"vibe"?
mc
"vibe"? How it is used in American slang and daily life / situation?
Thanks
Mike
Gary G. Taylor
It comes AFAIK from 1960s surfer and hippie slang[1]; its source may
be a popular (surf) song by the Beach Boys called "Good Vibrations,"
but it in my experience (as a street hippie at the time) it was used
before that. (However, M-W dates the term to 1967; a Beach Boys
discography at http://www.btinternet.com/~bellagio/60ssingles.html
gives the release date of "Good Vibrations" as 10/66.)
"Vibes" refers to one's personal perception of the _gestalt_ around
one, so saying "Wow, there's good vibes tonight!" means that "I feel
happy, comfortable and at one with this time and place," "I feel
spiritually attuned to the thoughts and feelings of others here." Like
many terms which were originally subculture slang, it has passed into
more general usage--although IMHO it's now a little archaic and using
it tends to date the speaker and, perhaps, to brand the speaker as
being just a tad on the flaky or ditzy (or stoned) side.
[1](Note that there is a musical instrument called a Vibrophone, often
used in jazz ensembles, which is also called "vibes" for short.)
--
Gary G. Taylor * Rialto, CA
gary at cdfound dot org
www dot geetee dot cdfound dot org
I REPORT ***ALL*** SPAM!
"The two most abundant things in the Universe are
hydrogen and stupidity." --Harlan Ellison
Chris Malcolm
>On Wed, 13 Nov 2002 23:38:31 -0600, mc <mc_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>As some of the US TV commercials go, "good vibes." What does it mean for
>>"vibe"? How it is used in American slang and daily life / situation?
>>Thanks
>>Mike
>It comes AFAIK from 1960s surfer and hippie slang[1]; its source may
>be a popular (surf) song by the Beach Boys called "Good Vibrations,"
>but it in my experience (as a street hippie at the time) it was used
>before that. (However, M-W dates the term to 1967; a Beach Boys
>discography at http://www.btinternet.com/~bellagio/60ssingles.html
>gives the release date of "Good Vibrations" as 10/66.)
Which in turn derived from the mystical concept of the world as a
system of vibrations of various frequencies, the lowest manifesting as
matter, and the highest as the spirit world, very popular in Victorian
times. People tuned in to the highest vibrations could sense ghosts
and other manifestations of the spirit world. The worst kind of bad
vibrations emanated from evil spirits. It passed from Victorian
mystical slang into 60s pop/drug slang.
I used to keep a list of the sillinesses of the M-W dictionary, but it
got so tediously large and boring I junked it.
--
Chris Malcolm c...@dai.ed.ac.uk +44 (0)131 650 3085
School of Artificial Intelligence, Division of Informatics
Edinburgh University, 5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/daidb/people/homes/cam/ ] DoD #205
Murray Arnow
>Gary G. Taylor <knot...@knotcdfound.knotorg> writes:
>
>>On Wed, 13 Nov 2002 23:38:31 -0600, mc <mc_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>As some of the US TV commercials go, "good vibes." What does it mean for
>>>"vibe"? How it is used in American slang and daily life / situation?
>>>Thanks
>>>Mike
>
>>It comes AFAIK from 1960s surfer and hippie slang[1]; its source may
>>be a popular (surf) song by the Beach Boys called "Good Vibrations,"
>>but it in my experience (as a street hippie at the time) it was used
>>before that. (However, M-W dates the term to 1967; a Beach Boys
>>discography at http://www.btinternet.com/~bellagio/60ssingles.html
>>gives the release date of "Good Vibrations" as 10/66.)
>
>Which in turn derived from the mystical concept of the world as a
>system of vibrations of various frequencies, the lowest manifesting as
>matter, and the highest as the spirit world, very popular in Victorian
>times. People tuned in to the highest vibrations could sense ghosts
>and other manifestations of the spirit world. The worst kind of bad
>vibrations emanated from evil spirits. It passed from Victorian
>mystical slang into 60s pop/drug slang.
>
I didn't realize the Beach Boys were such deep thinkers. I now
understand why they were the Reagans favorites.
