Captain Beefheart's Ten Commandments For Guitarists

[frunobulax]

this is one of my favorites, just beautiful.

 

 

 

Uh thick cloud caught uh piper clubs tail

The match struck blue on uh railroad rail

The old puff horse was just pullin' thru

'n uh man wore uh peg leg forever

I'm on the bum where the hoboes run

The air breaks with filthy chatter

Oh I don't care there's no place there

I don't think it matters

My skin's blazin' thru

'n my clothes in tatters

'n the railroad looked

Like uh "Y" up the hill of ladders

Ohe shoe fell on the gravel

One stick poked down

Gray of age fell down on uh pair of ears

An eagle shined thru my hole watch pocket

Uh gingham girl baby girl

Passed me by in tears

Uh jack rabbit raised his folded ears

Uh beautiful sagebrush jack rabbit

'n an oriole sang like an orange

His breast full uh worms

'n his tail clawed the evenin' like uh hammer

His wings took t' air like uh bomber

'n my rain can caught me uh cup uh water

When I got into town

Odd jobs mam ah yer horse I'll fodder

I'm the round house man

I once was yer father

Uh little up the road uh wooden

Candy stripe barber pole

'n above it read uh sign "Painless Parker"

Lic-licorice twisted around under uh fly

'n uh youngster cocked 'er eye

God before me if I'm not crazy

Is my daughter

Come little one with yer little dimpled fingers

Gimme one 'n I'll buy you uh cherry phosphate

Take you down t' the foamin' brine 'n water

'n show you the wooden tits

On the Goddess with the pole out s'full sail

That tempted away yer peg legged father

I was shanghaied by uh high hat beaver moustache man

'n his pirate friend

I woke up in vomit 'n beer in uh banana bin

'n uh soft lass with brown skin

Bore me seven babies with snappin' black eyes

'n beautiful ebony skin

'n here it is I'm with you my daughter

Thirty years away can make uh seaman's eyes

Uh round house man's eyes flow out water

Salt water

[BEAD]

Just so I don't get the wrong idea.. thses poems aren't meant as a vehicle for understanding the brilliance or "10 tips for guitar players" ...are they?

 

just asking since you posted em with no explanation.

[basshunter]

Just so I don't get the wrong idea.. thses poems aren't meant as a vehicle for understanding the brilliance or "10 tips for guitar players" ...are they? just asking since you posted em with no explanation.

 

Well, in a way, they are. Understanding the deeper meanings of the 10 Rules requires a deeper understanding of the man who penned them. It isn't so much the words themselves, as the spririt behind the thought. That said, just reading what fruno posted isn't going to help you see the light. Repeated listening to the suggested albums will proide the necessary insight. You may not like it (the music, that is), but you'll get the Ten Commandments

[frunobulax]

how exactly does one 'explain' poetry?

[basshunter]

 

how exactly does one 'explain' poetry?

 

 

I usually start with a dissertation on the rose as a metaphor for life.

[BEAD]

 

how exactly does one 'explain' poetry?

 

 

There's a bit of literary scholarship devoted to understanding and explaining poetry, just like any other fine art.

 

Clive Bell admitted that he couldn't see the significant form in some works of art, but that frequently another educated critic could point out what he was missing and he would frequently get it then.

 

If there's poetry living in that list, and you see it, you should be able to at least point towards it for me. If it's clever and representative of his work as an artist, does that make it poetry?

[frunobulax]

 

... just reading what fruno posted isn't going to help you see the light.

 

 

au contraire, vertically enhanced bassist.

 

chunky wanted the beauty of Beefhearts poetry revealed. Orange Claw Hammer is beautiful.

 

it's like trying to explain why blue is more beautiful than red.

[frunobulax]

 

If it's clever and representative of his work as an artist, does that make it poetry?

 

 

yes.

[basshunter]

 

au contraire, vertically enhanced bassist. chunky wanted the beauty of Beefhearts poetry revealed. Orange Claw Hammer is beautiful. it's like trying to explain why blue is more beautiful than red.

 

 

But would it not be fair to say that it is at its most beautiful in its intended context?

[frunobulax]

 

But would it not be fair to say that it is at its most beautiful in its intended context?

 

 

it's done a cappela.

[basshunter]

 

it's done a cappela.

 

 

I understand that, but is it not more beautiful that way than simple text on a page of a bass forum?

