Ah, time. The long
and short of it. When thinking about duration,
the first thing that came to mind was In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly. It’s one of my hub’s faves (along with Rush’s
2112- he’s a Neil Peart fan). I always
giggle when I hear In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, because as urban legend goes, the
drunken singer slurred his words so badly that the person writing them down
heard, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vita” instead of the intended, “In the Garden of Eden.” Which leads to one of my favorite Simpsons sketches.
But I digress…
(You may have noticed) I have a very hard time sticking to
word counts. It’s not that I don’t want
to- I genuinely have a hard time being concise.
I think it’s my years as a child of not speaking because I was painfully
shy. The day I finally found my voice, I
couldn’t shut it off and often, what I have to say comes gushing out- even when
I ‘d prefer that it didn’t. So, I was
actually very drawn to the idea of the Twitter play- of only having a few
characters to say what is essential. In
that vein, here’s my Twitter play (thought I’m not on Twitter).
Desert Dreams
Lea: @seattlegirl The rain is unending. I can’t wake up. My mind can’t heal.
Seattlegirl: @leamebe He’s not coming back.
Lea: @seattlegirl I’m moving to Arizona.
Furthering the idea of being succinct got me thinking about
an artist I admire- Ani DiFranco. She’s
an incredible singer/songwriter. And she
doesn’t play by the rules of the music industry, which I love. Ani cites her anti-corporate ideology for the
main reason she decided to start her own label. Righteous Babe Records employs
a number of people in her hometown of Buffalo. Furthermore, the average length of a song is
three and a half minutes, perfect for radio airplay. Most people tend to go just a few seconds longer. But the majority of DiFranco’s songs are four
and half minutes or longer. But I want
to draw your attention to the “song” Not So Soft. It’s the perfect length at exactly 2
minutes. This is a spoken word
arrangement (or free-form poetry) that speaks to DiFranco’s ethos. It develops, says its piece, and concludes. We hear DiFranco’s point of view looming large
in the shadow of America's landscape- in a range of ideas encompassing AIDS,
corporate structure, gender dynamics, sexual harassment, war, and love. Just a few heavy topics made light in her
hands. Not So Soft is a manifesto, if you will.
DiFranco explores feminism and a call to action through her narrative of
failed America, desire, greed and the system that is failing us. Not So Soft is
both a lullaby and wake up call, and its politically dense lyricism could lead a
young college student (like me!) on a journey of personal discovery. Her sentiments
are witty and humorous as well as eloquent.
It’s clear from her philosophic musings that she is someone
who's not afraid to talk to strangers. One of Ani’s fans commented about Not So
Soft, “In a desert of recycled rhetoric this one is as original as the forest
floor.” And she gives the listener all
that in a mere 120 seconds! Bravo!
In Jeremy Gable’s commentary on his Twitter play, he
discusses the appeal of being able to quickly and silently see a person’s
story. “Without having talked to them, you get a narrative of their life.” In Not So Soft, we get a very clear idea of
what Ani Franco stands for artistically and musically. You could listen to Not So Soft and make a
clear "Yes" or "No" decision as to whether you wanted to hear anything else from her. Her artistry is captured succinctly- and isn’t
simple what we’re going for? Even Tim
Etchells, who advocates durational work, quips, “To put it simply, more simply.”
I’ll aim to take a lesson from Ani, from Mike, and from
Twitter on brevity. I’m working on
it. Now, I’m going to stop writing. Really.
Right now. Backing away from the
keyboard….
It's the failed america in me
It's the fear that lives
In a forest of stone
Underneath the corporate canopy
Where the sun
Filters
Down
And the ground
Is not so soft
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