I’m fueling my writer’s journey by listening on repeat to “Rise” by Public Image Lt. (PIL, if you want to be quick about it.) Because that’s what I intuit I need to keep going. I need to listen to Johnny Lydon and put one word in front of the other.
You should try writing to a certain rhythm, sometime, by the way. I do it a lot.
Can you imagine the momentum you’re charged with when writing along to the Killers’ careening “Sam’s Town”? The perfection and elegance you strive for when listening to the glittering romanticism of Roxy Music’s “More Than This.”
I read Johnny Lyden’s biography and found it interesting. He’s got intellectual bravery and a sense of the absurd. We need people to unsettle us, or we end up bland and accepting.
He’s more literary than I thought, but in a very succinct way. His autobiography is called “Anger is an Energy,” which is the outgoing refrain of the song “Rise.”
He says it’s the most genius line he’s ever come up with, and I tend to agree, although the ironic spoken word aside “That makes two of us” in the song “World Destruction” adds a touch of irony that helps make the song. The latter song was written and performed by Lyden and Aafrika Bombaataa as a side project called Time Zone.
I agree that anger is an energy. Too often we shut it down rather than channeling it into the creative force it can be. “Rise” came out in 1986 and is off the band’s fifth studio album, ironically called Album.
It’s a fun song to sing along with, and is so weird and unexpected melodically. The previous refrain, “May the road rise with you” is a line from an old Irish blessing or toast.
As for Lydon’s perennially hysterical delivery–like put me in a straight jacket mate, because I’m losing it, but don’t be surprised if I karate chop you. Another singer known for their vocal histrionics, that I’m breaking down spectacularly vibe, is David Byrne of Talking Heads.
That’s what’s going down. PIL on repeat. Me writing.
–Sarah Torribio
Listen to more songs of the day curated by Sarah Torribio HERE
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