R: "Rene & Georgette Magritte" lyrics question
Mauro Boccuni
the envelope of the "Hearts and bones" lp. The photo reported on its back
the writing that became the title of this enchanting song.
J @ home <J...@oaknet.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
ko1ngsk052ofs08jd...@4ax.com...
> Okay experts, can you help?
>
> To which paintings (or anything else?) do the lyrics refer in "Rene
> and Georgette Magritte and their dog after the war"
>
> Penguins, moonglows, l'orielle, the five satins?
>
> J.
> --
> "The whrle rod is in a state of chassis."
royd
>>
>> To which paintings (or anything else?) do the lyrics refer
in "Rene
>> and Georgette Magritte and their dog after the war"
>>
>> Penguins, moonglows, l'orielle, the five satins?
You picked one of my very favorite Paul Simon songs ever. I
love everything about this song, including the performance and
production on the record. (Well, I think The Harptones should
have been brought up a little in the mix, but outside of that
it’s perfect!) I also loved the version Paul did on 1984’s
Twelve City Solo Acoustic Tour. Here’s some background just in
case you’re as fascinated by this song as I am.
Rene Magritte was born in Belgium in 1898. When Magritte was a
child, his mother suicided by throwing herself from a bridge
into the river Sambre. Her body was found three days later. I
think some of Magritte’s paintings (e.g., “Deep Waters†or “The
Dominion of Light†) reflect a fascination with the mystery of
water as both life-sustainer and life-destroyer. Magritte began
his career as a graphic artist, designing wall paper. In 1926
he began experimenting with surrealist styles. He came under
the influence of Salvador Dali in 1929; Dali’s influence is
probably most obvious in Magritte’s “The Treachery of Images,â€
which depicts a large tobacco pipe. He emigrated to France at
the outbreak of World War II.
A recurring theme in Magritte’s work is the depiction of birds.
These include works such as “God Is Not Saint,†“The Kissâ€
and “The Idol.†In “Girl Eating A Bird,†a blood-spattered
young girl is chewing on a bird amidst a tree full of other
birds. In “The Man In The Bowler Hat,†an impeccably dressed
gentleman’s face is obscured by what appears to be a dove in
full flight. In “The Uncertainty Principle,†a nude figure
contemplates her shadow on a wall – the shadow is the shape of a
bird alighting. (As an aside, I suppose that Magritte’s title is
a comment on the physicist Heisenberg’s axiom that one cannot
know both the location and velocity of a subatomic particle
simultaneously – but perhaps not.) Magritte repeatedly used the
image of a bird to symbolize mystery and freedom.
I seriously doubt that Magritte had any interest in American doo-
wop music, although I can’t exclude that possibility. My guess
is that Simon’s fascination with doo-wop extended to everything
about those groups including their names. For Simon, this music
was probably a world of mystery and freedom just as the birds
symbolized for Magritte. Simon has commented on his pubescent
fascination with The Penguins’ title, “Earth Angel†– an
oxymoron Simon’s father failed to appreciate. So many of those
doo-wop groups were named after birds and I think that may be
the connection in Simon’s mind between doo-wop and Magritte’s
surrealism. The specific references to enguins, moonglows,
orioles I think ties in with Magritte’s use of bird imagery.
(After all, if he were just singing about doo-wop groups he
could have sung about The Crests or The Harptones, or The
Teenagers.) In Simon’s song, we are not told explicitly that
he’s singing about doo-wop groups until he mentions The Five
Satins – which is also the point in the recording that The
Harptones kick in with their vocal backgrounds.
Aside from the bird references, the most explicit reference by
Simon’s lyric to a specific Magritte painting seems to
be “easily losing their evening clothes,†which parallels
Magritte’s 1955 “The Evening Gown.†That painting depicts a
nude woman viewed from behind; she faces the last vestiges of a
sunset in the distance. Magritte’s “The Clumsy Dancer†depicts
couples dancing indoors in front of a painted backdrop featuring
barren trees and a crescent moon; one couple has crashed
through the backdrop, revealing that it is merely a façade.
Simon’s “danced by the light of the moon†may refer to this
work.
Magritte died in August 1967.
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Wilkie
references. That was extremely informative. Thanks.
royd <rdripps...@charter-il.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:0839efc1...@usw-ex0106-047.remarq.com...
> >> Okay experts, can you help?
> >>
> >> To which paintings (or anything else?) do the lyrics refer
> in "Rene
> >> and Georgette Magritte and their dog after the war"
> >>
> >> Penguins, moonglows, l'orielle, the five satins?
