The Republic of Thoronia

So, here in Thoronia we have been epically busy living life, running things into walls and making stories. So, we’ve been a bit out of date when it comes to our usual selection of reviews on stuff and things, comments about worlds and other various tidbits of information. So, we’ve compiled it all here into one post. Tons of reviews of things, pointless arguments and opinions about random stuff. Why? Because we are well aware that the Republic of Thoronia is your number one place for news and reviews, and you value our opinions far more than everyone else’s. Right? Break!

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Regardless of taste or aspiration, great artists are bound to fail every now and again. And as they fail, we all sit back idly, wishing it wouldn’t have happened, but slightly elevated by the fact they did – “ah yes,” we think, “they are humans, too.” But great artists rarely fail completely. For that particular reason, it’s important to look at failures not with a grain of salt, but with the same critical eye that we might look at the rest of their albums. After all, assuredly there must be some type of saving grace to even the worst disasters. With that in mind, welcome to the inaugural edition of Saving Grace, a brand new feature in which we examine the shinny spot on what is otherwise a steaming pile of poo.

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Via [Westword.com]

In celebration of the birth of Woody Guthrie, we here in Thoronia thought we’d kick out some of our favorite Guthrie/Guthrie inspired jams. It’s no mistake that we follow many of the same rules as Woody, in particular his thoughts on copyright, which have influenced us greatly:

“This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright #154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin’ it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don’t give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that’s all we wanted to do.”

Thanks Woody, your complete distaste for “song ownership” has made the copyfight a far more interesting battle — if all musicians and artists would simply accept the fact that fans will be bigger fans with freedom, perhaps the music industry can learn to expand and change. Until then, here are some songs, some rare, and a video of Springsteen performing “I Ain’t Got No Home.”

Why haven’t I done this yet? Thorin loves making lists and such, right? So why not make a list of how he’s feeling right now? Shut up. I didn’t think of it till just now. I mean, I was too busy looking for a job to make some list. Anyway – Songs for the unemployed, songs for the working. 

• “Working Class Hero” – John Lennon
  • John Lennon’s ballad in ode to those of us (re: not me) that work for a living. Something that I’m sure he doesn’t remember all that well — not to say that music isn’t work, just that it isn’t the same type of thing. But we can ignore that and simply rock out eh?
• “The River” – Bruce Springsteen
  • Okay this song is mostly about something else, but the lines, “I got a job working for the Johnstown Company/But lately there ain’t been much work on account of the economy” rings more true today then it did then.
• “Flint (For The Unemployed And Underpaid)” –  Sufjan Stevens
  • Although Sufjan Stevens is always making songs about himself, even when he’s trying to ode to whomever — the lines “Since the first of June/Lost my job/Lost my room” are still thoughful.
• “I Can’t Wait to Get Off Work (And See My Baby On Montgomery Avenue)” –  Tom Waits
  • Tom Waits has had a lot of jobs in his life, and credit to this one for naming th eworst attributes of all of them — and bonus points for using the word “copacetic.” I love Tom Waits because you can find one of his songs for nearly any type of theme mix.
• “(Antichrist Television Blues)” – The Arcade Fire
  • The Arcade Fire is taking a cue from punk bands of old as they chant on, “I don’t want to work in a building downtown.” It’s true, when you work in one of the buildings downtown the most exciting aspect of the day is when you go to lunch at Chili’s.
• “Working In A Coalmine” – Devo
  • “When the work day is over/I’m too tired to have some fun.” Man, that sounds painfully familiar. Stupid bike courier job.
• “This Place” – Descendents*
  • This song actually reminds me a lot when I worked at Secondspin. Maybe even when I worked for Denver/Boulder — “This place sucks/I haven’t found a single friend in three long years.” I played this on my last day for the last song when I worked at Secondspin. It was great.
• “Career Opportunities” – The Clash
  • I was always a fan of the line, “I won’t open letter bombs for you.” Mostly because I really like the picture of Joe Strummer standing with goggles and tongs opening letters while the Queen of England stand over him looking over his shoulder.
• “Steelworker” – Big Black
  • “See I’m a steelworker/ I kill what I eat.” Nuff’ said.
• “Clocked In” – Black Flag*
  • I’ve been unemployed long enough to find sympathy in the opening lines of “Clocked In,” “I tried to apply/ I can’t get loose/My day is to myself/Put my brain in a noose”
• “I Pity the Poor Immigrant” – Angels Of Light/Akron Family
  • Hmm… Michael Gira scares me a little bit.
• “There Is Power In A Union”  – Billy Bragg
  • Good old fashion working man’s song. Get with the union! 
• “Uptown” — Crystals*
  • Talking about how her man can work uptown and come home for some good lovin’… or something. I don’t actually know.
• “Step Into My Office, Baby” — Belle & Sebastian
  • Okay, this song is about something else — but it can be applied to work. 
• “Spoken For Mix” – DJ Shadow
  • This is part of the soundtrack to the movie Dark Days — which if you’ve seen you understand why its here.
• “Invisible Man” – Public Enemy
  • Hmm, Public Enemy, always so happy to be tackling issues and such.
• “Clockwork” – Blackalicious
  • See, you can be a rapper for a job!
• “Protect Ya Neck” – Wu-Tang Clan
  • I honestly don’t remember why I put this on here now… oh well, I’m sure it applies.
• “Sixteen Tons” –Tennessee Ernie Ford
  • This is one of my favorite country songs of all time. And it’s pretty obvious why its on the list.
• “9 to 5? – Dolly Parton
  • Also obvious. It’s about working, ya’ know. From 9 to 5. Except that is easy, not a day is 8 to 5 or longer. Way to go America.
• “Maggie’s Farm” – Bob Dylan
  • “I ain’t gone a-work on Maggie’s farm, no more…”
• “Factory” – Bruce Springsteen
  • What, I can put two Springsteen songs a mix about UNEMPLOYMENT AND WORKING. It’s Bruce Springsteen, who else sings about this stuff all the time?
• “Oney” –  Johnny Cash
  • The first time I ever heard this song I was actually at work. It made my frustrating day so much better.
• “Bill Morgan and His Gal (My Name is Morgan But It Ain’t J.P.)” – The New Lost City Ramblers
  • A good working man finds himself a wife that wants to buy buy buy.
• “Marie” – Townes Van Zandt
  • This is the most fitting and perfect song for this mix.
• “Poor Places” –  Wilco
  • This one is a bit of a stretch, but nothing says unemployment like the line, “I’m not going outside.”
• “Work Is a 4 Letter Word” –The Smiths
  • And that 4 letter word is… “work.”
• “Plea from a Cat Named Virtute” – Weakerthans
  • I’m not sure what the Weakerthans are actually going for with this tune, but describing a cat is likely describing a lonely, bored, unemployed dude who’s unsure whether he even want to get up every day let alone do anything.
• “I Ain’t Got No Home in This World Anymore” – Woody Guthrie
  • This just seemed like the best way to end this mix.

