laurie anderson is (among other things), a performance artist. laurie slipped into public awareness with her groundbreaking tune "o superman". like nothing else heard before, "o superman" showed up at a time when electronic pop was at its peak and music wasn't valued unless it could be danced to. with the right sort of medication you could probably dance to o superman but you might lose friends or even the right to walk freely on the streets if you did! if you'd like to give it a try then here 'tis . . . o superman carried the burden for her first big release entitled "big science".
i bought it as soon as it came out on the basis of my having seen pictures in a book about modern american performance artists in which her major work "united states parts i - iv" was featured. i was drawn to many of laurie's ideas but most especially to a musical instrument she created called the tape bow violin.
"the tape-bow violin is an instrument that uses recorded magnetic tape in place of the traditional horsehair in the bow, and a magnetic tape head in the bridge." laurie could tape record anyone saying anything and then play the entire phrase across the magnetic tape head or deconstruct it into phonemes, words or even play it backwards.
immediately following the success of "big science" laurie released a version of "united states: parts i to iv" alongside her poppiest release of all "mister heartbreak".
it is from this album that today's music is selected. the core group for this release featured some major names including adrian belew, anton fier and bill laswell. the album reached number 60 on the billboard chart. "let's see. uh, it was on an island. and there was a snake.
and this snake had legs. and he could walk all around the island.
yes. that's true. a snake with legs.
and the man and the woman were on the island too.
and they were not very smart.
but they were happy as clams. yes.
let's see. uh... then one evening the snake was walking about
in the garden and he was talking to himself and he saw the woman
and they started to talk. and they became friends.
very good friends.
and the woman liked the snake very much. because when he
talked, he made little noises with his tongue, and his long tongue
was lightly licking about his lips.
like there was a little fire inside his mouth and the flame
would come dancing out of his mouth.
and the woman liked this very much.
and after that, she was bored with the man.
because no matter what happened,
he was always as happy as a clam.
what did the snake say? yes! What was he saying?
ok. i will tell you.
the snake told her things about the world. he told her about
the time there was a big typhoon on the island
and all the sharks came out of the water. yes.
they came out of the water and they walked right into your house
with their big white teeth.
and the woman heard these things. and she was in love.
and the man came out and said: we have to go now!
and the woman did not want to go. Because she was a hothead.
because she was a woman in love.
anyway, we got into their boat and left the island.
but they never stayed anywhere very long.
because the woman was restless. she was a hothead.
she was a woman in love.
and this is not a story my people tell.
it is something i know myself.
and when i do my job, i am thinking about these things.
because when i do my job, that is what i think about.
oooo la la la la. voici. voilà
ooo la la la la. voici le langage de l'amour.
oooo la la la la. la la la.
voici. voilà. la la.
voici le langage de l'amour.
ah! comme ci, comme ça. voilà. voilà.
voici le langage de l'amour.
voici le langage de l'amour.
attends! attends! attends!
attends! attends! attends!
ecoute. ecoute. ecoute.
ooooo la la la la. ooo la la la la.
yeah. la la la la. here. and there.
oh yes. this is the laguage of love.
oooo. oh yeah. la la.
here it is. there it is. la la.
this is the language of love.
ah! neither here nor there.
there. there.
this is the language of love.
this is the language of love.
wait! wait! wait!
wait! wait! wait!
listen. listen. listen.
ooooo. oh yeah. oh yeah. yeah."
here's langue d'amour . . .
head here to laurie's website for current news.
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