by Peter Berryman
Universal Laws 2: Gravity! Gravity!
The last episode of Whither Zither was about Universal Laws and their use in folk songs. So is this episode; it's a sequel. Both were inspired by a website -- www.edge.org/questioncenter.html -- which posed the question "What's Your Law?" to a small gang of contemporary smarties, in hopes of finding a new Pythagorean Theorem or at least another Murphy's Law. I wondered if such Laws appeared often in folk music, and asked for readers' observations.
In continuing to look through quite a haversack of folk lyrics since then, both traditional and contemporary, I am still boggled by how hard it is to find examples of quotable truisms. I surely did no formal survey, but RocknRoll seems to have many more Wise Sayings than folk. (See rockwisdom.com, which has over 12,000 quotes from rock songs).
I did look more into what distinguishes the various types of what could be called "laws" from one another. First, there's a major distinction between what are physical (or "natural") laws and laws which pertain only to the human condition. Physical laws (like the Law of Gravity) should apply even after the human race has blown itself to Niblits. But maxims, axioms, aphorisms, truisms, rules of thumb, words to live by, and all the rest of the fortune cookie 500, only apply as long as there is one of us left to watch Seinfeld. As I said last time, these wisdom-forms have similar definitions. More precisely, from the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary:
Not that it matters, but to me it's still tricky to tell which is which. Anyway, one would expect to find few actual physical laws covered in folk songs, though there are some. For example, there was a six-LP set of science songs released in the late 50s by Singing Science Records, with such hits as Kinetic and Potential Energy, and What Is Gravity, written by Hy Zaret and Lou Singer. You can listen to the MP3s of these and many more from the LPS at www.acme.com/jef/science_songs/. Some examples: All matter has a force, that pulls things toward its core; Gravity! Gravity! Is what we call that force! -- from the song What Is Gravity. The energy released, when particles of matter change; the energy released, is chemical energy! -- from What is Chemical Energy. No doubt Tom Lehrer has rhymed a few physical laws, and there must be Filk (Science Fiction) songs full of physical laws, real and fake.
One of the most wonderful but heartbreaking science songs I have ever heard, called Nogie's Creek, was written by Canada's Howard L. Kaplan and is recorded on Michael Cooney's CD Together Again (available from Michael at: www.michaelcooney.com/). Though I couldn't find any compact quotables in it, its whole subject is the bittersweet search for natural laws involving the mating of frogs!
I found more human-nature laws than physical laws in song lyrics, to be sure, but still didn't find many. I like to think this lack of laws means there isn't much interest in songs that Lay Down The Law per se, but more interest in songs of personal experience. Songs that are righteous to the point of offering "truths" are either not passed on very far, or not made in much quantity in the first place.
Tim White, of Mt Horeb WI, suggested two songs whose titles read like laws. Tim said, "One law which comes to mind in these days of underfunded superfunds is The Land Knows You're There by Leanne Hinton. Another one in these odd times when a Patriot Act is taken as a sign of patriotism would be Guthrie's This Land is Your Land (and its about time we took it back!)"
Rob Lopresti, of Bellingham WA, helped with a few, including three by Dylan:
1: Even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked. 2: Don't follow leaders; watch your parking meters, and 3: You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Rob wrote of Dylan, "I think he probably is more susceptible to lawmaking than most folkies." I agree totally.
Rob also provided this one from Allen Sherman: Good advice costs nothing and its worth the price, and this from Shel Silverstein: Even living legends have to live. From Procol Harum: Life is like a beanstalk. Isn't it? And a quote from a Bob Franke song: The Lord's cross might redeem us but our own just wastes our time.
I found another bumper sticker by Dylan from It's Alright, Ma: He not busy being born is busy dying. From Bob Marley's Them Belly Full: A hungry mob is an angry mob. Then there's good ol' Tom Waits, from Step Right Up: The large print giveth, the small print taketh away. Old folky Leonard Cohen sings, in Jazz Police, Blood is thicker margarine than grease. Harold Gretton says There's no happiness like sinking blotto to the floor, in his song Alcoholic's Anthem.
You can't hear the teacher with beans in your ears! comes from Beans in My Ears by Len Chandler. There are probably a slew of kids' songs with laws in them, such as the science songs, above, and laws -- or more accurately, rules -- like Cover your mouth and turn your head when you cough, from Cover Your Mouth And Turn Your Head by Juli Kelly.
Last episode, I threw in a jingle. In looking around for a source on the web for more of 'em, I found the Web site of the 73-year-old magazine Advertising Age. It's URL: AdAge.com. ADAGE.COM!!!! Watch out! Adages are tiptoeing toward you tucked into sneaker jingles!
My thanks to all the web sites and songwriters
mentioned, and special thanks to Tim White and Rob Lopresti.