December CommQuote

Zadie Smith's philosophical reflections in The New Yorker (December 17 issue) on her journey toward appreciating Joni Mitchell's artistry by way of Tintern Abbey (now you have to read it)  has me thinking for our December quote I should showcase Ms. Mitchell's most famous media lyric, You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio (it was a single if I'm not mistaken, and she doesn't have many of those).  Although Smith's essay, titled "Some Note on Attunement: A Voyage Around Joni Mitchell," is more focused on the album Blue, this song comes from the excellent follow-up, For the Roses. The only reference to media on Blue that comes to mind is mention of television in the devastatingly dark portrait of Richard in The Last Time I Saw Richard (And he drinks at home now most nights with the TV on/And all the house lights left up bright...). So I'll go with this radio song which is a much happier celebration of love--and in this holiday season what's not to broadcast about that?

You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio (Joni Mitchell)

If you're driving into town
With a dark cloud above you
Dial in the number
Who's bound to love you
Oh honey you turn me on
I'm a radio
I'm a country station
I'm a little bit corny
I'm a wildwood flower
Waving for you
Broadcasting tower
Waving for you
And I'm sending you out
This signal here
I hope you can pick it up
Loud and clear
I know you don't like weak women
You get bored so quick
And you don't like strong women
'Cause they're hip to your tricks
It's been dirty for dirty
Down the line
But you know
I come when you whistle
When you're loving and kind
But if you've got too many doubts
If there's no good reception for me
Then tune me out, 'cause honey
Who needs the static
It hurts the head
And you wind up cracking
And the day goes dismal
From "Breakfast Barney"
To the sign-off prayer
What a sorry face you get to wear
I'm going to tell you again now
If you're still listening there
If you're driving into town
With a dark cloud above you
Dial in the number
Who's bound to love you
If you're lying on the beach
With the transistor going
Kick off the sand cause honey
The love's still flowing
If your head says forget it
But your heart's still smoking
Call me at the station
The lines are open

Remember, you can access The New Yorker from Penn Libraries e-resources.

April CommQuote

So Goyte, that Belgian-Australian multi-instrumental musician/singer-songwriter with the smash worldwide hit "Somebody That I Used to Know" also has a "media song" that I heard him talk rather   intelligently about with David Dye on a recent World Cafe. The song is his favorite from the album, Making Mirrors.

"State Of The Art"

When the Cotillion arrived
We threw out the television
Model D 575
Has custom flute presets
And Harmony-Plus in addition

Now for an arm and a leg
We get three half-dozen beats to choose from
So now we can pretend
That there's an orchestra in the loungeroom

I put the Genie Bass on
So my left hand can play the choir
With 16ft Diapason
And Lowrey's patented Orchestral Symphonizer

Banjo's great on repeat
The kids want to play but they'll have to be patient
The wife can't help tapping her feet
It's a genuine home entertainment revelation

State, state, state, state of the art
(State of the art)
(Hold the phone, it's so)
State, state, state, state of the art
(Listen to the difference!)
State, state, state, state of the art
(By use of a computer)
(Oh my God, it's so)
State, state, state, state of the art

Now we don't want to go out
When we could spend the night at home with the Cotillion
Invite the neighbours around
Start the bossanova beat and limbo from the living to the kitchen

Enjoy the state of the art
The Magic Swing Piano really is astounding
Now we can't tell them apart
But these amazing simulations end up sounding even better than the real thing

State, state, state, state of the art
(State of the art)
(Hold the phone, it's so)
State, state, state, state of the art
(Computer controlled tone colour)
State, state, state, state of the art
(The marriage of music to computers is quite natural)
(Oh my God, it's so)
State, state, state, state of the art
(It is time to hear the results)

(Hold the phone, it's so)
(Oh my God, it's so)

March CommQuote

A lyric from Mark Knopfler off his latest "album" Get Lucky is our feature for this month's quote. The song expresses a simple longing for life as lived before the car and before television. Both are indirectly impugned by the speaker's nostalgia for other forms of leisure.

Before Gas And TV

Before gas and TV
Before people had cars
We'd sit round the fires
Pass around a guitar
Remembering songs
When my daddy was home
He'd play along
On the spoons and a comb

We'd go with the flow
When the weather was fine
Sometimes we'd go
Collecting scrap iron
Then we'd sit round the fires
Pass a bottle of wine
And the tales of the road
Since time out of mind

If heaven's like this
Well, that's okay with me
Where the living is fine
And living is free
If heaven's like this
Well, then here's where I'll be
On the edge of the field
On the edge of the world
Before gas and TV.

--Mark Knopfler (2009, Get Lucky)