It is (mostly) available for download via iTunes here.

I’ll just link back to imeem.com when I can for the time being.

*These songs are missing from the imeem.com stream of the playlist — don’t bash the free streaming service, they’re doing their best.

In the history of art there has been much cross breeding, artists mimicking artists mimicking musicians mimicking painters mimicking philosophers mimicking the real the world. Music and literature have shared this connection since music became wildly available and books widely printed. They seem to coexist by creative minds with an affinity between the two, each often acting as a muse to the other. Below is a list of some of the more interesting effects of literature showing up in music, sometimes it merely helps shape a songs’ tone or feel, other times it is the song, sometimes it’s merely an obvious misread or peruse of some novel found on a living room floor.

Syd Barrett “Golden Hair”   Madcap Laughs

In reference to and usage of  James Joyce’s “Poem V” from the collection,  Chamber Music .

 This is one of the few direct versions of literature in music, as the song is the poem, with former Pink Floyd vocalist Syd Barrett’s composition only revealing itself in the guitar and melody. Much like Barrett’s other work, the key thing to point out here is the inherent oddness of the piece. Not in the weird, piercing way where you think, “Oh my God, that was (loud),(terrible),(crazy),(etc.)” but in the way that when you listen to it, you have to wonder where on Earth this is coming from, and for a pop song, it’s very strange indeed. But, honestly, what would you expect when you here that Syd Barrett did a song using a poem by James Joyce.

Bob Dylan“All Along the Watchtower”  John Wesley Harding  

In reference to  Mary Shelley’s  Frankenstein

 A little bit more of a stretch for this particular song, but Bob Dylan’s usage of the “the wind begins to howl” in conjunction to the song’s chorus, “All along the watchtower, princes kept the view, while all the women came and went, barefoot servants too,” places Dr. Frankenstein in his tower while the monster kills the woman. Dylan’s literary comparisons are bountiful, with nods to Faulkner, Blake, Dante, Coleridge and Conrad amongst others. It still remains a mystery as to whether Dylan had actually read any of the books that he references or if he merely flipped through and found particular passages or section that he decided to use in his songs.

Genesis“The Cinema Show”   Selling English by the Pound

In reference and usage of  T.S. Eliot’s “ The Wasteland”

The lyrics to “Cinema Show” follow closely the section of T.S. Eliot’s “Wasteland,” “III The Fire Storm.” The exception, of course, being the substitution of “Romeo” and “Juliet” where Eliot had simply, “young clerk.” The song itself peruses and jumps and beats and changes much like Eliot’s overall work, leaving a feeling not only have disorientation but of solidarity as well. An impressive task to even undertake, the band does a surprisingly good job of handling Eliot’s material.

