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Show -- vwwwgw vm . TWWMwl.'.." Si&iirtf-rrV- WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2015 PUNK DIXIESUNNEWS. COM-9- - Smith-Lahrma- continued from Page 7 Kirkwood from Meat Puppets II to No Joke!, he has set out to do what no rock and roll scholar has before: to give Kirkwoods lyrics a close reading, classifying the images, symbols and ironies that surface in the songs in order to explore articulate their thematic meanings. Published earlier this year after more than a decade s work, The Meat Puppets and the Lyrics of Curt Kirkwood narrows in on the nine albums that the bands original lineup the two and Bostrom made together between 1983 and 1995. Writing in an exceptionally clear and thorough manner, n examines each album in chronological succession. The songs are interpreted, he explains, in the order in which they were made available to the and Kirk-woo- ds Smith-Lahrma- public. A n forts, provides insights about the history of each albums creation along with information about the band members experiences outside of the studio, ranging from their friendship with Nirvana to Cris Kirkwoods devastating heroin addiction, and how these experiences contributed to Meat Puppets evolving sound. Through the process of writing the book, as well, he interviewed the original Puppets extensively, and he quotes from these talks liberally, which, in turn, broadens our understanding not only of how Curt went about the bands writing songs and lyrics but also what meanings the lyrics may or may not have. In a telling passage, Bostrom reveals that Curt never would cop to meaning anything in his material. We used to have jokes on what the songs might be about. And usually they werent really about anything so much as just very basic imagery. He was very into Shakespeare. What he got off of Shakespeare was the notion that language could stand on itself with or without meaning, that it could have a lyricism apart from concrete meaning, and obviously he was liberated by that. it has to be noted, never claims that his interpretations are definitive. Instead, he admits candidly that Curt Kirkwoods language is so often oblique that it infers rather than declares and that it is open to multiple, even contradictory readings. All the same, one leaves this book with a better sense of what Curt Kirkwood has achieved as a songwriter and a better understanding of what hes said through his music and verse. The Meat Pup characteristic example of the authors exegetical approach comes through in his reading of Scum, from the original bands final release, No Joke!. For the readers benefit, he includes the lyrics in their entirety, and then unpacks them piecemeal. For instance, of the songs refrain which reads Under the stone We find the scum Under the stars We find the n scum explains that The use of the word scum is a provocative term suggesting ... that people and the beauty of the Earth under the stars are no more grandiose than the world of things under rocks ... Curts use of scum plays upon the negative or derogatory meaning of the term. This is what makes it provocative. He could have used antelope or jelly beans or puffy white clouds to make his point about people being no more or less important than everything else, but he uses scum. Because scum is seen as something people dont want to be, the term connotes nastiness and grossness. To suggest that we are no different than scum is to point out the arbitrariness of our classifications of beautiful and ugly. In addition to his interpretive ef Smith-Lahrma- Smith-Lahrma- Sprang cheeses mash syfotde flavors, a&mas bharp cheese, bland wine is'ii'it: .iiW'.i.j,' . c. ? I jg cWe-.V? 1 la.i I p; h ' .1 a . ,I 8 .li rUfiA I .ni !:ii : r.nf iVu-.nv- ; Checs5 - 0 ! i xi . o :j lj :: o r: Ago: Air:rin,ir n, ! I s GarrprirDj 2 - flhirnrmbirl - Pntn - pets and the Lyrics of Curt Kirkwood from Meat Puppets II k: or nrd: I & . Eery - fioi.rroinn - Anlrnnrr.v fcvnr to No Joke! is f written by Matthew Smith- Lahrman. The book was published by i 1 0m U .A I . 1 His Rowman Littlefield this & V year. jr jr &&. - - (AM ME? ijtcJ,;,1 ' jl JJil iLi 0 J J i: 1 I Tji jz6J.I ijESEPEIS (-V- hd!V ijA'jphy 1 jiJ ri.W tUiitl El eOII V 7 Eiiis ! ij-j-; iir 4iiife Jy 'i . ii-i- hi Bill is liliis Si ? 0 Ji;ip jAl J d "finally uilliJfjlsj plitui'w suuilutsi dkiKiliij 'il iiiEi y; ( 1 1 J 1: |