Listen Up: Rufus Wainwright sings "Hallelujah"

From time to time, readers of The Day After Yesterday have asked me about the music that plays a key role in the novel; specifically, they've asked if the Winter Roses album or a few of the songs exist.

Sadly, they don't. I wish they did—I'd like nothing better than to have a CD accompany print copies or a free download of the songs for ebooks—but I have no songwriting or musical skills.

However, today I ran across a song that captures perfectly the feel of the Winter Roses album (the lyrics aren't applicable, though their overall mood is).

So here for your listening pleasure is Rufus Wainwright's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."

One from the vaults: Reflections on Pink Floyd's The Final Cut

My favorite band, Pink Floyd, have just released The Endless River, their first album since 1994. I won't be hearing it until most likely Christmas (big hint: it's on my Amazon wish list). But the combination of overcast weather and Veterans' Day created the appropriate mood for one of their unjustly overlooked albums: The Final Cut.

The Final Cut was doomed to be a failure (though most artists should be so lucky as to have such a failure on their resumes). To understand why, a little history is in order: It was originally intended to be an add-on to the film adaptation of The Wall, giving a vinyl home to songs that were either substantially revised for or entirely new to the film. In fact, the 45 release of "When the Tigers Broke Free" shows stills from The Wall movie and says it's from the upcoming album The Final Cut. But chief songwriter Roger Waters, angered by the Falkland Islands War and what he saw as a betrayal of what World War II soldiers (including his father) fought and died for, created an entirely new album. This turn of events was complicated by the fact that the band itself was in nearly complete disarray, with its internal power struggles and personality conflicts having reached their peak. The result is a somewhat awkward and uneven but emotionally powerful song cycle about the price of war and what happens when we fail to honor the sacrifices of the fallen.

The album gets off to an uneven start with "The Post-War Dream" and "Your Possible Pasts." The former opens with some classic use of sound effects: passing cars, news radio reports, and the strangely ominous sound of someone slowly counting out coins. The lyrics are less successful than they might be, when Waters' impassioned plea to know if the current state of affairs in England is really what soldiers fought and died for is marred by a bizarre tangent about shipbuilding getting outsourced to Japan. The issues with the second song, "Your Possible Pasts," are different - the lyrics are interesting and point toward squandered opportunities, but the muddled imagery muffles the effect. Fortunately, the song features some excellent Hammond organ work (its "church-y" sound is perfect for the album's elegiac tone) and the first of several scorching guitar solos by Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.

The album hits a powerful stride with its next few songs. "One of the Few" presents us with the character of an unnamed World War II veteran who, traumatized by his war experience, finds a living as a teacher and starts shaping the next generation. This, of course, is a take on the famous abusive schoolteacher from The Wall, and in the next few songs Waters gives a surprising amount of characterization and empathy to the character. "The Hero's Return" takes us back into Wall territory not only in its study of the veteran/teacher but in its driving, angry music; in "The Gunner's Dream" we learn one reason for the veteran/teacher's trauma - hearing a soldier's dying words, said words being a wish for his death not to have been in vain, and for a better society to have come from this war.Of course, this wish hasn't come true.

If the album's first half ends on a somewhat anticlimactic note with "Paranoid Eyes" - a nice study of isolation but nothing too essential - the second half literally starts with a bang. Featuring one of the band's most memorable song titles (no mean feat from a group that gave us "Careful With that Axe, Eugene" and "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave and Grooving With a Pict"), "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert" opens with a very distant voice screeching the title words. The screecher's only answer is a disinterested "What'd he say?" followed by the whoosh and explosion of a missile. A deliciously satirical violin section leads us into a vignette about the present-day (of 1983) conflicts, taking to task current world leaders. This theme continues into the next song, "The Fletcher Memorial Home." Furious yet elegiac, the song proposes that bloodthirsty politicians and leaders be put in a special home (named for Waters' father) "for incurable wasters of life and limb." Past sacrifice and present futility are present in "Southampton Dock," which juxtaposes soldiers' return from World War II with a pledge "to sheathe the sacrificial knives" with Margaret Thatcher sending a new generation to die in the Falklands, not out of necessity but to hold on to the "slippery reins" of power.

