Does Humour Belong in Prog?

An excellent question.  My answer is; it all depends on the context.

There is the point of view that songs like 'Benny' &'Willow Farm' drop a bit of silliness into otherwise fine works.  The thing is; these whimsical songs are very much products of their time - even more so than the rest of the music surrounding them.  They're not too much different than the multitude of silly little British pop ditties that were flying around at the same time; only reason they stick out to us is their out-of-place context within prog music. 

So, that's why it's there...as to wether it should be there; I think there's something to be said for trying to bring a little humor once in a while into a genre that tends toward seriousness.  Fripp once said something to the effect of backstage antics occuring as an attempt 'to inject some levity into a band situation which tended toward gravity'.  This rarely applied to his music, but when it did, such as Elephant Talk or even Ladies of the Road, I enjoy it immensely.

Humor also can allow both the listener & musician to let one's hair down a bit more, so to speak; if you're not taking the idea of creating some grandiose lyrical epic so seriously, you can just get on with playing some damn fine music.  This is the main aspect of the Canterbury school that appeals to me.

On a third note, I find the use of specifically Anglocentric humor, by Genesis in particular, to be one of the most delightful aspects of their music.  The obscure british refrences scattered throughout Selling England might be off-putting to some, but to me they add a wonderful period flavor to the piece, and only endear me more to the time & place from which this great music originated.

So, in short, yes. 

 

I personally think that humour is essential in all walks of life, and this must include music in all its forms.

Paco mentioned that you cannot always take Wakeman seriously - I should think not! He may be a truly gifted musician, but he is also a geniunely funny man; from his solo spots in Yes (check out Yessongs for proof), to his stand up comedy routines I've seen him do during his own band's shows.......

ELP's forays into humour have never detracted from their other work; in my mind they enhance it by adding a different dynamic to otherwise very intense albums; a breathing space, if you like - ear candy to allow your brain to recover. The same could be said of 'Willow Farm', but although this section is humorous when taken out of context, the lyrics deal with the transition of physical form, an essential link to the closing section (pretentious, moi ??).

As far as Zappa is concerned, apart from his vast body of serious works (which deserve a thread, if not a forum of their own), he was a first rate satirist, and used his humour, music & band to open the soft underbelly of American society, to excellent effect - I dont think the UK has ever had an equivalent to him, the closest we come (I believe) being the Bonzo Dog Band in the late 60's parodying English society's values (Viv Stanshall RIP ).

My word, this is all getting very serious

Bottom line being, if you dont have humour, you dont have life....... to prove this, a little joke:

Q - How many surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb?

A - A Fish

By the way, Paco - I was at the Sabbath gig in 1983 which I think inspired Spinal Tap - Reading Festival, Ian Gillan on vocals, almost a parody of themselves - the whole stage set up as a giant Stonehenge monolith; mind you, I don't remember any dancing dwarves......although this may have lightened the mood on what was an appalling show!! Direct support that day was a young band called Marillion, who opened with Grendel, joked with the audience throughout, played a storming 90 minutes & were still being called on to return when Sabbath took the stage, to Iommi's obvious annoyance...

Edited by Jim Garten

Before I listened to Zappa's music I couldn't imagine that there existed funny music that was also GOOD. I think humour belongs everywhere, but it's good that there's also serious music!

By the way: just think about satanic black metal bands like Mercyful Fate. Their image is quite funny too!

corbet wrote: There is absolutely no place for humor in music.  The important themes tackled by the master progressive musicians cannot be approached lightly; even less can the arduous task of comprehending their legacy be undertaken with even the slightest hint of frivolity.  When I am at a King Crimson symposium, trying to take notes, what is one to do when disturbed by that loathesome noise which is laughter?  I can only shake my head and hope that future generations leave behind this notion of "funny" and return to the ponderous work of musical contemplation.

There is of course this point of view - I personally grew a goatee beard several years ago for the express purpose to be stroked, whilst frowning knowingly, and saying "HHHmmmmmmm" during a particularly challenging session of Frippertronics (although this does necessitate my assistant having to hold my notebook)

corbet wrote: There is absolutely no place for humor in music.  The important themes tackled by the master progressive musicians cannot be approached lightly; even less can the arduous task of comprehending their legacy be undertaken with even the slightest hint of frivolity.  When I am at a King Crimson symposium, trying to take notes, what is one to do when disturbed by that loathesome noise which is laughter?  I can only shake my head and hope that future generations leave behind this notion of "funny" and return to the ponderous work of musical contemplation.

Come on! Who're you trying to fool? What's wrong with a bit of humour? You should really listen to Supersister's (a seventies Dutch band) 'Wow (The Intelligent Song)', from the album 'Superstarshine; . That song is so funny! And still, the music is great.

There doesn't have to be humour everywhere, but a little fun has bever harmed anybody!

Heck Yeah!!!!

Great examples: Zappa, Hatfield & The North, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Gabriel era Genesis and more

Umm...gee...

The Canterbury Scene was full of humor in their lyrics & music.

 I think our friend Corbet's tongue is planted very firmly in cheek, Vibe!

 Good one, Corbie!

Some great thoughts here. Humour is a serious business!

Edited by Peter Rideout

There's always been humour in progressive music thankfully, although many critics of the genre have labeled us with such oh so hurtful comments such as pretentious, up their own arses etc.

For example, cruddy examples, but hey, Frank Zappa's lyrics always dripped with sardonic wit whilst wowing music fans with his constantly inventive guitar playing.

I always found some of King Crimson's material to have much more wry humour then it has been recognized.

More so in the Adrian Belew era, although I'll admit the random images on "great deciever" and "catfood" brought a grin to me. Examples in the Belew era have to be Elephant Talk, Discipline (just what the hell is he getting at), Thela Hun Ginjeet, and  ProsaKc blues on Construction of Light.

If anyone here is a fan of bands such as Mr. Bungle or Secret Chiefs 3, then they'll recognize the weird humour throughout, not only the slightly bizarre lyrics but the way some of the songs flit from genre to genre. For example, Merry go bye bye on Disco Volante goes from Beach Boys esque surf-rock to brutal thrash/death metal quite quickly and back to an almost gospel style finally. Ma meeshka mow squawz is like a Chuck Jones cartoon soundtrack being played by a technical thrash metal band, and Desert Search for Techno Allah is just epic Arabic influenced electronic jazzy rock. Weird as but it works in the grand scale of things.

And when prog hits its most pompous then the laughter also ensues. (not in a bad sense). I find the notion of 30 minute songs rather droll in a way yet in a awelike fashion.

Sorry, it's my second post here and I've sort of ranted a tad.

Holy croley!  Has everyone forgotten Gentle Giant?!?!?  Talk about humor!  These guys practically invented it in prog!  Not only in their lyrics, but in their approach to songwriting as well, both instrumental and vocal.  There is nary a GG album that doesn't have at least two or three songs with levity - smile-cracking levity.  I dare you to listen to the opening of "Playing the Game" and not smile!!  Or how about "A Dog's Life?"  Or the instrumental break in "Interview?"

If humor doesn't belong in prog, better throw out your GG albums now!

Peace.