by John Gluck and Jim Davies
The html version of this FAQ can be found on the web at
http://www.jimdavies.org/laurie-anderson/faq/
The text version can be found at
http://www.jimdavies.org/laurie-anderson/faq.txt
1.1. How can I get in touch with Laurie Anderson?
1.2. Can I get Home of the Brave on video anymore?
1.3. What is Laurie Anderson's best album?
1.4. Who is Laurie Anderson?
1.5. Is William Burroughs dead? Is he still
addicted to heroin?
1.6. What
is the song that goes ha ha ha ha ha ha?
1.7. What has Laurie been doing lately?
1.8. Has anyone noticed all the references to
falling in Laurie
Anderson's songs?
1.9. Does Laurie lurk here? If so, what is her
address?
1.10. Where can I find out more about Laurie on the
net?
1.11. I've heard that LA is going to open an
amusement park in
Spain. Is this true?
1.12. Where can I find/buy/learn more about
(insert title of work --
book, disc, video -- here)
1.13. United States of America is 4 C.D.s.
That seems like a lot.
Is it worth the money?
1.14 What other famous people has Laurie worked
with?
1.15. What is the l.p. with 3 different grooves on
one side?
How does that translate to C.D.?
1.16 What Fassbinder film IS it in which a
one armed man walks
into a florist and says "What flower is it that symbolizes days go
by, endlessly pulling you into the future?"
1.17 What is the backwards talk saying on
"Example #22" from
Big Science?
1.18 I've noticed that many of Laurie's songs
seem to re-use the same lyrics,
with slight changes. Is this true?
1.19 What do the abbreviations mean?
1.20What famous people has Laurie Referred to in her songs?
1.21 Who is the man speaking in the "You've got to have leaders" clip Laurie Uses?
1.22 What are the words to "Radar?"
1.23 I have recently heard of Laurie Anderson
and I want to get
more familiar with her work. Where do you recommend I start?
For updated contact information, see the official website on the subject: http://www.laurieanderson.com/contact.html
The most reliable way to talk to her in person is to approach her after a concert. Wait between the building and the bus and you can usually meet her. Good luck.
It's out of print, and very difficult to find. I get people asking me how they can get it all the time. Your best bet is ebay.com, which occasionally has one for auction. The only other advice I can give is to ask stores and ask around, but if you need to see it see it on laserdisc. Write WB and tell them you want it back on video-- they will if enough people request it.
We have not reached a consensus on this. Rather we are split, roughly, into 3 camps: those who favor the earlier works pre-Strange Angels, those who favor the music from Strange Angels and after, and those who just like it all.
Some of us believe that her best work is her early studio work (e.g. Big Science,Mr. Heartbreak) while others find it too eclectic, strained, or over-produced.
Some fans feel that Strange Angels is her best work, citing its accessibility and melodies as its chief assets. Others wretch at the word "accessibility" and consider Strange Angels something like a bastard child.
Most of us here are fond of Laurie's latest work Bright Red, finding that it grows on a person. It does not seem to be topping very many people's favorite album list.
A poet, writer, visual artist, and social commentator, she is perhaps best known as a recording artist, one whose technical wizardry and live shows have earned her a reputation as one of the most eccentric performers in the business.
She's a lot of things. In general she's known as a "performance
artist." A performance artist is an artist who works in the medium of
live performance. Laurie's performances use a bewildering variety of
media, including film, electronic and acoustic music, slides,
costumes, and other weird effects that don't even have names.
William S. Burroughs, beat poet,
the man who inspired such LA songs as "Language is a Virus"
and collaborated on You're The Guy.... and "Sharkey's
Night" (to mention a few) was alive and doing Nike commercials.
He was born on Feb 5, 1914, and died on August 2, 1997. He was no
longer on drugs. Burrough's father sold the adding machine stock, and
Bill didn't get any of the money.
The song is "O Superman (for
Massenet)". It is Ms. Anderson's only hit, scoring #2 on the
British Charts in 1982. The song is a inspired by Massenet's "O
Souverain."
Her latest albums were Bright Red and The Ugly One with the Jewels. Her latest tour started in February. I don't know
what she's been doing recently.