It's a curious contradiction of the album that its next song, "The Final Cut," is something of a misstep, yet it's not just my favorite song on the album, it's one of my favorite Floyd songs of all time. The song doesn't really fit in with the overall themes of the album, and it's here (and with the next song, "Not Now John") that the album's origins as an add-on to The Wall become apparent. The music for the song "The Final Cut" is a direct ripoff of/homage to The Wall's "Comfortably Numb," complete with string section and achingly beautiful guitar solo; its lyrics tell of depression, isolation, and a desperate need for love (not so much for its own sake but to keep the demons at bay). The album then takes a sharp right turn into the raucous, belligerent "Not Now John," which dismisses all the issues raised by the album so far with a curt "Fuck all that." After all, there's no time for worrying about the failure of the post-war dream when there's the need to "bring the Russian bear to his knees...Make us feel tough and wouldn't Maggie be pleased." There's something curiously cathartic about the song, not so much for its own merits (it's a bit of a muddle and Gilmour, in his sole vocal role on the album, doesn't sound very enthusiastic) but for its sheer aggression and volume. 

But reflections and rage alike may well mean nothing, if the album's last song holds true. "Two Suns in the Sunset" is one of the more mellow takes on nuclear apocalypse, painting it with the simple yet horrifying imagery of a "sun" appearing where no sun has any right to be. Perhaps the song's quiet take on Armageddon is one of resignation, a "can't stop what's coming" tone that perfectly captures the mood of that era - the feeling that we were all just one international crisis away from world destruction. Waters seems to reflect this also in returning to the same sounds of news reports and passing cars that opened the album - not only a typical Floydian "isn't this where we came in" moment but also a reflection of the (at the time) feeling that such an end was inevitable. 

Though the album overall is slightly confused in its themes (one gets the feeling that it was written in a great burst of emotional catharsis), and hampered by the music not quite jelling at times (due no doubt to the extremely fractured state of the band - at times it's practically a Waters solo album), there's no denying the raw emotional power it often wields. Surprisingly, one of its strongest points is Waters' vocals; if you're on board with his vocal style (and you'd be well forgiven if you weren't as they're definitely an acquired taste) you'll find he's at his peak, with his obvious sincerity and passion for the material outweighing his limitations as a singer. I'm particularly fond of his enunciation: No one can work every syllable of a word like Waters when he's on a roll, as in the way he says the word "hallucination."  Likewise the lyrics, for the most part, are quite good. The political insights won't be much beyond what you can find in the Sunday editorial page, but there's excellent imagery throughout, and a depth of characterization that hadn't been seen in Waters' lyrics since his portrayal of the ruthless businessman in "Dogs" from the Animals album. And though the music does have its issues, the album is blessed with some lovely keyboard and piano work, and several great guitar solos, one of which (the one for the title track) is a personal all-time favorite.

It's a flawed album, without question. Yet it captures a moment in time that's worth revisiting, and it taps into powerful feelings of loss and of earning the sacrifice that those who've protected us have offered. It's not an album I revisit often, as it is quite possibly the most depressing album in the Floyd canon (which is saying quite a bit). But when the circumstances are right, it offers an emotional experience unlike any other album in the band's repertoire.

Musical inspiration: Kate Bush

I am so happy that the weather has finally turned cooler (we've even had this weird thing where water falls from the sky - I think they call it "rain"). One reason I'm happy is because it means I can change up the music on my iPod. It's weird, but some music lends itself to cool, rainy weather. I can only play k. d. lang's Drag when it's overcast; by contrast, anything by Electric Light Orchestra is reserved for a bright, sunny day (with the exception of "Can't Get it Out of My Head" and maybe "Telephone Line").

It gets complicated, and one album that exemplifies this is Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. Made back when albums had sides, the first half of the album is the "sunny" side. The songs are about love, from the sensual yearning of "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" to the possibly unhealthy relationship in "Mother Stands For Comfort" to the bond between father and son in "Cloudbusting."

But it's the album's second side that calls to me when the weather turns chill, and that has been an inspiration to my writing. This side is a mini-suite called The Ninth Wave (the title comes from a Tennyson poem), and it tells a story of a person alone in the sea, fighting for life. The suite follows its protagonist from struggles with exhaustion and despair, through the terror of facing mortality, reconciliation with knowing that life will go on without them, ending on a note of hope and joy that's nicely ambiguous (it's not necessarily clear if the person is rescued or if it's a transition into a pleasant afterlife).

I listened to this album for the first time in a long while, and I was struck by how often I had been trying to capture the feelings and sensations of the songs in my own fiction. I honestly don't know if I could have written scenes like the fight on the frozen lake in Ashes or Daniel's narrow escape from drowning in The Day After Yesterday if I hadn't had the moods of Bush's music in my subconscious.

Writers are advised to read a lot and read widely if they want to learn how to write. That's absolutely true, but writers can also find inspiration in other arts. Start by listening to The Ninth Wave. If Bush's (admittedly idiosyncratic) style clicks with you, I think you'll find it captivating.

