Small WordsWord appreciation—some thoughts about writing |
Why do we think it? That big thoughts will not fit in Small words of one sound. —Sandra Dodd, haiku
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For Christmas my husband gave me the first season of Saturday Night Live on DVD. Paul Simon hosted the second show. He just sang and sang and sang, as the format hadn't been settled to the modern musical-guest-does-two-numbers, one at 11:10 or so and one at 11:45.
Art Garfunkle came on to sing The Boxer with him, and they did a verse I didn't know. I couldn't understand the second verse so I went to google, but I thought the words were so simple and common it might be hard to find. I found it, though, with lots of commentary on the when and who and where of previous performances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boxer
Looking at that idea of the very common words, I saw the simplicity of the lyrics, and the beauty of the ideas:
Now the years are rolling by me
They are rocking evenly
I am older than I once was
Younger than I'll be, that's not unusual.
No, it isn't strange
After changes upon changes
We are more or less the same
After changes we are more or less the same
Another Paul Simon song (written with Bruce Woodley) is full of ancient, small words. It was a #1 hit by a group called The Cyrkle.
"Ornament" and "confide" are newer English words ("newer" meaning a few hundred years instead of a thousand). That is some fine use of Iron-Age words.I should have known you'd bid me farewell.
There's a lesson to be learned from this and I learned it very well
Now I know you're not the only starfish in the sea.
If I never hear your name again it's all the same to me.And I think it's gonna be all right.
Yeah, the worst is over,
Now the morning sun is shining like a red rubber ball.You never cared for secrets I'd confide.
For you I'm just an ornament, something for your pride.
Always running, never caring, that's the life you live.
Stolen minutes of your time were all you had to give.And I think it's gonna be all right.
Yeah, the worst is over,
Now the morning sun is shining like a red rubber ball.The story's in the past with nothing to recall.
I've got my life to live and I don't need you at all.
The roller coaster ride we took is nearly at an end.
I bought my ticket with my tears, that's all I'm gonna spend.And I think it's gonna be all right.
Yeah, the worst is over,
Now the morning sun is shining like a red rubber ball.
Marty told a joke in front of several people the other day and I laughed, and he reminded me I was the one who had told it to him. It was:
"What does a Grateful Dead fan say when he's not stoned?"(Just because I've heard it, and I had told it, didn't keep it from being funny. We got it from Ben Lovejoy.)
"This music sucks!"
Perhaps the performances and recordings were unpolished, but some of the lyrics are sterling. So I've brought this as an example of simple Anglo-Saxon English and deep thought. I'm not sure whether the links will come through, but it's from http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/ agdl/atti.html and there's reference to a 14th century poem (among other things).
There's an article that was brought to the Unschooling Discussion list one day, and I linked it and commented on the page SandraDodd.com/judgment. It's about wonder. So is this Grateful Dead song. Sometimes others misjudge why, and how deeply, another might experience wonder. 🙂
Sandra
"I have spent my life seeking all that's still unsung""Attics of My Life"
Words by Robert Hunter; music by Jerry Garcia
In the attics of my life
Full of cloudy dreams unreal
Full of tastes no tongue can know
And lights no eye can see
When there was no ear to hear
You sang to me
I have spent my life
Seeking all that's still unsung
Bent my ear to hear the tune
And closed my eyes to see
When there were no strings to play
You played to me
In the book of love's own dream
Where all the print is blood
Where all the pages are my days
And all my lights grow old
When I had no wings to fly
You flew to me
You flew to me
In the secret space of dreams
Where I dreaming lay amazed
When the secrets all are told
And the petals all unfold
When there was no dream of mine
You dreamed of me
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Easier Said than Done The Essex
My friends all tell me |
Glad All Over
The Dave Clark Five
You say that you love me |
She's a Woman
The Beatles
My love don't give me presents (From French, but 600 years or more ago: presents, peasant, jealous)
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Surfer Girl
The Beach Boys
Little surfer little one ("everywhere" and "together" are long, but they're native English compounds) |
Your Cheatin' Heart
Hank Williams
Your cheatin' heart will make you weep,
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Annie's Song John Denver
You fill up my senses |
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Black is Black
Los Bravos (I know it's inconsistent, but this one looked very cool centered.)
