Barenaked Ladies "Brian Wilson"

All this week, words I learned because of songs.  Today's word is:  Pedagogue

I immediately got the reference to The Beach Boys when I first heard this Barenaked Ladies tune.  I knew about the sandbox, and the weight-gain and other parts of the Brian Wilson legend.

But it wasn't until years later that I learned a little about Wilson's relationship with Dr. Landy, and that made me want to understand further what Dr. Landy (in the song) tells the narrator.

ped·a·gogue 
Noun
A teacher, esp. a strict or pedantic one.

See the lyrics below


Hear the song on Youtube.

"Brian Wilson"

Drove downtown in the rain nine-thirty on a Tuesday night,
just to check out the late-night record shop.
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane;
but when I'm surrounded I just can't stop.
It's a matter of instinct, it's a matter of conditioning,
It's a matter of fact.
You can call me Pavlov's dog
Ring a bell and I'll salivate- how'd you like that?
Dr. Landy tell me you're not just a pedagogue,
cause right now I'm
[Chorus]
Lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did
Well I'm lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did.
So I'm lying here, just staring at the ceiling tiles.
and I'm thinking about what to think about.
Just listening and relistening to Smiley Smile,
and I'm wondering if this is some kind of creative drought
because I am
[Chorus]
And if you want to find me I'll be out in the sandbox,
wondering where the hell all the love has gone.
Playing my guitar and building castles in the sun,
and singing "Fun, Fun, Fun."
[Chorus]
I had a dream that I was three hundred pounds
and though I was very heavy,
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me because I'm
[Chorus]
Drove downtown in the rain nine-thirty on a Tuesday night.
Just to check out the late-night record shop.
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane;
but when I'm surrounded I just can't stop.

Brian Wilson "Brian Wilson"

Here's another "I Looked At The Internet Today So You Don't Have To" feature.

The other day, my friend Ross posited this rhetorical question:

"Ever wonder if Brian Wilson likes the Barenaked Ladies?"

Ah, but in a Facebook world, no rhetorical question needs to go unnecessarily unanswered.

Yes, Brian Wilson is aware of "Brian Wilson."

And Brian Wilson even recorded a version of "Brian Wilson" on the album "Brian Wilson: Live At The Roxy Theatre."

Also . . . Brian Wilson.

Okay, I'll stop saying Brian Wilson, and just let you listen to "Brian Wilson" by Brian Wilson.


Hear the song on Youtube.

The Highly Irritating Orchestra "Bolero Completely Unraveled"

Producer Don Was has a great quote where he define genius, in a documentary about Brian Wilson. (The interweb was not helpful in finding this recalled quote, but Was paraphrases himself in the Charlie Rose interview below).

Was described Wilson's genius as being able to see things that are beyond the field of vision of an average person AND being able to articulate those unsee-able things to, in Wilson's case, the other musicians he was working with.

Artist Sandra Boyton's drawings can be as deceptively simple as "The Warmth Of The Sun," as joyous as "Good Vibrations" and as emotive as "Heroes And Villians," while seeming as unforced and as innocent as a Brian Wilson composition.

So when you hear that, as a companion piece to her new book "Amazing Cows," Sandra decided to record Ravel's "Bolero" with a team of 300 kazoos, well, you know she's seeing things that normal humans just ain't.

For a $175 donation to Friends of mvyradio, today the station is offering Sandra Boynton's Amazing Cows book; They Might Be Giants "Here Come The 123s” CD/DVD; Putumayo Kids Reggae CD; Doc Dauer presents "The Body Rocks" CD; and an mvyradio Infant Romper or Youth t-shirt.


Click thru to hear a little bit of The Highly Irritating Orchestra "Bolero Completely Unraveled"

 

Don Was on Brian Wilson's genius

Sarah Blasko “All I Want”

What’s the only instrument that you play, by not touching it?

A theremin.

You may not be familiar with the instrument, but I bet you know the sound, if not from music, then from movies.

The theremin is an early electronic instrument, created in the 1920s by its namesake, Dr. Leon Theremin. It generally consists of two metal antennas. You put your hand in between the two rods, and depending on where your hand is (higher or lower, right or left) the machine emits a certain frequency and volume.

The good Doctor developed this instrument for symphonic use, but much to his chagrin, its sound is synonymous with 50s Sci-Fi movies. The theremin was used for the spaceship sound effects in “The Day The Earth Stood Still” among many other movies.

But the theremin made its way into popular music, thanks to experimental popsters like Brian Wilson. In perhaps his most famous song, at the penultimate moment, a theremin is employed. You know the end of “Good Vibrations”? That electronic whistle of the melody is a theremin (actually a tannerin, a cousin of the theremin).

But what if you want to work backward, and go analog?

You can make your electric guitar, acoustic. You can trade your keyboard for a piano. And your loops for a drum kit.

But how do you have an acoustic theremin?

Sarah Blasko figured out how. She does it with her voice.

It took several listens to be convinced that the theremin sound, is actually Sarah singing. Pretty amazing human recreation.