Watch this now: Cookie Monster and Tom Waits again

The genius who brought us Cookie Monster singing Tom Waits' "God's Away on Business" has done it again. Now Cookie takes on "Hell Broke Luce." It's truly marvelous, and I am flat amazed at the craft and patience that has gone into this.

Now if Cookie could just sing "Come On Up to the House" I'd be ecstatic.

Nerd alert

On the way in to work today, I was listening to the classic/album rock radio station, as usual. I was annoyed when a song came on that actually makes me angry: America's "Horse With No Name." Specifically, the line "there were birds and plants and rocks and things."

Things? THINGS?? All of the nouns in the English language to choose from and they couldn't think of just one more for that verse? Zero points for effort! Not to mention losing points for shamelessly ripping off Neil Young.

But then AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" came on next and made me feel much better.

Watch this now: Tom Waits/Cookie Monster

I knew I wasn't the first to make the Tom Waits/Cookie Monster connection (it's mentioned in The Day After Yesterday). But there's a video showing Cookie Monster singing to Tom Waits' "God's Away on Business." Brilliant, and very well done! I can't stop watching this!

The music I had in mind

For those of you who haven't read my novel The Day After Yesterday, the protagonist is a musician. At one point in the book he composes an album, titled Winter Roses.

Several people have asked what the album sounds like. I confess that while I'm able to write novels, any sort of songwriting skills elude me. I was able to come up with song titles for this fictional album, a few lines of lyrics, and some details about the songs (which ones are instrumental, which ones are uptempo, etc.). But beyond that, you'll have to use your imagination.

The closest approximation I can make to the general tone and sound of the fictional album is this song by The Civil Wars. (My protagonist is a pianist, so the album has a lot of piano on it.)

Here's "The Violet Hour" by The Civil Wars. Their whole album is great, by all means pick it up.

"Write Like The Wind"

Now, I'm in full agreement with Neil Gaiman that George R. R. Martin is "not our bitch," but this tuneful entreaty for George to "write like the wind" is spot-on and hilarious. Enjoy!

Thoughts on another Wall concert

(Photos taken by and displayed courtesy of Tony Wong. Thanks, Tony!)

Went to another concert of Roger Waters performing The Wall on Monday, December 13. My thoughts on the overall themes of the show can be found in a post dated November 30, but this time I’d like to just recount the experience.

I’d gotten tickets via a pre-sale, and all I can say is that my usual bad karma with contests, lotteries, and giveaways was defeated. Floor seats! I’ve never had floor seats in my life! 24^th row, dead center. The only problem was that the people in front of us were tall, and that most everyone in our section stood for the entire show (hence I spent a lot of time on tiptoe) but that was a minor annoyance.

Nearly any seat at a show this big is a good one, but there’s something really special about being right there on the floor. You’re able to almost forget that the rest of the venue is there – it’s much more intimate, if a show of this magnitude can be called intimate.

Preshow

As he has on every night of the tour so far, an actor portraying a homeless man wandered the aisles (a sign in his shopping cart had the words “HOMELESS NEED MONEY FOR HOOKERS AND BOOZE” on one side and the Eisenhower quote used later in the show on the other). I was able to say hello and shake hands with Mr. Homeless Guy, who in turn complimented me on my shirt (I was wearing my fangirl jacket). And I couldn’t help it – during the preshow portion when dialogue from Spartacus was played, I yelled out, “I’m Spartacus and so is my wife!” Well, the people in front of me laughed.

In the Flesh?

At the 11/29 show, the opening of this song made me let out a startled yelp, much to the amusement of my seatmates. Same thing happened on 12/13, with much less excuse. It’s so loud, and when you’re so close to the stage the pyrotechnics make it look like the stage is exploding. My head was constantly swiveling at the end as I looked from the stage to search for the crashing plane, back to the stage again, etc. Wowza.

The Thin Ice

The sound cut out briefly during this song, but only for a couple seconds. That was the only technical glitch (only one noticeable to me, anyway). The photos of fallen loved ones are still haunting on a second viewing. I found it interesting that one of the photos was of a soldier in the Wehrmacht, and that the tribute was not restricted to those on the “winning” or “good” side. Think of the soldiers in All Quiet on the Western Front – they were ordinary guys just like ours, who just wanted to get through this and get home to their families.

Another Brick in the Wall Part 1

This song always gets overlooked because of its flashier and more well-known brethren, but the hypnotic music and the visuals of an endless panning shot over what seems to be a red-tinted sea are quite effective.

The Happiest Days of Our Lives

The first and perhaps the best demonstration of the show’s remarkable use of misdirection. While helicopter sounds play, spotlights probe the audience. Which means that while the audience members are doing the “me me me, put me in the spotlight” thing, the crew can get the teacher puppet inflated and give it a dramatic entrance.

