barnett@ut-sally.UUCP (Lewis Barnett) (07/28/85)
[Ulch!]
This topic seems to be surviving, so I just thought I'd throw
in my two cents. I don't remember seeing any of these instances
before, but I might have missed them.
Music as a major theme in stories:
_The Infinity Concerto_ by Greg Bear: The premise of this story is that
Faery is a real place, and the Sidhe exist, and the way you get to meet
them is my manipulating one of the creative arts to produce a "work of
power." The Infinity Concerto is an example of one such work, and its
only performance is responsible for many people crossing over from our
world to Faery. One of the best fantasy novels I've read in some time,
even if it is the first book in a trilogy...
_The Demolished Man_ by Alfred Bester: I guess that music isn't really
a *major* thematic device here, but here's how it fits in. The psycho-
path who wants to commit the perfect murder in a society where the
police have perfected telepathy as an interrogation technique. This
makes it practically impossible to get away with anything. He attempts
to outwit the cops by asking a friend of his who writes advertizing
jingles which are so effective that it's quite impossible to forget
them. He puts his mind to work on one of her best, and thus masks
out his thoughts.
Science Fiction or Fantasy references in music:
"Ride my Llama," _Rust Never Sleeps_ by Neil Young.
"I really got some news,
I met a man from Mars.
He picked up all my guitars
And played me traveling songs.
And when we got on ship,
He brought out something for the trip.
He said, "It's old but it's good,"
Like any other primitive would."
"Sail Away," _The Grand Illusion_ (?) by Styx. Another song about alien
visitors. There may be other examples from the Styx discography, (Mr.
Roboto?) but I don't keep up with them any more. Kansas is probably another
good candidate, judging from their album cover artwork.
"Hey Mr. Spaceman," _Fifth Dimension_ by the Byrds. One of my favorite
space songs about inexplicable nocturnal visitors. "I hope they get
home all right!"
"Freezing Steel," _Catch Bull at Four_, by Cat Stevens: This song is
cryptic enough that it's tough to tell what's going on, but it
appears that our hero has been kidnapped by pirates from Venus for
purposes shrouded in mystery. Or did he just dream it all?
_Music inspired by the Lord of the Rings_ by Bo Hansson. This one is
pretty obscure -- I think I picked it up in the cutout bins at a
Camelot record store somewhere in the southeast. It's an album of
synthesizer dominated instrumentals based on various parts of the
Tolkien trilogy. I wouldn't really advise rushing right out to buy
this one, because it's appeal is pretty narrow. I was blown away
by it as a young Tolken-o-phile, and I still listen to it from
time to time. It's the music most evocative of Middle Earth (or
my conception of it) that I've ever run into. (Not that "Ramble On"
isn't nice, but I just never picture Led Zep doing a gig in front of
the Cracks of Doom.)
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So there it is, for what it's worth.
Lewis Barnett,CS Dept, Painter Hall 3.28, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX 78712
-- barnett@ut-sally.ARPA, barnett@ut-sally.UUCP,
{ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!barnett