Oh boy. I’ve been very preoccupied with this one. I feel like I always talk about this. It’s only because it have adopted the firm belief at this point in my life that in fact the art and the artist cannot be separated. Some may cite, for example, the Nazi affiliations of great thinkers like Ezra Pound or Heidegger. I don’t believe this is cause for isolation of factors: it is cause for deeper, more critical, and more complex examination. Art isn’t complicated, beautiful or meaningful intrinsically. It is so because the people who create it are also that way.
So I’ll put aside the interaction of character and creation. How did Zappa’s personality affect his work and legacy? His workaholic nature was both a blessing and a burden. There is no doubt that we would not have had nearly the same sheer bulk of material to amount to a legacy. The fact that he constantly drank coffee, smoked cigarettes, loved work and music and despised rest and leisure meant he produced dozens upon dozens of unique albums for fans to enjoy. The unavoidable bigotry inherent to the times and his heritage, both patriarchal, meant the messages in his work were convoluted head-scratchers, trying to get at something, an opinion or a solution. His treatment of women in songs like The Illinois Enema Bandit may be unconscionable but at least he’s trying to work through some inner problem with that phenomenon. Songs like that sabotaged the songs where his message was better executed, and his personality itself would be further sabotage. Rather than admit that he wasn’t sure about some things, he preferred to say it was all a joke, something to be laughed at, or that it was stupid, or wasn’t supposed to mean anything.
If I’ve learned anything from studying men like Zappa, it’s that if you don’t have something nice to say, say something anyway. Negative aspects of personality or reality should not be hidden, because they are a part of you. Personal expression in all forms is of ultimate importance.
No comments:
Post a Comment