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Friday, July 10, 2009

who knows if the moon's a balloon

What would e.e. cummings have thought of having his poetry set to music? Chances are he'd be pretty pissed, and I wouldn't blame him. I think there are few if any composers who can match his avant garde and satirical style. It's my humble opinion that Dominic Argento comes pretty close. Don't take my word for it, though. Also, try to ignore the singer, if you can.



who knows if the moon's
a balloon,coming out of a keen city
in the sky--filled with pretty people?
(and if you and i should

get into it,if they
should take me and take you into their balloon,
why then
we'd go up higher with all the pretty people

than houses and steeples and clouds:
go sailing
away and away sailing into a keen
city which nobody's ever visited,where

always
it's
Spring)and everyone's
in love and flowers pick themselves

- e.e. cummings

5 comments:

Samantha said...

GAH! Could we be more alike?? I have been in love with e. e. cummings since high school. Have you heard the Bjork song "Sonnets/Unrealities XI" from Medulla? An e. e. cummings poem. I never thought about it that he might not like his stuff set to music- why do you say so?

Suzie said...

Is this stupid file even playing for you?!?! I've been messing with it for 2 hours!

Suzie said...

A lot of great artists I've known or followed have HATED when their work is taken out of context or poorly adapted to another medium. One example is Alan Moore, who refuses to watch the film adaptations of "V for Vendetta" and "Watchmen." I guess I would just put e.e. cummings in the same category given his genius unconventional nature. What do you think? What if Britney Spears wanted to set his poems to music? Would he view Bjork and Dominic Argento in a different light than Britney? I can only speculate . . .

Unknown said...

This sounds familiar...

Suzie said...

Brianne, shhhh!!! (And whatever you do, don't listen to Patrice Michaels and compare . . . I might just die.)