Yes. Wes Parham< parham@phoenix.cs.uga.edu> writes:
FALLING:
Several people have asked her if she lurks, and she has always
responded with an "Or course." Recently I heard that she almost never
reads it anymore, though. If you would like to reach her, you can contact her
manager, Keith Naisbitt of the William Morris Agency
(310/859-4000). I'm sure she has an email address, but I sure
don't know it.
The latest rumor is that she is working on building an
amusement park on a hill somewhere near Barcelona. Her co-
creators are longtime collaborators Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel.
The park will emphasize the exhibition of technological
achievements. It will probably never be built. It's called the Real World.
If you have access
to the World Wide Web, you can find a fairly complete listing of
Ms. Anderson's work, both in and out of print at
discography at the
HOMEpage OF THE BRAVE, which has tons of information. (http://www.jimdavies.org/laurie-anderson/)
If you like all of Ms. Anderson's other discs, you will probably
enjoy United States. It has live (and in many cases quite
different) versions of many of the songs found on Big Science,
Mister Heartbreak and Home of the Brave.
John Roth <roth@math.washington.edu>
Brian Eno - produced Bright Red
Jonathan Demme- Laurie co-wrote (with John Cale and
David Byrne) material for the soundtrack
of Demme's film "Something Wild".
The album is You're The Guy I Want To Share My Money
With, a joint venture with William Burroughs & John Giorno
In reference to this album, Malcolm Humes writes:
Says David Gibson:
cwalker587@aol.com:
There's another theory that says it says: "IT WAS WRITTEN IN RED MAGIC MARKER, AND IT SAID: IT WAS WRITTEN IN
READ MAGIC MARKER, AND IT SAID"
And of course there's the "IT WAS IN RED MAGIC MARKER AND IT SAID" camp.
I haven't heard it, so I don't know which is right!
Listen for yourself:
.wav file
Says David Gibson:
USL -- United States Live
Laurie Anderson Yes, she even comments about her own
work, most notably in "Yankee See"
(_United States I-IV_), but passim
throughout her oeuvre...
Walter Benjamin- "The Dream Before" (_Strange Angels_)
is dedicated to him.
Hector Berlioz- The "Violin Solo" on _United States I-
IV_ is based on a passage in the
_Symphonie Fantastique_.
William F. Buckley, Jr.- Mentioned in "Private Property" (_United
States I-IV_).
William Burroughs- Does vocal on "Sharkey's Night" (_Mister
Heartbreak_ version); other
collaborations include _You're The Guy I
Want To Share My Money With_, and the
use of a Burroughs vocal sample on a
track from _Home of the Brave_ (Late Show).
The song
"Language Is A Virus From Outer Space"
(_United States I-IV_ and _Home of the
Brave_) is dedicated to him. He appears on Home of the brave.
George Bush- Mentioned in "Babydoll" on Strange Angels.
Italo Calvino- The final line from "New Jersey
Turnpike" (_United States I-IV_) is from
his novel _Invisible Cities_.
Jimmy Carter- Mentioned in "Democratic Way" (_United
States I-IV_).
Don De Lillo- The infamous "terrorists are the only
true artists" quote on "The Cultural
Ambassador" (_The Ugly One With The
Jewels_) is from his novel Mao II.
Annie Dillard- Mentioned in "Speechless" (_Bright
Red/Tightrope_).
Thomas A. Edison- His animosity towards Nikola Tesla is
mentioned in "Dance Of Electricity"
(_United States I-IV_).
Rainer W. Fassbinder- Cited of course in "White Lily" (_Home
of the Brave_, _The Ugly One With The
Jewels_), and in "The Dream Before"
(_Strange Angels_).
Buckminster Fuller- Mentioned in "The Big Top" (_United
States I-IV_).
Hiawatha- quotes Longfellow's "Hiawatha" in "Hiawatha"
John F. Kennedy-- "Hiawatha" from Strange Angels. "Marilyn and
John F. Dancing.."
Franz Kafka- "It Was Up In The Mountains" (_United
States I-IV_) paraphrases one of Kafka's
short parables.
