| The National – Squalor Victoria Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| "The term middlebrow describes both a certain type of easily accessible art, often literature, as well as the population that uses art to acquire culture and class that is usually unattainable. First used by the British satire magazine Punch in 1925, middlebrow is derived as the intermediary between highbrow and lowbrow, terms derived from phrenology.[1] Middlebrow has famously gained notoriety from derisive attacks by Dwight MacDonald, Virginia Woolf, and to a certain extent, Russell Lynes. It has been classified as a forced and ineffective attempt at cultural and intellectual achievement, as well as characterizing literature that emphasizes emotional and sentimental connections rather than literary quality and innovation." | |
| The Twilight Singers – Number Nine Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Concept album. I too have read Dulli's "begins with a suicide and flashes back" comment, so that's a valid place to start. Here's my take: The narrator is in New Orleans, his friend (Demme) has just died of a cocaine OD and he's watching another friend (maybe Lanegan) taking drugs (again). The narrator is leading a life similar, right to the edge, but wants to live and wants his remaining friend to live. I think "Number Nine" is not a 9mm handgun (?) but in fact is a reference to the 9th life a cat has. Lanegan has had a publicly celebrated life with his addiction and perhaps the narrator is trying to phone him and tell him that 'this is it.' Ergot the phone ringing and no one picking it up at the end of "Martin Eden." And the whispered 'good night' at the end of "Fat City." '"Martin Eden" by Jack London, is about a struggling writer. The novel ends with Martin Eden committing suicide by drowning, a detail which undoubtedly contributed to what researcher Clarice Stasz calls the 'biographical myth' that Jack London's own death was a suicide.' -wikipedia My take on this concept album, but just mine... |
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