First lines and tunes

[mrissa]

There is a practice, among several members of my friendslist, of listing first lines of works in progress -- sometimes for their friends' enjoyment, sometimes as a motivating factor. I always think, "Oh, I should do that, and then people will pet me and I will feel all happy and motivated too." But every time I try, I get lost in what there actually is to write and end up writing a hundred words each on a dozen stories I hadn't intended to give any attention at all. "No one went to the Jovian moons to forget," for example, to pick the first line of the alphabetically last work in the alphabetically last folder of my unfinished fiction. It is not time for me to write about the Jovian moons and memory and forgiveness. No. It is especially not time for me to write a hundred words about the Jovian moons, memory, and forgiveness, then go on to the next thing and write a hundred words about shared online worlds and historical accuracy and the folk process, and so on.

Tempting, though.

Sars at Tomato Nation got me wanting to hear Paul Simon's "American Tune," which is not one of our standards around here. It's on now. It's...it's not complicated, but it's not complicated in the way that's simple, not the way that's simplistic. I've been trying to think what to say about it, and somewhere along the line I started thinking that maybe all the metaphors for our homelands as our parents are the wrong end of the story. Maybe if we thought of our homelands as our children some of the time, we'd focus more on preparing them for an uncertain future and giving them the tools to do well and to do good.

Or maybe I should stop trying to put words on things like that directly and go write some more apparently unrelated fiction. These things have been known to happen.

Comments

[katallen.livejournal.com]

Very tempting. Even for someone who isn't a particularly first-line-ready writer. :)

[Frex the words "Our security is absolute, Mr Finn" are not a first line --boo on starting with a line of dialogue -- but does it matter to the annoying not-story that's popped up with the line, a couple of characters and an espionage plot? No story... just a line, characters, and plot fragment. Augh! Stop it! It's barely even SFF apart from the cameras-in-heads thing]

Ah, the first-line meme does make my pretties want to stroll down the catwalk and do a couple of twirls.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yah, I'm not very first-line-ready, either. And that makes things worse: the things for which I have first lines are not necessarily the things that are closest to being done or ought to be.

[katallen.livejournal.com]

Totally.

But can I be sensible about this? No. I keep thinking -- well maybe I could do it as a 'title and darling' meme or a tv-guide summary meme... ::giggles:: and while I'm about it I could polish those bits of scenes that aren't looking as shiny... and maybe googlecheck a few details...

[and good sense aside -- I suspect I have rather more things lying around in the develop-or-die phase of their existance than I should admit to in public :)]

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Boy howdy, can I identify with that!

[carbonel]

I can't be reasonable about "American Tune" because I love the tune. There was a song that Peter, Paul and Mary recorded, "Because All Men Are Brothers," that uses the same tune, and I nearly jumped out of my seat the first time I heard the Paul Simon song. Of course, I did much the same thing when I realized that the tune to "Plaisir D'Amour" was stolen borrowed by Elvis Presley for "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You." My mind just does that.

(More information than you ever wanted about the tune here: http://tinyurl.com/rysfx or here if you don't trust tinyurl http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.fandom/browse_thread/thread/2c1f1380383645fd/e0fe33218c8e8cd7?lnk=st&q=%22because+all+men+are+brothers%22+%22american+tune%22&rnum=1#e0fe33218c8e8cd7)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I thought, "Peter, Paul, & Mary tune? It sounds to me like 'Oh Sacred Head Now Wounded'!" And then I went to that post you linked and sure enough, well-documented etc.

Elvis also thiefed "Aura Lee" for "Love Me Tender." And there's a Billy Joel tune that's really a Beethoven tune, and so on.

In which direction can't you be reasonable?

[carbonel]

And there's a Billy Joel tune that's really a Beethoven tune...

Which and which?

In which direction can't you be reasonable?

I'm unreasonably fond of "American Tune" because I'm so fond of, well, the tune. Also it has higher meme power or something than most songs because it tickled at me for years and years until I finally tracked down the original source.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

"This Night" is a Beethoven sonatina.

[ckd]

I don't have the words to explain how "American Tune" makes me feel. Proud, and sad, and I don't know what else. Wistful. I am not objective about this song.

I have five different versions of the song: Paul Simon from There Goes Rhymin' Simon, Simon & Garfunkel from Concert in Central Park and Old Friends Live On Stage, Willie Nelson from Across The Borderline[1], and Eva Cassidy from American Tune.

[1] This album also includes a cover of Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up", with the female vocal (originally Kate Bush in the studio version, Paula Cole on Secret World Live) done by Sinéad O'Connor. Yes, Willie Nelson and Sinéad O'Connor. Singing Peter Gabriel. It's pretty good, too.

first line

[reveritas.livejournal.com]

.... not of a work in progress but of the best work i ever completed.

"Tell me what I'm doing here."

and that's that. :)