Another Brick in the Wall Part 2

Having the kids from local schools join the performance is one of several ideas that I wouldn’t have thought would have worked, but did.

Mother

Roger’s duet with footage of himself from the Wall shows in 1980 proves, if nothing else, that time has been extremely kind to him. And his remarks that the duet might seem a bit narcissistic? Still funny.

Goodbye Blue Sky

Now that I’m used to the new animation, I’m OK with it. At any rate, I understand and respect the point it’s making. In a strange way, the use of corporate, religious, and monetary symbols remind me of the animated short Black Hula. I think Roger should have included a McDonald’s symbol, though.

What Shall We Do Now?

Always amazing, and the added projections on the wall during the flower sequence are well done.

Young Lust

Someone described the visuals for this song as being like a James Bond movie credit sequence, only with the women visible instead of silhouetted. Sounds about right. I figure Roger realized that with no woo-woo girls along to provide eye candy, he’d offer up some T&A. Wasn’t that thoughtful? On a musical note, kudos to Harry Waters – I never knew a Hammond organ could sound so raunchy.

One of My Turns

I felt like the staging was missing something. I liked what he did in the Berlin show, when he trashed the “hotel room”. I can see how destroying several guitars a night for a few months running might get cost-prohibitive, though.

Don’t Leave Me Now

This works much better live than I thought it would. The woman’s image turning into this eyeless thing was well done – has Roger been watching Japanese horror films lately? It seemed a very J-horror image.

Another Brick in the Wall Part 3

By now the wall is nearly complete, and the entire stage area is one big screen. A TV image is smashed, then becomes three images. Smashed again, even more images, all with different information. Then it becomes a blur of babble and information, at such high speed that most of it is almost subliminal.

The Last Few Bricks

This instrumental interlude while the last bricks are put into place is one of my favorite parts of a live performance of the Wall. It’s a reiteration of the musical themes that got us here so far.

Goodbye Cruel World

I need to amend my earlier blog post. Waters doesn’t put in the last brick (he’s got his hands full with a microphone) but it is put in from the inside. Thus I stand by my interpretation that the wall-building is an internal thing.

Intermission

Even in the 24^th row I’m not able to read much of the information about Fallen Loved Ones that displays during intermission. My eyes were never that great and they aren’t improving with age. Still, I was able to tell that the people represented here are from conflicts ranging from World War 1 to the present day, and are not just soldiers but political activists and civilians as well.

During intermission I also got to meet fellow fans Tony Wong (who took the awesome photos you see on this post) and Simon Wimpenny. Good to meet you guys, and I hope I didn’t come off as a babbling fool.

Hey You

I can’t imagine what novices of the show must think with this one. “What? Are they doing the whole rest of the show behind the wall?” I love the sequence that makes it look like we’re peering within the wall, and that freakish animated creature who runs and swipes at the audience. He scared more than a few people, judging by audience reaction.

Nobody Home

The “hotel room in the wall” effect is great and very well realized this time.

Vera

This song has always been filler on the album, but the images of kids being reunited with fathers home from (presumably) Iraq are very moving. It seemed to get awfully dusty in the Honda Center, there was something in my eye…

Bring the Boys Back Home

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Comfortably Numb

David Gilmour didn’t play at this show either.

The Show Must Go On

Another song that works much better in the live setting than it does on the album. Kudos to Robbie Wyckoff and the woo-woo boys for a stellar job.

In the Flesh

It probably shouldn’t be so thrilling that the show and the character of Pink has gone to the dark side, but damn if this isn’t amazing spectacle on every level. Yes, I was there doing the hammer salute and begging for the spotlight.

Run Like Hell

I’ve no quibbles with the Waters-less Pink Floyd, but it’s very nice to see Run Like Hell reclaimed from its status as Floyd v3.0’s rollicking crowd-pleaser and become the “song for all the paranoids in the audience” that it’s meant to be. The “i” motif is very clever, especially the “iPaint” for an image of Hitler and “iPay” for a graveyard. And the famous Floyd flying pig, now decorated with graffiti, hovers over the audience – indeed, right above my head. Oh, if I only were taller I could have touched it…

Waiting for the Worms

Shit gets real. The images of the marching hammers fill the screen (and if you’re sitting where I was, your entire field of vision). It’s rather frightening, and reminds me of the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” sequence in Fantasia, when the brooms are wreaking havoc – the same feeling of things going out of control.

Stop

Maybe Roger should move with the times and retitle this as “Intervention.” Sorry, I’m getting punchy.

