The Medusa Fora

I've got to write an essay on a singer/musician for my english class, so i obviously picked shane, but which are his preminent features? at first glance, imo:

1)HUGE talent (he's far more than a singer/musician)
2)habits
3)teeth

I know the last 2 are reductive (at best), but the first one can include loads of things...
So, what would you write about him?

"He was drunk, and tears were shed for the famine."

From there I'd play with font size and large margins. Could pad that out to ten pages or so.

Haha I wonder: what would be your thesis statement?

just make stuff up

Buy the book written on him or on the Pogues and quote a lot from them... then explain the quotes. It's what a lot of research papers do.

On a more serious note, you could take the transition from punk to folk as a thesis... you could write a whole book on that... and how that influenced other bands, what it did for folk music, the controversies involved, what it did for Ireland, etc. This might take a lot of research.

Another approach might be to take a couple of songs that he wrote and really analyze them (like just listen over and over), find out the conditions under which he wrote them and why, how he participated with others in writing them, the circumstances of his life then, the sounds of the music in them, the lyrics in them, and so on. You could potentially take one song from an early album (or before the Pogues), one from a later album (or middle of Pogues) and one of their last album or after he left The Pogues. And look at him through his music... how it changed and how he changed through it or along those lines. You could do it with a lot more songs but it may get to be too long and complicated.

One more way, also through songs, could be to take a fast paced/louder song (or a couple fast paced songs) and one or two slow paced/quieter songs and look at how he treats the songs and the music, how he sings in them, why he wrote them, who he wrote them with, who he collaborates in them with and to what degree, and so on, and go with it that way.

While at the car-wash, I thought of a couple more: take just one song (an older song) and look at how he sung it in different conditions: studio and varying live concerts (for example, fairytale in ny he sang with a variety of different people, such as even his own mother), and look up reviews/critics responses to each time he sang the song and what other people had to say and look at his condition at the time he sang the song and how different the song sounded each time and how that related to where he was in his life - how often did he sing it drunk... This could be a little more difficult than others above because you'd have to get pretty creative.

Another idea is just to look through critic's reviews of him and compare what they say and sort of bring out to view the artificial Shane created in other's eyes/minds who don't know him personally and possibly compare that with stuff you find on how he sees his work or how others close to him see it.

Just some suggestions...

thanks Ioana, the idea of analysing songs from different time of Shane's life is great, I think I'll adopt it! it's interesting also because we're concentrating about the relationsdhip between music and literature- how can one influence the other, and if it does exist a meaning WITHIN the music itself, so maybe I might try to consider an instrumental song along with a song "with lyrics", maybe from the same album.
and thank you DzM! I'd thought of considering shane in realtionship with the history of his land, too, but i thought of Birmingham Six, though.

Glad it was of use... if it turns out well and you have the courage for it, post it here as many of us would probably be curious to read it.

Ioana wrote:On a more serious note, you could take the transition from punk to folk as a thesis... you could write a whole book on that... and how that influenced other bands, what it did for folk music, the controversies involved, what it did for Ireland, etc. This might take a lot of research.

Another approach might be to take a couple of songs that he wrote and really analyze them (like just listen over and over), find out the conditions under which he wrote them and why, how he participated with others in writing them, the circumstances of his life then, the sounds of the music in them, the lyrics in them, and so on. You could potentially take one song from an early album (or before the Pogues), one from a later album (or middle of Pogues) and one of their last album or after he left The Pogues. And look at him through his music... how it changed and how he changed through it or along those lines. You could do it with a lot more songs but it may get to be too long and complicated.

One more way, also through songs, could be to take a fast paced/louder song (or a couple fast paced songs) and one or two slow paced/quieter songs and look at how he treats the songs and the music, how he sings in them, why he wrote them, who he wrote them with, who he collaborates in them with and to what degree, and so on, and go with it that way.

While at the car-wash, I thought of a couple more: take just one song (an older song) and look at how he sung it in different conditions: studio and varying live concerts (for example, fairytale in ny he sang with a variety of different people, such as even his own mother), and look up reviews/critics responses to each time he sang the song and what other people had to say and look at his condition at the time he sang the song and how different the song sounded each time and how that related to where he was in his life - how often did he sing it drunk... This could be a little more difficult than others above because you'd have to get pretty creative.

Another idea is just to look through critic's reviews of him and compare what they say and sort of bring out to view the artificial Shane created in other's eyes/minds who don't know him personally and possibly compare that with stuff you find on how he sees his work or how others close to him see it.

Just some suggestions...

why dont you just write it for her?
then she can hand in your essay
and ace it

seriously... that's what i'd do

Benno wrote:why dont you just write it for her?
then she can hand in your essay
and ace it

seriously... that's what i'd do

ha ha Benno. the difference between figuring out a general direction/methodology/framework within which to work and actually making something of quality happen/carrying an idea through is pretty much as great as the distance between heaven and hell. that's where all the work is, in the development. i remember we had this idiotic thesis prep class in grad school... where we were supposed to come out with our big thesis idea way in advance of even beginning to look into the subject. people who ask for that are looking for/interested in the marketing before/instead of the product. a lot of people fall under the impression that if you have a big idea (big meaning simply different than another person's) means that that's it, eureka, you have found it, you're done. i thought it was so retarded... i think i marginally got by, it was such a waste of time. i think i called my thesis an anti-thesis. the thesis could only come out of the actual exploration of the subject. and that's something you do yourself. no one can do it for you, because then, what's the point... it's like asking someone to live your life for you. a person could suggest things for you to try, but they wouldn't want to try them for you because they have their own things that they want to try. and, wouldn't you want to live your own life?

if veggie and ten others take the same suggested methodology (research approach) they will come up with eleven completely different projects and nothing to do with what they started. it would be impossible. it's like that ad on the back of the pancake box where they show you how no two pancakes can look alike. and that's just batter that you pour down in a pan.

i think this represents the difference between how we treat a lot of things in our society, especially the arts... the arts have fallen prey to science in so many ways. there is this impression that newness (simply different) equals greatness, and it's so wrong. it's in the actual craftsmanship and reworking of the material that the greatness comes out of. that's why i like the pogues.

I wouldn't use anything written by others...I'm not a cheater; and remember I'm Italian and I'll never succeed in writing in English as a "native" speaker could, so the trick would be easily found out...
last but not least, writing about Shane is more a pleasure than a work!
anyway, I'm proceeding quite well: I decided to make different blocks, in the sense that the songs I compare share a particular theme.
for example, one may consider Shane in relationship with society and politics (unfortunately, being concentrated on shane and not the other pogues cuts down a lot of wonderful songs, such as thousands are sailing):
I chose The old main drag and Birmingham Six.
then, I chose A pair of brown eyes and London you're a lady as examples of love songs- london you're...is connected with Dark streets of london, too, so I think I might consider Shane and the city: all filled up with extracts from a drink with SMG.
i know it may sound a little obscure, but I've got all in my mind and I think it'd be better when completed than now that I describe ti (or so I hope!)

You really should include The Dunes, perhaps his best lyrics I think. (Except maybe for Old Main Drag)