Evan Kirshenbaum
> Gary G. Taylor <knot...@knotcdfound.knotorg> writes:
>
> >On Wed, 13 Nov 2002 23:38:31 -0600, mc <mc_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>As some of the US TV commercials go, "good vibes." What does it
> >>mean for "vibe"? How it is used in American slang and daily life /
> >>situation?
>
> >It comes AFAIK from 1960s surfer and hippie slang[1]; its source may
> >be a popular (surf) song by the Beach Boys called "Good Vibrations,"
> >but it in my experience (as a street hippie at the time) it was used
> >before that. (However, M-W dates the term to 1967; a Beach Boys
> >discography at http://www.btinternet.com/~bellagio/60ssingles.html
> >gives the release date of "Good Vibrations" as 10/66.)
>
> Which in turn derived from the mystical concept of the world as a
> system of vibrations of various frequencies, the lowest manifesting as
> matter, and the highest as the spirit world, very popular in Victorian
> times. People tuned in to the highest vibrations could sense ghosts
> and other manifestations of the spirit world. The worst kind of bad
> vibrations emanated from evil spirits. It passed from Victorian
> mystical slang into 60s pop/drug slang.
>
> I used to keep a list of the sillinesses of the M-W dictionary, but it
> got so tediously large and boring I junked it.
Note that MW only dates "vibe" to 1967. They equate it to sense 4 of
"vibration", which since they only date first senses, is some time
after 1655. Do you have evidence that the shorter form was used
earlier? The OED also dates it to 1967 (_Sunday Times_, October 1).
They date the coresponding sense of "vibration" (their 3d) to 1899
(Oscar Wilde's _The Importance of Being Earnest_).
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |The Elizabethans had so many words
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |for the female genitals that it is
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |quite hard to speak a sentence of
|modern English without inadvertently
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com |mentioning at least three of them.
(650)857-7572 | Terry Pratchett
Peter Moylan
> On Wed, 13 Nov 2002 23:38:31 -0600, mc <mc_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>As some of the US TV commercials go, "good vibes." What does it mean for
>>"vibe"? How it is used in American slang and daily life / situation?
>>Thanks
>>Mike
>
> It comes AFAIK from 1960s surfer and hippie slang[1]; its source may
> be a popular (surf) song by the Beach Boys called "Good Vibrations,"
> but it in my experience (as a street hippie at the time) it was used
> before that. (However, M-W dates the term to 1967; a Beach Boys
> discography at http://www.btinternet.com/~bellagio/60ssingles.html
> gives the release date of "Good Vibrations" as 10/66.)
I'm picking up good vibrations
She's giving me excitations.
Good, good, goo-ood good vibrations.
Gotta keep those lovin' good
Vibrations a-happenin' with her.
It seems to me that we all knew what was meant when the Beach Boys
sang that song. We didn't have to stop and figure out the words.
And there wasn't any context; the above five lines, with many
repetitions and a bit of "do do do do do" and "aaaah", make up
the entire song.
Ergo, "good vibrations" was probably a phrase already known to us.
Possibly that's fuzzy reasoning, but I really do doubt that
the Beach Boys invented the phrase.
I can't recall when it turned into "good vibes". That could have
been before or after the Beach Boys song.
--
Peter Moylan pe...@ee.newcastle.edu.au
http://eepjm.newcastle.edu.au
R H Draney
news:ar2frv$866$9...@seagoon.newcastle.edu.au:
> I'm picking up good vibrations
> She's giving me excitations.
> Good, good, goo-ood good vibrations.
>
> Gotta keep those lovin' good
> Vibrations a-happenin' with her.
>
> It seems to me that we all knew what was meant when the Beach Boys
> sang that song. We didn't have to stop and figure out the words.
> And there wasn't any context; the above five lines, with many
> repetitions and a bit of "do do do do do" and "aaaah", make up
> the entire song.
