Experiment

[velvetpage]

I've been singing along to my Delovely CD quite a bit the last few days. One song, one that grabbed my imagination and has held on tooth and nail through every distraction for two weeks, is finally percolating through to the point where I can think about it.

The song is called "Experiment", and it's sung on the CD by Kevin Kline. (As an aside, I love his voice in everything I've ever heard him sing, but especially this CD. It's perfect for this type of music.) The prelude section of the song sounds like a lecture given to graduating students, and talks about doing what all good scientists do:

You all have learned reliance
on the sacred teachings of science,
so I hope to life you never will decline,
In spite of philistine defiance,
Do what all good scientists do:

Experiment
Make it your motto day and night,
Experiment
And it will lead you to the light.
The apple on the top of the tree
Is never too high to achieve,
So take an example from Eve,
Experiment!

Be curious
Though interfering friends may frown,
Get furious
At each attempt to hold you down,
If this advice you always employ,
The future can offer you infinite joy
And merriment!
Experiment,
And you will see.


I loved it at first for the breadth of melody and the movement of it. It's just generally a catchy tune. Then I got to thinking about the words (because, as a singer, I'm simply not able to separate melody from lyrics. I sit through band programs at church, singing the hymns that they base the pieces on. It's just what I do.) What the song does is set up science as a new religion. It uses Biblical imagery, mostly in a positive way. The part that made me take notice was the line about Eve. Let me get this straight: I'm supposed to take an example from the person who brought sin into the world and caused the fall from grace of mankind? It sounds like the composer is poking very sly fun at the new religiosity of the scientific community. I love it.

I love the whole song, but that line suggests to me that I'm meant to take it with a grain of salt. Nothing is perfect, and experimentation as a way of life has its own inherent problems, just as living by a rigid moral code brings with it certain issues.

In any case, i can't imagine myself not humming it constantly for the next few weeks, as well. It's engraved on my psyche now, a part of my mental culture, and that's just where I want it to be.

Comments

[inner-linbo.livejournal.com]

Cole Porter and religion is an interesting topic. On one hand you have songs like "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" which would fit well at a revival meeting (you can find the lyrics on this page (http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Balcony/5705/Anything.html)).

And in the same musical you have the song "Anything Goes".

Certainly, I have to believe that in "Experiment" he's pointing out that the thirst for knowledge is the original sin.

I often reference Cole Porter songs as proof that the past wasn't as free of sexual innuendo as many would have us believe.

Of course jinzi and I liked his music enough to name our son after him.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Actually, "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" is on this soundtrack, too. I love it as well, though not quite as much as "Experiment".

Did he write "Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)"? That song has a sexual not-quite-subtext that has me wondering if I should let Elizabeth learn the words. Not that I can stop her, little sponge that she is. *insert mommy gush here*

So that's where the name came from. Cool.

I'd love to get more of his songs and then write a cultural studies essay on this topic. But I'm not expecting to be taking any cultural studies classes anytime soon.

[inner-linbo.livejournal.com]

Because he wrote for Broadway his songs are all over the map. I'll make certain that we separate them so that the ones with more adult references (even if they're quite oblique) are on a different cd than songs that you can share with your little one.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Well, not too oblique. After all, she won't understand them for a long time, and when she starts to, having connections in her memory is not a bad thing.

Definitely the outright raunchy ones, though, please. :)

To Quote Tom Lehrer

[inner-linbo.livejournal.com]

"When properly viewed, everything is lewd!"

Very little of Cole's work is explicitly raunchy. But what's potentially implied can give one fits.

Take the song "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" which sometimes contains the stanza:

If I invite
a boy some night
To dine on my fine finnan haddie
I just adore
his asking for more,
But my heart belongs to Daddy

Now, perhaps she's just invited him over for a nice dinner which he enjoyed. I, coming from a long and distinguished line of thoughtful lechers, believe that smoked haddock isn't the only thing being dined upon.

But perhaps that's just me and it's all terribly innocent.

[And Cole Porter obviously loved slipping such things into his songs]

Re: To Quote Tom Lehrer

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I tend to agree with you - he was engaging in some innuendo there. But Elizabeth won't realize that, hopefully for many years. (If her father has his way, about thirty. . .)

The age of innocence...

[inner-linbo.livejournal.com]

lasts until they encounter any other child. Then you get that always enjoyable task of trying to answer questions in a manner that is factual without providing more information than is needed and/or desired.

Eventually you're asking them what terms they're using mean, and finding out that you didn't really want to know.

Re: The age of innocence...

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I'm a teacher. I know about this phenomenon. With any luck, I'll be up-to-date enough because of my students to sort of keep on top of things.

[lousy-timing.livejournal.com]

Message from the other half: If you email me your address, next weekend inner_linbo and I will mail you a collection of Cole Porter tunes, including some harder to find ones.

We got the goods, oh, yeah. ;)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

It's on its way. *does happy swing dance* Oh, this is so cool!!

Not least because I'm going to get snail mail that isn't bills. I can't remember the last time that happened.

[lousy-timing.livejournal.com]

I have to check on something. A lot of Porter's songs had lead in lyrics that got cut later, and I think "Experiment" has some, too. If it does, you'll hear them on the CD we send, but I thought it would be nice to find them for you and post them before hand.

[lousy-timing.livejournal.com]

Yep. I'd bet the "Delovely" version is the "Mississippi Belle" version. This is the beginning of the original version, which is the one I know. It is the one you will get, and is sung by Gertrude Lawrence, I believe, on our recording:

Before you leave these portals to meet less fortunate souls,
There's just one final message I would give to you.

THEN the rest continues as you know it.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

that part is on the beginning of my CD too, I just skipped it because I was trying to type as I listened (not having the words quite memorized yet - I do now, though!)

Those two lines make it sound like a convocation speech.

[lousy-timing.livejournal.com]

Are they sung or spoken on your CD? They are sung on the original.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

They're sung.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

When you come to visit, we'll listen to this in the car. :)

Which reminds me, the last weekend in May has become a very, very bad time for that visit. More later. :)

[lousy-timing.livejournal.com]

Not a problem- still reworking my own calendar. :)

Hey

[inner-linbo.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that you had all these things categorized. When'd you do that?

Re: Hey

[lousy-timing.livejournal.com]

It's in my head.

That's why it's scary in here.

You wanna scare a man?

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Prove how much you can remember without help about little, unimportant things. :)

Re: You wanna scare a man?

[lousy-timing.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much what scares him, yes, especially when teamed with my major non-chalance about said amount of trivial knowledge. ;)

[bamusical.livejournal.com]

this would have made a wonderful entry into lyricalbeasts a community that you helped to inspire.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I'll cross-post it later on today. :)

[bamusical.livejournal.com]

YAY! thank you. I am so excited to have you as a part of the community. You have so much to add. I find that our ideals are similar, though you are more researched on your point of view than I will likely ever be. I learn a lot from you.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

That's the nicest compliment I've been paid in a while. (pyat, are you reading this?) Thanks.

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

Mandy Patinkin has an album called "Experiment" which of course includes that song. I really want to see De-lovely. Waiting for the DVD to go previously viewed at Blockbuster (yes, I'm cheap that way).

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen the movie yet, because my movie-watching in recent months has been almost entirely limited to Elizabeth-appropriate stuff. One of these days I'll get it. In the meantime, the soundtrack is great.