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Oct. 31st, 2021 03:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
between_time_and_42I've been thinking a lot about the lyrics in Sparks songs lately. (What else is new?) I read a review of Introducing Sparks from a pretty well-regarded rock journalist, who said something along the lines of how he appreciated the lyrics on that album more than those on the ones that preceded it, because Sparks' lyrics tend to be insulting. Although I usually tend to have completely opposites takes on music that this journalist does, and I really like Sparks' 70's material, I did kind of see his point (or at least I think I know what he's referring to). Sometimes the lyrics in Sparks' 70's songs have a biting edge to them that's slightly uncomfortable, especially when referring to women. And I'm not even talking about the stuff that's on Big Beat (I'd love to try to unpack that album someday... I don't even understand why and how that album exists tbh). I'm talking about things like "Something For the Girl With Everything," which is a great rocker of a song and definitely performed with tongue somewhere in the vicinity of cheek, but a straight reading of the lyrics can sound delightfully condescending.
"See, the writing's on the wall. You bought the girl a wall, complete with matching ballpoint pen. You can breathe another day, secure in knowing she won't break you yet." Okay, first of all, the first two lines of this song are like... only one person in the world could have thought of something like that, and I'm so glad he did. But that's not the point! The narrator's plight is immediately obvious- he's trying to placate his girlfriend with gifts so that she'll stay satisfied. If he doesn't, she'll make her tangible desires VERY well known, via "the writing on the wall" (it's a metaphor! Chicks dig dig, D-I-G dig dig...).
"Have another sweet, my dear. Don't try to talk, my dear! Your tiny little mouth is full. Here's a flavor you ain't tried. You shouldn't try to talk, your mouth is full!" To keep her happy, and to physically keep her from complaining, the narrator is shoving sweets in his girlfriend's mouth, and then chiding her when she tries to speak up. I can visualize this so well in my head- the girl's cheeks bulging cartoonishly, the candy sticking her teeth together, and the man just waving a finger in front of her face- "ah ah ah, not so fast! Don't you know it's rude to talk when your mouth is full?" Already we see the condescending/insulting side starting to come out, in the way this guy is patronizing his girlfriend.
"Three wise men are here. Three wise men are here, bearing gifts to aid amnesia. She knows everything. She knows everything. She knew you way back when you weren't yourself." Note how it doesn't say "heal" amnesia, "cure" amnesia, "fix" amnesia... It says "aid" amnesia. These gifts are not intended to help the narrator's girlfriend remember anything, but rather to make her forget. Clearly the guy has fucked up in the past, and now he intends to erase his girlfriend's memory of his misdeeds by buying her elaborate gifts, instead of apologizing. After all, she knew him when he "wasn't himself," when he was younger and wilder, perhaps, and she'll probably hold that against him if he makes even the slightest mistake now.
"Here's a really pretty car. I hope it takes you far. I hope it takes you fast and far. Wow, the engine's really loud! Nobody's gonna hear a word you say." The narrator is still trying to shut his girlfriend up from complaining by not only getting her expensive car, but revving the engine so he's spared from hearing her talk, and suggesting she go off to some faraway place where she can't bother him anymore. I suspect this relationship has long been headed south... and I also suspect it's not entirely the girlfriend's fault. (Though both are to blame.)
"Three wise men are here. Three wise men are here. Where should they leave these imported gimmicks? Leave them anywhere! Leave them anywhere! Make sure that there's a clear path to the door." Not only does the narrator want a clear path to the door because he's been buying so many extravagant gifts that take up space, but he also wants a way out of this relationship, so he wants to make sure the way is clear for when he makes his exit.
"Here's a partridge in a tree, a gardener for the tree, complete with ornithologist. Careful- careful with that crate! You wouldn't want to dent Sinatra, no!" I have nothing to say here, really, except that these lines are hilarious, and I like the parallel with "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Again I can visualize this super well- a moving company hauling in all the various gifts that the narrator is bestowing upon his girlfriend, filling up the place from top to bottom, while the narrator trails behind micromanaging them.
