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CrackyMcCrackerson
Joined: 26 Dec 2007
Posts: 145
Location: Kansas
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 Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:54 pm Post subject: Jeffrey Lewis in the psych ward |
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| Does anyone else think that Jeff Lewis may have spent his later teen years in a mental hospital or went completely crazy? If you look around in his lyrics it seems to be indicated... Of course, excluding the acid moment, unless that is what he's talking about. |
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chocabloc
Joined: 08 Feb 2006
Posts: 149
Location: various
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| Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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| no, it doesn't seem apparent to me. |
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DrNick
Joined: 11 Jul 2006
Posts: 161
Location: Stockport, UK
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| Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 11:58 am Post subject: |
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Well, there are references in various songs to mental illness - for example, the line in 'Anxiety Attack' which says 'what if I go crazy and what if this time it's permanent?'. But the only conclusion you can draw from this is that the narrator of that song, who is a fictional construct, is worried about his own sanity.
I think you could also make a case that some of the more outlandish, fantasy-type lyrics are about exploring psychological states through metaphor. But assuming things are autobiographical is a mistake - a work of art is a work of art, and exists outside of its creator's own life.
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Dav
Site Admin
Joined: 30 Oct 2005
Posts: 2890
Location: Rennes, France
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| Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 12:26 pm Post subject: |
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this line is from complete history of Jeff's sexual conquest :
"and i wanted to kill myself and my folks put me in therapy "
always been one of my fave Jeff's tune.
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silverwood
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 126
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| Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 9:26 pm Post subject: |
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i dont think you need to have been in a psych ward to have felt like your going a bit crazy.
I know ive felt a bit crazy and a bit arkward and unsteady before.
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CrackyMcCrackerson
Joined: 26 Dec 2007
Posts: 145
Location: Kansas
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| Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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| DrNick wrote: | | I think you could also make a case that some of the more outlandish, fantasy-type lyrics are about exploring psychological states through metaphor. But assuming things are autobiographical is a mistake - a work of art is a work of art, and exists outside of its creator's own life. |
I certainly disagree with your "auto-biographical" comment. I don't believe Will Oldham raped Jeff and I don't believe Jeff and Jack have seen spacemen riding Dinosaurs but, I do believe it's possible that a lot of the music is very personal and exists in an artists life. I think it's very possible Jeff has had these thoughts in Anxiety Attack. In "The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song" he writes "you can practice writing songs about romance every day, but if you haven't loved then you'll have nothing to say" Jeff also talks about honesty being more important than showmanship. It's very easy to distinguish Jeff's fantasy songs from his songs that describe the human condition in such an honest way. To say art is independent from it's creator is a fallacy. Art is a part of the creator and the artist has decided to share that part of themself with the world. |
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DrNick
Joined: 11 Jul 2006
Posts: 161
Location: Stockport, UK
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| Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 8:22 pm Post subject: |
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Well, it's an interesting argument. I'm always really sceptical about biographical criticism, because it can never be anything more than speculative. I once sat in a lecture where I was told that Frankenstein was clearly inspired by Mary Shelley's guilt over her mother dying in childbirth when she was born. But how on earth does anyone know that, or does it make any difference anyway?
But the point is this: if you found out that, say, Jeff never met a girl outside the Chelsea Hotel and the whole thing was an invention, would that in any way affect the meaning of the song? Would it affect its value as a piece of art? I don't think so. Honesty is more complex than describing literal truth - a novel which is entirely fictional can be far more honest than a bad autobiography. Tying a piece of art to event's in the artist's life can be interesting, but I don't think it ultimately means anything.
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