent on a searching: one is continually looking for what could be the best. What’s ironic about most people who would say “such-and-such is the most beautiful thing” is that yes, they will have in mind things that are less beautiful and not as worthy of attention. But usually those same people will have several candidates for “most beautiful thing” that they can’t so easily dismiss.
The purity of the searching actually seems to depend on the lack of considering the problem of whether something can be most beautiful or not. The possibility is left open that yes, indeed, there could be something so overwhelming that its beauty cannot be denied and all other things are vastly inferior. The possibility is also left open that nothing may be the most beautiful thing, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder or that different things are beautiful in different ways.
The statement “this is the most beautiful thing” said by someone who has taken the time to cultivate taste and is not afraid to have his opinions challenged is a tribute to the openness of the problem. To say “nothing is most beautiful” is an absolute statement regarding the nature of beauty. To say “some X is most beautiful” refers not to the nature of beauty, but to contemplation of the thing itself.
There are those who are dogmatic who do make “some X is most beautiful” a statement about the nature of beauty. But what’s funny is that no dogmatist will ever say “this is most beautiful and you should concede its beauty,” if “this” really matters. They’ll put it in every other term except beauty, because how essential beauty is can be debated. Necessity and morality are much harder to debate.
It should also be noted that we’re human: anyone claiming to be completely open and priding himself on restraint in judgment only is a liar. We are open about what is greatest because we do need to resolve at some point, for ourselves, what we want to dedicate ourselves to. It’s impossible not to be dogmatic at some level.
The issue is whether we want to be dogmatic all the time, and assault people’s character immediately through their tastes, or examine tastes closely to see how they may or may not reflect people’s character. Ironically enough, in debating about beauty, even though the discussion will have to get dogmatic at some level, there is a suspension for a brief moment of most other considerations. It is as if the truth of the matter may come forth, and not be imposed from the outset.
Technorati Tags: aesthetics, philosophy, beauty
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Sep
26
- On Paris Hilton
- Why Shouting About Being Silenced Isn’t Always the Brightest Move
- Before Ranting About Policy, Please Be Clear On What Facts Are
- What Things Can You Shove In The Sidebar Of Your Blog That Will Be Effective?
- Blogging, Making Money, and the Trustworthiness of Your Voice
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Sep
24
What I want participants in this meme to do is write on one or two issues that they think a Democratic or Republican party platform should address. Please keep the posts succinct, unless you have a fairly thorough assessment and solution to a problem. In the latter case, a summary of what you think along with a link to a larger proposal would be wonderful.
Feel free to tag up to 5 others for this meme if you are tagged. Anyone from anywhere can participate, and please do trackback or link back to this post. I want a collection of responses to emerge, and I will definitely create a post linking to as many responses as I can and highlighting the best ones. I hope the trackback feature I’ve enabled will allow this list to grow by itself without me having to create new posts for this meme all the time.
I want to tag Gracchi, Ruthie, Lady Strange, and Josh and Irate Nate for the first round. If you want to participate, please do - I’m only not calling names of bloggers I’m subscribed to (like Jennifer) just in case you/they don’t want to be forced to blog about this.
Oh, and if you’re interested, my thoughts on what a US Presidential candidate might want to address are here.
Technorati Tags: meme, conservative, politics, elections
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