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| Headline | help? |
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| Author | Comment |
Nik
Oct-20-2005, 10:41 GMT
IP:
Unknown
| Guess what I got for my birthday! Paul´s new boxset and the YTO DVD! Lol I´m estatic
on another subject, there´s this course i´m doing at school called eng extension 2, where for your final high school exam you analyse any text(s) you wish in any way you wish (e.g. for its literary qualities, its reflection of context, a recurring motif or technique etc). One of the suggestions was analysing a modern songwriter and of course my thoughts leapt to Paul. So any suggestions at all about how paul´s work can be analysed? (particularly from the various people who have posted threads on works they´re doing on paul). In the end it has to be like 5000 words I think. The one thing i have ruled out though is analysing his songs as poetry. I agree with what paul said in one of his interviews, that in songwriting you have to compromise words for other considerations and so you can´t really consider most songs poetry. (lol on the other hand I don´t consider most ´poetry´ poetry either) |
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Bodo
Oct-20-2005, 12:12 GMT
IP:
Austria
 | I think the main problem you will have on that is, that no one understands Paul Simons lyrics, often including himself :-) |
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Jeroen
Oct-20-2005, 15:03 GMT
IP:
Netherlands
 | Couldn´t agree more. I think Paul Simon is very scrupulous as to his lyrics and understands his own words perfectly. The written word is different from language sung, alright, but they certainly have common ground (figurative speech, metaphor, metonymy). What about his coming to terms with the ending of a relationship and and restored inner peace that you can see happening in Hearts And Bones and Graceland? Or his views on the lost idealism of the sixties? (American Tune, Peace Like A River) Mail me at [email protected]. Ican help you out. |
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Julie
Oct-20-2005, 15:05 GMT
IP:
Unknown
| Do your own homework !! |
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Jeroen
Oct-20-2005, 15:19 GMT
IP:
Netherlands
| Tnank you for that, Julie. |
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Beth
Oct-20-2005, 22:39 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America
 | What about exploring the timelessless of his works.....for example....Bridge Over Troubled Water...Sound of Silence.....Still relevant today.....Who else is still relavant after 40 years in the music business?.......and Still Crazy After All These Years.....
Or the diversity he brought to pop music with Graceland and Rhythm Of The Saints albums......remember all the flack he weathered while working on Graceland by going to racially divided Africa in the 80´s?.....Just two aspects off the top of my head.... |
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Beth
Oct-20-2005, 22:51 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America
| And another aspect would be the great store of figurative language he employs.....the metaphors...personification...simile...pictures he paints with words.....just to look at a few of those...without trying to analyze a whole song....Another idea is the loss of a marriage which he alludes to about Peggy and Carrie in several songs.....How does he describe these losses?...... |
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Jeroen
Oct-20-2005, 23:21 GMT
IP:
Netherlands
| He also once mentioned that the ideal progression for song lyrics structurally can be thought of as a spiral. You end up singing the same chorus (or with minor modifications) set to a broadened backdrop, a wider context. From the specific to the general, or the V-shape, in Simon-jargon. |
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Nik
Oct-21-2005, 14:41 GMT
IP:
Unknown
| wow what fantastic ideas! thanks so much. yes well i was thinking along the lines of context (probably most obvious option) and i do realise it would be very difficult to analyse a songwriter, as opposed to the standard author. I mean I´m deciding between John Fowles and Paul Simon. Both capture me in some mysterious way I cannot explain. But somehow I think analysing Fowles will be more a case of intellectual gymnastics and analysing Paul will be pure enjoyment. |
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Jeroen
Oct-21-2005, 14:44 GMT
IP:
Netherlands
| the context of the hippie culture might be nice...well it´s up to you and good luck.
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Nikki
Oct-21-2005, 17:28 GMT
IP:
Canada
 | Wow you guys kinda sound like teachers...but in a good way of course :) |
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Beth
Oct-21-2005, 18:32 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America
| I am a teacher..... |
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Jeroen
Oct-21-2005, 19:40 GMT
IP:
Netherlands
| So am I |
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Nik
Oct-23-2005, 02:55 GMT
IP:
Unknown
| lol. teachers in which subjects?
and look there´s someone else called nikki who spells it the way i do! lol sorry, random comment. |
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Beth
Oct-25-2005, 18:49 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America
| I teach reading and English at a community college in Ohio..... |
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