Roy Harper Appreciation thread

Just to nudge this thread here's an old poster I found in amongst my stuff

I think that he is more than that, and the main issue is that folks are so stuck on a "sound", and some cheap, and sometimes meaningless, lyrics. When you first hear someone like Roy Harper, Peter Hammill and those extremely "independent" voices that just seem to flow around their words, this is not something that happens so naturally in a lot of rock music, that is supposedly better and all that ... 

I always like to say, and I am a writer and a poet, that the words are as good as an instrument, and sometimes are what brings the music out ... but in a lot of hit driven things, this is not the case, and the music and the lyrics do not seem to match for my mind ... it's like one goes right and the other one goes left, and this has been something that has prevented me from enjoying a lot of bands, like Dream Theater and other heavies, because their "sound" is more important than anything that could be said and understood ... and immediately they go back to the one thing they do well, and the lyrics get kinda lost in the shuffle, and come off not as valuable and important. This is specially clear in a DT concert when the singer takes a step back, and is not a part of the whole thing.

Also reminds me, of the time when Roy declined touring with PF. He knew that it was a one off 5 minute song and he would be backstage bored senseless, and probably thinking that he did not care, or like for some of the material ... which he might have been more polite by refusing and not saying anything about his friends, that helped him right from the start of his career. But, it tells you, what kind of writer, poet and person he is ... he wants the poetic freedom to "live" live on the stage ... and there are many stories as to how difficult he can be to play with since he changes parts and pieces like no one else can ... and you already know that this is because of the flow of the words ... bring up something else, and it is really hard not to follow it up and lose that special sense in the wording at that very moment. 

All poets, and writers, live for those magical seconds in time ... they are one of the greatest inspirations one can find and get!

SteveG wrote: ^ (Snapping fingers) Heavy man, heavy! (Snapping fingers.)

 

Far out Brother far out (puts beads on)