Yet Another Jandek Mythology (was Re: [Jandek] Brast Burn)

[Daniel Marks]

that's awesome. we could make a movie out of it.

D.M.
--- Larry Tremblay <larrytremblay at carolina.rr.com>
wrote:
> 
>     I read in the paper
>     It said a man was shot to death
>     It said a cow gave poison milk
>     Big time in the city / when you wear those boots
>                 Jandek, "Naked in the Afternoon"
> 
> More Jandek Mythology:
> 
> When I first came across 'Ready for the House' I was
> 18 years old (I'm 42 now), so I've always listened
> to
> Jandek as though he were a peer, age-wise, a few
> years or
> so older than me. Since there was so little context
> to go
> on while listening to his music, I developed my own
> mythology
> about him. For instance, to me the meaning of the
> title
> "Ready for the House" has something to do with
> Jandek's
> preparation to do some jail time. This partly
> explains
> why there's a such a large gap between the first and
> second
> albums.
> 
> Here's part of the backstory:
> 
> Jandek came from 'the North' and was probably
> tramatized by
> his family relocating to Texas (and wherever else
> before that,
> maybe the Ohio valley area). His family moved around
> a lot and
> probably ended up in Texas during the Oil boom of
> the late
> 1970's. I imagine his father followed the boom (and
> eventual
> bust) hoping to get wealthy provide his family with
> a better
> life. I'm guessing his Dad was a dreamer (and a big
> influence):
> 
>     You got real fancy instincts
>     But your mouth is so large
>     I think I see a hundred people in it
>     I guess you like it that way
>     Because you're a flop
>                 - Jandek, "They Told Me I Was a
> Fool"
> 
> His Dad may have been in the military and had a hard
> time
> making ends meet when he was discharged after the
> war.
> Jandek refers to his father's problems and his
> sudden
> death in a car accident (which he may have
> witnessed)
> in the following lines:
> 
>     I see your insides aren’t the same since 1951
>     You’re dying inside a window
>     I saw your face all cut with glass
> 
>     And underneath the window
>     The hands you dug your grave with
>     You could have built an empire
>                  - Jandek, "They Told Me I Was a
> Fool"
> 
> Obviously, Jandek is/was close to his Grandmother
> whom
> he addresses in "First You Think Your Fortune’s
> Lovely",
> which is about disillusionment:
> 
>     Grandmama I feel so lonely
>     My rapture’s painted on the floor
> 
> All this mythologizing is the thing I love most
> about
> Jandek - his music is so open-ended and conducive to
> personal interpretation. I think this accounts for
> his
> recent surge in popularity and interest. He's the
> only
> artist I've come across who's music allows you to
> get
> out of it exactly what you bring to it. His music is
> the aural equivalent of the slightly out-of-focus
> album cover photographs. Magical.
> 
> - Larry
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Paul Condon" <paulgcondon at hotmail.com>
> To: <jandek at mylist.net>
> Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 4:23 PM
> Subject: RE: [Jandek] Brast Burn
> 
> 
> > >On another note, jandek is from Providence, Rhode
> Island originally.
> >
> > Hmmm. I always thought the following line, from
> Georgia East on the Nine
> > Thirty album, might be significant:
> > "You people sure are strange to a city boy from up
> north"
> >
> >
>
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> >
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> 
> 
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