"Hey, come out and say hello before our friends all go. But say no more than just hello. Ah, the little girl is shy. You see of late she's been quite speechless, very speechless. She's got everything." I just LOVE how smug and condescending that one line is- "Ah, the little girl is shy." It seems sort of Taming of the Shrew-esque to me (though I haven't ever read or seen that play, so it could be a bad example), where the guy has turned his girlfriend into the picture of obedience. In this song, he's accomplished this by spoiling her to the nth degree, so that she has nothing to demand from him anymore. I imagine him calling down the stairs at some party where all their friends are gathered, and when she walks into the room she sees all the stuff he's bought for her and her jaw drops and her face turns red- rendered totally speechless by the fact that he went to such lengths. And it's not even because he appreciates her, it's because he just wants her to stop complaining. (Come to think of it, with the partridge-in-a-tree reference and the three wise men reference, and the fact that all their friends are gathered at the end... is this a Christmas song? Does this take place at Christmas? Interesting thing to ponder...)
So, as you can see, some of the lyrics are a bit... well... the guy in this song is not a shining example of morality, shall we say. There are many other Sparks songs that give off the same vibes for me, but as I'm thinking of it now, I realize that the vibes from their 70's output are more generally objectifying than condescending (I'm not outright accusing them of objectifying women, it's just some of the songs from Kimono My House, Propaganda, and Indiscreet give off those vibes), and the lyrics that really concern me tend to be from later albums- "Waterproof" from Hello Young Lovers being a big one ("I see you crying, but I'm not buying your Meryl Streep mimicry, it's misdirected, your voice inflected for maximum sympathy"), and "Let The Monkey Drive" from Exotic Creatures which I've already been over in the past, and really a lot of stuff on Exotic Creatures, being a concept album about failing relationships and emotional depth vs. superficiality, has a slight edge to it that doesn't sit right with me. But I've never been truly offended by any of these songs, and here's why: not only because I think most of those songs are written in-character, but because something like "Something For the Girl With Everything" is FUNNY. All the images it puts in my head are hilarious, and I'm more inclined to laugh at these characters than feel put off by them. Also, random aside about the music- sometimes I feel like it's very obvious that Ron Mael composes the music to his songs before writing the lyrics, and "Something For the Girl With Everything" is one of those songs for me. The main melodic line, especially the way the last note moves down a half step on the second line of each verse, really seems to me like it was born out of a random piano warmup. Actually, now that I've mentioned Exotic Creatures, I should really point out that more than half of the songs on that album also feel like they were built around various random riffs that Ron came up with one day, given how many interesting riffs there are on the second half of the album and how piano-heavy it is. Man, I don't have any real desire to meet the Maels, but if I did somehow meet Ron I'd just want to talk songwriting all day and night. I still find his extensive output incredible (even if Russell does help with the songwriting, but even he admitted that his role in the creative process is closer to being an editor than a composer- though I don't fully buy that, I think he's just being self-effacing, but at any rate I'm sure Ron writes all of the lyrics and that's what I really would love to talk about).
"See, the writing's on the wall. You bought the girl a wall, complete with matching ballpoint pen. You can breathe another day, secure in knowing she won't break you yet." Okay, first of all, the first two lines of this song are like... only one person in the world could have thought of something like that, and I'm so glad he did. But that's not the point! The narrator's plight is immediately obvious- he's trying to placate his girlfriend with gifts so that she'll stay satisfied. If he doesn't, she'll make her tangible desires VERY well known, via "the writing on the wall" (it's a metaphor! Chicks dig dig, D-I-G dig dig...).
"Have another sweet, my dear. Don't try to talk, my dear! Your tiny little mouth is full. Here's a flavor you ain't tried. You shouldn't try to talk, your mouth is full!" To keep her happy, and to physically keep her from complaining, the narrator is shoving sweets in his girlfriend's mouth, and then chiding her when she tries to speak up. I can visualize this so well in my head- the girl's cheeks bulging cartoonishly, the candy sticking her teeth together, and the man just waving a finger in front of her face- "ah ah ah, not so fast! Don't you know it's rude to talk when your mouth is full?" Already we see the condescending/insulting side starting to come out, in the way this guy is patronizing his girlfriend.
"Three wise men are here. Three wise men are here, bearing gifts to aid amnesia. She knows everything. She knows everything. She knew you way back when you weren't yourself." Note how it doesn't say "heal" amnesia, "cure" amnesia, "fix" amnesia... It says "aid" amnesia. These gifts are not intended to help the narrator's girlfriend remember anything, but rather to make her forget. Clearly the guy has fucked up in the past, and now he intends to erase his girlfriend's memory of his misdeeds by buying her elaborate gifts, instead of apologizing. After all, she knew him when he "wasn't himself," when he was younger and wilder, perhaps, and she'll probably hold that against him if he makes even the slightest mistake now.
