Art Post: Beauty vs Morality Edition

[minoanmiss]

Artist's Babbletastic Notes below the image.



Based on the song "Nobody Needs to Know" from the musical The Last Five Years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JIeSCrW_s4

Man, I don't want to love this song. I have ethical issues with the musical, which is a straight up autobiographical tale of a man's side of his marriage and divorce. Every time I hear it I feel so bad for his ex wife. I think it's more ... tasteful? creative? honest about the limits of any one human's perspective? to turn ordinary life into art by using bits of it to construct works rather than by taking a chunk of autobiography and serving it whole with musical or literary garnishes. For instance, I'm never going to write an autobiography about my childhood, that's just too straightforward and unfiltered. But I've written about and will continue to write about familial abuse, religious bigotry, science and wonder, intellectualism and anti-intellectualism, suppression and freedom, love and consent, and so on, all themes from my childhood. If I felt I had an extraordinary story to tell, as Frederick Douglass and Anne Frank did (and she didn't even intend a public autobiography) that would be different, but I don't feel I do.

Plus, this song, this lovely song, is about a man unrepentantly cheating on his wife. "I won't lie to you" he says to the woman he's cheating with, and at least he's not lying to himself (I think) but he's lying to his wife! But oh, what a beautiful, clear-eyed look at the complex selfish relatable humanity of what he's doing. So I love the song, and I finally drew the image it gave me.

There's an ongoing discussion in media fandom of morality vs creation, what we want to create vs what we "should" and who determines that should and how. So I was thinking about these issues, while, paradoxically and appropriately, humming this song.

Comments

[tibicina]

I have been told that it's not quite as autobiographical as it has sometimes been made out to be. It's close to what happened, but was never intended to represent exactly what happened. It was more that it was what had taken up so much of his life and brain-space that it was what came out and struck a chord with others.

Then again, that was, I believe, from a discussion I had with his current wife. (Who is an absolutely wonderful composer and musical director in her own right and I think you would really appreciate her choral settings of Christina Rossetti poems.)

From my relatively brief direct interactions with him and from other things I've heard him say, I think he'd be the first to admit that he was not exactly the most mature person at that time in his life and that he's grown a LOT since then. Also, it's not really like that musical makes Jamie out as the good guy, or, often, even the reasonable guy.

[minoanmiss]

!!! I am all exclamation pointy that you know them! Here I am just a girl listening to musicals on CD and having opinions, and you actually know the people involved!

[tibicina]

They moved out to L.A. for a while while he was working on Thirteen and his wife was rehearsal director for 'You're the One That I Want' (the reality show where they were casting Sandy and Danny for the revival of Grease.) He's Jewish, but she's Presbyterian and ended up attending my church and eventually was named as our composer in residence (She wrote several pieces for us and a setting of communion responses). They moved back to New York a couple of years ago and we very much miss having them and their daughters around.

Here's his wife's site.

Also, I know Jason just released a new album which I haven't had a chance to listen to, yet.

Oooh, and if you haven't heard his song Stars and the Moon, you absolutely should.

[minoanmiss]

AHHAHAAH you're going to roll your eyes at me. "Stars and the Moon" is ANOTHER song I love and disapprove of at the same time.

[tibicina]

I find it an interesting character song. I also think that if the singer had stayed with the first or second guy, she'd likely have ended up unhappy and resentful. I think, at base, it's a song about when you get what you think you want, you may discover that you're still discontented. It's about choices, but also about the way we second-guess those choices. Plus, it's just fun to sing.

[minoanmiss]

Oh, it's so gorgeous. I just... find the narrator kind of mercenary. I don't like the framing of romantic relationships as transactions rather than shared projects.

Btu it's SO BEAUTIFUL.

[tibicina]

Only kind of? She's... pretty explicitly mercenary. I guess I don't see presenting something, particularly in a drama, as necessarily condoning it. And this song, in particular, ends up critiquing her mercenary nature and the results of it within the song.

I mean, some of my favorite songs are villain songs. I certainly don't buy into The Seven Deadly Virtues, but I love to sing it and it definitely gives you a view of that character. I wouldn't want to /be/ Medea, but some of her monologues are just stunning. See also Lady Macbeth or the Witch from Into the Woods.

There are songs in which the text should express something you believe and hold to be true - hymns, protest songs, teaching songs, love songs. Then there are songs which tell a story entire - ballads mostly, some carols. And then there are songs which are from the point of view of a particular character or characters - arias, many songs from musicals, some art songs, etc. And those last just need to be true to a character, they don't need to express something admirable, just what /that character/ would express so we can see their perspective. Now, they frequently also include hints as to how the lyricist/composer feels about that character and their perspective and what they're doing and whether that's a good thing, but often they're holding up awful behavior to the light so we can look at it and go 'Yeah, no, that's not okay. I see how you got there, but I'm not gonna do that'.

[minoanmiss]

I guess I don't see presenting something, particularly in a drama, as necessarily condoning it.

In the context of my life in fandom, this admonishment is really, really hilarious. I mean, I don't at all disagree: in fact, elsewhere I'm arguing against/supporting people who argue against those who say "Writing about sexual malfeasance is necessarily a condonement and promotion thereof so no one should ever write fanfic exploring these themes and we are entitled to harass, flame, send death threats to, and dox people who write or read such fan works."

... anyway. You have reminded me of another one of the Songs For a New World which I intend to illustrate sometime soon.

[vass]

I'm kind of on the Anne Lamott side of that (your past is yours to write about, "if they wanted you to write more warmly about you they should have treated you better,") albeit with a side of how autobiographers are inviting analysis and critical judgement of their lives as well as their writing in a way that fiction writers don't.

I like the picture. The purple-blue of the background especially, and the window. They set the scene very well.

[minoanmiss]

Ee, thank you for reminding me of Annie Lamott's wise words, which have encouraged me so much. I think I feel this way not for their sake, but for mine, for my artistic development.

Also, thank you about the picture. :)

[amaebi]

That beautiful, sad picture looks like a great illustration for the musical you describe.

[minoanmiss]

eee, thank you! I'm really enjoying illustrating poems, in general, getting what they evoke in me down in art.

[med_cat]

A very interesting recursive yet not recursive illustration

[minoanmiss]

I had fun with the alternation. :)

[med_cat]

Yes, you did it very well; glad to hear you'd enjoyed it ;)