I, I love the colorful clothes she wears
And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair
I hear the sound of a gentle word
On the wind that lifts her perfume through the air
I'm pickin' up good vibrations
She's giving me excitations
I'm pickin' up good vibrations
(Oom bop bop good vibrations)
<some repetition follows>
Close my eyes
She's somehow closer now
Softly smile, I know she must be kind
When I look in her eyes
She goes with me to a blossom world
<repeat chorus>
(Ahhhhhhh)
(Ah my my what elation)
I don't know where but she sends me there
(Ah my my what a sensation)
(Ah my my what elations)
(Ah my my what)
Gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations
A happenin' with her
<repeat the above, the chorus, and fa-la-la syllables to end>
That's a fair amount of context; perhaps you kept turning on
your radio too late?...Messrs Wilson, Wilson, Love and Jardine paint
an impressionist portrait of a girl and the intangible way her mere
presence (even her *imagined* presence) makes the narrator feel good
inside..."indefinable pleasant feelings" is about the best definition
for "good vibes" you're going to find....r
Mike Lyle
[...]
> Ergo, "good vibrations" was probably a phrase already known to us.
> Possibly that's fuzzy reasoning, but I really do doubt that
> the Beach Boys invented the phrase.
>
> I can't recall when it turned into "good vibes". That could have
> been before or after the Beach Boys song.
I can date the abbreviated form's entry to my own vocabulary to as
late as 1970, when I came back from a stay overseas: my brother and
friend had been to America in summer 1969, and I was told that they
had subsequently irritated all of Oxford for some time by going round
saying "There's bad vibes in here: let's split the scene!".
The unabbreviated BB version I knew already before hearing the track,
as I had spent time among meditatory-type people between '66 and '68.
Mike.
Martin
<dado...@earthlink.net> writes
>I, I love the colorful clothes she wears
Random thoughts on 'Good Vibrations':
Just after the first 'I' there's a sound which is like the tape moving
up and down on the tape-head. So far, I've heard it on all versions
including the remasters, and I mention it so everybody reading can feel
a similar sense of annoyance on hearing it (it's like when someone
points to you that the slide guitars in 'Layla' never play in tune with
each other or the rest of the track).
The whole song was recorded in 3 different studios, which corresponds
to the three separate sections/acoustics of the song, and then a
tambourine was overdubbed which throughout keeps the same sound and
tempo.
Never really a hit on the dance-floor as it doesn't really go anywhere
in the chorus and you're just left kind of swaying.
'Heroes and Villains' is probably more skilfully produced and sung, but
less of a song.
--
Martin @ Strawberry Hill
R H Draney
news:RB5zsu6sq$19E...@paladio.demon.co.uk:
> Just after the first 'I' there's a sound which is like the tape
> moving up and down on the tape-head. So far, I've heard it on all
> versions including the remasters, and I mention it so everybody
> reading can feel a similar sense of annoyance on hearing it (it's
> like when someone points to you that the slide guitars in 'Layla'
> never play in tune with each other or the rest of the track).
One that always bothers me is the printed-through vocals on "Whole
Lotta Love", where you faintly hear Plant wailing the unaccompanied
lyrics a second or two before they repeat at full strength...one
"sound-effects" comedian does a deliberate imitation of this and the
audience clearly recognizes the reference...I've never heard any of
the principals explain whether this effect was planned, whether it
happened by mistake and they decided to use it, or whether it was
simply a screw-up that nobody noticed in the pre-digital era until
it got released....r
Martin
<dado...@earthlink.net> writes
>One that always bothers me is the printed-through vocals on "Whole
>Lotta Love", where you faintly hear Plant wailing the unaccompanied
>lyrics a second or two before they repeat at full strength...one
>"sound-effects" comedian does a deliberate imitation of this and the
>audience clearly recognizes the reference...I've never heard any of
>the principals explain whether this effect was planned, whether it
>happened by mistake and they decided to use it, or whether it was
>simply a screw-up that nobody noticed in the pre-digital era until
>it got released....r
It's probably print-through on the tape, which means that the signal
magnetises the area of tape overlapping it causing pre or post-echo. You
can probably hear it because of the silence just before Plant comes in.
You get the same thing on records if there's not enough space ('land')
left between grooves while cutting. Most cutting lathes had/have an
automatic control to do this, but can still get it wrong.