Revenge of the Interrobang

Spoon, Girls Can Tell (2001)

 

Making history can not be compared to recording it. Life itself simply cannot be defined by a single medium. The complexities of existence, as experienced through whatever senses are bestowed on whatever sentient being, are yet to be replicated. W. Churchill has been cited to have said¹ “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it” - and in a similar vein - I intend on recording my own lazy & artless history of interpretation.

Charming…

 

And just how does one convey an experience? Writing, while historically effective and enduring, only provides pleasure to the organs of mind and sight, maybe even the touch if such medium permits. Add some creative formatting. Choose a pleasing font. Will this read on a screen as it would physical print? And you may ask yourself, “How do I work this?”. 

 

Spoon is a Texan rock band formed in the early half of the 90s. Girls Can Tell is a telling tale of safe but effective songwriting, studio magic, and precise musicianship.

 

Can you believe I used a Churchill quote in the opening paragraph? One dark morsel of thought can be found embedded in the reasoning on why Tokyo was excluded from the list of possible targets for the debut of nuclear warfare. In one instance for context the U.S. dropped over 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs over the city within 48 hours alone. Being such an old city of wood and other natural materials the attack was effective in simply wiping out much of the city’s infrastructure. Some twisted beauty in such a brutal act turning life into statistics. How does one measure loss on this scale? You can catalog, sure, but so much of what is lost is itself lost: there being exhaustion in just what can be taken from a single life. And maybe in a little thought experiment of what you are willing to give up for what is important to you personally - how does one give an answer before ever feeling the threat of having your answer challenged?

 

The U.S. did not drop atomic bombs on Tokyo much for the reason of there being little left to destroy. Some have also pointed to the death of the Emperor making surrender more difficult, but for the generals in power their goals were less granular and their explanations more simple…and from what I can tell, Spoon makes no mention of this within this album.

 

Occupying the area around modern day Norfolk/East Anglia of Great Britain was a tribe named The Iceni. Without getting into much detail I would like to briefly mention Boudicca, Queen of The Iceni, as Spoon did not throughout this album. Nevermind.

 

Her name was Chiomara. Did Spoon speak of her on Take The Fifth? No. Lines In The Suit? No. But surely Britt was referring to the severed head with the line from Take a Walk:

 

                        “Back to cowtown and the fish shop and the mall”

 

Convincing? Hmm maybe it’s just over my head.

 

Frederick Gotthold Enslin?

 

Nervii? What keeps me from sitting and writing this shit. I was all excited but figured ‘oh well time to move on’.

 

Who the fuck gave me a keyboard. Who told me to think? Ridiculous. I’ll get better at this.

And to you Spoon - here is a quote from Thomas Henry Huxley:

                        Truly it has been said, that to a clear eye the smallest fact is a window through which the Infinite may be seen

 

 

 

¹ similar gist/technical misquote