The Trial

Of all the elements that have carried over from the original stage show, the trial animation seems to have aged the least well. There’s nothing wrong with it, per se. I may just be tired of it after three decades. Nice to see the reappearance of scary Hey You guy, this time with an “iHate” graffiti that nicely illustrates self-loathing. Hearing thousands chant “Tear down the wall” and watching the wall itself come down are every bit as thrilling and cathartic as I’d hoped they would be.

Outside the Wall

Yet another image that shouldn’t work but does: with the wall torn down, on Mr. Screen we see a silhouette of a ballerina descend slowly from above; she releases a handful of helium balloons, which fly away, then she does a curtsy and stands with arms upraised. It’s a strange image of hope and relief, and though odd is perfect for the end of such an evening.

What can I say? Probably one of the best shows I've ever seen or will ever see.

Thoughts on The Wall concert

It would have been very easy to be disappointed by Roger Waters’ performance of The Wall (Monday, November 29, 2010 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles). Pink Floyd’s album The Wall (specifically the song “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2”) was what hooked me on the band; I received the album for my 12^th birthday. The rest, as they say, is history. Thirty years of history, and after such a long wait I was afraid that the show would not live up to expectations.

The original Wall concerts in 1980 are the stuff of rock and roll legend. So elaborate and expensive that the tour was limited to four cities, it also represented the last time the “classic” four-man lineup of Pink Floyd performed live until the 2005 Live 8 reunion. The concerts were filmed but never released. An audio recording was not released until 2000. Fans have had to make do with Alan Parker’s 1982 film adaptation Pink Floyd The Wall – a fine film and probably the best possible adaptation, but not a substitute for the concert experience – and with Waters’ 1990 staging of The Wall in Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. This latter was a well-intentioned boondoggle, so beset by technical problems that a good third of the footage in the official concert film was taken from the previous evening’s dress rehearsal. Again, not what we really wanted.

I confess I felt trepidation when I heard that Waters would be taking The Wall on tour, despite (or because of) thirty years of wishing I’d been there. I was not encouraged by the fact that Waters hasn’t done any new material of note since 1992; his tours in the late 90s and early 00s have been rehashes of past glories. His Dark Side of the Moon tour in 2006-2007 was enjoyable but not earthshaking. And I was skeptical of any changes he might make to The Wall in its new incarnation. I had no desire to see Waters’ version of “Greedo shot first.”

But the new Wall tour is proof that going back to the well can be a positive thing. While the music and the staging concept remain unchanged, advances in technology have enhanced the performance in a multitude of ways. And there are other, more meaningful changes as well.

First off, the music. What you’ll hear at the show more or less mirrors what you’ll hear on the recordings of the original tour (and is not too far removed from the studio album). No one can replace Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour (who will grace one of the new Wall shows with his presence, but alas it was not Los Angeles) for either vocals or guitar, but Waters has put together a solid, talented lineup of musicians: Snowy White (guitar), Graham Broad (drums), Harry Waters (Hammond organ), Jon Carin (keyboards), G. E. Smith (guitar), Dave Kilminster (guitar), Robbie Wyckoff (vocals), Jon Joyce (backing vocals), and Mark, Kip, and Pat Lennon (backing vocals).

As for the visuals, the original Wall shows were highly impressive for their time, not least because of the fundamental concept: constructing a wall across the stage that eventually blocks the band from the audience’s view. As a metaphor for alienation it’s not especially original, to say the least, but as theater it’s powerful. The show begins with the right and left side of the wall already in place, and as the songs tell of greater reasons for one to shun interaction with fellow human beings, more and more bricks are added to the wall. At the concert’s halfway mark the wall is complete. It’s simple yet quite effective, especially as one is so caught up in the show that it’s easy to overlook the smaller and smaller spaces available for viewing Waters and the band. And the first song of the second half, “Hey You,” is performed entirely from behind the wall, but with the full light show and spotlights on singers still continuing, thus reinforcing the theme of alienation and the metaphorical barrier between artists and audience.

This is not to say that the audience is left staring at a blank space for much of the show. During the Wall’s construction the band’s famous circular film screen (known as “Mr. Screen” to the fans) is in place, and post-construction the wall itself serves as a projection area. Such has always been the case with Wall concerts dating back to the originals, but new technology allows for precise animation onto individual bricks, or across the width of the wall itself. Waters uses this technology to often-stunning, occasionally heartbreaking effect, from the creepily lascivious flowers to simple photos and descriptions of those who’ve died in wars. The animation present throughout the show is a mix of cartoonist Gerald Scarfe’s original sequences (save for “Goodbye Blue Sky,” the absence of which is my only complaint about the show) along with newer animation, as well as use of newsreel and television footage.

