Re: Good Dog Bad Dog classic album

[John Paul Davis <johnd at antioch-college_edu>]

rhys daily wrote:
> On Tue, 14 Jan 2003, not kylie wrote:
> 
> 
>>John wrote:
>>Stuff like this: "I've not said much yet about the
>>
>>>lyrics. They are literate; "All I Need Is Everything," for example, has a
>>>higher BAPM (Biblical allusions per minute) count than even most U2 songs."
>>
>>Whaaaaat? does that have to do with anything? (BAPM)
> 
> 
> it means that the lyrics have a deeper meaning? dunno  - stretching.
> 
> 

But see, no it doesn't. One can easily imagine facile, shallow biblical 
references, after all. They happen all the time.


>>>I wonder if the writer has thought more deeply about the ongoing
>>>undercurrent of doubt that is in GDBD, esp. in songs like "Happy To Be
>>>So"  - the whole entire point of the song is that prayers aren't
>>>answered, and the song's character has to come to terms with that (see
>>>"I Radio Heaven"  for another example of that).
>>
> 
> i think it's more that the signals are not clear, that there is not  a
> book written somewhere that has your specific answers written down for you
> to read at your leisure.

Good point.


>>
>>>"Latter Days" is *not* a reference to, as the article's author
>>>suggests, the "last days" (for you not-Christian folks, that's a
>>>popular evangelical terminalogy for the End of the World As We Know
>>>It).
>>
> 
> why can't it be? why can't it be whate ver the reviewer gets from it?
> there's not a necessarily set 'meaning' to a son. someone who comes from a
> different walk of life hears something different. which is a good
> definition o good lyrics/art. appeals to the masses, yet also stretches
> beyond what they like.

Hmmm. It depends on how we're defining "meaning". If we're defining it 
as "anyone's reaction" then you're right. But then we don't really need 
Biblical references or lyrics at all to come up with a "meaning", we can 
just attach whatever meaning we want to whatever art we choose.
There is another kind of meaning, one written into the song by the 
song's composer, which may not be cut-and-dried, but which still can be 
said *not* to mean certain things. For example, I doubt Linford/Karin 
imagine people hearing "Happy To Be So" and conluding God does not exist 
at all, or that God is evil, etc. Most songwriters, even the really 
obscure ones, give us clues to help us interpret the song. In the case 
of Latter Days, I think the clues point to "Latter" meaning "recent" as 
opposed to "Last". There's nothing in the song that suggests a 
connection between the so-called "Last Days" and what's going on in the 
song. The song is about a strained relationship.


> 
> and you don't have to. why is there this sudden outpouring of 'that's too
> christian, so it must be wrong'?

No one said that.

> 
> i bet someone who is satanic could listen to this and expoound on dark
> mass and other rituals. or someone from a chinese background could perhaps
> note that there is a strong use of colour, and the meanings found therein.

Hmm. Have you ever met anyone "Satanic"?


> 
> it's not like she went on and on about how this was good, since it had
> christianity in it - i tseems like it was an after though, an 'o yea, i
> noticed this too' which made it a little more complete.

But it kind of actually unravelled it - she couldn't talk about the 
music itself- she felt she had to justify it with the comment about BAPM.

> 
> and i don't think there's anythign wrong with trying to look at pop
> culture, or anything else and evaluating it against your own life and
> trying to see what's good ot keep or not.

But that wasn't my point. My point was that they seem to be looking at 
all the wrong things. Hence my comments about Starbucks and Eminem's 
movie (they "review" both on the site). Theie mission doesn't seem to be 
evaluating pop culture against Christianity but rather providing 
justification to evangelicals for being rather uncritical consumers of it.

- John


np: "Half" - Soundgarden

-- 
John Paul Davis
Center for Community Learning
Antioch College

++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ned Flanders: Let's just agree to disagree
Principal Skinner: I don't agree to that
Mrs. Krabapple: Me neither
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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