See Biggie, see Pac,
See success and its outcome
See Jesus, see Judas
See Caesar, see Brutus,
See success is like suicide
If you succeed,
Prepare to be crucified"
- Jay-Z (from Coldplay's "Lost", feat. Jay)
I have to ask: Do Jay-Z's typical fans even understand his lyrics? By far the best word-players in the industry right now are Barenaked Ladies, Relient K, and Motion City Soundtrack, but since no one listens to them the mantle falls to the rappers. Mantle falls? Did we even understand that allusion?
What about Kanye?:
"Dressed smart like a London bloke.
Before he speak his suit bespoke.
And you thought he was cute before.
Look at this P Coat, Tell me he's broke.
And I know you're not into all that.
And I'm feelin' like Mike at his baddest.
The Pips at they gladest."
- Kanye West (From Estelle's "American Boy")
Probably the most successful song of the year and it contains back-to-back references to Michael Jackson and Gladys Knight and The Pips. Right on.
English is the most versatile and extensive language on the planet, with the richest literary history, the most vocabulary, and fewest innate grammatical structures. It's a gold mine, and why more people aren't excited to search out Shakespeare, Melville, Poe, G.K. Chesterton, The Beatles, and pop music to find out just what our language is capable of is beyond me.
Even if it's just a fart joke in Moby Dick that I didn't get until the fourth time around, the greatest literature that mankind has ever written is worth taking time to understand and it pays dividends.
The fart joke:
"For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim)..."
And if you just need some visual stimulation, this is truly awesome (click to enlarge).
4 comments:
Hey Zach,
So now you've got me and my sister looking up office pranks. And I think it's really, really lame that they used an old episode with director's cuts in place of this week's episode. And I'm really happy you're back online. And I hope you have a GREAT Christmas and we should talk and catch up!
Heidi
"By far the best word-players in the industry right now are Barenaked Ladies, Relient K, and Motion City Soundtrack, but since no one listens to them the mantle falls to the rappers."
I take it you don't listen to much Modest Mouse? Sure, they're an indie band, which is a genre usually associated with suck and fail, but they manage to avoid it by actually being talented musicians and having clever, well written songs. I think you might find some of their stuff a little depressing though.
Examples:
Bankrupt on Selling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00hQLZRz38Q
^Probably not very descriptive of their normal music, but it's definitely on my shortlist of great acoustic songs.
March into the Sea-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2plksw88O7g
Parting of the Sensory-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX7EyFO2ccI
Never Ending Math Equasion-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R38Pe-8l9M
^Lame version, the one on their live album is infinitely better, but what you gonna do?
i love that chuck norris is the only awesoment without an abbreviation. very appropriate.
Glad somebody checked out the table of Awesoments. It really should be everyone's desktop for a week. That is, everyone who doesn't get sweet Microsoft Paint Christmas cards from me.
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