"But you understand them as geometrical bodies, with solid angles and planes, and you know how to make them see wonderful things, and you can make music that drives them mad. You’ve got the character of Saturn and the spirit of Venus. Passion and desire, you give it to them under the counter. Your guidelines are simple, and you rule nothing out. Strip yourself bare and dance the sword dance, buck naked inside of a canvas tent, fenced in, where the town royalty, the top brass and leading citizens, bald as eggs throw their money down, sometimes their entire bankroll."
From Chapter 47 of Bob Dylan's "Philosophy of Modern Song."
That's Bob, talking about — what songs did you think he was going to talk about? — "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves."
In the song the men of the town would lay their money down. But for Bob, they throw it down, those bastards. And they're all bald. As eggs. But they are understood as geometrical bodies, with solid angles and planes. You try doing that with an egg. Bob, he's a genius. He's like Picasso. He sees the angles and planes in what, for you, is ovoid.
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But you understand them as geometrical bodies, with solid angles and planes
They're squares.
The words are wonderful, but my ears, oh my ears. Music for the eyes and the mind.
On my list now. I will read this and listen to Rachmaninoff and Puccini.
And maybe some Louis Cole.
It’s good to know my utter contempt is fully justified.
Musical Cubism?
The lede is another way to say that old tired hackneyed cliche "you can't cheat an honest man"
One of several female-narrated Southern Gothic masterpieces that topped the charts in the late sixties/early seventies, including Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe,” Helen Reddy’s “Delta Dawn,” and most astoundingly, Vicki Lawrence‘s "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” a song originally intended for Cher but recorded by the woman who created and played Mama on The Carol Burnett Show.
What is the “character of Saturn”?
It's lucky that I never liked music enough to care what entertainers have to say about life and the universe.
As if to prove my comment in the previous post about Dylan/Tarantino.
Bob didn't add "throw", it's in the first couple of lines and repeated later.
What???
Cher's FIRST line is:
I was born in the wagon of a travelin' show.. My momma used to dance for the money they'd THROW
Forty-seven chapters of that? No thank you.
"What is the “character of Saturn”?"
Saturn, the god, is "associated with old age and the passage of time" (OED).
The adjective "saturnine" means "In regard to a person's temperament, mood, or manner: gloomy, melancholy, dejected, downcast, grim; not easily enlivened, enthused, or cheered; (in early use) ill-tempered, angry" (OED).
Thanks for the commentary on "throw."
I'll just say that "lay down" is repeated throughout the song and that "throw" is used without "down," but Bob can introduce whatever words he wants. I am simply trying to understand his variations.
The song was written by Bob Stone.
Have you ever heard it by Nirvana?
And here's the song on "The Simpsons."
Waiting for copy of the book to arrive. As always, Dylan’s words will confirm his genius for some and his craziness for others. Dylan stands out as being true to himself while managing a successful music career for six decades. How many American enterprises have lasted that long without betraying their original mission?
Per Ernest's posting above, add Bobbie Gentry's "Fancy" to the list of Southern Gothic songs of the late 60's and early 70's. It's another tale of a young girl coming of age, written by the beautiful Gentry herself, and I think better than Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves.
As a side note, another popular song from this period was "Lay Lady Lay" which was also on the radio a lot. But I didn't know it was by Dylan. Apparently, Dylan quit smoking before recording "Nashville Skyline" which changed the sound of his voice. He sounded like a Country and Western singer. Believe it or not, for years, I thought Mac Davis sang that song until someone corrected me. It may be heresy, but it's also kind of funny. I was about 8.
That song is 50 years old (or 51 to be precise). It was one of the darker ones I heard on the school bus. Creepy, yet (or therefore) strangely powerful and memorable.
I also remember Cher singing the disturbing "One Tin Soldier," though apparently only on her television show. The show was also troubling. Sonny was always so pitifully eager to please Cher and she was always so cruelly dismissive of his attentions.
I suppose we ought to be grateful for songs that told stories and had actual music and for a singer who could convey powerful emotions, but I never loved Cher very much.
Earnest, don’t forget “The Night the Lights Went Out on the Midnight Train to Georgia”, by Gladys Knight and the Vandellas…
Maybe men would lay their money down for Cher back in the day (not me...not my type), but for the last 40 years she's looked like a Madame Tussaud experiment.
Not a huge Dylan fan but I recognize his genius.
If he wrote nothing other than 'Tangled up in blue' that would be evident...
You have to listen to Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves as part of a trio that also includes Dark Lady and Half Breed. They're all the same kind of song.
'You have to listen to Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves as part of a trio that also includes Dark Lady and Half Breed. They're all the same kind of song.'
Cher is a fake Indian like Warren...
"The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" always seemed like a homage to "Ode to Billie Jo" to me.
What is the “character of Saturn”?
Maybe someone with an urge to devour his children.
It sounds more like she refused to screw him.
Why bother her?
Quit possibly my favorite Cher song.
--gpm
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