Tupelo Money

[twitcher73]

Jay Farrar lives in a house made of mud and sticks that he built himself. There he sits on his dirt floor, composing songs on guitars that he’s built from the remnants of many splintered canoes. He drinks water from a hand-formed clay cup that he fashioned from the earth. His children were born at home and they do not have shoes or toys. They sleep beneath blankets of spiderweb, and Jay continues to toil away, making the music and burning the money. Sometimes Jay signals for his friend Brian to come and join him, and together they set fire to the money to keep their families warm. The music is sweet and beautiful and air smells like charred $50 dollar bills.

That wasn't in letter form. Just saying...

Yeah - that sounded like such a good idea at 8am.
Alas ... Admittedly - I'm touched that you're paying that much attention. Perhaps I should utilize spell-check and avoid misplaced modifiers and/or dangling participles?

Or dangling prepositions as well...



can you dangle a participle?

[dEvRoNiKa]

Jay Farrar lives in a house made of mud and sticks that he built himself. There he sits on his dirt floor, composing songs on guitars that he’s built from the remnants of many splintered canoes. He drinks water from a hand-formed clay cup that he fashioned from the earth. His children were born at home and they do not have shoes or toys. They sleep beneath blankets of spiderweb, and Jay continues to toil away, making the music and burning the money. Sometimes Jay signals for his friend Brian to come and join him, and together they set fire to the money to keep their families warm. The music is sweet and beautiful and air smells like charred $50 dollar bills.

That wasn't in letter form. Just saying...

Yeah - that sounded like such a good idea at 8am.
Alas ... Admittedly - I'm touched that you're paying that much attention. Perhaps I should utilize spell-check and avoid misplaced modifiers and/or dangling participles?

[Lawrence Fan]

Jay Farrar lives in a house made of mud and sticks that he built himself. There he sits on his dirt floor, composing songs on guitars that he’s built from the remnants of many splintered canoes. He drinks water from a hand-formed clay cup that he fashioned from the earth. His children were born at home and they do not have shoes or toys. They sleep beneath blankets of spiderweb, and Jay continues to toil away, making the music and burning the money. Sometimes Jay signals for his friend Brian to come and join him, and together they set fire to the money to keep their families warm. The music is sweet and beautiful and air smells like charred $50 dollar bills.

That wasn't in letter form. Just saying...

[dEvRoNiKa]

You can see Monica down by the river evry morning beating their tattered clothing against the rocks. Brings a tear to my eye.

I think he wrote a song about it.

[Sticky]

You can see Monica down by the river evry morning beating their tattered clothing against the rocks. Brings a tear to my eye.

[dEvRoNiKa]

Jay Farrar lives in a house made of mud and sticks that he built himself. There he sits on his dirt floor, composing songs on guitars that he’s built from the remnants of many splintered canoes. He drinks water from a hand-formed clay cup that he fashioned from the earth. His children were born at home and they do not have shoes or toys. They sleep beneath blankets of spiderweb, and Jay continues to toil away, making the music and burning the money. Sometimes Jay signals for his friend Brian to come and join him, and together they set fire to the money to keep their families warm. The music is sweet and beautiful and air smells like charred $50 dollar bills.

[twitcher73]

Are there even any huge "newer" bands anymore? Rich from strictly selling records? U2 and REM and Madonna can still pull in the dough, but they got their start in the 80s when it seemed like a successful artist had some lasting power. Today, IMO, it seems like you get your 15 minutes of fame, unless you use a musical career to launch into acting or some other medium (I call this Hootie-itis). No lasting power. Flash in the pan, except to a handful of dedicated fans...

[Sticky]

Jay works for free. He does it for the love of music.

chris

[dEvRoNiKa]

I like how it seems people are generally willing to support an artist if they’re not already sitting on giant stacks of cash, but unwilling to if they are doing well and are very successful. I’m not any less inclined to buy U2 records than when I bought Boy, October , or War. I’m no less inclined to buy REM records because they’re filthy rich. I still like their work, regardless of how big their houses are or if they’re swimming in platinum diamond encrusted pools full of Cristal. Because they’re able to exist on music and not having to carry dry-wall, doesn’t mean I feel less supportive of the art, or the artist. Who are we to determine how much is “enough”? Where does this glass ceiling of fame and money come from? What if your employer paid you $20 bucks an hour for a job you are good at. A few years later, you have your review, you’re still kicking ass and making sacrifices to be a good worker, but your boss decides that they’ve really paid you enough for this job. He tells you to “Keep working. Work HARDER! But don’t expect to be paid for it. DANCE MONKEY! DANCE!!”

