Re: Are you happy?

[Jeff Burka <jburka@silver.ucs.indiana.edu>]

A couple of people (d and Mike) have been discussing the cover art to 
Happy's tapes.  I'd like to throw in a few comments...

First of all, I *love* these covers; my least favorite is Volume II (the
silly (yet toothy!) grin on the "demon that lurks" just takes away too much
ferocity.  _Ecto_'s cover is probably the most accessible, and given the
title of the album, it makes the most sense.  The thing is that these covers
*do* portray quite accurately the lyrical tenor of the music inside; as
Mike points out, these *are* the wretches, the drears, the "demons that
lurk."  This is what Happy's rather unhappy music is about.  It's about
insanity, the cruelty, the injustices, the ironies of the the life she's
led.  One can listen to the voice and the music and be carried away from
it all (in much the way Enya's music might do), or one can go the extra
distance and integrate the music with the lyrics; I can't listen to Happy's
work without getting chills, without being moved close to tears.  And the
covers, to my mind, captures this aspect of Happy's work.

Choice of cover art and even band name is very important from a marketing
stand point.  I can understand why some might be turned off by the
cover art of Happy's tapes.  They certainly don't convey the style of music
contained within.  On the other hand, there are plenty of other bands
with similar problems in one way or another.  I remember the first time
I saw _In My Tribe_ in a record store.  I'd never heard of a band called
"10,000 Maniacs" and I wasn't sure I wanted to...and I was appalled that
a band with such a name would have covered Cat Steven's "Peace Train."
Of course, we all know what the band is *really* like.  Wouldn't Happy 
simply go through a similar sort of process?  _In My Tribe_ has a rather
innocuous cover, but a scary band name at the top;  _Volume I_ might
have a scary cover, but the name at the top is *very* friendly.

So anyway, enough rambling.

"'Till the dawn breaks..."

Jeff

-- 
|Jeffrey C. Burka                |"I've lost my way through this world of |
|jburka@silver.ucs.indiana.edu   | profanities/I thrive on the wind and   |
|jburka@amber.ucs.indiana.edu    | the rain and the cold."  --Happy Rhodes|