Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Minotaur's Song: Issa's Sunday Service #155



Minotaur's Song by The Incredible String Band on Grooveshark 
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This week's selection is by a group that defied categorization: folk, pop, rock, psychedelic,world, gypsy, surreal, you name it, the Incredible String Band has probably done it, at least in passing.  There were a number of similar groups, believe it or not: Pearls Before Swine and Tyrannosaurus Rex (Marc Bolan's T-Rex before the glam) come to mind.



The Minotaur's Song

Straight from the shoulder
I think like a soldier
I know what's right and what's wrong
He knows what's right and what's wrong.

I'm the original discriminating buffalo man
And I'll do what's wrong as long as I can
He'll do what's wrong as long as he can

I live in a labyrinth under the sea
Down in the dark as dark as can be
I like the dark as dark as can be
He likes the dark as dark as can be

I'll even attack you or eat you whole
Down in the dark my bone mills roll
Porridge for my porridge bowl
Porridge for his porridge bowl

I'm strong as the earth from which I'm born
He's strong as the earth from which he's born
I can't dream well because of my horns
He can't dream well because of his horns

Moo

I'm strong as the earth from which I'm born
He's strong as the earth from which he's born
I can't dream well because of my horns
He can't dream well because of his horns

A minotaur gets very sore
His features they are such a bore
His habits are predicta-bull
Aggressively relia-bull, bull, bull

I'm strong as the earth from which I'm born
He's strong as the earth from which he's born
I can't dream well because of my horns
He can't dream well because of his horns

I'm the original discriminating buffalo man
And I'll do what's wrong as long as I can
He'll do what's wrong as long as he can




I'm not quite sure why, but listening to this particular number I got to thinking about another tune. So, if you've made it this far, here's your treat:



 
 
 
Trying to get back on track, I somehow got it in my head that Ray Harryhausen had created a minotaur and so went searching. He did, in fact, create a Golden Minotaur in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger; said GM can be found doing some yeoman rowing in the following wonderful compilation of Harryhausen creatures:

 
 
 

The original Minotaur story can be found in Ovid's Metamorphoses. There is the connection between Daedalus and the Minotaur (he and Icarus built the labyrinth) ; unexpectedly, while listening to mp3s on the way to work, Anne Sexton came up, reading her poem that alludes to that connection:


To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Triumph

Consider Icarus, pasting those sticky wings on,
testing that strange little tug at his shoulder blade,
and think of that first flawless moment over the lawn
of the labyrinth. Think of the difference it made!
There below are the trees, as awkward as camels;
and here are the shocked starlings pumping past
and think of innocent Icarus who is doing quite well.
Larger than a sail, over the fog and the blast
of the plushy ocean, he goes. Admire his wings!
Feel the fire at his neck and see how casually
he glances up and is caught, wondrously tunneling
into that hot eye. Who cares that he fell back to the sea?
See him acclaiming the sun and come plunging down
while his sensible daddy goes straight into town.  


~ Anne Sexton 

So the lesson I suppose is that when you write a poem for your friend, a fellow poet, it's a fine thing to allude to her most famous poem in the last line.  

Or maybe not.

It sure is a wonderful life ...


------------------


Art by Kuniyoshi Ishiyakushi





cherry blossoms scatter--
even the devil in me
has lost his horns 
 Issa
 translated by David G. Lanoue 




best,
Don
   

Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 155 songs
  

5 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

Interestingly, it reminded me very quickly of the Lumberjack song as well.

littlemancat said...

This was fun. And I agree with you and Charles, the Lumberjack song popped right to the surface. Perhaps the "manly" style of singing with the repeat chorus?
Mary Ahearn

Lyle Daggett said...

I haven't listened to as much of the Incredible String Band as I've had a notion to do over the years. Still on my list...

Meanwhile, trying to remember the title of the Ray Bradbury story in which one of the characters is supposed to have been based (loosely, or partly) on Ray Harryhausen.

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Well, Charles and Mary, it wasn't me - besides yourselves, a couple of people have emailed me that they feel the connection, too. Thanks.

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Lyle:

From Bradbury's obituary in Variety magazine:

"In 1953, two Bradbury-based films hit movie theaters. "It Came from Outer Space" was based on his screen treatment "Atomic Monster"; "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" featured one scene based on Bradbury's "The Fog Horn," about a sea monster mistaking the sound of a foghorn for a female's mating cry. Ray Harryhausen, a close friend of Bradbury's, created the stop-motion animation of the creature. (Bradbury returned the favor: His short story "Tyrannosaurus Rex" concerns a stop-motion animator who strongly resembles Harryhausen; later, Bradbury appeared in the 2011 documentary "Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan.")"

With the Incredible String Band, you can't go wrong with the first two albums. There is another song for the Sunday Service on one of them, also.

Don