tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post3083899164695547518..comments2022-03-29T20:25:08.471+02:00Comments on A rare, rare find...: That's EntrainmentBenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845712266620744382noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-80859674530919577722008-06-12T21:24:00.000+02:002008-06-12T21:24:00.000+02:00Thanks, Pat, for that Peter Wolf reference!"Rimbau...Thanks, Pat, for that Peter Wolf reference!<BR/><BR/>"Rimbaud" is obviously about writer's block, but lines such as <BR/><BR/>"Gave me very clear instructions<BR/>When I was in the dark night of the soul."<BR/><BR/>hint that there is more to the phenomenon than a mere dry spell...Benthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11845712266620744382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-1443786966400363752008-06-12T21:02:00.000+02:002008-06-12T21:02:00.000+02:00The Brown Eyed Girl reference in Wavelength is bec...The Brown Eyed Girl reference in Wavelength is because Van used to listen to a DJ called Peter Wolf who was always playing Brown Eyed Girl and one night Van actually phoned him up at the radion station and they became good friends.Peter Wolf later joined the J Geils band.See Heylin biography page 169.<BR/> As to Tore Down A La Rimbaud, i have always thought that that song refers to suffering from writers block.<BR/> Anyway, cheers Pat.Pathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09117192766330939568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-30071773620751323662008-06-12T20:45:00.000+02:002008-06-12T20:45:00.000+02:00The Still on Top compilation is actually well made...The <I>Still on Top</I> compilation is actually well made and the editing has taken some care. The individual songs are often connected by theme or lyrical references. For example I never thought of a connection between "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Wavelength" before hearing them in sequence on the <I>Still on Top</I> disc 1. Suddenly it made sense as Van refers to "Brown Eyed Girl" in the lyrics to "Wavelength" - something I had never caught before:<BR/><BR/>"Making love in the green grass<BR/>Behind the stadium<BR/>With you, my brown-eyed girl" (BEG)<BR/><BR/>"Won't you play that song again for me<BR/>About my lover, my lover in the grass..." (Wavelength)<BR/><BR/>About Van's legendary grumpiness, I have never experienced it personally at any of the concerts I've attended. The latest one, in Canterbury was quite magical and Van was in swinging form. I have a theory that Van may be suffering from some form of cyclothymia or 'Bipolar Light', a mood swing disorder, and that he actually frequently has referred to this state or condition in his lyrics (f.ex. in "Tore Down a la Rimbaud")... More on that on another occasion.Benthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11845712266620744382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-37962728688459152472008-06-10T02:05:00.000+02:002008-06-10T02:05:00.000+02:00I haven't got that particular compilation as yet b...I haven't got that particular compilation as yet but like all die-hard Van fans it's only a matter of time. Van is indeed quite a unique figure in the annals of rock in his consistent revisitings of seminal themes, and the way in which he interweaves and juxtaposes them. <BR/><BR/>As far as Down the Road goes I remember seeing him perform in Germany at the Citadel around the time of it's release. I'm from Australia and had travelled to the Netherlands with my family (my wife is dutch) and had booked the hotel in Mainz and tickets before leaving via the net. It was an outdoor concert, the first and only time I have had the privilege of seeing the great man perform and I knew as soon as he stepped up to the mike and his voice echoed out across the grassy sward that he still had that undefinable "it". As fate would have it the PA system started malfunctioning well into the concert and his mood changed from mellow to irascible. Even Candy Dulfer couldn't shake him out of his ill mood. It marred the event and gave me a glimpse of the Mr. Grumpy persona that has been remarked upon by fans and critics alike. <BR/><BR/>Upon returning to Australia I bought "Down the Road" and every time I played it it brought back memories of that flawed but amazing experience.Ian M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03296589193206153475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-4272488867117833942008-06-06T08:10:00.000+02:002008-06-06T08:10:00.000+02:00Been listening a lot lately to the 3CD set of Stil...Been listening a lot lately to the 3CD set of Still on Top, and on those discs you really get a feeling for these entrained metaphors running through Van's songs. The particualrly obvious one here is radios - wavelengths - resonances - entrainment...Benthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11845712266620744382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-49984957642662257292008-06-06T07:53:00.000+02:002008-06-06T07:53:00.000+02:00Or is it perhaps even more literal than we may hav...Or is it perhaps even more literal than we may have thought? I snipped this from the on-line rhetorical dictionary:<BR/><BR/>Verb 1. entrain - board a train, board, get on - get on board of (trains, buses, ships, aircraft, etc.)<BR/><BR/>And the parting lines from Madame George written so long ago (thirty years in fact): <BR/><BR/>Say goodby, goodbye<BR/>Get on the train, the train, the train...<BR/>This is the train, this is the train...<BR/>Whoa, say goodbye, goodbye...<BR/>Get on the train, get on the train...