Is it just me...?

[18thofMay]

Don't worry, I have a few more theories that I'll get around to posting eventually. You guys ever wonder what He Gives Speeches is about? Hopefully It'll inspire some good complaints for you to read.

It does come across somewhat that you seem to be the only person EVER to look at the lyrics of SMiLE. Van Dyke wrote them you understand that dont you?

[Dunderhead]

Don't worry, I have a few more theories that I'll get around to posting eventually. You guys ever wonder what He Gives Speeches is about? Hopefully It'll inspire some good complaints for you to read.

It does come across somewhat that you seem to be the only person EVER to look at the lyrics of SMiLE. Van Dyke wrote them you understand that dont you?

wait really? I thought they were written by Al Capone.

obligatory "just kidding" emoticon: 

[hypehat]

Don't worry, I have a few more theories that I'll get around to posting eventually. You guys ever wonder what He Gives Speeches is about? Hopefully It'll inspire some good complaints for you to read.

Funnily enough..... http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,9840.0.html

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I'd like to weigh in on this issue if possible.

I really don't understand the issue that many of you are taking with Fishmonk's analysis. This is not to say, necessarily, that I agree with Fishmonk's analysis or his way of making it. But the charge that he is "reading too deeply" into the lyrics sounds like the response a first year undergraduate would make regarding a literature course. Yes, there is such a thing of reading things wrong - one can't say, for instance, that The Canterbury Tales is a critique on rampant capitalism, for instance, since there was no capitalism to critique in Chaucer's time. But to say that someone is reading too far into something is merely a meaningless rhetorical trick that you say (either consciously or unconsciously) when you don't have anything to say at all.

Furthermore, there has been far too much weight placed on what the original authors (Parks or Wilson) intended. Yes, Parks's interpretation on his own lyrics might be useful but we can't take that as the be all and end all. At the end of the day, Parks's interpretation is just that - another perspective. In fact, great works often tell us lots of things that weren't intended by the authors. Take, for example, Alexander Pope's mock epic poem The Rape of the Lock. Pope's intention (as far as we know it) was to mock the trivial behaviour of the English elite that was taken much more seriously than it ought to have been. Fair enough. But the poem also reveals how obsessed the British were with reason and logic - an obsession that at the same time produced philosophers like Descartes, Locke, etc. Pope himself was prey to this obsession - otherwise he wouldn't have found the behaviour he describes in the poem to be as problematic as he does. Now the poem says nothing about this - nor was it Pope's desire to reveal this. Nevertheless, the poem does reveal it. Works of art do LOTS of things that fall beyond the creator's intention. And, yes, we can believe, as Lewis Carroll did, that "Jabberwocky" was made to show people how to not write a poem. But that takes all the fun out of it - personally, what's I like about "Jabberwocky" is all the fun things it does with language - how it shows that language is not merely restricted to traditional words with traditional meanings. I suppose what I'm saying is, the minute we simply say that "Jabberwocky" is nonsense and we should leave it at that, is the minute we deprive ourselves of the fun we could really be having with the poem.

And to be honest, I think we should be encouraging that kind of fun or at least working with it, rather than simply dismissing it, which, as far as I'm concerned, is far more troubling than reading too deeply into things.

[the captain]

I don't think it's just the lyrical analysis. It's as much, or more, this:

Me too. I'm also getting a bit annoyed that SMiLE is the only thing people want to talk about. I know that this board was originally meant to be mostly about SMiLE and Smiley Smile, but those aren't the only two albums that the group released in their career. 

You know? Twenty concurrent threads mostly about the same thing. I know people are excited. That's great and all. But not everyone is equally into it. That's all. If some people are, fine. Not everyone is. Speaking only for myself, I am glad, but only in passing. Had this happened 10 years ago I'd have probably shat myself. Instead, yeah, I'll buy the box set (or whatever the music product ends up being), but I'm not excited to rehash the rest at the moment. I remain a fan. Just not an excited (or excitable?) one.

[Dunderhead]

I don't think it's just the lyrical analysis. It's as much, or more, this:

Me too. I'm also getting a bit annoyed that SMiLE is the only thing people want to talk about. I know that this board was originally meant to be mostly about SMiLE and Smiley Smile, but those aren't the only two albums that the group released in their career. 

