tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4939540709666345656.post1060220766037145382..comments2023-05-29T05:39:03.467-04:00Comments on private matters and public things: Taking the twit out of twitterSammy Wheelock aka "SW"http://www.blogger.com/profile/12838650350541903735noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4939540709666345656.post-65591934858813424212011-04-14T06:35:36.641-04:002011-04-14T06:35:36.641-04:00Ellis has set you quite a challenge with his lates...Ellis has set you quite a challenge with his latest tweets, has he not?Daniel Fnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4939540709666345656.post-59842589178667156562011-03-28T09:09:44.474-04:002011-03-28T09:09:44.474-04:00Yes, Graham is surely referring to the famous thou...Yes, Graham is surely referring to the famous thought-blob that <i>Perfect Day</i> is a lovesong to heroin, and I would agree that it is likely Ellis was referring to that same thought-blob: none of my arguments change. <br /><br />I would love to see a tweet:<br />"Does this guy really understand his version of the song? I guess it doesn't matter. It's the best cover of the song I've ever heard."<br />Linked to:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clq01TXQR0sSammy Wheelock aka "SW"https://www.blogger.com/profile/12838650350541903735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4939540709666345656.post-5031421372576840782011-03-28T05:46:21.137-04:002011-03-28T05:46:21.137-04:00I think it's strange to say a song "doesn...I think it's strange to say a song "doesn't require any subtexts". Like, "This song is nice, I guess, but it would really be improved with a subtext?" <br /><br />Whether or not you or I think a subtext is "there" or not, it is nonetheless a very famous or notorious "meme" (sorry), that "Perfect Day" is, as it were, addressed to heroin. I think Graham's right to say that that is what BEE must have been getting at. Whether, in getting at that, his overall point was valid is of course a different question. As it happens, I agree with you that it wasn't.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4939540709666345656.post-91249432633076348382011-03-27T22:20:45.556-04:002011-03-27T22:20:45.556-04:00Welcome, Steven.
I'm a little bit embarrassed...Welcome, Steven.<br /><br />I'm a little bit embarrassed that I had not sought out Shatner's tweets; it's a bit like having a dinner party and forgetting dessert. So, thanks for bringing the apple-and-maple pie.<br /><br />Regarding Graham_S's tweet: first, <i>what</i> supposed heroin subtext? And aren’t all subtexts “supposed”? But anyway, the lyrics to <i>Perfect Day</i> stand alone as gorgeously poignant and moving without demanding a <i>sub</i>textual analysis. This doesn’t mean <i>Perfect Day</i> doesn't have <i>sub</i>texts; of course it does: and some of the <i>sub</i>texts might be obscure to Susan Boyle or, indeed, me, you, Ellis, or Graham_S (no doubt there are S&M subtexts, queer subtexts, personal subtexts, New York subtexts, and subtexts that those of us born around the time when the song was first sung could simply never fathom). But failing to see a putative subtext in a song that does not really require any subtexts is by no means a fundamental misunderstanding of the song (unless the performer does something weirdly at odds with that subtext: I’d be interested to hear of examples where we can clearly state how a performer misunderstands or fails to understand a song by being tone-deaf to a particularly resonant subtext; I’ll try to think of examples). And surely one must be somewhat cautious about presuming to know which <i>sub</i>texts someone else is or is not familiar with? And all the more true when we are discussing a "supposed heroin subtext" in a Lou Reed song, not only suggesting that the person failing to register the subtext might be a postercow for bovine celebrity unworthiness but that she <i>supposedly</i> knows one fewer fact about Lou Reed than we do (i.e., that there's some connection between Reed and heroin)? <br /><br />So, no, I’m not convinced that Boyle fails to see a “supposed heroin subtext” in <i>Perfect Day</i> and therefore misunderstands the song. But I could be wrong.Sammy Wheelock aka "SW"https://www.blogger.com/profile/12838650350541903735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4939540709666345656.post-23819733076289213752011-03-27T15:08:33.944-04:002011-03-27T15:08:33.944-04:00Graham_S on Twitter asks: "Isn't Bret Eas...Graham_S on Twitter asks: "Isn't Bret Easton Ellis just referring to the supposed heroin subtext of the song?"<br /><br />Perhaps you already alluded to that, very implicitly. I'm not sure.<br /><br />My own favourite celebrity Tweeter is William Shatner?Stevennoreply@blogger.com