Great piece. I had a Mom with many great qualities, but her untreated Bipolar Type 1 was not one of them, so I can relate to your experiences. I find this song to be so dryly hilarious in its relationship to 'Howl'. I really appreciate Alan Ginsberg's genius, but even as a genderqueer person who is a profound lover of poetry, I can't for the life of me get through reading all of 'Howl' without initially glazing over/drooling on myself and then eventually finding it's ranting simply ridiculously funny in its over-the-top-ness.... Not the reaction Ginsberg was looking for, probably. I think TMBG nailed something here about the self-indulgent ranting nature of the poem in 'Think'..... But then again, self-indulgence (especially as a reaction to all that post-war group conformity) was kind of the point in Ginsberg's era.....
Like Jane said, great piece. I was reading it and thinking, "I really misunderstood this song," and then you stopped and said that the song was really a satire on people who think they are supreme thinkers and conspiracy geniuses. I also didn't know about the Allen Ginsberg line. But your personal story and its connection to the song ring just as true to the lyrics for me as well. This one is perhaps the 2nd most earwormy song on the album for me. #1? It's coming in nine weeks.
Great piece. I had a Mom with many great qualities, but her untreated Bipolar Type 1 was not one of them, so I can relate to your experiences. I find this song to be so dryly hilarious in its relationship to 'Howl'. I really appreciate Alan Ginsberg's genius, but even as a genderqueer person who is a profound lover of poetry, I can't for the life of me get through reading all of 'Howl' without initially glazing over/drooling on myself and then eventually finding it's ranting simply ridiculously funny in its over-the-top-ness.... Not the reaction Ginsberg was looking for, probably. I think TMBG nailed something here about the self-indulgent ranting nature of the poem in 'Think'..... But then again, self-indulgence (especially as a reaction to all that post-war group conformity) was kind of the point in Ginsberg's era.....
Like Jane said, great piece. I was reading it and thinking, "I really misunderstood this song," and then you stopped and said that the song was really a satire on people who think they are supreme thinkers and conspiracy geniuses. I also didn't know about the Allen Ginsberg line. But your personal story and its connection to the song ring just as true to the lyrics for me as well. This one is perhaps the 2nd most earwormy song on the album for me. #1? It's coming in nine weeks.