[twitcher73]

Twitch,

You make a solid point, I must admit. I'm not saying that I think that U2 should give their product away, but I don't feel obligated to support them (financially) like I do another band. Although I recently went to a U2 show and paid for the tickets and all, I didn't feel like I needed to buy any officially licensed merchandise. When I see a band barely scraping by, however, I will buy as much of their stuff as I can afford. It isn't the most principled position, I suppose, but I feel like it is still justifiable at times--and even though I do it, I agree that it isn't best for consumers to decide how much is "enough" for an artist to earn. I have decided that U2 have earned enough and that Jay deserves more than he has so far received (even though I don't know how much he makes or had made in his career). I do see this as a problem when it comes to all of the other artists who fall somewhere between these two relatively extreme examples.

Murphy - I kind see what you're saying, and I probably do the same thing without thinking about it. If it came down to deciding which place to "invest" my money, chances are I'm going to support the underdog in order to help them out. Sorry if I thought you were insinuating something different. I just know a lot of folks who think that because a band is succesful, they are no longer obligated to pay for the band's products, but feel the band/artist shouldn't get angry about music pirating or whatever.

[calexico]

I reckon a lot of us would be the same way Murph...I certainly do not feel the need to add any more money to REM's coffers but I would buy anything from an artist I really like who might be struggling a little to make the cut.

[Murphy]

Twitch,

You make a solid point, I must admit. I'm not saying that I think that U2 should give their product away, but I don't feel obligated to support them (financially) like I do another band. Although I recently went to a U2 show and paid for the tickets and all, I didn't feel like I needed to buy any officially licensed merchandise. When I see a band barely scraping by, however, I will buy as much of their stuff as I can afford. It isn't the most principled position, I suppose, but I feel like it is still justifiable at times--and even though I do it, I agree that it isn't best for consumers to decide how much is "enough" for an artist to earn. I have decided that U2 have earned enough and that Jay deserves more than he has so far received (even though I don't know how much he makes or had made in his career). I do see this as a problem when it comes to all of the other artists who fall somewhere between these two relatively extreme examples.

[calexico]

If we had the technology we have now back when October first came out, would they have gotten the same level of success?

God, wouldn't have that been sweet?

[twitcher73]

Jay, to me, is today's working class hero like Lennon was in the 1970s.
mmd

Nothing about John Lennon makes me think "working class"... Maybe a very YOUNG John...

[twitcher73]

I have no idea either, but I sort of take offense with the notion that it is none of our business. Of course it is. We're consumers and fans. In the current industry, we have a lot of choices about how we go about buying music and otherwise supporting musicians (and, hell, art altogether, I guess). Let me give you an example. I always buy original copies of Jay's recordings because I figure an artist like him needs and deserves the support. I always try to see him live whenever I can for the same reason. I will also try to spend a few bucks at the venue (on beer mostly, but on food, merchandise, etc., too) in an effort to support the whole production from bartender to musician. I don't try to sneak in without a ticket, smuggle in a flask, or any of that b.s.

However, I might get a burned copy of a U2 album from a friend and never think twice about whether that decision will affect the ability of U2 to continue to make music. In addition, I'd sure as hell try to find a way to see the show for free if possible. When I'm at such a show I feel no obligation whatsoever to further support the venue or to buy merchandise, blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, if Jay were a multimillionaire, I might consume his music differently, that's all. Its not like anyone is asking what he had for breakfast or whether he clips coupons or anything of that sort.

Agreed with you about half way through that, Murph... I don't think though, that a band transitions from selling their art as a commodity to producing it for free mass consumption just because they've become succesful. Either art should be free OR it should be sold - not one THEN the other based on record sales. Sure, I think Metallica are a bunch of wads for pulling their anti-piracy / Napster suits a few years ago, but they had every right to do it. I know Henneman's been around here talking about how at one time he could live off his music, but not so easily anymore. A dude like that gets hurt when someone decides "well, he's well enough off, it wouldn't hurt to just burn this CD from a friend." Not the caliber of U2, but I think the principle is the same. If they make millions, they've done so because they created a product that people are buying. If we had the technology we have now back when October first came out, would they have gotten the same level of success? (Not sure - its kind of rhetorical)...

Anyway, just my opinion