Re: Just Say NO to Artistic Secrecy

[berns@lti.com (Brian Berns x26)]

Andy Gough says:

> Yet the "secrecy" idea still appears among artists.  The worst
> example I ever heard was U2 (I believe--might have been Blue Oyster
> Cult) interviewed on "Rockline" and a caller said he often had
> trouble understanding (i.e, hearing) the lyrics and why don't they
> publish them on the record sleeve?  The answer was, "Well, it takes
> a lot of work to write them, so it seems right that it should take a
> lot of work to understand them.  That seems right in some way."  Did
> he consider, though, that all of his hard work was for nothing if
> the audience can't make out the lyrics?  No message gets across.
> It's very immature for an artist to want to keep his art
> understandable only to himself.

I frequently confuse U2 and Blue Oyster Cult, too.

Anyway, I disagree.  Take R.E.M.'s lyrics, which are almost impossible
to figure out.  They have some lyrics for which I would kill, yet I'm
glad they don't publish them.

For example, they let me and my friends discover the background vocals
in "Wendell Gee" ("Gonna miss you boy") and "... End of the World ..."
("Time I had some time alone") for ourselves.  The thrill of discovery
made the lyrics mean that much more.

-- Brian