I’ve been thinking about writing on this topic for a bit, now, and this seems like a pretty good place.
When I was in high school and college, the British band The Police were one of the most popular. They made some good music that I enjoyed, and they also sang a lot of pompous rubbish under lead vocalist Sting. One of the songs that has held up pretty well is “When the World Is Running Down.” And no, I don’t have any idea what the video is about:
Almost all the good Police songs are driven by the bass line, and then there’s this kind of crap:
Pardon me, Mr. Sting, but . . . is this really the kind of musical clap-trap that one ought to employ to rehumanize oneself?
Maybe it’s just me, but I find it really hard to listen to some frenetic chap harangue me uptempo about my human condition. One of the reasons that earlier this week I decided to write about “Mr. Bojangles” in relation to Obama was the irony of the juxtaposition between the former’s deep humanity with the latter’s poncey self-righteousness. So, let’s take a look at the song by ‘fracturing’ it memetically, according to Roland Barthes’ practice.
I met a man “Bojangles” and he’d dance for you, in worn out shoes
What could be a homelier topic than that frequent phenomenon of meeting a man? Name? “Bojangles.” Why? We have to consider the structure of the signification that’s going on here. We’re going to discover that the location will be New Orleans, so the name is a riddle that will become invested shortly in the song. Origin? Not apparent. Urban-style dictionary not much help:
noun; the act of experiencing a warm tingly feeling throughout the abdomen close to the end of a piss. Usually experienced by males.
Some examples : “Dude I just went to the bathroom and got the Bojangles so good.
Question: is there a deep south noun, “a bojangles”? We’re already directed that way by the instrumentation, including acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmonium. Very American instrumentation, lyrics delivered in a southern accent. Possible derivation, bon jongleur.
English
EtymologyBorrowing from French jongleur.
Nounjongleur (plural jongleurs)
An itinerant entertainer in medieval England and France; roles included song, music, acrobatics etc.
French
EtymologyFrom Old French jangleor (and various other spellings) from jongler (“to entertain”)
Nounjongleur m (plural jongleurs; feminine jongleuse, plural jongleuses)
a juggler
(dated) an entertainer
And he’d dance for you, in worn-out shoes.
The phrase “he’d dance for you” is also very plain, but it has a lot of connotation. We are used to saying (it’s a standard put-down of Americans among people of other nationalities, and also American intellectuals and hipster douchebags) that we are deeply concerned with what a person’s occupation is. But this is another American formulation. Joe has died. What did Joe do for employment, or what was Joe’s job? Joe would paint for you, if you needed painting. It was what he did by way of paid employment, but it was not who he was, no matter how reductionistic the name “Bojangles” might seem given the possible derivation.
“[In] worn out shoes.” Signification, down at the heels, echoed momentarily by the singer’s representation of his own predicament at the time of meeting Bojangles. Signification, generosity: Willingness to perform with less than optimal gear, humility.
With silver hair, a ragged shirt
And baggy pants, the old soft shoeHe jumped so high,
He jumped so high,
Then he lightly touched downMr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles,
Mr. Bojangles, dance!
References to clothing, hair: reinforcing the idea of “worn out shoes.” Time worn, beat up, superannuated. Despite this, able and willing to perform. Graceful. Capable. Light on his feet, and ultimately despite the gravity of those things, finally a figure of levity. Lighthearted. One who raises up.
Invocation of this figure: people incarcerated, literally, figuratively, by their own heavy concerns, looking for a respite.
“I met him in a cell in New Orleans I was, down and out.”
Ambiguous. Possibly instead or also “I met him in a cell in New Orleans, I was down and out.” Repetition of verb ‘met,’ informal conversation, relaxation, spoken directly to listener as individual rather than in group. Signification, story pitched to individual rather than group. Signification, honesty: unvarnished tale.
“He looked to me to be the eyes of age, as he spoke right out.”
Phrase “eyes of age” signifies one who is seen, as a performing dancer would be, but also sees, as an itinerant would. Tired, worn out: reconnecting with “worn out shoes” as time-worn, beat up, superannuated. Signification: suffering, experience. Phrase “spoke right out”: Lack of inhibition in relating story and reflections based on established experience, passed to present speaker, also a public performer.
