True Highlights Of Independent Songwriting – Part I

Today with the ingenious American folk musician Devendra Banhart and his 2004 hymn “Electric Heart”:



The electric heart (blp) shines for you
It's given up sparks (blm)
But that's nothing new (rhy)

The electric heart
Spins its lightning web (blm)
The spider sparkle (blm) lights the way ahead

I eat the biscuits, a gift for her
I eat the fishes, they got no fur (arch)

The open road (blm)
Oh God's final town (blm)
I'll take a little sip from its high drip (blm)
The earth hurts sky (blp) say your name
The earth was dry until you came (bull)

A little baby begins to grow
A happy belly begins to glow (cute)

The electric sky (blp) combing in the snow
He's always high
He's a gentle soul
My winter friends with Christmas legs
And cold, cold beards (cute)
And frozen heads (cute)

We keep them shiny
We keep them shone (dysg)
'cause though they're tiny, they're valuable

I've lost my nails
But that's nothing new (rhy)
And goddamn (bla) thumbs
Thumbs, goddamn you (bla)

And if all else fails
As all else do (dysg)
There's someone else for sure will take my place (arch)

Now flung from dreams your voice reappears
And it almost (bla) sings like you're almost (bla) here
Singing an ancient chant (blm), spreads his dusty lens (blm)
And I'm coming in (bla) in my head
Electric heart sang for us
Shining love (blm)


Of course, everybody is in awe in the face of such great poetry. And since not everybody has had the possibility of spending five years in an institution of higher education, studying American poetry as I have done, I consider it my civic duty to enlighten the less fortunate amongst my readers with a close reading of this extraordinary piece of art.

As all great poets, Devendra makes use of a number of delicious poetic devices among the following can be distinguished:
Archalogism (arch)
a device that repeats common knowledge, also known as “stating the obvious”. This device is especially elaborate, as it suggests a hidden level of significance that is however never really revealed. It often leaves the reader with the gnawing feeling that it “means something more”.
Blank Metaphor (blm)
the intentional use of ambivalent imagery with a vast number of poetic connotations, designed to create an air of artsiness. Also closely related to > Blank Paradox
Blank Paradox (blp)
the combination of two obviously unrelated or opposing words or ideas. What distinguishes a Blank Paradox from a “normal” paradox is the level of ambivalence used in a Blank Paradox. Like in a Blank Metaphor, the poet relies heavily on traditional poetic imagery that carries a host of connotations.
Blaphora (bla)
a device that makes use of filler words that have no significance for the whole of the poem in order to comply with the set rhythmic pattern.
Bullshitaphora (bull)
a device designed to draw the reader’s attention away from the realisation that the poet has absolutely nothing to say or doesn’t know what he is trying to bring across. Also closely related to > Archalogism
Cuteaphora (cute)
a device designed to sounds sweet, childish or funny, thus liberating the text from the need for purpose or coherence.
Dysgramaticus (dysg)
the use of grammatically incorrect or unusual word forms to fit the scheme of a set rhythmic pattern.
Rhymatism (rhy)
a device that puts sound over content, i.e. it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t make sense, as long as it rhymes.

But of course, all those poetic technicalities shouldn't keep one from simply enjoying such a happy and friendly song as this. So sit back and sing along: "I eat the fishes they got no fur..."

Glitter, Insanity, Decay: God’s Away On Business

He never even finished this nightmarish jigsaw puzzle of a play. Georg Buechner died in 1837 at the age of 23, leaving the world with a handful of powerful plays and prose pieces and the bitter taste of “all that could have been…”. His most famous play Woyzeck remained a mere fragment. Poverty, exploitation, morality and jealousy all whirled up into a simple, painful story: A poor man, humiliated, dehumanized, exploited by the authorities and betrayed by is mistress, is driven into insanity, murder and ultimate death.
A story this dark, so full of despair and human fault and failure – could anyone picture an appropriate soundtrack unless written by Tom Waits? His brute, dramatic and bitter songs that tell of the American underbelly turn Buechner’s Woyzeck into a bizarre satiric Broadway show. Glitter and dust fly through the air in a grotesque dance on the thin dividing line between slapstick and freak show, musical and realistic theatre.
Maybe that’s what I enjoy about a great number of theatre productions these days: they combine the abstract with the realist. They play with the artificiality of the stage, while simultaneously screaming at the top of their lungs: “All the world’s a stage!”
The present production of Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan and Robert Wilson’s version of Woyzeck at Hamburg’s Thalia Theatre does exactly that: The songs are overly dramatic, ironic, ridiculous; the stage design is something between a giant cobweb and the bars of a prison; the props are rare and mainly symbolic; but the actions and feelings remain realistic.

You’re trapped in a spider’s web and God’s away on business.

On Becoming A Super-Hero

Wouldn’t that be too good to be true? Saving the world just like that. Not exactly in the “Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly”-tradition, but with almost the same simplicity?
The world’s greenest search engine Ecosia promises that and nothing less.
We all know the problem. Everybody would like to change the world. But not, if they actually have to change their own habits for it. Laziness still governs the world – even if everybody’s intentions are good. But if changing the world just a mouse-click away; if the choice between good and evil is just a few letters behind the www. – then, who could resist?
I, for my part, cannot resist the temptation of such a prospect.
The idea of Ecosia is fairly simple: The company has pledged to donate 80% of their revenue from sponsored-links to a WWF project to save the rainforest. So statistically, every search on Ecosia will save 2 square meters of rainforest. Just like that. Without causing any additional cost for the user.
What makes the Berlin-based company even more likable: unlike search engines like Google, they do not save your search history or profile your usage of the side: within 48 hours of your search the data will be deleted from their servers.
Another reason to save the world.

For more info: here is a Guardian article on the service. Read it. Or watch the video on Ecosia.org – and if you like it – like I do – spread the word, because Ecosia doesn’t blow millions into advertisements…