BOC: dem words dem words dem wild words heed the word of de cult...

[Bolts of Ungodly Vision]

At 03:06 PM 9/30/99 EDT, Ted wrote:
>Well, doesn't this speak volumes about BOC's songwriting doldrums?
>The double whammy of SP and Al departing the band left a huge lyric
>void that never was filled.  Imagine going from great stuff like this
>to 'Make Rock Not War' or 'Beat 'em Up!'

Although, Beat em Up can be  excused because it wasnt written "in house."
We can  sneer at BOC for a momentary lapse of reason in agreeing to set
them to music.  Aong those lines, the fact it took more than one person to
write "Let Go" never ceases to scare/amaze me! heheh

>Sure, occasional flashes of lyric inspiration [c.f. Harvest Moon]
>bust through the murk, but damn!, SP's lyrics really had such a huge
>impact on the mystery that swirled around BOC's first 3 great albums.
>The music has always been uniformly great, but the lyrics never
>seemed to recapture those early days...

What struck me the most about the lyrics of Heaven Forbid is that they seem
to  be, besides not being as cool as "Cities on Flame," a try at being more
contemporary with song content. And lyrics about the times in which they
were written were never a trademark of BOC. For me, those "Golden Days"
were most imp[reessive in that the lyrical content of the songs did not
describe anything we could think of as relating to everyday life (well, the
angst  of Death Valley Nights or "In Thee's" nostalgia might be
exceptions). After all our world is not "redeemed by a country song", nor
full of silverfish imperatrixes(?), harvesters of eyes or diz-Busters.  Add
the boffo verbiage to the strange amalgam of styles that became  the Music,
a strangley  marked O and an alien first LP cover -- what do ya got?
Something diametrically opposed to "Whole Lotta Love" or "Problem Child"
blues/rock.  But then again the blues/rock  did groudn itself in the fact
the experiences they talk about could be done by human beings.   BOC's try
to be more topical (throw in "Real World," "see you in black") almost 30
years since it hit the streets with what we all know and love, just seems
"alien" to the band we think they are.   Not to mention the fact that John
Shirley seems to a have a completely diffent view of what work lyrics
perform in songs on the audient.

By the way, if you order the 30th Anniversary court of the crimson king,
make sure they actually send you that version of the CD :)(They sent me the
old 'un)

Gimme Nothing,
Jason




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"It is only beginning with me that the earth knows great politics."
        -F.Nietzsche, _Ecce Homo_
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