He talked of life,
He talked of life,
He laughed, slapped his leg and stepped
Phrase “talked of life”: proper to one who has seen much of it. Voice of experience. Savant. “He laughed, slapped his leg and stepped”: despite obstacles, one must do what one does. Signification: persistence, durability, human spirit, levity in straits.
Mandolin/harmonium: memory, remembrance, reflection, pull of heartstrings. Guitar picking, piano flourishes: resolution into levity, recreation of ‘stepping.’
He said his name, Bojangles,
Then he danced a lick across the cell
He grabbed his pants for better stance,
Then he jumped up high, he clicked his heels
He let go a laugh,
He let go a laugh, shook back his clothes all around
Phrase “he said his name, Bojangles.” Signification: Self-awareness, ability to view self with detachment, establishment of meaning of noun ‘Bojangles’: bojangles is what he is now performing. Phrase, “grabbed his pants for better stance.” Signification: overcoming of impediments. Phrase, “he let go a laugh”: signification, self-awareness, comedic aspects of human condition, recognition of abilities, levity. Phrase, “shook back his clothes all around”: significance, self-recognition of deshabille, precognition of momentary reference to dog companion. Potential literary referent, Keats’ sonnet “Why did I laugh?”
He danced for those at minstrel shows
And county fairs throughout the south
He spoke with tears of 15 years
How his dog and him traveled about
His dog up and died, up and died,
After 20 years he still grieved
Phrase, “he danced for those at minstrel shows and county fairs throughout the south”: signification, humble venues frequented by humble people, reinforcement of meaning noun ‘a bojangles,’ reinforcement of verb ‘to bojangle.’ Phrase, ‘the south’: signification, technologically laggard, backwards, humble, authentic. Phrase: “he spoke with tears of 15 years how his dog and him traveled about.” Signification, love, desire for companionship, reminiscence, open-heartedness. Phrase, “his dog and him traveled about”: grammatically incorrect, who gives a shit, lack of wariness, trust in interpreter. Phrase, “his dog up and died, up and died. After 20 years he still grieves.” Signification, adhesiveness, loyalty, caring. Phrase “up and died,” homeliness, constellation of meanings connected to ‘the south,’ vanishing idiom, much like his performances. Potential literary referent, Kafka’s “The Hunger Artist.”
He said I dance now at ev’ry chance
In honky tonks for drinks and tips
But most the time
I spend behind these county bars
Cuz I drinks a bit!
He shook his head
And as he shook his head
I heard someone ask “Please!”
“Please!”
I think you can take this part yourself.
Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles,
Mr. Bojangles, dance!
La-dee da da…
Hum-um-um…
Dee-dah-dah-dah
Dance! Dance! Dance!
You may or may not be offended by some of what is in the literary and musical encoding here, and how it affects you. You have every right, should you wish, to feel that you are being manipulated. I know, because I have my daughter visiting me, and I’d rather be manipulated by her than just about any other being on the planet. But . . . isn’t this really a bit more humanizing than being lectured by Sting?
And in case you ever wondered what it is that people like Jeff and I do with our strange education every day, I hope I’ve provided an example.
Exeunt
EPILOGUE
SPOKEN BY PROSPERO
Now my charms are all o’erthrown,
And what strength I have’s mine own,
Which is most faint: now, ’tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardon’d the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon’d be,
Let your indulgence set me free.
If you like, maybe I will write a bit about Elvis Costello’s lyrics, or Paul Simon’s percussion, but . . . we’ll see how you receive this first.
UPDATE: I shan’t dignify this calumnious provocation with a responsorial post.
Is that homely or homily? That’s as far as I got, but I love the slicing and dicimg.
And the reason the bass drives the song is that’s what Sting is playing, most likely. Any song I write most definitely is built around the bass since we so rarely get to be in the spotlight. Egos, ya know.
I request that C+C Music Factory song next, Dan.