But perhaps the greatest enhancement to The Wall is the shift in the work’s themes. The overall theme remains the same: rock musician has crappy life (father killed in World War 2, overattentive mother, soul-crushing educational experience, marriage gone bad), reacts to crappy life by alienating himself, unleashes his inner fascist, puts himself on trial, tears down the wall, and learns the true meaning of Christmas. But the intervening three decades between the work’s conception and its newest incarnation have, thankfully, given Waters some perspective and allowed him to imbue the work with greater maturity and universality.

It’s ironic that what first attracted me to The Wall is the very thing that makes it no longer my favorite Pink Floyd album. It’s a very adolescent work – a friend once summed it up as: “I’m an asshole and it’s everyone’s fault but mine.” This is fine when you’re an adolescent, and frankly I doubt I’d have gotten through my teen angst phase unscathed if I hadn’t had this album in heavy rotation. But as I’ve gotten older, the album has had less appeal for me. (It’s still one of my go-to albums when I’m angry about something, though.)

Waters seems to have realized this too, and while keeping the same themes he’s given them a broader appeal. The defining loss of the character, the first “brick” if you will, is that of the character’s father. To this sequence Waters has added visuals of others’ family members lost to wars and other conflicts; during the show’s intermission the wall has photos and descriptions of fallen loved ones (these tributes were sent in by fans) giving silent testimony to the terrible costs of war. Likewise, though the song “Vera” makes specific reference to World War 2 and British singer Vera Lynn (famous for “We’ll Meet Again”), the accompanying visuals include footage of today’s children reuniting with fathers home from Iraq. There’s a greater use of metaphor as well, as the song “Mother” becomes not just an exploration of the damage parents can (un)intentionally do, but of governments that don’t trust their citizens to think for themselves.

One of my favorite improvements is a subtle one. At the close of the show’s first half, during “Goodbye Cruel World” the final brick is put into place. In past stagings, the placement of the brick has always been the job of a stagehand. But now Waters puts the brick in place himself. It may only be improved brick technology that allows this, but there is also the implication that we are the ones that build these walls. We do it to ourselves, it is not done to us. We are the ones responsible for what happens when we cut ourselves off emotionally and spiritually. And we are the ones who need to tear down the walls, no matter how painful or difficult that may be.

Overall, the evening was one of the best concerts I’ve ever attended. An added thrill was that everyone around me seemed to get what was going on, and enjoying not just another show but a blend of spectacle and meaning, sight and sound.

I waited thirty years for this. It was worth it.

Listen up: Dead Can Dance

I heard the song "Summoning of the Muse" the other day and was enthralled. And it turns out we have Dead Can Dance's album Within the Realm of a Dying Sun and I'd never listened to it. Why didn't anyone tell me how awesome this band is???

I predict this song will make it onto a future Soundtrack to an Imaginary Movie. Or at least be in an Imaginary Trailer (if you have a video editor and time to spare, let me know - I'll give you a plot synopsis and a dream cast, and you can make the trailer, and I'll pay you in cookies).

Elements

In honor of Roger Waters touring The Wall (can't wait for November!) and because I have a lot on my mind yet nothing to say, here are the typical elements of a Pink Floyd song (found somewhere on the Web, I honestly can't recall where).

The average Pink Floyd song contains these elements:

• People talking at the beginning
• Birds tweeting
• People talking at a party
• Cash registers
• Heartbeats
• Footsteps
• Cars driving by
• A guitar riff
• A bunch Of fucking annoying cymbals
• Cash
• 4 minutes of silence
• Scottish accents
• Spanish accents
• Synthesizers
• People yelling
• Guitar solo
• A teacher telling children to eat their meat
• Aforementioned teacher telling children they can't have pudding if they don't eat their meat
• Various animal sounds
• Satanic chanting
• Something about World War II
• Clocks ticking
• Saxophone solo
• Howling woman
• Vocal delays
• A few more minutes of silence
• A helicopter
• The second verse
• Guitar solo
• Special guest vocalist Stephen Hawking
• Organ sustain
• Bicycle bells
• Wailing
• Crazy guy laughing
• Copious lap steel guitar parts
• Screaming
• Guitar related noise
• Wind
• Acid
• Vomiting
• Bloat
• Guitar solo
• "Congratulations, you've just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to old Pink, care of the funny farm. Chalfont."
• Guitar solo
• Fadeout/More people talking
• Quacking ducks
• Screeching pterodactyls

Sounds accurate to me!

Back to school

It's back-to-school time! Let's have a song to mark the occasion, courtesy of Pink Floyd.

Watch this now: A tribute to Ray Bradbury

Not your ordinary kind of tribute either.

Rachel Bloom's song "Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury" has it all: proper awe for the master, recognition of the fact that talent is sexy, fangirl enthusiasm, just enough vulgarity to make things amusing, all wrapped up in a damned catchy pop song. Watch it now (though not at work, because of the naughty lyrics).