I want my baby back It's gray, it's gray Since she went away, oh, oh What can I do 'Cause I-I-I-I-I I'm feelin' blue If I had my way She'd be there today But she don't intend To see me again, oh, oh What can I do 'Cause I-I-I-I-I I'm feelin' blue I can't choose It's too much to lose My love's too strong, Woa! Maybe if she would come back to me Then it can't go wrong Bad is bad That I feel so sad It's time, it's time That I found peace of mind, oh, oh What can I do 'Cause I-I-I-I-I I'm feelin' blue I can't choose It's too much to lose My love's still strong, Woa Maybe if she would come back to me Then it can't go wrong Black is black I want my baby back It's gray, it's gray Since she went away, oh, oh What can I do 'Cause I-I-I-I-I I'm feelin' blue 'Cause I-I-I-I-I I'm feelin' blue
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Devil Woman
Marty Robbins
I told Mary about us, |
You Really Got Me The Kinks small (or forms of small) AND short! Girl, you really got me goin' You got me so I don't know what I'm doin' Yeah, you really got me now You got me so I can't sleep at night See, don't ever set me free I Can't Stay Mad at You Skeeter Davis
You can make me cry
You can run around
I got mad at you last night
One thing you'll know for sure Note on YouTube (by catman916): The month was September and the year 1963. Skeeter Davis' "I Can't Stay Mad At You," by the song writing team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King, was inspired by Neil Sedaka's "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do." It followed her smash hit, "The End of the World" and was another crossover success, peaking at #7 in 1963. |
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How Do You Do It
Gerry and the Pacemakers
How do you do what you do to me?
Songwriter: Mitch Murray |
Shout a warning unto the nation that the sword of God is raised!"
concerning the song "Pride of Man" by Hamilton Camp. The lyrics are there.
Holy cow.A live performance by Jefferson Starship that was linked there:Except for maybe "terror," "repaid," "nation" and treasure" (give or take), Anglo-Saxon words.
Lo, it uses "lo"!
I've been collecting some things with "small words," and I'll link this from there.
I got a note from Schuyler saying she liked my MySpace song. It's Red Rubber Ball, that I had quoted here as evidence of powerful writing with little Anglo-Saxon words. But the song I'd rather have, and used to have, on My Space, is Sister Hazel's "Change Your Mind." It's the closing song in the movie Bedazzled, which is one of the finest illustrations of self acceptance ever created, and I'm glad Kirby kept pressing me to watch it.
I got to thinking about the lyrics of this song, and it is yet another example of big ideas stated in small words. There are two words I spotted on a once-through that aren't native Germanic, but both of them are used in idiomatic expressions (phrases that come whole), and so it's understandable. One is "state" and one is "seize" (I think Greek and Latin origins, respectively). There might be others; if you find any, let me know, but I think the rest are words that English's grandma had.
Did you ever think there might be another way
To just feel better, just feel better about today
Oh no-
If you never want to have to turn and go away,
You might feel better might feel better if you stay.
Yeah yeah
I bet you haven't heard a word I've said
Yeah yeah
If you've had enough of all your trying
Just give up the state of mind you're in
[Chorus] If you want to be somebody else,Hey hey-
If you're tired of fighting battles with yourself.
If you want to be somebody else
Change your mind, change your mind.
Have you ever danced in the rain or thanked the sun
Just for shining, just for shining o'er the sea?v
Oh no!
Take it all in—the world's a show,
And yeah, you look much better, look much better when you glow.
Yeah yeah
I hope you heard every word I've said.
Yeah yeah
If you've had enough of all your trying
Just give up the state of mind you're in
[Chorus]Hey hey- what ya say we both go and seize the day,
'Cause what's your hurry, what's your hurry anyway?
Yeah yeah
I hope you've heard every word I've said
Yeah yeah
If you've had enough of all your tryin'
Just give up the state of mind you're in:
[Chorus a little different:]
If you want to be somebody else,
If you're tired of losing battles with yourself...
...change your mind.
Get out of your mind, get out of your mind,
Just close your mind.
Older
You're older than you've ever beenAnd now you're even older...
And now you're older still.
Time marches on
And time is still marching on.
This day will soon be at an end
And now it's even sooner...
And now it's sooner still.
—They Might Be Giants
Snippets
Smoke on the waterFire in the sky
Sunshine go away today
I don't feel much like dancin'...
This Billy Joel song was played on The Lyrics Game, and not only are most of the words very short, the rhythm and scansion of this line is glorious, if you can remember the tune to read along with it:
You say your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation—Billy Joel, "Only the Good Die Young"
Too often when people advise others on writing, whether it's a teacher or a parent or a friend, they recommend bigger, longer and more words. I think this is a mistake.
Ernest Hemingway wrote (unfortunately in criticism of another author, but still...)
Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don't know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.Here from Bartleby's, Joyce Kilmer's poem which was a standard for schoolkids to memorize in the early 20th century in the U.S.: http://www.bartleby.com/104/119.html—Ernest Hemingway
119. TreesKilmer was in his 20's when he wrote that, and then died in the first World War at the age of 31.I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Except for the word "intimately," and "poem" which is from Greek, way back, those words were in English since before there was an English—very ancient words. And yet they could be put into a new arrangement in the 20th century that would inspire and last.
Music
English
Connections
Art