Re: Replies on the femme-music thread

[gb10@gte.com (Gregory Bossert)]

i am cross-posting this from Ecto into LoveHounds/gaffa -- i think it
is an interesting point.  for those who don't read Ecto, this thread
is spun off a much more complex discussion of music by/for women,
with a focus on "womyn's" music and lesbian performers...  most of the
participants do read gaffa -- i hope Jeff doesn't mind me using his
post as a starting point for a new thread...

Jeff Burka says:
> As for the whole thing about women writing and singing songs from
> men's points of view, it's all rather rare to begin with, isn't it?
> KaTe is the only woman I can think of who does this remotely often.
> (the only two I can think of are "Ran Tan Waltz" and "Mother Stands
> for Comfort").  How many can you think of?  KaTe is also one of the
> few who won't change lyrics in a male-written song (such as
> "Rocketman").  Most covers sung by someone of the opposite sex have
> been 'edited.'

KaTe sings from many different character's viewpoints; in fact, i
suspect it is dangerous to assume that the persona of any of her songs
is actually herself, even with the relatively straightforward demo-era
songs...  off the top of my head, i can think of a few other songs
other songs written from a male point of view:

Pull Out the Pin -- most likely...  i think Kate has referred to the
Vietnamese protagonist as male.  we'll have to wait for Ron to get
back on line to be sure :)

Night of the Swallow -- KaTe gets to play both sides here, and play
with some sexual stereotypes (the reckless male, the overprotective
female) -- the contrast is reinforced by the shifts in musical style
between verse and refrain.  what might have been a song about a rather
cliched lover's quarrel, spiced up by hints of mysterious, illegal
flight, is transformed into a brilliant and chilling piece by the
final verse;  the image of catching a swallow in malta places the
events into a timeless, mythical context...  can you tell i like this
song? ;)

This Woman's Work -- this song is particularly interesting, in that
the clearly male persona uses very abstract language, e.g. "this
woman's work" for "my lover giving birth".  he even refers to himself
in the third person ("now his part is over", "the father", etc.).
KaTe's approach expresses the protagonist's uncertainty and desire to
distance himself from the situation at hand in a subtle and
devestatingly effective way...

Cloudbusting -- hey, she even plays a boy in the video...!

There are many other examples of KaTe presenting female characters by
portraying their thoughts and actions -- "The Infant Kiss", "Houdini",
and of course "Wuthering Heights" are some good examples.  This
certainly places greater demands on her listeners;  one has to infer
the people and situations from strange and sometimes baffling clues.
the end effect, however, is far more powerful for having involved the
audience's intellect and emotions...

>Lastly, how many times do writers write *love songs* from the p.o.v.
>of the opposite gender?

mmm, this is a very pertinent question for me.  since i write songs but
don't sing, i am always putting words into some else's mouth, as it
were, and in particular into a smart and independent female friend's
mouth...  the song of which i am most proud does, in fact, have a
female protagonist, and in its own warped way, it is a love song  ;)
i would like to do more of this, taking KaTe's example and producing
all sorts of songs from all sorts of viewpoints...  hee, wish me luck!

footah!
-greg -- gb10@gte.com --
	"a woman drew her long black hair out tight
	 and fiddled whisper music on those strings
	 and bats with baby faces in the violet light
	 whistled, and beat their wings" -- T.S. Eliot