LJ Idol, Topic Twenty-Two: "Chainphrase"

[dslartoo]

the shortest straw / that stirs the drink / that's half full / of grace / under pressure / cooker

I. The Shortest StrawI can't stand people who do nothing but complain

Comments

[halfshellvenus]

I really like how you chainphrased this, and then worked with each of the segments.

I liked them all, though the "Rush" section least so. How do you get past Geddy Lee's voice? That's really the stopping point for me (and I've known many Rush fans, though all of them have been men). But maybe you know the one song by them I've liked, which has the lines, "All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to sleep under stars. All of us do time in the gutter..."

I loved the conclusion to this piece. A worthy goal for us all! We can't always succeed, but it's a fight that it's important not to give up. :)

[dslartoo]

Most people do object to Geddy's voice as the problem they have with Rush. For me, I quite like it, but then (as I said) I got used to it in the years when he had mellowed it some from the shrieks that were evident in (say) the first couple albums. Now I find it difficult imagining anyone else doing vocals for the band. But....I do understand how some people don't care for him. :)

The lyrical snippet you mentioned is from "The Pass", off the "Presto" album. The full lyric is:

All of us get lost in the darkness
Dreamers learn to steer by the stars
All of us do time in the gutters
Dreamers turn and look at the cars

It's interesting you should reference that particular segment, because it is itself referencing an older piece, Oscar Wilde's play "Lady Windemere's Fan", in which the phrase is "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." :)

Glad you enjoyed the piece, even if you aren't a Rush fan. Thanks for stopping by.

cheers,
Phil

[halfshellvenus]

Oh, I did enjoy the story, even that segment (I was mostly kidding). I accept that people love Rush and what they do musically, even if I'm stuck on Geddy Lee's voice. It took me years to make my peace with Robert Plant's voice, which was blocking my appreciation for Led Zeppelin. :0

I'm actually familiar with that Oscar Wilde quote, but wouldn't have quite picked it out if you hadn't listed the real lyrics instead of the half-true/half-mangle version I came up with. It's a curse-- I pick up the melody the first time through the song, and after that I'm singing along and covering up the lyrics, assuming I could hear them in the first place. :)

[dslartoo]

Curious that you should mention Zep - I have never quite gotten used to Plant's voice either. Still don't care for it, to this day. Even more bizarre, I was a huge fan of Whitesnake, whose lead singer David Coverdale got a lot of flack for copying his vocal style from Plant. I never saw the resemblance, myself.....

Re: mangled lyrics -- hey, it's all good. It's even more fun when you're at a concert and are hearing a song for the first time and trying to sing along with it, and failing miserably. :)

cheers,
Phil

[jacq22]

I would like to think I could be in the gutter but counting the stars.

Loved the way you worked it all out, and believe in you thoughts on life, and as we have experienced more than our fair share of being dashed against some hard rocks, and lived through bad times ...liked this.
"The evidence, to me, rather strongly suggests that if I let go of that rope I'm going to go splat on the rocks far below."
Oh and as I have a very open mind about music, and some pretty varied tastes, going to look up and listen to Rush.

[dslartoo]

From what I've seen of you through your entries, you're *always* looking at the stars. I can't speak to your being in the gutter. :)

Glad you enjoyed this entry! If you do look into Rush's work, I'd recommend starting with the albums "Signals" or "Presto", which are generally more user-friendly than some of their more complex, nuanced work. Just my opinion, but then again I think ALL of their stuff is worth listening to. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

cheers,
Phil

[lawchicky]

I really liked the way you wrote this. All these personal details were so interesting to read :)

[dslartoo]

I have a problem with including too MANY personal details in my entries -- I really should be writing about stuff other than myself and my own personal opinions -- but this one just seemed to lend itself to that. So I'm happy the result was well-received. Thanks, as always, for the visit. :)

cheers,
Phil

[beldarzfixon]

You're winning my heart by mentioning Rush and name-dropping Rollins (I've seen his spoken-word live three times).

The Braves, though. I tended to resent them ever since they declared themselves "America's Team" -- I don't recall getting a vote on that. But then I grew up in a Cardinals family and have sympathies for the Cubs.

I've often said whether the glass is half-empty or half-full depends on how thirsty I am. I've also heard that it means the glass is too big. =)

[dslartoo]

Ah, another Rush fan! Good to know. :) I think I'm up to five times for Rollins, myself. Got some good photos of him during the 2005 tour. They're here, if you're curious.

I can understand getting annoyed over the whole "America's Team" thing; it annoyed me, too, until I realized that because of the fact that the Braves were broadcast on TBS, which is nationwide, they were the only team the entire US could really watch regularly on television. Most teams have their local channels but those can't be seen outside of the local area. Still, it's an annoying sobriquet. :)

"Too big", heh. Another friend of mine used to look at the glass, drink the rest of it, and then say "It's empty". :)

Thanks for dropping by!

cheers,
Phil

[whipchick]

Chainphrase - what a cool idea! Your format here is great, and I enjoyed seeing the different vignettes!

[dslartoo]

It was the only way (well, maybe not the ONLY way, but close) that I could make it interesting for myself. It was just such a ridiculous phrase that I had to make it into something else. Or several something elses.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks.

cheers,
Phil