By Marco den Ouden
The earliest use of visual aids dates from Greek and Roman times. Pliny the Elder noted that the Emperor Nero used an emerald to read with and early forms of lenses called reading stones were invented in the 9th century. Eyeglasses as we know them were thought to have been developed in Pisa around 1290.
Sha Na Na is generally known as a cover band doing retro rock from the 50s, but in an unusual departure, they sing about the prehistory of Glasses. Their timeline is off by a hundred years as they wonder "how did people see in the 14th century when no one had invented glasses." They wonder if the people then were more tuned in to sound, did everything blend into oneness, "or did they just squint?" Did they pray "please oh God, give me glasses." A brief but amusing speculation.
Of course, the first step towards getting glasses is the Eye Examination. GUMI sings that the object of her affections doesn't really see her and needs his eyes examined. If she's still blurry, he can just feel her heart.
Meanwhile Charlie Haden believes he needs glasses because even though he supposedly has 20/20 Vision, he didn't see that his girl was cheating on him.
Vision and glasses served as a metaphor for romantic problems in a good number of the songs suggested. The Human Hearts laments the duplicitousness of a former girlfriend who exchanges lovers like pairs of Cheap Sunglasses. They're expendable and easily replaced. Millie Jackson's desire to "hold on to the good times" has her seeing the world through Rose Colored Glasses. They keep her from feeling cheated, defeated" and a "fool."
There were a few songs about glasses with magical properties. Johnny Cash wishes he had Little Magic Glasses that will let him see the future and whether he'll "be walking down that road with you". But he only wants fair weather glasses. If they show him walking alone, he'll seal them in a box and never look at them again.
James McMurtry reflects on a common problem. He keeps losing his glasses. But for him it's an excuse. He's on the road and he's getting a Ft. Walton Wake-up Call. He's fighting with his woman and the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Losing his glasses is a distraction from the woes of the world.
Nik Kershaw gives a rather disturbing account of himself. He's a yes man. He does what he's told. "Never question wrong or right, I do what they tell me. Never argue, never fight. I do what they tell me." But he avers, "there's a man who has a point of view" behind his Dark Glasses. A man with feelings. "Let him be me," he pleads, not realizing he's in a prison of his own choosing.
Glasses also serve as a metaphor for social justice. They say you can't judge a book by looking at the cover and rapper B.o.B. and Lupe Fiasco tell us that people can't see Past My Shades. They can't see the real person behind the shades. But is the fault with the viewer or the viewed? Lupe reflects that "I'm a slave to myself, don't disobey my boss. It's all in disarray this parade I walk." Maybe a bit of both.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, best known for his role as Theodore Huxtable in The Cosby Show, is an accomplished singer as well as actor. In Lady Liberty Needs Glasses, he turns the old saying that "justice is blind" on its head. Lady Liberty and blind-folded justice have failed, he avers, and "if anyone REALLY valued life and cared about the masses, they'd take 'em both to Pen Optical and get TWO pairs of glasses."
Eyewear, as our landlord so well explained in his intro to this topic last week, often defines us. Many personalities and personality types are characterized or stereotyped by the glasses they wear. First we look at the stereotype of the Librarian. One of the best-known portrayals is from Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. When George gets his wish that he had never been born and sees how life would have been without him, Mary, his vibrant wife and the mother of his children instead becomes a mousey librarian, a spinster looking severe in her conservative clothes and glasses.
My Morning Jacket sees behind the facade. "Simple little bookworm, buried underneath is the sexiest librarian. Take off those glasses and let down your hair for me."
A famous personality characterized to some extent by his glasses is John Lennon. Pedro Guerra pays homage to the late Beatle in Las Gafas de Lennon (The Glasses of Lennon). "Lennon's glasses are round moons," he sings. "So always modern. So full of stories of a time that was."
So eyewear has many stories to tell. Stories of love and hope and evasion and duplicity. Iggy Pop tells us that the gift of a pair of Shades from his girlfriend means the world to him. "I'm not the kind of guy who dresses like a king and a really fine pair of shades means everything, and the light that blinds my eyes shines from you." Eyewear can be transformative and often is.
The All-Seeing All-Hearing A-List Playlist:
Glasses - Sha Na Na (Fred Erickson)
Eye Examination - 40meter-P ft GUMI (ajostu)
20/20 Vision - Charlie Haden Friends & Family (Nicko)
Cheap Sunglasses - The Human Hearts (Jamesowen475)
Rose Colored Glasses - Millie Jackson (severin)
Little Magic Glasses - Johnny Cash (Fred Erickson)
Ft. Walton Wake-Up Call – James McMurtry (Fred Erickson)
Dark Glasses - Nik Kershaw (Fred Erickson)
Past My Shades - BOB ft Lupe Fiasco (Loud Atlas)
Lady Liberty Needs Glasses - Malcolm-Jamal Warner (magicman)
Librarian - My Morning Jacket (tincanman)
Las gafas de Lennon - Pedro Guerra (Maki)
Shades - Iggy Pop (Nicko)
The Bifocal B-List Playlist:
Becoming More Like Alfie - The Divine Comedy (happyclapper)
Sunglasses After Dark - Dwight "Whitey" Pullen (TarquinSpodd)
Sunglasses - Tracey Ullman (vastariner)
Sunglasses at Night - Corey Hart (magicman)
You're Blind - Run DMC (severin)
Gafas de Rosa - Estopa (Maki)
Darker Glasses - Keen (severin)
Reading Glasses – Mickey Jupp (BanazirGalbasi)
Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On - Neal McCoy (BanazirGalbasi)
Shades On - The Vamps (Fred Erickson)
Looking at the World Thru Rose-Colored Glasses - Nick Lucas (Nicko)
The Guy With Computer Know-How - Arrogant Worms (Maki)
Life in Pink - Kate Nash (Fred Erickson
Keep Love New - Betty Wright (Nicko)
Arizona - Mark Lindsay (Fred Erickson)
Looking at the World Thru Rose-Colored Glasses - Frank Sinatra & Count Basie (Fred Erickson)
Aqua Profunda - Courtney Barnett (Fred Erickson)
Rose Colored Glasses - Animal Logic (Fred Erickson)
Looking at the Rose Thru World-Colored Glasses - Split Level (ShivSidecar)
Men in Black - Will Smith (Loud Atlas)
Instrumental C-List (Eyewear for the Ear):
Quartermaster's Stores - The Shadows (Fred Erickson)
In Shades - Tom Waits (megadom)
The Man Who Took My Sunglasses - Khruangbin (megadom)
Ray Ban - I Marc 4 (Traktor Albatrost)
Le Monocle Rit Jaune - Michel Magne (pejepeine)
Bifocal Blues - Dave Brubeck (Fred Erickson)
Watermelon Eyepatch Groove - Terry Robb (Loud Atlas)
Guru’s Wildcard Picks:
Hot for the Smarts - Richard Thompson
I zedded this song for Songs About the Brain and it has been a favourite ever since.
Wake Up - John Carpenter & Alan Howarth
The cult classic movie They Live is about aliens taking over Earth. They put subliminal messages everywhere that can only be seen with special glasses. Wake Up is one of the pieces from the movie. The glasses wake you up to what is really happening.
Here's a clip from the movie:
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: A spectacle of canticles: songs about eyewear. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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