The Mist

[Diane]

I have The Mist on constant replay at the moment. It is remarkably beautiful, sung by Anjani. I always loved the poem, which seems to be about the beauty of love, and the impossibility of its endurance. The gentle piano against Anjani's voice puts me in mind of Beethoven's 'Moonlight' sonata (1st m) (played forwards). I am mentally hearing Beethoven somewhere in the background. I think Beethoven expresses in the Moonlight Sonata what Leonard and Anjani are expressing in The Mist.

Diane

[lizzytysh]

Mmmm... lovely way to express your feelings on that song, Diane. I'll listen to it in exactly that way when I do so again. It's not difficult ~ at all ~ to imagine it as you've said, even so, without actually hearing it. Really beautiful. Thanks for sharing all that .


Love,
Lizzy

[Diane]

Dear Lizzy,

Thanks for your response. Soon, I will listen to the rest of the album .

Love,

Diane

[Diane]

I think Beethoven expresses in the Moonlight Sonata what Leonard and Anjani are expressing in The Mist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6txOvK-mAk

Can you feel it?

[blonde madonna]

Thank you Diane for my dose of kulta for the day.

I had heard ‘Moonlight’ sonata before but was not familiar enough with it to remember and make the connection with Anjani’s ‘Mist’. I played Wilhelm, then ‘Mist’, followed again by Wilhelm and yes, they do echo each other’s meditative sadness (is that the right word?, I can’t think of a better word right now but they are not happy songs although they both have a lightness that lifts the melancholy).

[Dilly]

I have The Mist on constant replay at the moment. It is remarkably beautiful, sung by Anjani. I always loved the poem, which seems to be about the beauty of love, and the impossibility of its endurance. The gentle piano against Anjani's voice puts me in mind of Beethoven's 'Moonlight' sonata (1st m) (played forwards). I am mentally hearing Beethoven somewhere in the background. I think Beethoven expresses in the Moonlight Sonata what Leonard and Anjani are expressing in The Mist.

Diane

And what, exactly, is that?

[~greg]

I wish this comparison had never been made.
It's like comparing the White House to the Taj Mahal.

I like Anjani and LC just fine.
And, in my opinion, they could never come out inferior
in any comparison.

Unless it's to Beethoven's piano sonatas!!!!

~~~

Please say you're sorry!

~~~
But I'm sorry.
It isn't that it compares unfavorably.
It's that these things should never be compared at all.

You wouldn't drink Courvoisier with oysters, would you?

~~

More to the point;
The only real similarity is in just the first 3 notes,
which appear to be a slow arpeggio on a minor triad in both cases.

However, even this much isn't a perfect isomorphism.
If you pay close attention you can hear that The Mist's
arpeggio is just two notes of the triad.

I don't know why we hear it as three different notes,
unless it's precisely because we are expecting the Moonlight sonata!

Listen carefully.
Here are the first 3 notes of The Mist (CCF),
followed by the first two notes (CC) again, ,
and then again, and then CCF again,
--in order to show clearly that C and C really are
the same note.
This is then followed by the first notes of The Moonlight:...

http://relay.twoshakesofalambstail.com/ ... Sonata.mp3

[Ith]

I wish this comparison had never been made.
It's like comparing the White House to the Taj Mahal.

I like Anjani and LC just fine.
And, in my opinion, they could never come out inferior
in any comparison.

Unless it's to Beethoven's piano sonatas!!!!

~~~

Please say you're sorry!

~~~
But I'm sorry.
It isn't that it compares unfavorably.
It's that these things should never be compared at all.

You wouldn't drink Courvoisier with oysters, would you?

~~

More to the point;
The only real similarity is in just the first 3 notes,
which appear to be a slow arpeggio on a minor triad in both cases.

However, even this much isn't a perfect isomorphism.
If you pay close attention you can hear that The Mist's
arpeggio is just two notes of the triad.

I don't know why we hear it as three different notes,
unless it's precisely because we are expecting the Moonlight sonata!

Listen carefully.
Here are the first 3 notes of The Mist (CCF),
followed by the first two notes (CC) again, ,
and then again, and then CCF again,
--in order to show clearly that C and C really are
the same note.
This is then followed by the first notes of The Moonlight:...

http://relay.twoshakesofalambstail.com/ ... Sonata.mp3

[Ith]

I have The Mist on constant replay at the moment. It is remarkably beautiful, sung by Anjani. I always loved the poem, which seems to be about the beauty of love, and the impossibility of its endurance. The gentle piano against Anjani's voice puts me in mind of Beethoven's 'Moonlight' sonata (1st m) (played forwards). I am mentally hearing Beethoven somewhere in the background. I think Beethoven expresses in the Moonlight Sonata what Leonard and Anjani are expressing in The Mist.

