I read an article in The Guardian about 18 months ago bemoaning the decline in sales of poetry within the UK. The journalist posed the question as to whether singer songwriters were writing prose for a new generation? He cited the likes of Joanna Newsom and I have to confess that experiencing her perform her album “Ys” live with a 21 piece orchestra was one of the most artistically original, breathtaking and noteworthy concerts I have ever had the good fortune of witnessing. So, if archaeologists discovered the sleeve notes of our records or CDs (sadly mp3s rarely have an equivalent), would the words without the music read like poetry or the psalms?
Following the theme of my previous post I’ll let the following lyrics do the talking. If you want to hear the accompanying song you can download it for free here as one of the tracks on the “Sergeant Howie’s Holy Stamina Test” EP. That said, there is the option to make a donation and, given that this is the artist’s livelihood, I would encourage you to promote art and creativity by doing so.
“I’ve always believed in the old stories of rising from the dead.
But where is my heart? What’s my priority? Is it just to retread
a comfortable blanket of philosophy that’s only in the heads
of a deluded community that’s lost all its stability
Where have you gone?
Where have you gone?
Why am I ashamed of what I hold to be the heart of what is me?
What am I afraid of? Is it only laughter at what I believe?
The same old stories. The death of me.
Where have you gone?
Where have you gone?
Where have you gone?
Where have you gone?
Let’s take them apart, all of these old beliefs and go back to the plans.
Burn them down to be rebuilt to house the lonely and the damned.
Bad architecture will never last.
Where have you gone?
Where have you gone?
Where have you gone?
Where have you gone?”
“Bad Architecture” by Calamateur
Read. Think. Pray. Live
Beautiful, clever lyrics that say so much better than I ever could how I feel about this whole ‘being a Christian’ business. It reads like a modern psalm. Although I only mean modern in the sense that it was written in contemporary times, because it’s about universal and ageless themes. Well done Mr Howie.
Thanks for sharing it TSTIAI.
Designers should really have a good deal of thinking to do before they place some monstrous buidings in our environment. Some places are holy for people, they have history. Please don’t destroy our memories and don’t committ the same mistakes other designers have when building the following:
The Eiffel tower, Paris France
The Gherkin, London England
The Bayterek, Astrana Kazakhstan
The Endless Column, Targu Jiu Romania
I found this funny website http://www.ridiculousdesignrules.com where you can vote for the most ridiculous architectural design. So those are up for the vote on that site. What do you think?