This old clotheshorse is interested in Tom Wait's use of music as an exploration of self. Interesting to take this a step further and to consider the self in the Apocalypse. Thus goes Angela Jones paper of Bone Machine:
Musical Apocalypse: Tom Waits’ Bone Machine
"As a popular musical re-presentation of apocalypse, Bone Machine, like Derrida’s
apocalyptic tone, can be understood as registering an idea of the apocalyptic as process
and movement, wherein the act of revelation is conceived as a continual, often turbulent
and confusing, unveiling. The result is an understanding of apocalypse which is not
simply an ending to a narrative trajectory, nor which relies on genre-specific imagery or
themes; on the contrary, Bone Machine’s apocalyptic tone constantly disrupts and
destabilizes the eschatological visions and imagery detailed in the lyrics, drawing
attention back to itself as a revelatory gesture which nonetheless obscures as much as it
reveals. I believe that Bone Machine can be interpreted as offering a popular musical
perspective on the apocalypse, thus opening up new and subversive ways of engaging
with this seemingly timeless (and tireless) cultural theme..."
For other clotheshorses with courage, read on:
No comments:
Post a Comment