May 9, 2023·edited May 9, 2023Liked by Elnora Fareman
Good musings Elnora.
This challenge is even steeper than the one faced by the blind men as they try to describe the Elephant. For the blind men can at least TOUCH the Elephant. "It's like a Wall ! It's like a Rope ! It's like a Pillar ! It's like a giant Leaf ! It's like a Spear ! It's like a Tube !" ( No one ever asks what the Elephant thinks of all this intimate groping ! )
Yet the practice of creating VOICE and the engaging of invisible engines that we barely have names for is like trying to cast a spell without a grimoire, joining a poker hand without knowing the stakes or the variation being played, or attempting navigation of a spacecraft in three dimensional space without coordinates, a window to look out of, or controls to use. "Here. Here's a stick."
Regarding being twenty and knowing it all. I couldn't make such a claim at the time. Instead I offer a quote from the film Nadja : https://youtu.be/7Av2Yz_Lw5Y?t=920
"I guess the question really is, what is the writer’s version of breathing?"
What a question to carry.
This whole piece makes me think about what a container for emotion a song can be. I always listen to lyric because I am a writer and I love the story. I also have had that experience where the lyrics don't necessarily tell me anything and yet I FEEL what the meaning is. I've often said I don't pay attention to the music so much, other than "This has string instruments in it and I like the vibe they bring" or "These drums make me want to shake and stomp and jump and so I will", but of course that is part of the emotional story of the song too!
I remember lying on my bedroom floor as a teenager, listening to 'Stairway to Heaven' or basically any song from the aforementioned 'Fumbling Toward Ecstasy' (Very funny exchange, that. Oh to be 20 and know EVERYTHING) and letting myself cry. Something about these songs opened up an emotional vent I absolutely needed at a time when I was mostly numbed by depression and loneliness. And looking back, it was not just the lyrics, despite them being the part I paid the most attention to.
I just inhaled all of that. All of it. I haven't even ever listened to any Tori Amos before, despite knowing of her. But it was so good to have Winter playing whilst I was inhaling your writing. Your voice :D
I am fascinated by all these processes and those that have spoken on them, and this article has some amazing lines: "I guess the question really is, what is the writer’s version of breathing?"
This resonates. All I can say (from a perspective of zero training/understanding) is that the closest approximation to that that I have experienced is when I am feeling raw, on that verge of emotion, be it good or bad, sitting right on the edge and then just sinking into it and letting it fuel a fire. I think that's when you look back on what you've synthesised and allow yourself to marvel at it (and then doubt, and re-marvel, and then doubt, etc etc).
OK I'm going to stop rambling now and go listen to more Tori.
Thank you Elnora. Your pieces are inspiring and come right from the heart.
Good musings Elnora.
This challenge is even steeper than the one faced by the blind men as they try to describe the Elephant. For the blind men can at least TOUCH the Elephant. "It's like a Wall ! It's like a Rope ! It's like a Pillar ! It's like a giant Leaf ! It's like a Spear ! It's like a Tube !" ( No one ever asks what the Elephant thinks of all this intimate groping ! )
Yet the practice of creating VOICE and the engaging of invisible engines that we barely have names for is like trying to cast a spell without a grimoire, joining a poker hand without knowing the stakes or the variation being played, or attempting navigation of a spacecraft in three dimensional space without coordinates, a window to look out of, or controls to use. "Here. Here's a stick."
Regarding being twenty and knowing it all. I couldn't make such a claim at the time. Instead I offer a quote from the film Nadja : https://youtu.be/7Av2Yz_Lw5Y?t=920
Cheers.
"I guess the question really is, what is the writer’s version of breathing?"
What a question to carry.
This whole piece makes me think about what a container for emotion a song can be. I always listen to lyric because I am a writer and I love the story. I also have had that experience where the lyrics don't necessarily tell me anything and yet I FEEL what the meaning is. I've often said I don't pay attention to the music so much, other than "This has string instruments in it and I like the vibe they bring" or "These drums make me want to shake and stomp and jump and so I will", but of course that is part of the emotional story of the song too!
I remember lying on my bedroom floor as a teenager, listening to 'Stairway to Heaven' or basically any song from the aforementioned 'Fumbling Toward Ecstasy' (Very funny exchange, that. Oh to be 20 and know EVERYTHING) and letting myself cry. Something about these songs opened up an emotional vent I absolutely needed at a time when I was mostly numbed by depression and loneliness. And looking back, it was not just the lyrics, despite them being the part I paid the most attention to.
So thank you.
Gosh just wonderful wow!
I just inhaled all of that. All of it. I haven't even ever listened to any Tori Amos before, despite knowing of her. But it was so good to have Winter playing whilst I was inhaling your writing. Your voice :D
I am fascinated by all these processes and those that have spoken on them, and this article has some amazing lines: "I guess the question really is, what is the writer’s version of breathing?"
This resonates. All I can say (from a perspective of zero training/understanding) is that the closest approximation to that that I have experienced is when I am feeling raw, on that verge of emotion, be it good or bad, sitting right on the edge and then just sinking into it and letting it fuel a fire. I think that's when you look back on what you've synthesised and allow yourself to marvel at it (and then doubt, and re-marvel, and then doubt, etc etc).
OK I'm going to stop rambling now and go listen to more Tori.
Thank you Elnora. Your pieces are inspiring and come right from the heart.