>
>
> You picked one of my very favorite Paul Simon songs ever. I
> love everything about this song, including the performance and
> production on the record. (Well, I think The Harptones should
> have been brought up a little in the mix, but outside of that
> itĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s perfect!) I also loved the version Paul did on 1984Ć¢ā,¬ā"¢s
> Twelve City Solo Acoustic Tour. HereĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s some background just in
> case youĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢re as fascinated by this song as I am.
>
> Rene Magritte was born in Belgium in 1898. When Magritte was a
> child, his mother suicided by throwing herself from a bridge
> into the river Sambre. Her body was found three days later. I
> think some of MagritteĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s paintings (e.g., Ć¢ā,¬Å"Deep WatersĆ¢ā,¬Ā¯
or Ć¢ā,¬Å"The
> Dominion of LightĆ¢ā,¬Ā¯) reflect a fascination with the mystery of
> water as both life-sustainer and life-destroyer. Magritte began
> his career as a graphic artist, designing wall paper. In 1926
> he began experimenting with surrealist styles. He came under
> the influence of Salvador Dali in 1929; DaliĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s influence is
> probably most obvious in MagritteĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s Ć¢ā,¬Å"The Treachery of
Images,Ć¢ā,¬Ā¯
> which depicts a large tobacco pipe. He emigrated to France at
> the outbreak of World War II.
>
> A recurring theme in MagritteĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s work is the depiction of birds.
> These include works such as Ć¢ā,¬Å"God Is Not Saint,Ć¢ā,¬Ā¯ Ć¢ā,¬Å"The
KissĆ¢ā,¬Ā¯
> and Ć¢ā,¬Å"The Idol.Ć¢ā,¬Ā¯ In Ć¢ā,¬Å"Girl Eating A Bird,Ć¢ā,¬Ā¯ a
blood-spattered
> young girl is chewing on a bird amidst a tree full of other
> birds. In Ć¢ā,¬Å"The Man In The Bowler Hat,Ć¢ā,¬Ā¯ an impeccably dressed
> gentlemanĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s face is obscured by what appears to be a dove in
> full flight. In Ć¢ā,¬Å"The Uncertainty Principle,Ć¢ā,¬Ā¯ a nude figure
> contemplates her shadow on a wall Ć¢ā,¬ā?o the shadow is the shape of a
> bird alighting. (As an aside, I suppose that MagritteĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s title is
> a comment on the physicist HeisenbergĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s axiom that one cannot
> know both the location and velocity of a subatomic particle
> simultaneously Ć¢ā,¬ā?o but perhaps not.) Magritte repeatedly used the
> image of a bird to symbolize mystery and freedom.
>
> I seriously doubt that Magritte had any interest in American doo-
> wop music, although I canĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢t exclude that possibility. My guess
> is that SimonĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s fascination with doo-wop extended to everything
> about those groups including their names. For Simon, this music
> was probably a world of mystery and freedom just as the birds
> symbolized for Magritte. Simon has commented on his pubescent
> fascination with The PenguinsĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢ title, Ć¢ā,¬Å"Earth AngelĆ¢ā,¬Ā¯
Ć¢ā,¬ā?o an
> oxymoron SimonĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s father failed to appreciate. So many of those
> doo-wop groups were named after birds and I think that may be
> the connection in SimonĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s mind between doo-wop and
MagritteĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s
> surrealism. The specific references to enguins, moonglows,
> orioles I think ties in with MagritteĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s use of bird imagery.
> (After all, if he were just singing about doo-wop groups he
> could have sung about The Crests or The Harptones, or The
> Teenagers.) In SimonĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s song, we are not told explicitly that
> heĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s singing about doo-wop groups until he mentions The Five
> Satins Ć¢ā,¬ā?o which is also the point in the recording that The
> Harptones kick in with their vocal backgrounds.
>
> Aside from the bird references, the most explicit reference by
> SimonĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s lyric to a specific Magritte painting seems to
> be Ć¢ā,¬Å"easily losing their evening clothes,Ć¢ā,¬Ā¯ which parallels
> MagritteĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s 1955 Ć¢ā,¬Å"The Evening Gown.Ć¢ā,¬Ā¯ That painting
depicts a
> nude woman viewed from behind; she faces the last vestiges of a
> sunset in the distance. MagritteĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s Ć¢ā,¬Å"The Clumsy DancerĆ¢ā,¬Ā¯
depicts
> couples dancing indoors in front of a painted backdrop featuring
> barren trees and a crescent moon; one couple has crashed
> through the backdrop, revealing that it is merely a faĆfĀ§ade.
> SimonĆ¢ā,¬ā"¢s Ć¢ā,¬Å"danced by the light of the moonĆ¢ā,¬Ā¯ may refer to