Andy Kaufman- Mentioned in "The Rotowhirl" (_The Ugly
One With The Jewels_)
Edward Lear- "Pea Green Boat" on _Bright
Red/Tightrope_ quotes from "The Owl and
the Pussycat".
John Lilly- Mentioned in "John Lilly" (_The Ugly One
With The Jewels_).
Jules Massenet - "O Superman" (_United States I-IV_,
_Big Science_) parodies his "O
Souverain." he's a French Romantic.
Herman Melville- _Moby Dick_ is cited in two songs: "Blue
Lagoon" (_United States I-IV_ and _Mr
Heartbreak_) and one (whose name I can't
remember off-hand) from _Strange
Angels_.
Marilyn Monroe-- "Hiawatha" from Strange Angels. "Marilyn and
John F. Dancing.."
Dolly Parton- Mentioned in "Walk the Dog" (_United
States I-IV_).
Elvis Presley - "Hiawatha" from _Strange Angels_ is
about Elvis.
Thomas Pynchon- The song "Gravity's Angel" (_Mr
Heartbreak_) is dedicated to this
reclusive American novelist, and the
title inspired by his novel _Gravity's
Rainbow_.
William Shakespeare- An extract from _The Tempest_ is quoted
in "Blue Lagoon" (_United States I-IV_
and _Mr Heartbreak_).
Frank Sinatra- Mentioned on "Smoke Rings" (_Home of the
Brave_).
Nikola Tesla- Tesla features in both "Three Walking
Songs" and "Dance Of Electricity" (both
on _United States I-IV_).
Mark Twain- "Lighting Out For The Territories"
(_United States I-IV_) gets its title
from _Huckleberry Finn_.
Steven Weed- His interrogation by the FBI is the
subject of "Steven Weed" on _United
States I-IV_.
Ludwig Wittgenstein - "If You Can't Talk About It, Point To
It" (_United States I-IV_) is dedicated
to him.
1.21. Who is the man speaking in the "You've got to have leaders" clip Laurie Uses?
That man is Admiral James Stockdale.
He was the vice-presidential candidate with Ross Perot way back in 1989.
That clip is actually from a vice-presidential debate, where Adm. Stockdale
was, shall we say, a little confused.
-OrigArt
1.22What are the words to Radar?
Hey! Aaaaaaaauuuuuh.
Another opinion (note this interpretation is from someone named "Alan.")
Heyyyy!!!!! Alan, why? Hey! Alan, why?
The movie is comprised of pieces, many which evolved from the Mr.
Heartbreak Tour. You may also want to take a look at her
most recent book Stories From the Nerve Bible, a
compendium of summaries of her work over the past 20 years.
Laurie is also a recording artist with Warner Bros. Records. She has
made several albums, and all of them are more or less "avant-garde."
She began to actually sing recently, starting with the Album "Strange
Angels." Otherwise the vocals were primarily spoken.
Some common themes in her works are airplanes, dogs, family, the
United States, dreams, and language.
Warner bros has a bio of her which can be seen at
http://www.jimdavies.org/laurie-anderson/bio.html.
Karl Berry
From the chronology by Paula Marincola
-1947 Born June 5 in Chicago, Illinois to Mary Louise Rowland
Anderson and Arthur Anderson, the second oldest in a family
of eight (four brothers, three sisters).
-1965-6 Mills College, Oakland, CA.
-1966-9 Barnard, graduates magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa,
in art history.
-1970-2 Columbia University, MFA in sculpture.
-1970-4 Teaches art history at City College, New York; Staten
Island College; and Pace University. Her courses include
Egyptian; Assyrian architecture; survey of art history.
Laurie uses the image of a falling person very much, so it might
be very interesting to compare the contexts in which these images
are used. So I'm trying to make a list of songs in which somebody
is falling.
New list, updated with the reply of
<lfischerCzp8sI.H18@netcom.com>
Speechless
Bright Red
Tightrope (of course)
Freefall (how could i forget this one)
Ramon? (SA)
Gravity's Angel
Looking for you/Walking and falling
From the Air/ (name of the song in which the text occurs is
different on _United States Live_)
Finnish Farmers
Song for Two Jims
Excellent Birds (this was added by the author but contributed
earlier)
If you have web access, there are several pages you can access.
