Confusion Becomes a Philosophy

Lisa Whiteman keeps a blog. I discovered it on May 12, 2003, and I have enjoyed it everyday since. How many days is that?

Lisa is certainly one of my favorite writers of all time—perhaps my very favorite—right up there with Walt Whitman, Ernest Hemingway, and Art Dudley.

In a recent e-mail, Lisa asked if I’d heard the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
"I’ve been trying not to," I responded, "but it’s getting kind of hard."

I have something against bands with long, action verb names. There’s a thing going around, it seems, these days. And when I catch onto something that seems like a trend—especially in music—I tend to run away. I miss out on a lot of things, but I imagine I also save a lot of time, energy, and money. Like with fashion, I want to know that whatever I’m buying into will last me through the next season, at least. There are way too many pairs of ugly jeans out there. I gather the same holds true for audio components. I mean, tell me if I'm wrong, but it seems there are also trends in high-end audio that shouldn't simply be blindly followed.

But Lisa told me not to be scared away by the name. She said I should give them a chance. And so, I’ve been listening to them this morning.

Well, I liked it. Immediately. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah isn’t like an old pair of Levi’s that you’ve worn for years, that have gone with you on trips across the street and trips across the ocean, that have changed with you over time. But maybe they’re like a pair of Club Monacos that are already perfectly broken-in, with a great new vintage wash.

This metaphor sucks. And so does their name. But the music is good. Will I be listening to them next season? I don’t know. Probably not. But they were good for this morning.

Thanks.

Their website is really nice, too, by the way.

COMMENTS
Stephen Mejias's picture

Well, if both you and Lisa love them so much, then I guess I'm going to love them, too. I just have to get over their mother of pearl name. Just thinking of typing their name makes me mad. I started to type it out in initials, but that just made me think about their name harder, and made me even more mad.GRR. I'm MAD.But I love you.

eden's picture

MAD - mothers against disasterouslylongbandnames?mother of pearl is right. but they do nothing but make me want to dance so i can't hate on them too hard.i love you too sir shittlesworth!

Newbilong's picture

hey yeah, Art Dudley is one of my favourite literary figures too -- up there with Herman Melville and William Faulkner. I'm still rereading his Christmas piece from last year. Again and again and again.ps great blog

Stephen Mejias's picture

Hi Newbilong.Thanks so much for reading and commenting.Yeah, you've touched on the exact reason why I love Art's writing so much; not only is it beautiful and human, but it stands the test of time. It endures, and keeps you coming back.Really awesome.Thanks again.

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