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Posted by Ritchie_az on 11-26-2009 at23:34:

  Interesting Conversation...

...with a friend's brother (who was visiting for Thanksgiving).

He said that Terry Taylor has a better sense of irony and can formulate that sense of irony into a song better than any other songwriter he's ever known (and he's more versed in music than probably anyone I've ever met). I thought that was an interesting perception.

We also talked about how Terry's songs often make you think--think on deep things that we probably can never fully understand this side of Glory, think about things from a different perspective, etc. He said that few songwriters even attept that, and even fewer succeed. Yet Terry consistantly has attepted and succeeded at just that. We both agreed that such songwriting is extremely rare, and may, in fact, be unique.



The funny thing is I didn't know my friend's brother was a DA fan. It just kind of came up in conversation. Turns out he has just about everything Terry has ever put out.

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Posted by dennis on 11-27-2009 at01:42:

 

I can see the sense of irony, but had not given it much thought.
He is very deft at using irony in his songs, that is for sure.

Mostly I think Terry's songs are filled with great sadness.
The "funny" songs may be the saddest of all.
And note that I did not say "despair."

Something I do think of often.

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Posted by UnderDawg on 11-27-2009 at10:15:

 

Dennis is right. Terry's song have a real sense of sadness. Even a song like "Papa Danced on Olvera Street", which seems like a happy memory song, has a lingering sad feeling. I mention this one, because it's the one I'm learning now.

The others that I play often are "A Vegas Story", "One More Time", "Rocky Mountain Mines", and "Wall of Heaven". All are sad tunes.

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Posted by sondance on 11-27-2009 at11:52:

 

sad is where we live so it resonates with us

most audiences do not want to admit that, consequently this artist and his audience are closer to unique, and a great minority

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Posted by Ron E on 11-27-2009 at13:43:

 

But sad songs are not unique, songwriters who write "mostly" sad songs aren't unique either, I think there's more to it. I think its longing, more than sadness.

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Posted by dennis on 11-27-2009 at18:47:

 

Yes there is a longing there as well.
When the sadness is restrained it is more effective than a more straight forward sad song.

I think of "Broken Laders to Glory." Terry mentioned here on the board maybe 6 years ago how he is confused when people laugh at "me in my underwear" when he sings it in concert, because it really is a sad image of this old guy with his wife in her tattered nightgown.

The humanity and the lostness of it.

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Posted by Ron E on 11-27-2009 at18:57:

 

follow the profanity filter thread on the 7's board and you know why people laugh... "He said poo-poo"

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Posted by dennis on 11-27-2009 at19:07:

 

It's funny how much of Terry's lyrics are banned on the message boards.

"She's nada lucky!"

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Posted by Ron E on 11-27-2009 at19:22:

 

Now that is ironic! There, back on track.

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Posted by Audiori J on 11-27-2009 at20:06:

 

Well the glory of God's grace is magnified against the sadness of our falleness. "To show you Heaven, I must first show you Hell."

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Posted by Ritchie_az on 11-28-2009 at00:33:

 

Darn Floor - Big Bite is irony. A deep, thought-provoking album about what we cannot understand. An animal's inability to communicate gives insight and perspective on the highest thoughts of heaven. The album is somewhat short at just over 36 minutes, yet there are ideas and concepts that may take years to fully chew on.
If I didn't own the album, I'm not sure I would believe it.

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Posted by dennis on 11-28-2009 at04:08:

 

I don't knoe if that makes the album ironic or nor, but it helps make it really good!

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Posted by dennis on 11-28-2009 at07:47:

 

I remember a Keaggy interview where they where talking about joy and said the true joy was bases in longing, which may have been some c.s. lewis wrote.
But I can see how sadness and joy are both connected through longing.

Perhaps it that same longing that connects fear to hatred the George Lucas speaks of?

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Posted by joey on 11-28-2009 at10:36:



"i miss the comfort in being sad..." -kurt cobain

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Posted by dennis on 11-28-2009 at11:51:

 

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Posted by Ron E on 11-28-2009 at14:25:

 

quote:

Originally posted by dennis I remember a Keaggy interview where they where talking about joy and said the true joy was bases in longing, which may have been some c.s. lewis wrote. But I can see how sadness and joy are both connected through longing. Perhaps it that same longing that connects fear to hatred the George Lucas speaks of?

That is a great contemplative thought... thanks for that!

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Posted by dennis on 11-28-2009 at15:16:

 

Thanks Ron!

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Posted by Audiori J on 11-29-2009 at01:03:

 

Sadness because you and who you love are apart, joy because you know you will one day be together. That is a longing pretty much in a nutshell isn't it?