<BR/><BR/>But of course I, in fact, don't subscribe to this view at all, it's a metaphor that resonates throughout his oeuvre and there's nothing simplistic about it...Ian M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03296589193206153475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-71752817307707546102008-06-06T07:39:00.000+02:002008-06-06T07:39:00.000+02:00I think you are right there, Ian - Van is an anti-...I think you are right there, Ian - Van is an anti-intellectualist in his public persona, but in his songs he embraces a lot of literary and esoteric deep thought. It may well be that this grumpy facade exists to protect his fountains of innocence...Benthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11845712266620744382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-13530178079702946142008-06-06T04:14:00.000+02:002008-06-06T04:14:00.000+02:00It's just that my eyes were starting to glaze over...It's just that my eyes were starting to glaze over and I admittedly skipped through the last few paragraphs...It certainly has been an unusual happenstance to come across a writer who has plumbed the depths of Van's lyrics to this degree. Van is notorious for rebuking journalists and fans who seek to unravel his mystical ramblings (I guess musings is a kinder description), I find that disengenuous but also vaguely understandable. I personally think that he is reluctant to spell out explicitly his artistic and spiritual preoccupations although all too willing to cite influences as diverse as Kerouac, Rimbaud, Coleridge and Yeats. The reason? I think he is fearful that he will kill the muse, that he will stifle the very thing that gives him (and his art) sustenance.Ian M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03296589193206153475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-55165268695733232642008-06-04T10:00:00.000+02:002008-06-04T10:00:00.000+02:00It's obvious that Van puns on the phrase That's En...It's obvious that Van puns on the phrase That's Entertainment, as indeed I pointed out. I guess you skipped this paragraph, Ian M.:<BR/><BR/>"Examples of punny wit abound on Keep It Simple - here are two:<BR/><BR/>"That's Entrainment" puns on the old Musical (retrospective) film That's Entertainment! and not least its punny title song. ("The chase for the man with the face: That's entertainment!")"Benthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11845712266620744382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-54727718126641714832008-06-04T04:51:00.000+02:002008-06-04T04:51:00.000+02:00I think you're really missing the point in terms o...I think you're really missing the point in terms of Van's word play in relation to this particular song title (and refrain). I personally think that Van's simply referring to the well known saying, "That's entertainment..", he's frequently used puns like this in his lyrics and song titles, in fact he's more than likely having a rather loud belly-laugh at the overly intellectual and scholarly dissection that has ensued. I don't doubt that he in some way refers obliquely to the idea of "entrainment", the man is quite erudite enough to postulate on such matters but don't read too much into it....Ian M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03296589193206153475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-65566010576964967952008-04-11T01:21:00.000+02:002008-04-11T01:21:00.000+02:00Leonard, the old master, says apositely:I met a ma...Leonard, the old master, says apositely:<BR/><BR/>I met a man who lost his mind <BR/>in some lost place I had to find, <BR/>follow me the wise man said, <BR/>but he walked behind. <BR/><BR/>Note the symmetry of lost-ness...Benthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11845712266620744382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-63779258946963070422008-04-11T01:16:00.000+02:002008-04-11T01:16:00.000+02:00If one remembers the first thing about esoteric ex...If one remembers the first thing about esoteric exegesis, one notices that dialogue is the condition for the possibility to be 'in touch'. In the academic context, which doesn't give esoteric matters the time of day, one speaks however about what is called in psychology 'lexical entrainment'. This notion refers to people's ability to adopt their interlocutors' terms in order to create symmetry and alignment with them over a period of time. In artifical intelligence studies that look at ways to emulate human-human interraction, what is examined is also specific regularities and characteristics of entrainment behavior, e.g. when to lead and when to follow. It's rather neat that even though, and oddly enough, different academic disciplines don't speak the same language, or go across territories of same knowledge really, they all seem to go back to more archaic forms of keeping it simple: follow the masters, but let the best ones lead. (For those interested in knowing more, here's an article on <A HREF="http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~lcavedon/finalpdfs/porzel.pdf" REL="nofollow">lexical entrainment</A>)Cameliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05209001226118446807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-60037349169365605992008-04-10T10:08:00.000+02:002008-04-10T10:08:00.000+02:00"Van's pan-esoteric religion"? You had me at "That..."Van's pan-esoteric religion"? You had me at "That's Entrainment."<BR/><BR/>So this is your "latest severe obsession", hmmm?<BR/><BR/>Bent, in hyper-space, all my obsessions become hyper-obsessions. I was diagnosed hyper-active as kid which morphs into ADD (attention deficit disorder). Now with hyper-links I suffer hyper-ADD.<BR/><BR/>Very nice piece on Van Morrison. I've never really given him much of chance, nor given him much thought. This was not deliberate. But your article has piqued my interest to the point that I will launch upon yet another hyperspace, hyper-linked, ,hyper-active, hyper-obsessed, hyper-diversion. Thanks.Stuart Noblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16459680752265123507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478098050369520192.post-61509328932651836612008-04-10T09:23:00.000+02:002008-04-10T09:23:00.000+02:00Thats a really interesting, well written article.I...Thats a really interesting, well written article.I enjoyed reading that and look forward to reading some more.<BR/><BR/>All the best,<BR/><BR/>Pat.Pathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09117192766330939568noreply@blogger.com