Sunday, June 15, 2008

comments on comments

Several comments came in (both on site and off) about my mention of Billy Bragg's referencing a quote of someone else (whose name is escaping me) about artists and sex. Specifically, he was referring to their propensity to 'have their hands down the front of their trousers,' and how Woodie Guthrie's work (whose archives Bragg had mined) was rife with euphemism, innuendo and sexual metaphor. Bragg's song "Sexuality" is all about his own love of wild abandon in whatever form he chooses (from the lyrics, I'd assume he's bisexual but the whole point of the songs is against labeling). Procreate...create...a lot of the same energy! and I imagine somebody has written a proper book about it.
Speaking of books, my weekend has been bookended by reading. En route to the tail end of tshe North Beach Festival (a serious zoo), I picked up a signed copy of Michael Ondaatje's Divasadero which I've already read but am rereading because, as a writer, he's got sensuality down better than most. Fittingly, I ended the evening at Cafe Zoetrope, which I always somehow forget about but enjoy thoroughly (both the cafe and the magazine). On another note, I thought it was interesting that today's NY Times coverage of commencement speeches featured a photo of SF mayor Gavin Newsom. He didn't address his sex drive, but instead failure, and how it's the best route to success. Other words were gleaned from speeches by Obama, Jessica Lange and CK Rowling....

2 comments:

Karen said...

Ok, forget the sex part. My real question is how does Bragg define "true artist?"

Bird in the Tree said...

ahah, he didn't define it per se, something to the affect of any artist 'worth his salt.' ...my two cents-an artist does his or her art no matter what.