Pure Punk Picks
Television – Venus De Milo
There was a band called Television. (Tell a vision!)
It was a reference to your TV. At the time, the late seventies, it was equal to what you now know, as the internet.
Television was, in a way, the very first punk band, even though, they more thoroughly fit in with the new wave genre.
But CBGB’s was certainly, the first punk club. And, I believe most of you are aware, that CBGB stood for- Country, Bluegrass and Blues which was what the owner, Hilly Kristal, envisioned playing there at his newly acquired Bowery dive, biker bar in Manhattan.
One day, Tom Verlaine and Richard Hell, of Television strolled in and asked if they could play there?
When asked if they played the types of music the club’s name stood for- they dishonestly, replied, “Yes, along with some other stuff.”
But Hilly liked them and soon Patti Smith, Blondie, Talking Heads and The Ramones were playing their regularly, also.
With a brilliant, ringing, melodic guitar lick intro- this song arrives with a mood that suggests, to me- a rainy, early fall evening night in an urban city. With the cascading, downward notes reflecting rain, falling down, upon the neon lit, dirty, street light brightened streets.
“There stood another person who was a little bit surpised, to be face to face with a world so alive.”
Suggesting a young person, feeling and finding- a new young person. And being a little surprised that they are facing a new person that they recognize as themselves.
“And I fell,” the singer goes, answered by the background chorus, “Did you feel low?” And he answers, “Naw”, and then they all go “Huh!” like some corny comic strip.
And he proclaims, “I fell right into the arms of Venus De Milo.”
Now, this is one of the most famous sculptures of all time. It’s still revered though, obviously, it’s two arms didn’t withstand the years of time, so they don’t exist anymore.
I think what this song suggests is that the singer was used to falling back into what was accepted in art history and criticism. As he was applauded and accepted by playing within those lines, but really, they were false because those lines didn’t exist anymore.
You will always have what occurred before in the arts and is accepted and certain forces will resist any change. That happens frequently in all the arts, and that certainly happened when punk poked it’s spiky head above ground.
But besides the intriguing vocal- the beat is moderate, with a march like drum percussion and the pause of the lick that just oozes out pearls of perfection. Along with a wonderful, aching guitar solo helped by volume sweeps. This song creates its’ own style of intensity and beauty.
Classic sculpture like the Venus De Milo or Rodin can be appreciated. I’ve appreciated classical art, literature, sculpture and even, music. But I do believe that the essence of art springs forth with a battering ram that roars through and demolishes all pre-conceived ways and notions.
It smashes the old to bits, it squashes it under its’ heel. It, literally, tares it from limb by limb.
I would suggest that when the arms of Venus De Milo reach out to embrace you, that you take a nearby sledgehammer and smash those non-existent arms, once more to bits.
And most likely, you’ve already done so, without my encouragement.
During the last verse after the singer says he fell and the background chorus asks him- Did he feel low? And he says “naw” and they say “huh.”
He responds this time with, “I stood up and walked out of the arms of Venus De Milo.”
He stood up and walked out of what was expected to be, what he was expected to do. He didn’t settle for what was safe, traditional or accepted.
And when I stood up and walked out of the arms of Venus De Milo, many years passed, I walked smack dab into punk music, into Charles Bukowski’s poetry, into Pop Art and into the pulp fiction of Jim Thompson. Into a way of looking at things that made me never want to look back.
A no less artistic stance but one that was more aligned with realism than imagination, more gritty with street sense than lofty and idealistic.
I walked out of the arms of Venus De Milo and was caught by my true artistic arms.
(Slimedog)