"Here's a really pretty car. I hope it takes you far. I hope it takes you fast and far. Wow, the engine's really loud! Nobody's gonna hear a word you say." The narrator is still trying to shut his girlfriend up from complaining by not only getting her expensive car, but revving the engine so he's spared from hearing her talk, and suggesting she go off to some faraway place where she can't bother him anymore. I suspect this relationship has long been headed south... and I also suspect it's not entirely the girlfriend's fault. (Though both are to blame.)
"Three wise men are here. Three wise men are here. Where should they leave these imported gimmicks? Leave them anywhere! Leave them anywhere! Make sure that there's a clear path to the door." Not only does the narrator want a clear path to the door because he's been buying so many extravagant gifts that take up space, but he also wants a way out of this relationship, so he wants to make sure the way is clear for when he makes his exit.
"Here's a partridge in a tree, a gardener for the tree, complete with ornithologist. Careful- careful with that crate! You wouldn't want to dent Sinatra, no!" I have nothing to say here, really, except that these lines are hilarious, and I like the parallel with "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Again I can visualize this super well- a moving company hauling in all the various gifts that the narrator is bestowing upon his girlfriend, filling up the place from top to bottom, while the narrator trails behind micromanaging them.
"Hey, come out and say hello before our friends all go. But say no more than just hello. Ah, the little girl is shy. You see of late she's been quite speechless, very speechless. She's got everything." I just LOVE how smug and condescending that one line is- "Ah, the little girl is shy." It seems sort of Taming of the Shrew-esque to me (though I haven't ever read or seen that play, so it could be a bad example), where the guy has turned his girlfriend into the picture of obedience. In this song, he's accomplished this by spoiling her to the nth degree, so that she has nothing to demand from him anymore. I imagine him calling down the stairs at some party where all their friends are gathered, and when she walks into the room she sees all the stuff he's bought for her and her jaw drops and her face turns red- rendered totally speechless by the fact that he went to such lengths. And it's not even because he appreciates her, it's because he just wants her to stop complaining. (Come to think of it, with the partridge-in-a-tree reference and the three wise men reference, and the fact that all their friends are gathered at the end... is this a Christmas song? Does this take place at Christmas? Interesting thing to ponder...)
So, as you can see, some of the lyrics are a bit... well... the guy in this song is not a shining example of morality, shall we say. There are many other Sparks songs that give off the same vibes for me, but as I'm thinking of it now, I realize that the vibes from their 70's output are more generally objectifying than condescending (I'm not outright accusing them of objectifying women, it's just some of the songs from Kimono My House, Propaganda, and Indiscreet give off those vibes), and the lyrics that really concern me tend to be from later albums- "Waterproof" from Hello Young Lovers being a big one ("I see you crying, but I'm not buying your Meryl Streep mimicry, it's misdirected, your voice inflected for maximum sympathy"), and "Let The Monkey Drive" from Exotic Creatures which I've already been over in the past, and really a lot of stuff on Exotic Creatures, being a concept album about failing relationships and emotional depth vs. superficiality, has a slight edge to it that doesn't sit right with me. But I've never been truly offended by any of these songs, and here's why: not only because I think most of those songs are written in-character, but because something like "Something For the Girl With Everything" is FUNNY. All the images it puts in my head are hilarious, and I'm more inclined to laugh at these characters than feel put off by them. Also, random aside about the music- sometimes I feel like it's very obvious that Ron Mael composes the music to his songs before writing the lyrics, and "Something For the Girl With Everything" is one of those songs for me. The main melodic line, especially the way the last note moves down a half step on the second line of each verse, really seems to me like it was born out of a random piano warmup. Actually, now that I've mentioned Exotic Creatures, I should really point out that more than half of the songs on that album also feel like they were built around various random riffs that Ron came up with one day, given how many interesting riffs there are on the second half of the album and how piano-heavy it is. Man, I don't have any real desire to meet the Maels, but if I did somehow meet Ron I'd just want to talk songwriting all day and night. I still find his extensive output incredible (even if Russell does help with the songwriting, but even he admitted that his role in the creative process is closer to being an editor than a composer- though I don't fully buy that, I think he's just being self-effacing, but at any rate I'm sure Ron writes all of the lyrics and that's what I really would love to talk about).
