From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V5 #220 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Sunday, September 10 2000 Volume 05 : Number 220 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: Pulp Culture [Robin Thurlow ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 09 Sep 2000 23:24:52 -0400 From: Robin Thurlow Subject: Alloy: Pulp Culture First of all, I was talking to Dave the other day about how interpreting someone else's artwork is like trying to interpret a dream. I'm mentioning this here because Thomas' work has always struck me as especially dreamlike, though I can't pinpoint exactly why. I think it might have to do with my perception of him as someone who really draws things from a focal point deep within himself, even though he's constantly interacting with the world & seems intuitively very aware of others. The work he does is very much a product of his mind much as dreams are, and in just as pure a form it seems to me, because he is directing the work every step of the way. I'm not sure if I'm saying this very well, but it does have to do with my thoughts on Pulp Culture so I thought I'd give it a try anyway :) Pulp Culture was released on AAMB in 1988 from the point of view of an artist who'd achieved commercial success, and has witnessed firsthand all of the ridiculousness that showbiz can inflict on people. (in fact the whole album feels to me like a statement about commercialism, escapist fantasy, betrayal, grieving, and trying to maintain contact with the past & what's really valuable and solid, as opposed to the stuff that's just a lot of fakery) At the beginning of the song I picture our hero standing on the edge of town overlooking Hollywood, eating candy bar after candy bar. The 'stars' reference covers both the name-brand junk food he's eating and the fact he's just travelled all over Hollywood looking at the 'stars' (celebrities - which he maybe sees as just as empty a pursuit as scarfing down lots of empty calories by the roadside?) The 'not a lot of people there, just an awful lot of cars' line, ie the absence of visible humanity & only being able to see the cars they're driving, suggests that everyone is presenting a rather mechanical, prefabricated image & not their 'true selves'. This also harks back to my feelings on 'Urges' I've just realized - a similar kind of divorce from the reality of being human... only in 'Pulp Culture', the concern seems directed outward - the character is disturbed not so much by his own lack of connection with his true human self, but by not being shown any real humanity by those around him. The refrain: Stale pulp culture take it away new pulp culture help to redefine it old pulp culture day upon day young pulp culture serve to undermine it sham pulp culture buried in time true pulp culture there to be plundered same pulp culture year upon year Hey! pulp culture live to be a hundred sounds like pure hopelessness (but with humor) where the modern idea of 'culture' is concerned - that it's all recycled, artificial, and carries no real weight apart from something that can be manipulated for the sake of draining people's bank accounts and keeping them occupied. I love the line 'shake off that thing, now you've gotten used to it' - in that the moment you think you know what's cool or stylish and you're getting used to things, it's outdated & you have to acclimate all over again. (hmmm, sounds like computer technology to me too.. but anyway!) And advertising will always be there to assure you how indispensable each and every new item is. "Do you really love me girl, I think I know but I want to be sure..." This verse reminds me of two things, the first of which is the seductive power of advertizing, its insistence on the immediate, and how it's shoved at you in as intimate a manner as possible demanding your attention no matter where you turn - the bathroom (filled with appealingly-packaged products on every shelf and surface) the hall (with the television/radio blaring adverts) the kitchen table (where the newspaper is, with its attention-getting ads screaming out from the pages) the wall (billboard advertising, posters, etc) Of course, it also reminds me of lots and lots of fun sex, especially the part about the kitchen table. But he left out the forest, the rocking chair, the back of the sofa, and the roof, so it ends up making me refocus on my advertising interpretation after all. Okay okay... back to the song... :) "Right between your earlobes darling, that's where culture grows..." This verse, along with the line: "then a man ain't a man when he don't understand (...) pulp culture" make me think of how dangerous it is to not be aware of the powers of advertising, and the real truths behind commercialism. If we realise we are the ones who are creating our own culture every minute of the day, then we can decide for ourselves what's is truly valuable to us & what we want our culture to say about us. "From the heart of Poison City out over television land. With a gun." Again, the demands of commercialism, its insistence, and the sense of being given no other choice in our society but be a rabid consumer. That barely scratches the surface of this song really, but this gives an overview of some of the things it's meant to me. Also its style of delivery is part of the story, with people yelling 'headlines' out in the refrain (almost like a cheering section!) Please, everyone, let us know what impressions you've gotten from the song, and what it's meant to you... xx Robin T ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V5 #220 ***************************