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May. 21st, 2004 11:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanaiseSo, earlier this week, I'm reading some British chick lit (still the best of the chick lits, though the american stuff beats the more mundane romances). Anyways, I'm reading a book, More Mischief, which is more than adequate and possibly even engaging, and I get to this passage, which without a doubt is the best use I have ever seen of poetry/song lyrics I have seen.
From the next-door flat they could hear Bart rummaging around in his CD rack. He was singing the only Radiohead song that Deidre had ever bothered to listen to properly. She cocked her head at one of the lyrics. "Listen," she said, joining in with Bart's doleful singing. "That's what you've got, Gabriel. A pretty house."
"Pretty's hardly the right word for Carrowcross House, Deidre."
"All right, magnificent. Such a magnificent house. And such a magnificent garden," she sang.
So, all of you out there, even those who haven't a clue what song she was talking about, you know what was just said there. They're talking about a song that she thinks is appropriate at the moment.
I, on the other hand, am very familar with this song. It's called, "No Surprises," and thanks to the lovely people at followmearound, we can even see the lyrics without nasty popups. If you don't know the song, you think, "oh, how appropriate. It's pretty little song with something about a house in it." Which works just fine for the purposes of the book. But if you *do* know the song, you know that it's a precursor of things to come. I read that bit, and I thought, "Shit. She's with the wrong guy." I knew that the relationship would crash and burn, and that there was something seriously wrong with how she was looking at him. Because that song is ironic, as much of Radiohead is, and thus the author's choice at letting her identify with that song was just *perfect*, and I seriously didn't finish the book for 4 days because I was so worried that the author didn't mean that, and that I was wrong. But luckily I wasn't, and so I'm happy again. Well, said that the relationship was trashed, but still. Happy I was right. :)
From the next-door flat they could hear Bart rummaging around in his CD rack. He was singing the only Radiohead song that Deidre had ever bothered to listen to properly. She cocked her head at one of the lyrics. "Listen," she said, joining in with Bart's doleful singing. "That's what you've got, Gabriel. A pretty house."
"Pretty's hardly the right word for Carrowcross House, Deidre."
"All right, magnificent. Such a magnificent house. And such a magnificent garden," she sang.
So, all of you out there, even those who haven't a clue what song she was talking about, you know what was just said there. They're talking about a song that she thinks is appropriate at the moment.
I, on the other hand, am very familar with this song. It's called, "No Surprises," and thanks to the lovely people at followmearound, we can even see the lyrics without nasty popups. If you don't know the song, you think, "oh, how appropriate. It's pretty little song with something about a house in it." Which works just fine for the purposes of the book. But if you *do* know the song, you know that it's a precursor of things to come. I read that bit, and I thought, "Shit. She's with the wrong guy." I knew that the relationship would crash and burn, and that there was something seriously wrong with how she was looking at him. Because that song is ironic, as much of Radiohead is, and thus the author's choice at letting her identify with that song was just *perfect*, and I seriously didn't finish the book for 4 days because I was so worried that the author didn't mean that, and that I was wrong. But luckily I wasn't, and so I'm happy again. Well, said that the relationship was trashed, but still. Happy I was right. :)
