The Basement Space by wytchcroft

BLUE SUN ROOM

The Basement Space

POSTED BY: WYTCHCROFT
UPDATED: Thursday, August 16, 2007 09:28
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Thursday, August 16, 2007 9:28 AM

(please excuse any technical errors – i am writing this on borrowed kit)

OK – you love FireFly, i surely love FireFly, so let’s all join hands a minute and think on that wonderous show... well now, listen to this:

“More than a little crazy, at times flatly bizarre, moving easily from the confessional to the bawdy house, roaring with humour and good times, this... {is}... to me at once like a testing and a discovery – of... affinity, of nerve of some very pointed themes; put up or shut up, obligation, escape, homecoming, owning up, the settling of accounts past due.”

Now don’t that sound like the finest review of FirefFly yet written??

It is not of course. What it IS actually, being the Greil Marcus liner notes to Bob Dylan and The Band’s ‘The Basement Tapes’.

Personally i feel to the two have a lot in common – FireFly feels to me at times like the Basement Tapes in Space, similarly trying to create a free ‘verse (pun intended) woven from (genre busting) spicy, disperate elements and rooted in a folksy rebel attitude that offers, or accepts, no easy answers.

The imagary of the songs on TBT is reflected directly in the cover

– a cover that seems to match the wardrobe raiding look of FireFly [especially on Persephone] exactly. Hell it looks like an interior shot of Serenity herself!

Marcus wrote about the Basement Tapes at greater length in a book called Invisible Republic – where he details the creative process that effectively mapped their self created ‘verse, pointing out that the identity of The Band , canadian yet immersed in the old west mythos and a self discovery of carny america, had much to do with this.
Again – the link with F.F. seems clear (Nathan Fillion even being canadian) with Joss essentially the outsider discovering his ‘verse.

Tastes in music are subjective, i’m NOT saying you must love the Basement Tapes (although i find they conjure the ‘verse up nicely wwhen i’m writing!) but simply pointing out some interesting possible threads – and i DO suggest you give Invisible Republic a read.. it’s a virtual guide to Browncoat thinking.

One last deeper thing – Marcus believes this freewheeling collection hides something darker and more profound under the surface and quotes Dylan himself (from 1966)
“Obviously Death in not very universally accepted. I mean, you’d think that the traditional music people could gather from their songs that mystery is a fact, a traditional fact.”
A realisation of Mystery and a real acceptance of Death seem to me to be inside the heart of the ‘Verse as Joss created it. The most obvious example may be the finale of the BDM but i feel the theme runs throughout... indeed the song for the credits would seem to directly be aiming for that.

I hope this makes sense, and is of interest. Many of you may find similar links to music of your own – listened to or performed. That would be GREAT. Those of you writing Flicks might wanna check out in detail the themes Marcus elucidates on.

Please throw comparisons and suggestions at the thread here.

Laters!

make someone a browncoat today - don't drive no/one away

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