 

Would Peaches En Regalia be as beautiful if only sheet music?

[BEAD]

au contraire, vertically enhanced bassist. chunky wanted the beauty of Beefhearts poetry revealed. Orange Claw Hammer is beautiful. it's like trying to explain why blue is more beautiful than red.

 

I wanted someone to point out the brilliant poetic elements on the list of 10 tips.

 

I thought I was pretty specific.

 

Seriously, I could take some poetry/prose I enjoy and highlight parts I really like, explain why I like them, why I think they should be valued and so on. I'd also highlight parts I thought were less good, explain my assertion, and so on.

 

This doesn't seem like much of an undertaking to me, but it is certainly more of an undertaking than a lyric cut/paste, so maybe I'm asking too much.

 

Ask me why I think Steven Jesse Bernstein or Richard Brautigan were wonderful and I'll tell you in detail sometime. Not now though... gotta go!

 

[BEAD]

To break down any assumptions that may have been made, I've heard some of Beefheart's work with Zappa and Trout Mask Replica a ton of times. I think he's pretty ok.

 

I still say the tips would be poor advice if taken seriously unless someone meant to copy Beefheart's style, which would be pretty unnessecary. I also don't see how reading them as poetry is obvious unless we read everything that isn't meant to be taken entirely seriously or literally as poetry or prose.

[basshunter]

 

I wanted someone to point out the brilliant poetic elements on the list of 10 tips. I thought I was pretty specific. Seriously, I could take some poetry/prose I enjoy and highlight parts I really like, explain why I like them, why I think they should be valued and so on. I'd also highlight parts I thought were less good, explain my assertion, and so on.

 

 

OK, I'm going to stop playing silly games with fruno now and actually adress this point.

 

Poetry is an intensely personal thing, and its interpretation is up to the individual reader. Ask most poets what a poem means, and the response will likely be either "What do YOU think it means?" or "Eat my shorts." A poet writes to evoke things, not to explain them in detail. So asking any of us to explain what WE find valuable in Beefheart's stuff isn't going to help you decide what you want to get out of it. If you really want to understand it, why place it in the context of our interpretations?

[frunobulax]

 

lemme see if i can 'splain this.

 

THE TIPS ARE CONCEPTUAL.

 

(caps locks are on to emphasize awesomeness)

 

Fripps tips are literal. Beefhearts are not.

 

does that help?

 

[frunobulax]

I understand that, but is it not more beautiful that way than simple text on a page of a bass forum?

 

it is the story being told, and the imagery used to do so, that is beautiful.

 

pardon me for finding it so, but not being so inclined as to give an academic discourse on why it is so.

 

it is poetry, and i like it.

 

 

my ORIGINAL point was that it should not be called 'crappy advice' by one who self-admittedly knows nothing of Captain Beefheart or his work.

 

the list is pure Beefheart.

 

and yet another roll of the eyes -

 

[frunobulax]

 

Poetry is an intensely personal thing, and its interpretation is up to the individual reader. Ask most poets what a poem means, and the response will likely be either "What do YOU think it means?" or "Eat my shorts." A poet writes to evoke things, not to explain them in detail. So asking any of us to explain what WE find valuable in Beefheart's stuff isn't going to help you decide what you want to get out of it. If you really want to understand it, why place it in the context of our interpretations?

 

 

your golf game may not be beautiful, but that is poetry.

[BEAD]

lemme see if i can 'splain this. THE TIPS ARE CONCEPTUAL. (caps locks are on to emphasize awesomeness) Fripps tips are literal. Beefhearts are not. does that help?

 

Funny that it pisses you off so much to be pressed for an actual answer. Caps not really needed since this is THE FIRST TIME YOU'VE GIVEN A STRAIGHT ANSWER.

 

Even calling the tips conceptual, I don't follow the concept of playing to a bush. Why a bush? Why not a toilet or a picture of a steam engine?

[basshunter]

 

Even calling the tips conceptual, I don't follow the concept of playing to a bush. Why a bush? Why not a toilet or a picture of a steam engine?

 

 

Also viable options. I frequently go out on my porch and play upright to the frogs, flowers and fireflies. Really.

[BEAD]

OK, I'm going to stop playing silly games with fruno now and actually adress this point. Poetry is an intensely personal thing, and its interpretation is up to the individual reader. Ask most poets what a poem means, and the response will likely be either "What do YOU think it means?" or "Eat my shorts." A poet writes to evoke things, not to explain them in detail. So asking any of us to explain what WE find valuable in Beefheart's stuff isn't going to help you decide what you want to get out of it. If you really want to understand it, why place it in the context of our interpretations?

