| Response to Jim's Blog / Devil's Playground | |
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Posted by: |
John_Galt (g_brandon_martin@ureach.com) 07:14 pm UTC 10/26/07 |
| Jim and Steinmaniacs: My favorite part of the new lyrics is the the rapid-fire imagery and conceptual "click" of this verse: "Broken hearts Are the Devil’s Playground Shattered dreams Disillusioned youth And all of man Is the Devil’s Playground Shameless lies And Shameful truth" I'd consider making this concept or thought the unifying theme for the song. "Broken Hearts are the Devil's Playground" is golden, it's the type of line that the wise character played by Morgan Freeman says with a sad and distant look on his face in the thematic statement of a film. It's also the heart of real horror and terror -- the rest is just gore and special effects, but we've all seen what profound disappointment can do to people, what it can make them do, and who it can transform them into. There's something that clicks when we move from the rapid fire particular images to the global statement about humankind. It's the kind of thing that makes teenagers listen to pop songs thousands of times reverently celebrating the Truth. It's a dark and tasty thought, it brings and borrows power from our stories about original sin and human weakness and fraility. And the fact that Hook has thought about such things so deeply and that he craves his chance to frolic in the Devil's Playground makes him scary, evil, but not in a Texas Chainsaw type of way, more in the way people who remember their darkest most hateful moments can relate to. I also like the use of parralelism, contrast, repitition, and rhythm in these lines. This is what I call Jim waxing poetic. When he wants to wax, he can really wax. It reminds me of the final verse of Objects or the final part of IACBTMN. It's substantive, but it sounds even more meaningful than it is... I also really like the "in the blink of an eye" refrain. There's something really terrifying about eyes, as more than a few directors are showing us, lately. On an intellectual level, I understood that Hook is describing how quickly terrible things can happen, but my mind's eye was revealing an image of Hook's eyes as he sang -- and they were insane with uncontrollable emotion and yet fragile the way eyes, eye lids, and eye lashes are. But, it may be more good stuff jumbled together. That's got to be the danger in being Jim Steinman. Most of his great songs have thematic integrity. With so many great lines in your head, how can you make yourself edit out great stuff so that you have a great song and not just a collection of great but incompatible lines, phrases, and thoughts. BTW, the use of Paradise Lost as a final chorus as I was still caught up on the Broken Hearts as the Devils Playground concept gave me shivers. Some people have said it's inclusion seems forced. In the context of a musical where it is a refrain or thematic reconsideration in a different context, this could me effective. Please no hate mail. Finally, and this is where I know I'll get angry emails: Jim, your lyrics are way better than your politics. Even if opposition to the war was a litmus test issue for me, there's a big difference between what a guy like Kucinich believes and what he has the political skill to accomplish. Come on, this guy eats granola, listens to folk music, and thinks Bruce Springsteen is startlingly intelligent. He wants to tax us, regulate our overburdened industries, and spend our money on beauracratic social programs and single payer health insurance. If you are going to do a campaign theme song this year, it needs to be 1980's powered, testosterone-driven, rebellious, and fun -- not recycled walter mondale. In other words, ** Ron Paul 2008 **. -=John Galt=- | |
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