The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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Revisionist History and Malcolm Gladwell

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I heard someone give Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell a big up on the Afterword podcast, so I gave it a go and thank you very much to whoever mentioned it.

I bring it up because the 8th episode ‘Hallelujah’ is right up the Afterword alley – talking (briefly) to Alan Winstanley about working with Elvis Costello and making an album they all hated (Elvis, Alan and mega-fan Gladwell); the creation and eventual emergence of Halellujah as a classic covered by all and sundry; the difference between Dylan and Cohen and much more.

The rest of the series is very interesting too. Made me think about my thought patterns, behaviours and choices on more than one occasion… The tryptic on education started making me very angry.

Translated Songs Revisted

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I have a bit of a soft spot for translated songs and may have posted about this before. However this is a new one. Following the sad death of Leonard Cohen a friend sent me this link which I felt I had to share here. It’s Hallelujah, but sung in Danish and, I think, it’s rather lovely.

Concert Etiquette – The Do’s and Don’ts Of Gig-Going

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I was listening to the magnificent Goodbye Cream LP today (on vinyl, natch) and as Eric, Jack and Ginger brought the mammoth 9 minute white hot solo of I’m So Glad to a screaming, shuddering halt, steam coming off the brake pads and rivets straining on the engine room boiler, a few people actually began to applaud during the few moments of ensuing silence. Yes APPLAUD. What were they thinking? Didn’t these lightweight fans know that this was just a temporary halt in proceedings before the band launched back into the main theme of the song and the closing vocal verse?

All of which brings me to concert etiquette. Have you ever noticed that there are several levels of gig-going fans? There are those who applaud the instrumental introduction to a song, presumably to show how clever they are. Then there are others who wait until the opening vocal line before the penny drops, at that point it’s safe for THEM to applaud. Still others wait until the very END of the song to clap, which is just as it should be,

Alternatively, some people like to applaud specific passages of a song. For example, Dylan’s It’s Alright Ma, » Continue Reading.