April 2022 Vinyl Spin Challenge - Intertextuality and You

April 1 – Samuel R. Delany, Aye, and Gomorrah…

“"Yes." She looked down. I glanced to see the expression she was hiding. It was a smile. "You have your glorious, soaring life—and you have us." Her face came up. She glowed. "You spin in the sky, the world spins under you, and you step from land to land, while we . . ." She turned her head right, left, and her black hair curled and uncurled on the shoulder of her coat. "We have our dull, circled lives, bound in gravity, worshiping you!" She looked back at me. "Perverted, yes? In love with a bunch of corpses in free fall!" Suddenly she hunched her shoulders. "I don't like having a free-fall-sexual-displacement complex."”

Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs - Fever To Tell
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I thought of this album from the prompt largely for two reasons. The first because of Black Tongue found in the mortuary. And the second because I thought of Modern Romance. How despite that title the lyrics about how it's not a modern romance. And there is the play in the passage between two characters with one speaking of love, but it's clearly not love, it's a perversion of love. Delany is one of the most original and boundary transgressing authors I've ever read. All his work stuns me in the best ways when I read it because it's strange and familiar, shockingly so at one and the same time. I tried to bring him to campus once, but his agent told me that due to his age and health needs it costs a minimum of 15k for travel costs before his fee. So way out of my budget, but it at least wasn't in the realm of outrageously offensive fees that's a lot of semi famous folks have for invited talks.
 
April 2 – Don DeLillo, Human Moments in World War III
“It is not too early in the war to discern nostalgic references to earlier wars. All wars refer back. Ships, planes, entire operations are named after ancient battles, simpler weapons, what we perceive as conflicts of nobler intent. This recon-interceptor is called Tomahawk II. When I sit at the firing panel I look at a photograph of Vollmer’s granddad when he was a young man in sagging khakis and a shallow helmet, standing in a bare field, a rifle strapped to his shoulder. This is a human moment, and it reminds me that war, among other things, is a form of longing.”

The first record that popped into my head...




Pink Floyd - The Final Cut

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Yer Ol' Uncle D said:
April 2 – Don DeLillo, Human Moments in World War III
“It is not too early in the war to discern nostalgic references to earlier wars. All wars refer back. Ships, planes, entire operations are named after ancient battles, simpler weapons, what we perceive as conflicts of nobler intent. This recon-interceptor is called Tomahawk II. When I sit at the firing panel I look at a photograph of Vollmer’s granddad when he was a young man in sagging khakis and a shallow helmet, standing in a bare field, a rifle strapped to his shoulder. This is a human moment, and it reminds me that war, among other things, is a form of longing.”

The first record that popped into my head...




Pink Floyd - The Final Cut

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Damn... scooped 😅
 
Yer Ol' Uncle D said:
Sorry, Gap. Great minds, etc. etc...
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All good, Uncle D. I found a solid replacement pretty quickly.

Day 2
Don DeLillo, Human Moments in World War III
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Ok so The Final Cut was the first thing that popped in my head too. But I think this album fits the theme of the prompt as well, specifically songs like "Sail to the Moon" and "I Will." Obstensibly about the world of 2003, it honestly sounds like it could have been written yesterday. It's funny how OK Computer is always being singled out in the Radiohead discography for being prescient of modern times, because this album also feels disturbingly relevant now as well and, I suspect, maybe always will. As sad as that is.
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April 1 – Samuel R. Delany, Aye, and Gomorrah…
  • “"Yes." She looked down. I glanced to see the expression she was hiding. It was a smile. "You have your glorious, soaring life—and you have us." Her face came up. She glowed. "You spin in the sky, the world spins under you, and you step from land to land, while we . . ." She turned her head right, left, and her black hair curled and uncurled on the shoulder of her coat. "We have our dull, circled lives, bound in gravity, worshiping you!" She looked back at me. "Perverted, yes? In love with a bunch of corpses in free fall!" Suddenly she hunched her shoulders. "I don't like having a free-fall-sexual-displacement complex."”
Good morning Spacers....

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I chose this for the on-the-nose reason but also because this cover seems to have been shot in the same era the short story was written.

Thanks for running April @Hemotep
This will be a challenging challenge...I'll probably be all over the place; sometimes playing to the overall theme or maybe choosing a sentence to use, other times maybe just some imagery that was conjured up.
 
April 2 – Don DeLillo, Human Moments in World War III

Shellac – Terraform
Touch And Go – TG 200, 1998/2003

Pressed at Record Technology Incorporated

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April 1 – Samuel R. Delany, Aye, and Gomorrah…
  • “"Yes." She looked down. I glanced to see the expression she was hiding. It was a smile. "You have your glorious, soaring life—and you have us." Her face came up. She glowed. "You spin in the sky, the world spins under you, and you step from land to land, while we . . ." She turned her head right, left, and her black hair curled and uncurled on the shoulder of her coat. "We have our dull, circled lives, bound in gravity, worshiping you!" She looked back at me. "Perverted, yes? In love with a bunch of corpses in free fall!" Suddenly she hunched her shoulders. "I don't like having a free-fall-sexual-displacement complex."”
Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak

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This passage felt like an excerpt from a Kanye autobiography
 
April 2 – Don DeLillo, Human Moments in World War III
  • “It is not too early in the war to discern nostalgic references to earlier wars. All wars refer back. Ships, planes, entire operations are named after ancient battles, simpler weapons, what we perceive as conflicts of nobler intent. This recon-interceptor is called Tomahawk II. When I sit at the firing panel I look at a photograph of Vollmer’s granddad when he was a young man in sagging khakis and a shallow helmet, standing in a bare field, a rifle strapped to his shoulder. This is a human moment, and it reminds me that war, among other things, is a form of longing.”
Jefferson Airplane "After Bathing At Baxter's" (1967 RCA Victor)

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Day 02: Don DeLillo, Human Moments in World War III

Elton John - Honky Château
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The Narrator seems to be attempting to ignore humanity by focusing on the process and routine his job requires but Vollmer keeps reminding him of human moments by explicitly talking about them or by the personal belonging he’s brought with him. The Tomahawk II seems like a very destructive weapon that will wreak havoc back on earth but from the perspective orbiting the planet the earth is a beautiful blue marble even though World War III is seemingly raging below. It's just so interesting... the colors and all.

I chose this record mainly because of “Rocket Man” I think Bernie Taupin really strikes the same note on this track. It’s a man setting aside his humanity to embark on a mission in outer space. He sings about all the things he misses about home and his loneliness. “all the science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week”. Feels like something the Narrator would tell himself to cope with his detachment from human moments.
 
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TenderLovingKiller® said:
It’s a man setting aside his humanity to embark on a mission in outer space. He sings about all the things he misses about home and his loneliness.
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I remember talking with a friend about the lyrics to Rocket Man a few years ago; for some reason I never took them literally and thought the song was a metaphor for breakup/divorce. He was like, no, it's about a guy working in space. Guess I over thought that one.
 
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