Oh, gosh. I was hoping this kind of came across as against the homiletics of rock stars, so any homiletics included should be blamed on me. Yeah, Sting could be a good composer, for sure, he just couldn’t stop talking down sometimes, though. And I think there is a homely style in homiletics, too.
At any rate, it was inspired by a very old piece from a literary critic by the name of Yvor Winters, on the “plain style” in English renaissance lyric poetry.
Funny that you should mention “Everybody Dance, Now,” bh. It’s a little bossy, but not snooty at least. Also, I’ve had “I’ve Got the Power” in my head all day.
So, should I contrast that with Neenah Cherry’s “Buffalo Stance,” or what? Extended dance version or not?
if this Mr. Bojangles was indeed in a cell in New Orleans at one time he is obviously not of good character, and furthermore it’s likely he’s unfit for gainful employment, for who would hire such a one as he? I wish him well but we are naught but a product of our own choices, are we not?
Troubling.
many miles away there’s a shadow on the door of a cabin by the shore!
give me the wiggins every time
Mr. Dan instead of the Buffalo Stance please to enjoy this
I think it was off her next album
I’m thinking Deee-Lite’s “Groove is in the Heart”, Dan. External vs internal dance motivation.
(I did get enjoy walking down the Bojangles’ path, btw.)
Wow, she did another song, feets? I did not know that.
she’s very prolific she stills warbles a little sometimes in France or whatever
I hear they are tolerant of performers of color there.
indeed they are but here you can see they are also tolerant of pasty white embittered lesbians and this other random beatboxer dude
Mr. Bojangles started & stopped after Jerry Jeff Walker put it to tune.
Aw, crap. Got the wrong version, did I? Typical.
If I ever did a long road trip with feets, we would laugh and laugh. And then we’d bicker. ;-P
I’d be curious to see how this works with lyrics which aren’t especially literal. Because, really, a lot of the bands I listen to better lend themselves to psychological analysis than textual ones.
Can you think of a tune that might illuminate that difference?
a road trip sounds lovely really
Here’s one that came to mind:
Pigs, they tend to wiggle when they walk
the infrastructure rots
and the owners hate the jocks
with their agents and their dates
if the signatures are checked
you’ll just have to wait
and we’re counting up the instants that we save
tired nation so depraved
from the cheap seats see us
wave to the camera
it took a giant ramrod
to raze the demon settlement
but high-ho silver, ride
high-ho silver, ride
take another ride to see me home
listen to me! i’m on the stereo stereo
oh my baby baby baby baby babe
gave me malaria hysteria
what about the voice of geddy lee
how did it get so high?
i wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy?
(i know him and he does!)
then you’re my fact-checkin’ cuz
well focus on the quasar in the mist
the kaiser has a cyst
and i’m a blank want list
the qualms you have and if they stick
they will drown you in a crick
in the neck of a woods
that was populated by
tired nation on the fly
everybody knows advice
that was give out for free
lots of details to discern
lots of details
but high-ho silver ride
high-ho silver ride
takes another ride to make me
oh, get off the air
i’m on the stereo stereo
oh my baby baby baby baby baby babe
gave me malaria hysteria
Yeah, it really helps to have people give a shit what they’re singing about, Abe.
Thanks, ‘feets. I think we’d bicker mostly about food, because I just don’t care that much.
Jane’s Addiction’s “Three Days” might be in that middle ground.
as long as we mostly avoid chain restaurants we all good
I highly doubt the writer put that much though into it.
I’ve never heard about fracturing something memetically before. Nice.
Black Blade by Blue Oyster Cult (and Michael Moorcock)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCxL3-Fl7bM
I have this feeling that my luck is none too good
This sword here at my side don’t act the way it should
Keeps calling me it’s master, but I feel like it’s slave
Hauling me faster and faster to an early, early grave
And it howls! It howls like hell!