Writing process idiosyncrasies, part 1

Now playing on the iPod - "White Punks on Dope" - The Tubes

Probably one of the toughest parts about writing over the long term is determining your process. What steps do you take or circumstances have to happen for you to write consistently and effectively?

Some writers create outlines. Some write on 3x5 index cards. Some use a certain kind of paper. Some write in the nude. Some can write anyplace or any time; others need to be in a certain place and can only write in the evenings. Some can listen to music while they write. Some create detailed biographies of characters.

What makes the process so problematic is that it's a highly individual thing, and none of the idiosyncrasies I've listed in the preceding paragraph are good or bad in and of themselves. What matters is: is it effective for that writer?

Writers need to find their idiosyncrasies for themselves. And this is tricky - it's often a trial-and-error process. You may try to emulate a writer you admire, but that's as open to success and failure as choosing a process at random. You have to find what works for you, and not worry when people say, "Gee, but [famous writer] wrote while standing on his head, eating a strict diet of corn dogs and gin-and-tonics. Maybe if you did that, you'd get published." If you know the head-standing and corn dogs/gin-and-tonics method won't work for you, don't do it. Do what works for you.

One of the things that works for me is creating what I've named "Soundtracks to Imaginary Movies." I got the idea from the novel The Bridge by John Skipp and Craig Spector, in which they provided a list of the various albums that they listened to while writing the book - music which helped inspire them. I started creating playlists for my books - if there were movies made of these books, these songs would be on the soundtracks.

I have a few oddball rules when creating these Imaginary Soundtracks (hey, it's an idiosyncrasy).

First, I try to avoid done-to-death songs (no "Gimme Shelter," no "Solsbury Hill," no "Knockin' on Heaven's Door") or songs that are indelibly linked with a particular film (Quentin Tarantino, I hate you for using "The Lonely Shepherd" before I could).

Second, I think of how the songs could be incorporated into the story in a "found" way - playing on characters' stereos or on jukeboxes (falling-in-love montages are generally avoided, but I allow the occasional "mopey" montage - see Sarah McLachlan's "Full of Grace" below).

Third, I take into account the characters - is this something they would listen to? I've rejected several songs that were lyrically appropriate - Joan Baez' "Diamonds and Rust," Public Image Ltd's "FFF," and the Gin Blossoms' "Hey Jealousy" spring to mind - because those songs didn't mesh with the characters' tastes and personality.

Similarly, the songs have to be appropriate to the setting. I had to nix a number of songs for a party scene when I remembered that the party was put on by a church (a very hip church but a church nonetheless) and the DJ probably couldn't get away with playing The Violent Femmes or House of Pain. That said, the jukeboxes in the KellyVerse are very well-stocked and eclectic - hey, it's my imaginary world and I get to make the rules.

Below are the Soundtracks for the Imaginary Movies of my four books. I've included YouTube links to songs when available. These aren't "concept albums" - they won't tell the whole story in song - but they will give you a feel for the book's dramatic arc and overall mood. And if you're wondering why Johnny Cash is the common denominator, it's because he is awesome.

Novel: Ashes

Garry Eister - Quintet for Glass and Strings, "Dance"

Jackson Browne - The Pretender

Tori Amos - Spark

Pink Floyd - Dogs

U2 - Running to Stand Still

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Run Through the Jungle

Wilson Pickett - Mustang Sally

Liz Phair - Polyester Bride

Mountain - Mississippi Queen

Donald Fagen - New Frontier

Dave Brubeck - Take Five

The Everly Brothers - Devoted to You

The Pogues - I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day

Johnny Cash - Delia's Gone

Novel: Reckoning

Dennis James - Irish Lullaby

Sarah McLachlan - Full of Grace

Beethoven - Piano Trio in D Major "Ghost"

Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street

Danielle Dax - Touch Piggy's Eyes

Sleater-Kinney - Entertain

Johnny Cash - Hurt

The Clash - Brand New Cadillac

Social Distortion - Ball and Chain

Golden Earring - Twilight Zone

Switchblade Symphony - Dirty Dog

U2 - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Elvis Costello - Watching the Detectives

Oh Susannah - Johnstown

The Platters - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

David Gilmour - A Pocketful of Stones

Novel: Undertow

Jethro Tull - Bungle in the Jungle

Liz Phair - What Makes You Happy

B. B. King - Slidin' and Glidin'

The Beatles - Dear Prudence

Rolling Stones - Far Away Eyes

Cheech and Chong - Basketball Jones (video not safe for work)

Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues

Sweet - Ballroom Blitz

The Cure - Just Like Heaven

Motorhead - Ace of Spades

Elvis Costello - Pills and Soap

Bob Dylan - Ballad of a Thin Man

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion

Soft Cell - Tainted Love

Tom Waits - The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)

Stone Temple Pilots - Big Empty

Marianne Faithfull - Incarceration of a Flower Child

Isaac Hayes - Walk On By

Concrete Blonde - Joey

Novel: The Day After Yesterday

Tori Amos - Pretty Good Year

Johnny Cash - Memories Are Made of This

k. d. lang - Crying

The Smithereens - Gloomy Sunday

Julee Cruise - Into the Night

Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers

Phantom of the Paradise Soundtrack - Faust

Grateful Dead - Brokedown Palace

The Mediaeval Baebes - The Coventry Carol

U2 - Bad

The Pogues - Sally MacLennane

Tom Petty - Straight Into Darkness

The Cars - Drive

The Who - Behind Blue Eyes

Elton John - Harmony

Queen - Spread Your Wings

Harry Nilsson - Without You

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - People Ain't No Good

Elvis Presley - You're the Devil in Disguise

Robert Plant - Big Log

King Crimson - Matte Kudasai

Tanita Tikaram - Valentine Heart

Tears for Fears - Head Over Heels

Faith and the Muse - Willow's Song

David Gilmour - On an Island

Arcade Fire - Wake Up

Tom Waits - Come On Up to the House

Neil Young - Don't Let it Bring You Down

Pink Floyd - High Hopes

This Mortal Coil - Song to the Siren

Bonus soundtrack for The Day After Yesterday (music for the Halloween party chapter)

Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - Let's Go Trippin'

The 5 6 7 8s - Woo Hoo

The Blasters - I'm Shakin'

Van Morrison - Wild Night

Shocking Blue - Venus

Marvin Gaye - Got to Give it Up

Adam Ant - Goody Two Shoes

The Jaynetts - Sally Go 'Round the Roses

Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love

ELO - Rockaria

David Lindley - She Took Off My Romeos

Michael Penn - No Myth

Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen

Julee Cruise - Rockin' Back Inside My Heart

The Primitives - I'll Be Your Mirror

The Ink Spots - I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire

Coming soon: Writing process idiosyncrasies, part 2!

So beginneth the countdown...

Well, I've now got tickets for Roger Waters' performances of The Wall, set for November 29 (in L.A.) and December 13 (Anaheim). It's like Christmas will be here early!

Why yes, I *would* like to go to the show, Mr. Waters

Roger Waters is putting on a tour of The Wall this year. He'll be here in Southern CA in November and December.

I was too young to see Pink Floyd's original performances of The Wall (1980 - how long ago that seems) so you can imagine I'm looking forward to this - something I never thought I'd see and will never get the chance to see again, most likely.

The Wall was the first Pink Floyd album I ever owned. I got it for my 12th birthday. And while I'm not as enamored of it as I used to be (mostly because I'm no longer an adolescent and have gotten out of my "nobody loves me, everybody hates me, think I'll go eat worms" phase), it's still an album that holds a very special place in my heart. (And it's still my go-to album to play when I'm pissed off.)

Moreover, a live performance represents the pinnacle of rock-music-as-theater. And now, God willing, I'll finally get to see it.*

Cannot wait!

*Provided Roger doesn't bail on me the way some of my idols did last year. Ennio Morricone and Nathan Fillion, I'm looking at both of you.

Review: Pink Floyd - The Wall

Now playing on the iPod - "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Joy Division

My review of the musical angst-fest Pink Floyd The Wall is up at Horrorview.com. Read it and watch my critical self and my fangirl self fight it out.

Watch this now: Muppets sing "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Absolutely brilliant.

Now that's what I call writing: Stephen King and Peter Straub

Now playing on the iPod: "Magic and Ecstasy" - Ennio Morricone *

The following passage from Stephen King and Peter Straub's Black House is a favorite of mine. Usually I don't like my foreshadowing quite this blatant (I prefer the "sucker punch" approach to Bad Things Happening to Good Characters), but something about this passage resonates with me.

Still, they are safe. And our guys are safe, too. All of them came back in one piece from the other side, and surely we did not expect that; most quests of this type usually demand at least one sacrifice. All's well that ends well. And this can be the end, if you want it to be; neither of the scribbling fellows who have brought you this far would deny you that. If you do choose to go on, never say you weren't warned: you're not going to like what happens next.

Ooooh, yes! And you know what? They were right!

* Stealing an idea from the Pub Rants blog. Agent Kristin starts every blog entry with what she's listening to at the time, and since I don't talk about music enough on this blog, I'll follow suit.