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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2006
Some Insights
"How Can You Live in the Northeast" at the very end, Simon is being autobiographical: "I've been given all I've wanted / Only 3 generations off the boat / I've harvested and I have planted / I'm wearing my father's old coat." That's not all he's got from his father. He's got his name and maybe his religion ("Name and religion come right after date of birth.") One answer to "How can you live in the Northeast?" is "I was born here."
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2006
"Wartime Prayers"
Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Two hour drive in the morning, early. Three hours in the opposite direction (after an epic feast) gave me five uninterrupted hours with Surprise. I alternated between listening to the whole thing and endless repetitions of the first two songs. I finally started to crack "How can you live in the Northeast?"!
It started with the line, "How can you eat from a rice bowl,
The holy man only breaks bread?" That's just wrong. Lao Tse (Taoism founder) must have eaten from a rice bowl. Confucius ate from a rice bowl. The question is posed by a character with a narrow, Western view of religion. Once you see the questions posed as questions coming from a Simon-created character, then things begin to fall into place. My previous suggestion that Simon inherited his father's name and religion is also germane.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2006
"Beautiful"
I've got my teeth deep into "Northeast" and "I Don't Believe." Both obviously about religion, and neither taking an obvious position. Separating Simon's views from Simon's character's views is difficult, at best. In the last analysis, it may not even be important. Simon's brilliance as an artist does not confer on him any authority as a theologian.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2006
Building the Website
So far I've completed annotations for "How Can You Live in the Northeast?" and "Everything About It Is a Love Song." Both have a similar structure. Two themes alternate, separated by a third theme in the middle and a fourth as a coda.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 05, 2006
"That's Me"
Two more songs with no cracking: "That's Me" and "How Can You Live in the Northeast?". The latter is very complex, to say the least. The former is autobiographical and doesn't take much cracking, though I do have some comments.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 05, 2006
"How Can You Live in the Northeast?"
With this blog and comment, I'll have a complete set. This is the last blog about the first track, and perhaps the toughest. Allow me to start obliquely.
I live in New York's Hudson Valley, west of the river. I grew up in Connecticut about 75 miles due east of here. I like it here.
When the snow melts, snow drops, then forsythia announce a long flower season. July's not too stifling. (It's never too hot if your kayak's in the resevoir.) Maybe the tomato season could be longer, but in fall this is apple country. Macouns (Muh COW ans) compete with Ginger Crisps, Ginger Golds and classics like Empire and Jonathan. Then a "brown as a sparrow" month before snowshoeing and skiing in the Catskills. And when the snow melts ...
Who wouldn't want to live here?
I'm going further when I get to cracking, but first I should confess that I'm of two minds (Yay. Boo.) about this track. Some days I think I've got a good crack, absent a line or two. Other days, I don't think my insights rise to the level of a cracking. Not even close.
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