proteanme

How is it a song from Hello Dolly can pop in your head when you’re not a queen or a diva? The other night all of  the sudden I was belting out “Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out, strut down the street and have your picture took.” And somehow this led to “Easy to Be hard” from Hair. These lines from that song are really pretty terrific.

How can people be so heartless
You know I’m hung up on you
Easy to give in
Easy to help out

A friend at work asked me my opinion on concept records and I told him they were fine with me as long as the concept didn’t get in the way of the music. I’d even consider myself a fan if the concept produces something that kicks ass, like Tommy or Pet Sounds. And thinking about that made me realize why I’m not a big fan of conceptual art – too much concept, not enough art, especially when the concepts aren’t very interesting in the first place. I know that it’s a pretty broad and sweeping statement and maybe I’ll bite my tongue later. Or not. I’m open to being wrong on this.

I read this poem yesterday that had the air of a Dylan song or maybe something from Leonard Cohen, beautifully narrative. I’ve not been reading all that much poetry lately, which made discovering this a real pleasure.