Diane

And what, exactly, is that?

[Red Poppy]

i may be in a minority of one but I find the Blue Alert version of the Mist vastly inferior,musically, to the version on the Death of a Ladies Man album. I think the current versiondrags, lacks an old grey whistle test tune and generally goes nowhere. Minority no doubt but I do feel that way. In fact I think it's by far the weakest song on the CD.

[tomsakic]

You're not alone, Red Poppy. Spector's version rocks. I'm actually skipping this track in my mp3 player. If you ask me about the weakest song, it's The Mist. Then cover of Nightingale (too slow and nothing's happening after the half). On the other hand, Blue Alert, The Golden Gate and No One After You are my absolute favourites. I still didn't lost hope that Leonard will record Blue Alert for his next album, what was the original idea.

[Diane]

It seems we are all in a minority of one, and how could it be otherwise? I loved The Mist and Dance, and all the lyrics to Blue Alert from the off, but it has taken some time to get used to some of the rest of the album because I am not a natural fan of that jazz sound.

Greg said:

I wish this comparison had never been made...Please say you're sorry!

I'm sorry Greg; please forget I ever mentioned it .

However, even this much isn't a perfect isomorphism.
If you pay close attention you can hear that The Mist's
arpeggio is just two notes of the triad.

I don't know why we hear it as three different notes,
unless it's precisely because we are expecting the Moonlight sonata!

I am really comparing the 'feel' of the two, not the notes, or the composition, or relative merit. Thanks for your analysis of the notes; I enjoyed that!

I have been making noise on this forum for some time, and during that time I have read quite a few analyses of Leonard's work, including The Mist (in both its longer and shorter version). It is all interesting, but I remember very little of what I have read, and ultimately none of it contributes much to what Leonard's work means to me. I am not complaining; just stating how it is for me. In the analyses, what is important is lost. That is the way I see it. (And yes I am famililiar with the view that the more you know about something the greater your ability to appreciate next time around, but it doesn't work too well for me.)

So, I guess this comparison of mine is a little act of rebellion.

Dilly said, with regard to my opinion that Mist and Moonlight are about the same thing:

And what, exactly, is that?

I can't say.

But here's a brief attempt:

Thanks for your comment, blonde madonna. You said:

they both have a lightness that lifts the melancholy

Both Moonlight and Mist seem to be contradictory in what they say, about love, but both surpass this contradiction, in my view. I think they might be saying that the beauty and sadness of love are inseparable, or correlatives. They might be expressing something that is difficult to explain with words.

Diane

[Red Poppy]

Interesting to hear all the minotities of one. Funnily, after Mist, Blue Alert is my least favourite song on the CD - and the one I thought worked least well in the Dublin show - but I made that point back then. I think - like Diane - I have a strong resistance to the jazzier stuff.
My own favourite tracks are Thanks for the Dance and Never got to tell You - but each of us carries our subjective memories and experiences into the listening booth of the head anyway.

[blonde madonna]

You boys are a giggle. This need to order and rank and weed out the chaff is so cutely obsessive.

Greg have you heard about postmodernism and its affect on the high-low culture divide?

I think I wear my preference for DOLM on my sleeve so yes TLLNT is a great song but it’s not the only song. In fact I am profligate in my use and abuse of all kinds of songs. I listen to Anjani when I want to chill out, you should try it some time.

Diane your little rebellion extended my thoughts when I next listen to 'The Mist' and there’s no harm in that, so please rebel again if the feeling takes you.

[lizzytysh]

This need to order and rank and weed out the chaff is so cutely obsessive.

That's a great way to express how I feel about it, too, Madonna. For me, Blue Alert works the same way that Ten New Songs does... it begins and flows seamlessly from one to the next until it ends... [and I didn't like so much what!?! ] The jazzy feel of it is so immersed in the flow that if I were trying to introduce someone to jazz, I think this would be a most excellent way for doing it.

When all is said and sung, I still experience most of the songs with my emotional understanding and response. Meanwhile, I love both the recorded and Live versions of The Mist .


~ Lizzy