I think it would be good to point out that story-telling, rather
than
music, is emphasized on USL. It is also hilarious, if you find her
funny.
Adrian Belew - plays guitar on Home of the Brave, Mister
Heartbreak, Strange Angels & Bright Red
Peter Gabriel - contributes to several songs on Mister Heartbreak. A different version of Excellent Birds called This is the Picture can be found on the album So
Bobby McFerrin - appears on ":Monkey's Paw": & ":The Dream
Before": from Strange Angels
Bill Laswell - bass on Home of the Brave, co-produced & played on
Mister Heartbreak
Philip Glass - Laurie wrote ":Forgetting": on Songs From Liquid
Days
Tony Levin - plays Chapman Stick on Strange Angels
Lou Reed - sings on ":In Our Sleep": from Bright Red
Phoebe Snow - sings on Mister Heartbreak
William Burroughs - Lead vocals on "Sharkey's Night" (Mister Heartbreak version)
Wim Wenders - Laurie wrote songs for Wings of Desire & Far Away,
So Close
Spaulding Grey - Laurie wrote soundtrack for Swimming to Cambodia &
Monster in a Box. I don't know if it is authorized, but a sample of Walking and Falling
(with the spaces between words razored out) appears on an Ofra Haza remix
on Sire's 'Just Say Da' compilation.
Jean-Michel Jarre - Laurie contributed to voices to on Zoolook on the track Diva.
The Roches - vocals on Strange Angels
Robert Mapplethorpe - took the cover picture of Strange Angels
John Cale- See above.
David Byrne- See above.
Ray Phiri- Guitarist for Stimela. One of South
Africa's biggest bands, Stimela also
played with Paul Simon on _Graceland_
and have toured with Simon. Phiri plays
on _Strange Angels_ (several tracks -
including "Monkey's Paw")
Bhakithi Khumalo- Bass player for Stimela, also played
with Paul Simon on _Graceland_. Also on
several tracks - including "Monkey's
Paw" - on _Strange Angels_.
Tony Levin
(The lp version of this work) is more of an unusual and
historical document of her work before her first real lp
which was much more commercial and poppy in focus than
her earlier performance work.
The original lp version is probably rarer than the cd -
plus it had a cool 4th side of the lp that had three
different grooves - so you'd get Laurie, John or William
depending on which groove the lp needle landed in.
Jane E B Harrison <JEB.Harrison@aukland.ac.nz> explains
how this works on the C.D:
There's a section for each, with a short piece by each at the
end of the
section
.
The film is Berlin Alexanderplatz; a film series made for TV about pre-war Berlin
"THERE WAS A MESSAGE WRITTEN ON THE WALL IN RED CRAYON, IT SAID:
THERE WAS A MESSAGE WRITTEN ON THE WALL IN RED CRAYON, IT
SAID:
THERE WAS A MESSAGE WRITTEN ON THE WALL IN RED CRAYON IT
SAID'"
.rm file
This is true. In her book SFTNB, p199, Laurie writes "Lyrics
for songs are
culled from huge notebooks that I keep adding to. In a way, I've only
written
one long song. Occasionally, the Lyrics get re-used".
SFTNB -- Stories From the Nerve Bible
HotB -- Home of the Brave
You're The Guy... -- You're the Guy I Want To Share My Money With
YTG...--same as above
MH -- Mister Heartbreak
SA -- Strange Angels
BR -- Bright Red
By extentsion Big Science would be BS although I've never seen it referred to
in this way
Eeeeehhhhhehhhh. Wwooonnnnn.
Eeeehhehh. Wwonnn.
Eeeehhehhooooo. Wwooonnn.
wwooon. (very quiet)
wwooon. (very quiet)
(from sethml@mince.ugcs.caltech.edu (Seth Laforge))
from acordle@willmington.net (Alan Cordle)Rent or buy the video of "Home of the Brave." If you get cable,
Kelly Miller has this advice:
Oh, and the "Bravo" cable channel shows "Home of the Brave" with
some frequency (as a guess, I would say every six months or so.)
JimDavies
(jim@jimdavies.org)
Last modified: Thu Mar 14 14:26:35 EST 2002