You know? Twenty concurrent threads mostly about the same thing. I know people are excited. That's great and all. But not everyone is equally into it. That's all. If some people are, fine. Not everyone is. Speaking only for myself, I am glad, but only in passing. Had this happened 10 years ago I'd have probably shat myself. Instead, yeah, I'll buy the box set (or whatever the music product ends up being), but I'm not excited to rehash the rest at the moment. I remain a fan. Just not an excited (or excitable?) one.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I personally can go really long periods of time without thinking about SMiLE, and before this recent stuff I hadn't really listened to any of it in like a year.
But really the announcement only came less than two weeks ago, so it's caused a lot of new excitement and a burst of people going back and enjoying music that they hadn't been listening to recently.
I don't think there's anything wrong with it, discussion is going to wax and wane with each new bit of information up until the release. If you don't want to participate in those discussions, just don't go in those threads.

[the captain]

I don't, either (think there is anything wrong with it) and, in case you didn't notice, I haven't (gone into those threads).

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I don't, either (think there is anything wrong with it) and, in case you didn't notice, I haven't (gone into those threads).

Well, to be fair, you were quoting someone who does think there's something wrong with it.

And, to be honest, I really don't understand such a position. I mean, I have no interest in posting in Justin Bieber forums, but I don't waste much of my time being irate about the fact that they exist. I really don't think there is much to the point either that the only thing people are talking about is Smile. Yes, those threads are dominating (and, remember, this message board is directly related to another board that no longer exists that functioned to deal specifically with Smile) but there have been other threads on other topics that have received attention. So, again, I don't quite understand the nature of the reaction.

[the captain]

Most of this reaction isn't mine. I don't much care--just friggin' around. Though you'd have to quickly see the difference between 1) Beach Boys fans not being fond of excessive retreading of one sliver of Beach Boys lore on a Beach Boys message board and 2) non-Justin Bieber fans posting on a Justin Bieber message board. That was a pretty bad analogy.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Most of this reaction isn't mine.

Which is why I was referring to your quote, not you. This is made crystal clear in the above post.

I don't much care--just friggin' around. Though you'd have to quickly see the difference between 1) Beach Boys fans not being fond of excessive retreading of one sliver of Beach Boys lore on a Beach Boys message board and 2) non-Justin Bieber fans posting on a Justin Bieber message board. That was a pretty bad analogy.

That's because you don't understand the analogy. I didn't say a single word about "non-Justin Bieber fans posting on a Justin Bieber message board". I agree if I was making such an analogy, it might not be that good.

I'm eager to see what you think the difference is between being uninterested in posting in Smile threads and being uninterested in posting in Justin Bieber threads. Is the one example of "uninterestedness" qualitatively or quantitatively different than the other example of "uninterestedness"? If so, how might you even begin to explain that difference? Keeping in mind that explaining that difference is the only way to show how the analogy is bad.

[the captain]

Oy vey. I've officially lost interest.

[Dunderhead]

We've lost interest in the thread about not being interested in smile.

[Jay]

This thread that I started has gone in so many different ways. I'm simultaneously amused, confused, delighted, and disgusted. But oddly proud. 

[bgas]

We've lost interest in the thread about not being interested in smile.

Et Tu, Brute?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Problem I had with Flashmink was mainly that he consistently implied that his lyrical analysis was the only possible explanation, even when it was patently ludicrous.

[18thofMay]

Problem I had with Flashmink was mainly that he consistently implied that his lyrical analysis was the only possible explanation, even when it was patently ludicrous.

I agree 100%

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

[pixletwin]

 

[Dunderhead]

Problem I had with Flashmink was mainly that he consistently implied that his lyrical analysis was the only possible explanation, even when it was patently ludicrous.

The king has spoken. All praise the king.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Problem I had with Flashmink was mainly that he consistently implied that his lyrical analysis was the only possible explanation, even when it was patently ludicrous.

The king has spoken. All praise the king.

Don't like the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

[Dunderhead]

Problem I had with Flashmink was mainly that he consistently implied that his lyrical analysis was the only possible explanation, even when it was patently ludicrous.

The king has spoken. All praise the king.

Don't like the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

Yes my Lord.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Don't you have something more useful to do, like analyze Justin Beiber songs or masturbate to pictures of Rush Limbaugh?

[Dunderhead]

Billy C is the coolest

[Andrew G. Doe]

Well, duh ! on me.

Ladies and gentlemen, pray join me in welcoming back... Nobody !

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Yup...I wanted to be the first one in outing him, though

So, a member has been banned (more than once) and comes back under a different name. Hmmm...what to do...what to do...