Woody Guthrie “Tom Joad”   Dust Bowl Ballads

In reference to  John Steinbeck’s  Grapes of Wrath

 Woody Guthrie wrote this song after watching the movie, while he was staying with Pete Seeger. The rumor is that Seeger asked him if he’d read the book to which Guthrie’s only reply was, “Why? I just saw the movie.” The song, as can be expected from Woody Guthrie essentially narrates the story (or movie) into song. The book itself is very well summed up in Guthrie’s song and if you play it in combination with Bruce Springsteen’s “Ghost of Tom Joad” you can skip the book next time you’re in a tight spot for a classroom assignment. 

Led Zeppelin“Ramble On”  II  

In reference to  J.R.R. Tolkien’s  Lord of the Rings

 Why people don’t make fun of Led Zeppelin more often is a mystery to me. They have several songs that reference Lord of the Ringsalone, and tons of others that reference faeries and monsters and dragons and other such ridiculous creatures. “Ramble On” however, uses the story of the One Ring traveling to “the darkest depths of Mordor,” when “Gollum and the evil one” attempt to take it. For whatever reason, the ring in the song is represented by a lady, perhaps the band was attempting to find a love song in LOTR, or perhaps they where keen enough to pick up on Frodo’s love for the ring. Who knows what was going through their heads, but in the end I’m sure it thrust the literary leaning of Tolkien upon thousands of mistrusting hippies looking for a magical tale. 

Rush“2112”  2112  

In reference to several  Ayn Rand novels

 Put together Rush and Ayn Rand and what you have is a recipe for disaster, but somehow, the A side, which topples over at over 20 minutes long remains one of the bands greatest achievements. Why only half of a concept album? Who knows, maybe they’d only read half of Atlas Shrugged, Fountainhead or Anthem. “2112” goes through (in several parts) the triumph of mankind over the mediocrity of a high tech and impersonalized society, which, for anyone who’s read Ayn Rand, is a major point in all of her works from this era. So everyone shout out to Rush for using technology against itself and spreading the word of individualism through mass communication and pop music. 

Tom Waits “Alice”  Alice

In reference to  Lewis Carroll’s  Alice in Wonderland

 Tom Waits being the master songwriter that he is, “Alice” only loosely resembles Lewis Carroll’s classic tale, which has been alluded to by hundreds of musicians in far less interesting ways. Waits does it in a way that feels almost as he wrote the song while he himself was in Wonderland, gruffing along with lyrics like, “Arithmatic Arithmatock, Tun the hands back on the clock.” The song, and the record in general discovers and reinterprets the ideas of Through the Looking Glass, it’s almost as if Waits is weighing the listener down with his own perception of the story, as if he himself could have been the first to tell it. 

Weakerthans“Our Retired Explorer (Dines with Michel Foucault in Paris, 1961)”  Reconstruction Site  

In reference to  Michel Foucault,  Ernest Shackleton

 Canadian based pop-country-punk band the Weakerthans have been known for name dropping literature, philosophy and science from time to time, but not with any real impact on what the song was supposed to mean. “Our Retired Explorer” names more than a couple and leaves itself open as a narrative song much like that of Bob Dylan or Woody Guthrie’s songs. Okay, so Foucault was best known for being a philosopher, but was also known for being, at times, a literary critic close with Roland Barthes. So, that’s literature and that counts and this song is one of the Weakerthans best. Both easy to understand and follow, and interesting in it’s usage of allusions, the song details, well, a conversation with an explorer and Foucault. The song also references the father of  “deconstruction” and brainchild of post-structuralism, Jacques Derrida. Two literary critics plus the Antarctic’s greatest explorer equals one hell of a song. An interesting note about the Weakerthans, the band typically brings with them a book mobile on tour to pass out literature to any and all interested. Man, those Canadians sure do know how to party. 

Yes“Close to the Edge”   Close to the Edge 

In reference to  Herman Hesse’s  Siddhartha

 Yes has done a lot of songs with literary references, but their biggest and most elaborate is “Close to the Edge,” which takes up the entire first side of the LP. The song begins with the sound of a river and the main chorus, “Close to the edge, down by the river, seasons will pass you, but I get up, I get down,” closely resembles the story and philosophy behind Hesse’s Siddhartha character. The water being a pivotal and key role in the story, and the commune of the character with the river in the novel’s closing chapters shapes and rounds the story out and plays a key role in Yes’s rendition of the song. 

Yo La Tengo“Crying of Lot G”   And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out 

In reference to  Thomas Pynchon’s  Crying of Lot 49

 The song itself has nothing to do with Thomas Pynchon’s Crying of Lot 49, but the fact that the band bothered to name a song after the book seems noteworthy. It’s difficult to say what connection Pynchon and Yo La Tengo may hold, mostly because Yo La Tengo is well known to place pop culture references throughout their works with no particular meaning. The song, unfortunately doesn’t mention post offices, mail carriers or a muted horn.