I’m told it’s my duty to fight against the law
That wizardry’s my trade and I was born to wade through gore
I just want to be a lover, not a red-eyed screaming ghoul
I wish it’d picked another to be it’s killing tool
Black Blade, Black Blade
Forged a billion years ago
Black Blade, Black Blade
Killing so it’s power can grow
It’s death from the beginning to the end of time
And I’m the cosmic champion and I hold a mystic sign
And the whole world’s dying and the burden’s mine
And the black sword keeps on killing ’til the end of time
Black Blade, Black Blade
Bringing chaos to the world we know
Black Blade, Black Blade
And it’s using me to kill my friends
Black Blade, Black Blade
Getting stronger so the world will end
Black Blade, Black Blade
Forcing my mind to bend and bend
I am the Black Blade
Forged a million billion years ago
My cosmic soul it goes on for eternity
Carving out destiny
Bringing in the Lords of Chaos
Bringing up the Beasts of Hades
Sucking out the souls of heroes
Laying waste to knights and ladies
My master is my slave
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
You poor fucking humans!
Or thought, even.
I vote with bh; “Groove is in the Heart” would be fascinating to “fracture”. Or maybe Fatboy Slim’s “Rockafella Skank” :)
How about The Cult’s “Love Removal Machine?” I’m sure one could find something there.
Maybe I’m too curmudgeonly, but lyrics generally don’t mean shit. I gave up thinking that there was something to glean beyond the surface 28 years ago or so.
Now get off my lawn!
Thanks to Blue Oyster Cult I never had to read any Elric novels by michale Moorcock. They saved me like $50 or so worth of 80’s fantasy novels with their neat musical summary. And I learned about the interactions of fictional multiversal powers that vie for dominance over all reality, fictionally, and the human condition as it pertains to cursed anemic albino elf monarch guys who fight sorcerers and demons and evil gods and stuff.
The first video, with “When the World Is Running Down” playing in the background, is inexplicably Jet Li’s 1994 “Fist of Legend”, his magnificent remake of the 1974 Bruce Lee classic “Fist of Fury”. You get glimpses of Shinobu Nakayama; happyfeet will doubtless inform you of her entire J-pop output.
palaeomerus, Leigh, if you’ve missed Moorcock’s The Cornelius Chronicles, then repent soonest!
Please God, no Elvis Costello. Please. My stick up the ass meter will just blearggrhghrghghghghghg!
Here, clean your mind.
See, this is why I listen to Tool. You usually can’t figure out WHAT Maynard is talking about.
And Queens of the Stone age lyrics are good too. They’re usually chosen because 1) they fit and 2) they rhyme.
Sting can kiss my ass, and I’ve thought so since I was about 16.
Maybe I’m too curmudgeonly, but lyrics generally don’t mean shit. I gave up thinking that there was something to glean beyond the surface 28 years ago or so.
Eh, I take what I like and ignore the rest. Maynard wrote a rather moving tribute to his mom on his last album.
And there is a line from a Tragically Hip song that I’ve taken to add perspective to my life.
no dress rehearsal, this is our life
seems silly and trite, but there’s meaning in them words.
[…] addthis_share = [];}Granted, this could be a very long post, but I just happened to notice Dan blathering on about some artsy New Wave poseurs and felt a need to point out the Neutral Objective Fact that no genuinely great rock and roll […]
There’s meaning, but not a lot of it.
There’s meaning, but not a lot of it.
There’s meaning to me.
For a long time, I’d lived as if there would be some time in the future to get things right. To be and become the person I want to be.
Those simply lyrics got my head on straight. This isn’t a practice, and there won’t be any extra innings. It made me ( I know this sounds corny) realize that i needed to be that person NOW. I couldn’t wait any longer to work out and lose weight, etc. I honestly lived – so long – as if I would always have “the future” to change who I was or thing about me that I wasn’t happy about.
“a road trip sounds lovely really”
…and you’ll look sweet,
upon the seat
of a bickercyle built for two.
*bickercycle*
i like those new scion IQs but they’re not very practical unless maybe as a second car cause of you just can’t carry any stuff with them hardly at all
Dano: I think you were right to focus on The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band version because it is the most popular among rock fans. The second most popular was Sammy Davis Jr.’s, and it is because of his widely-seen performances of it that most people believe Mr. Bojangles is a black man, when, in fact, Mr. Walker claimed he was inspired by a white guy he met while in a local jail for intoxication.
Spot-on about The Police, who did their best work before they became superstars.