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Re: literate music

did I miss it, or has no one mentioned in this thread any literary
references made by OtR?

----- Original Message -----
From: "The Mattrix" <soberman_69 at hotmail_com>
To: <over-the-rhine at actwin_com>
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2002 11:11 PM
Subject: literate music


>
> Guys and gals,
>
>      In college, I had an English Prof. who declared his love of U2 before
> the class with pride.  His justification, being an old codger of sorts,
was
> that the best rock bands are usually the ones whose lyrics reference
> literature.  He seemed to think this type of songwriting was a byproduct
of
> an intelligent mind, which would provide superior compositional skills as
> well.  Interesting.
>      So, my question to this list is this- who or what are the most
literate
> performers you can think of, and what works do they reference?  Don
recently
> pointed out an interesting literary fact regarding Bruce Cockburn's
> "Wondering Where the Lions Are", and Kevin recently provided an excellent
> extrapolation of the numerous Buechner references in DA's latest opus
"Mr..
> Buechner's Dream".  I've enjoyed these posts immeasurably, and thirst for
> more.
>       Of course, all Christian bands reference the Bible, so those
responses
> go without saying...
>       My contribution to this subject is that group of hippie-punks from
> down under- Midnight Oil.  (surprise!)  From the earliest, punkiest days
of
> their career they demonstrated literary savy.  The phrase "The Lucky
> Country", coined by Prof. Donald Horne with his book of the same title,
was
> an ironic but optimistic criticism of Australian society under Menzies,
but
> it had become co-opted by self-congratulatory nationalists. The Oils got
it
> right, though, empahsizing the true meaning in the sacrastic undertones of
> their song "Lucky Country".  Later, they would go on to reference
scripture,
> political speeches, and sometimes both. ("How stands the city on this
> winter's night, there's a city on a hill, or so they said, the snow is
> falling down around the armory, and the city's closing in around my head.)
> The song "Harrisburg", which hits close to home, was based on the a book
> "The Great Prawn War & Other Stories" by Dennis Kevans, while 1990's hit
> "Blue Sky Mine" was inspired by true events as written about in a book
> called "Blue Murder".  The band also borrows a phrase from Autralian poet
> Henry Lawson on "Shakers and Movers".  Finally, Peter Garrett, the band's
> outspoken vocalist and icon, wrote a book of political essays, "Political
> Blues".  All of these are non-fiction works, however, and are likely of
> little interest to many on this list. :-(
>     Which leads us to the present day- 2-19-02- and the band's 14th full
> length collection of songs that one critic heralded as "unashamedly
retro"-
> "Capricornia".  I don't know if the original book of the same name that
some
> of the new material is based on is fiction or not, but I suspect that it
is.
>   It is an out of print 1930's tale by novelist Xavier Herbert about a man
> discovering the truth about his aboriginal ancestry and trying to
reconcile
> it with his role within the very racist society of Australia.  Sound
> interesting?  Many of the songs on "Capricornia" were penned for a film
> based on the book that the Oils were considering making.  (How perfect
this
> is for the people on this list!)  :-)
>      So, there you have it.  Oh, and the CD cover decipts a golden calf,
> while the newest single laments the opulence and misdirection of the
current
> and so-called (in Oz) "Golden Age".  hmmm....
>
> more info @ http://www.weeklyplanet.com/2001-11-08/music_feature.html
>
> Oily,
>
> Matt, who shamelessly will employ any trick to turn people on to this
great,
> great band
>
> np James, on wyep- http://www.wyep.org
>
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