--- Kevin Burton Smith
<
kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com> wrote:
>
> Juri wrote:
>
> > As one who was trying to keep a music
discussion
> going, I remember
> > very well
> > that Bill Denton told us not to have
any.
>
> But usually long after the thread(s) had gone
on.
>
> There is a point where all threads outstay
their
> course (cf: The Long
> Goodbye, post-modern this and post-modern that,
what
> "what" means,
> etc.), or wander off into the ozone, but as
I
> remember it, the music
> discussions we've had over the years were
usually
> quite savvy and
> interesting while they lasted. It was only when
they
> started getting
> silly (Billy Joel songs, jazz is somehow
inherently
> "hard-boiled"
> because there was some in such and such a
movie,
> blah blah blah) that
> Bill usually urged us to pull the plug.
>
> It could be argued, in fact, that the
hard-boiled
> literary genre was
> at least partially inspired (and its
popularity
> aided and abetted) by
> centuries of bloody, violent and relentlessly
nasty
> murder ballads --
> most of which make today's
thuggier-than-thou
> gangsta rappers look
> rather tame and unimaginative by comparison.
After
> all, it's not like
> suddenly people became interested in crime
and
> punishment and revenge
> and justice and violence and mayhem one
sunny
> weekend in 1922 or
> something.
>
> In fact, I'd suggest that people like 50 Cent or
Ice
> T aren't so much
> the societal aberration (or sign of the
Apocalypse)
> that some may
> claim it is as merely a continuation of a
> centuries-old folk tradition
> that has always existed and will no doubt
outlast
> all of us.
>
> Hell, why is hard-boiled popular fiction worthy
of
> respect and even
> serious discussion, but a four-minute song
dealing
> with the same
> subject deemed somehow morally suspect or
culturally
> negligible? If
> anyone could talk the hell out of this topic,
it
> would be us, simply
> because we'd be approaching it from a literary,
not
> musical perspective.
>
> Obviously this thread won't be for everyone.
But
> please don't negate
> the interest a thread on crime songs might
haver
> among those who do
> pay attention to the words.
>
> I'm not proposing music suddenly become the
main
> thrust of the list
> (especially since I'm grooving so much on
the
> missing authors thread),
> but as long as a discussion of crime-related
songs
> stays within the
> boundaries of interest of this list (which
has
> ranged from discussions
> of Magnum P.I. and James Ellroy's cult of
> personality to "blessings of
> the troops" or what's new in crime comics),
and
> remains respectful and
> intelligent and proves entertaining to at least
some
> members of the
> list, let's not automatically clamp down on
what
> some of us deem a
> worthy -- and relevant -- topic.
>
>
Kevin, I agree murder ballads should be on topic, but I don't
remember our discussing them-- Hey, we could have a long
thread about Tom Dooley. I guess Dylan's Hurricane would
qualify also. Popular music's appeal tends to be very
generational The threads about music tend to be about jazz or
rock. I can see to discussing movies occasionally, but this
is a literary list. We manage to discuss works from the
1920's to the present. I don't think music has that
generational spread of interest for most of the members of
the list. Mark
>
____________________________________________________________________________________
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