 

I see your point, but I don't understand why you explaining what you get out of Beefheart won't help me. There's a wonderfulterrible thread in Open Jam about a Rothko painting where some folks say a 2 year old could have made it and others defend it quite intelligently. Now... if I don't see any value in the Rothko initially and I find out why others value it so, that might give me avenues towards experiencing the pleasure of the painting.

 

The first time I read Leaves of Grass I didn't get a whole lot out of it. After dissecting it in a classroom I enjoy it much more, even though it's poetry and thus open to many interpretations. I don't think that just because poetry can be very personal and can be open to many interpretations that that means that every interpretation is equally valid though. If you read Leaves of Grass and thought it was about a battleship sailing to the moon, your interpretation would pretty safely be less accurate than another interpretation more in line with the subjects discussed in the poem.

 

 

btw... I'm not trying to dis beefheart or teach you guys a lesson.

 

I was just genuinely curious what made the list poetry. No gauntlet thrown down. Just curious. Now that a discussion on what the rules of poetry are, and art theory is being discussed, I'm a bit more intrigued. This is a pet interest of mine. I'm genuinely interested in your views on what makes something poetry, what abilities we have to analyze poetry and so on. I hope that my challenging of your beliefs regarding what poetry is doesn't offend you... I'm enjoying the discussion... but wish fruno wasn't so darn angry.

[basshunter]

 

your golf game may not be beautiful, but that is poetry.

 

 

The "Eat my shorts" part was just for you.

[frunobulax]

btw... or teach you guys a lesson.

 

perhaps you didn't mean it, but some of it did come off as intellectual superiority, rather than curiosity.

 

i can't explain why i like it. but i'll try to elaborate on what i read into some of it, s'okay?

 

the list -

 

1. LISTEN TO THE BIRDS a lot of great classical music is based on birdsong. Messiaen and Mahler come to mind.

 

2. YOUR GUITAR IS NOT REALLY A GUITAR it is not just a thing, but a means of emotional expression.

 

3. PRACTICE IN FRONT OF A BUSH gimme a minute on this one.

 

4. WALK WITH THE DEVIL embrace one's wild side

 

5. IF YOU'RE GUILTY OF THINKING, YOU'RE OUT do not think music with your head

 

6. NEVER POINT YOUR GUITAR AT ANYONE literal meaning - don't make heavy metal poses (but i suspect he means sommething deeper) maybe like a guitar is an instrument of power, use it wisely?

 

7. ALWAYS CARRY YOUR CHURCH KEY if you've got your churchkey, you will always be able to open the beer of life.

 

His song "I Need A Hundred Dollars" is warm pie. (ain't nothin better than warm pie).

 

8. DON'T WIPE THE SWEAT OFF YOUR INSTRUMENT the sweat is you, the more of you in the instrument, the better.

 

9. KEEP YOUR GUITAR IN A DARK PLACE ??? If you don't play your guitar for more than a day, be sure to put a saucer of water in with it. keep your guitar happy.

 

10. YOU GOTTA HAVE A HOOD FOR YOUR ENGINE A hat is a pressure cooker. that way the music don't have nowhere to go but out your fingers.

 

it all mkes ense, but in a very Beefheartian way. that's the part that i can't explain.

 

Orange Claw Hammer is a wonderful story of a sailor who returns home after being away at sea for 30 years (shanghied), and upon return, meets his daughter from his original life.

[BEAD]

perhaps you didn't mean it, but some of it did come off as intellectual superiority, rather than curiosity. i can't explain why i like it. but i'll try to elaborate on what i read into some of it, s'okay?

thanks... I think most of your interpretations seem pretty coherent (I won't make any real value judgements since there is apparently no wright or rong in poetry )

 

...and yeah, I'm working on having detailed conversations with folks about heavy, profound concepts without coming off as pompous... but it really seems like an area where specific wording in important, personal definitions merit explanation and so on, so that one person can really understand what another person is meaning. I could take your posts as poetry and assign my own meaning to them, but that doesn't really interest me.

 

If I can find a way to accomplish that I imagine I'll be a saint and a genius, and since I'm neither, maybe I should start watching more sports on TV or something.