I've never seen another lyricist who can write an entire album out of well-arranged cliches. You probably know VH's reunion album of 2012 'A Different Kind of Truth', but it will appeal to your middle-aged mind just as the early stuff did for one's teens. Quite a solid effort that I have listened to consistently, especially in the car. But yes, The Bus isn't meant to be a tank. I guess that's my job(!) Oh this was meant as a reply but I may have hit the wrong button here...
Not to be clever or anything! But seriously, Bryan, you are an excellent communicator of the 'public service' aspect of philosophy and of thinking more generally so I really appreciate that as both a pedagogue and a philosopher. The 1994 book 'Professing Feminism' is perhaps the most enduring critique of fallacies involved in ideological positions that I have encountered which doesn't get bogged down in technical discourse - as does Aristotle, for instance. It would be interesting to do a piece on fallacies in pop song lyrics, as you seem to have a virtuosic knowledge of this form. Consider one from one of your set list: ''cos dancing gets her higher than anything that she knows". Is the ellipsis perchance too lewd to directly mention, as in, 'anything that she knows thus far'? (no sex please, as it might lead to dancing). Or is the presumption that she already knows it all and thus dancing truly is the epitome of highs? It might be considered a kind of fallacy to make either assumption; the first is dependent on her actually being able to have further experiences, the second is the 'all or nothing' issue again.
Thanks for the compliment! The entire purpose of The Bus is to get people to think - and it hopefully does. For years, I've been interested in a 'brevity and clarity' approach - it helps no one to be mired in obfuscation or argot. Obviously, technical language has its place, but I think opening the door is more important than keeping it closed.
I like the idea of pop fallacies - that might be something for the future. Music has been an essential part of my life since I was very, very young. LPs, 45s, cassettes ... and then, at university when you could sign up for those 6 CDs for a penny/buy 2 in a month at 'full price' things ... well, it didn't take long to start building a collection. Which became rather large. I've brought it all with me to the UK (which was a bit of a technical feat), and love nothing more than putting on an album, but in the last few years I've discovered there is NOTHING like streaming: discovery/rediscovery - it's all on-tap 24 hours/day. And with two kids who listen to music constantly ... it's like being 13 again. But with some really rude lyrics.
As for the Van Halen lyric ... I think she doesn't know it all, that she thinks dancing is the epitome, but the narrator - who 'feels her from across the room' and recognises her as 'barely a beginner' is (in typical Van Halen lyrical style) interested in teaching her something ... more. At least, that's how my 13 year old mind heard it - and, well, my much older one does, too!
I've never seen another lyricist who can write an entire album out of well-arranged cliches. You probably know VH's reunion album of 2012 'A Different Kind of Truth', but it will appeal to your middle-aged mind just as the early stuff did for one's teens. Quite a solid effort that I have listened to consistently, especially in the car. But yes, The Bus isn't meant to be a tank. I guess that's my job(!) Oh this was meant as a reply but I may have hit the wrong button here...
Wouldn't it be 'step onto' rather than 'enter'?
Not to be clever or anything! But seriously, Bryan, you are an excellent communicator of the 'public service' aspect of philosophy and of thinking more generally so I really appreciate that as both a pedagogue and a philosopher. The 1994 book 'Professing Feminism' is perhaps the most enduring critique of fallacies involved in ideological positions that I have encountered which doesn't get bogged down in technical discourse - as does Aristotle, for instance. It would be interesting to do a piece on fallacies in pop song lyrics, as you seem to have a virtuosic knowledge of this form. Consider one from one of your set list: ''cos dancing gets her higher than anything that she knows". Is the ellipsis perchance too lewd to directly mention, as in, 'anything that she knows thus far'? (no sex please, as it might lead to dancing). Or is the presumption that she already knows it all and thus dancing truly is the epitome of highs? It might be considered a kind of fallacy to make either assumption; the first is dependent on her actually being able to have further experiences, the second is the 'all or nothing' issue again.
Thanks for the compliment! The entire purpose of The Bus is to get people to think - and it hopefully does. For years, I've been interested in a 'brevity and clarity' approach - it helps no one to be mired in obfuscation or argot. Obviously, technical language has its place, but I think opening the door is more important than keeping it closed.
I like the idea of pop fallacies - that might be something for the future. Music has been an essential part of my life since I was very, very young. LPs, 45s, cassettes ... and then, at university when you could sign up for those 6 CDs for a penny/buy 2 in a month at 'full price' things ... well, it didn't take long to start building a collection. Which became rather large. I've brought it all with me to the UK (which was a bit of a technical feat), and love nothing more than putting on an album, but in the last few years I've discovered there is NOTHING like streaming: discovery/rediscovery - it's all on-tap 24 hours/day. And with two kids who listen to music constantly ... it's like being 13 again. But with some really rude lyrics.
As for the Van Halen lyric ... I think she doesn't know it all, that she thinks dancing is the epitome, but the narrator - who 'feels her from across the room' and recognises her as 'barely a beginner' is (in typical Van Halen lyrical style) interested in teaching her something ... more. At least, that's how my 13 year old mind heard it - and, well, my much older one does, too!