Glasgow Green
Clammy midnight, moonless mist.
A cigarette glows and fades on a cough.
Meth-men mutter on benches,
pawed by river Fog. Monteith Row
sweats coldly, crumbles, dies
slowly. All shadows are alive.
Somewhere a shout's forced out - 'No!' -
it leads to nothing but silence,
except the whisper of the grass
and the other whispers that fills the shadows.
'What d'ye mean see me again?
D'ye think I came here jist for that?
I'm no finished with you yet.
I can get the boys t'ye, they're no that faur away.
You wouldny like that eh? Look there's no two ways aboot it.
Christ but I'm gaun to have you Mac
if it takes all night, turn over you bastard
turn over, I'll -
Cut the scene.
Here there's no crying for help,
it must be acted out, again, again.
This is not a delicate nightmare
you carry to the point of fear
and wake from, it is life, the sweat
is real, the wrestling under a bush
is real, the dirty starless river
is the real Clyde, with a dishrag dawn
it rinse the horrors of the night
but cannot make them clean:
though washing blows
where the women watch
by day,
and children run,
on Glasgow Green.
And how shall these men live?
Providence, watch them go!
Watch them love, and watch them die!
How shall the race be served?
It shall be served by anguish
as well as by children at play.
It shall be served by loneliness
as well as family love.
It shall be served by hunter and hunted in the endless chain
as well as by those who turn back the sheets in peace.
The thorn in the flesh!
Providence water it!
Do you think it is not watered?
Do you think it is not planted?
Do you think there is not a seed of the thorn
as there is also a harvest of the thorn?
Man, take in that harvest!
Help that tree bear its fruit!
Water the wilderness, walk there, reclaim it!
Reclaim, regain, renew! Fill the barns and the vats!
Longing,
longing
shall find its wine.
Let the women sit in the Green
and rock their prams as the sheets
blow and whip in the sunlight.
But the beds of married love
are islands in the sea of desire.
It waves break here, in this park,
splashing the fresh as it trembles
like driftwood in the dark.
Thursday 14 April 2011
Tuesday 18 January 2011
Are album's shuffling off the mortal coil?
I read this article today in the BBC News Magazine.
It's an interesting debate, which doesn't have a 'right' answer, but presents a ripe opportunity for me to comment.
Firstly I'm happy to admit that I download, a lot. It's convenient, fast, and cheap (or free depending on how legal you want to be). More than that, I can upload my MP3's to my iPod and have my whole music collection with me 24/7. That's a lot of music and a lot of choice.
That said, I also purchase and collect vinyl. When I'm in the house, I'll listen to vinyl rather than CD's or MP3's. Without going to much into it, it simply sounds better.
The main point however of the article above, is listening to an album, unedited, uninterupted and most importantly how the artist intended. The 'Record Clubs' believe that the culture of 'shuffling' or picking and choosing individual tracks from an album is contributing to the lost art of the album.
On one hand I completely agree. For most credible musicians, an album is surely the pinnicle of their creative output. And over the years certain artists have embraced this to an art form. Amongst others 'Darkside Of The Moon', 'Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars' and 'Kid A' come to mind as albums that need to be listened to in full. Certainly I enjoy listening to an album in full. It's good to hear songs in context and to hear more than just the singles that the record companies have deemed worthy of release.
However, anyone who knows me, knows I love to make playlists. I love hearing a song in amongst it's peers and musical influences. I love the juxtapostion of hearing Jeff Buckley next to Jay-Z next to Ella Fitzgerald. As I without musical talent myself, creating playlists is the nearest I get to creating something.
I certainly don't disagree with the dismantling of albums, even those classics. Even though it is 'art', once art is in the public domain, the artist no longer has complete ownership over it. People in the article have asked 'would you rearrange a Picasso?' The simple answer is we can do what ever we want with it, providing of course due credit is given to the original artist and we conform with legal copyrights. Music is constantly remixed, remastered, covered, sampled and shuffled. This is our right to do, firstly as creative people ourselves, but perhaps more importantly as the consumer.
Given all the above, I do really like the idea of listening to an album from start to finish, on a decent sound system, completely shut off from the world. In silent. I'll pick one and let you know how I get on.
It's an interesting debate, which doesn't have a 'right' answer, but presents a ripe opportunity for me to comment.
Firstly I'm happy to admit that I download, a lot. It's convenient, fast, and cheap (or free depending on how legal you want to be). More than that, I can upload my MP3's to my iPod and have my whole music collection with me 24/7. That's a lot of music and a lot of choice.
That said, I also purchase and collect vinyl. When I'm in the house, I'll listen to vinyl rather than CD's or MP3's. Without going to much into it, it simply sounds better.
The main point however of the article above, is listening to an album, unedited, uninterupted and most importantly how the artist intended. The 'Record Clubs' believe that the culture of 'shuffling' or picking and choosing individual tracks from an album is contributing to the lost art of the album.
On one hand I completely agree. For most credible musicians, an album is surely the pinnicle of their creative output. And over the years certain artists have embraced this to an art form. Amongst others 'Darkside Of The Moon', 'Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars' and 'Kid A' come to mind as albums that need to be listened to in full. Certainly I enjoy listening to an album in full. It's good to hear songs in context and to hear more than just the singles that the record companies have deemed worthy of release.
However, anyone who knows me, knows I love to make playlists. I love hearing a song in amongst it's peers and musical influences. I love the juxtapostion of hearing Jeff Buckley next to Jay-Z next to Ella Fitzgerald. As I without musical talent myself, creating playlists is the nearest I get to creating something.
I certainly don't disagree with the dismantling of albums, even those classics. Even though it is 'art', once art is in the public domain, the artist no longer has complete ownership over it. People in the article have asked 'would you rearrange a Picasso?' The simple answer is we can do what ever we want with it, providing of course due credit is given to the original artist and we conform with legal copyrights. Music is constantly remixed, remastered, covered, sampled and shuffled. This is our right to do, firstly as creative people ourselves, but perhaps more importantly as the consumer.
Given all the above, I do really like the idea of listening to an album from start to finish, on a decent sound system, completely shut off from the world. In silent. I'll pick one and let you know how I get on.
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