By Noodsy
The humourist John Hodgman likes to offer to people at parties the choice of two superpowers, flying or invisibility. He says that what you choose says a lot about who you are. The brash and outgoing, mostly men, choose flight; the introvert and ashamed opt for invisibility. As his friend explains, “I think it indicates your level of shame.” Pink Floyd, in Flaming, choose both and, seemingly, have no shame, tripping the astral plane unseen.
Kate Bush has the magic formula for How To Be Invisible: “Take a pinch of keyhole/And fold yourself up.” If that sounds too tricky, you could always try, like Mik Artistik's Ego Trip, a Secret Cloak of Invisibility. His is a more sinister glee, as he steals, dodges rounds at the pub and spies on women at home. In a world of constant motion, stillness is a superpower. Frost*, in The Boy Who Stood Still, tell of a boy that can remain so motionless he becomes unseen. It’s an ambiguous gift: even his mother cannot perceive him.
This invisibility is often unwilled and unwanted. In a relationship, indifference will render you invisible, as Leon Rosselson shows in Invisible Married Breakfast Blues. That indifference can be societal, as Robb Johnson righteously describes in Invisible People, with the dispossessed working class disappearing from official view. For some, that social invisibility may be welcomed, an escape from pain, as it is for Curtis Mayfield in To Be Invisible.
In the movie Stand By Me, the narrator, Gordie is invisible to his grieving parents. A quote from this provides the title for That Summer, at Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy by The Twilight Sad, a song infused with sadness and estrangement. Grief, however, can also keep a loved one present, if unseen, as with Seckou Keita’s dead father in Mikhi Nathan Mu-Toma. Other memories are more ephemeral - a half-remembered music hall song in Joyce’s Ulysses is the unseen presence for Sonic Youth’s Secret Girl.
At times, what you can sense remains out of view. This could be a scent, like Céu’s Perfume do Invisivel, or it could be a sound, like distant barking of Electrelane’s The Invisible Dog. Rosanne Cash names both these and what lies beyond our life, The World Unseen. She seems to be on a magi’s journey towards the latter, though, perhaps, that is one thing she should not see through.
Out of Sight: The A-List Playlist:
Flaming - Pink Floyd (vanwolf2)
How To Be Invisible - Kate Bush (magicman)
Secret Cloak of Invisibility - Mik Artistik's Ego Trip (Max Visconta Nuclerosea)
The Boy Who Stood Still - Frost* (DiscoMonster)
Invisible Married Breakfast Blues - Leon Rosselson (TatankaYotanka)
Invisible People - Robb Johnson (treefrogdemon)
To Be Invisible - Curtis Mayfield (pejepeine)
That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy - The Twilight Sad (vanwolf2)
Mikhi Nathan Mu-Toma - Seckou Keita (Alaric)
Secret Girl - Sonic Youth (DiscoMonster)
Perfume do Invisivel - Céu (pejepeine)
The invisible Dog - Electrelane (Uncleben)
The World Unseen - Rosanne Cash (Fred Erickson)
Hidden Presents: The B-List Playlist:
How To Disappear Completely - Radiohead (happyclapper)
Invisible - Ornette Coleman (TarquinnSpodd)
The Bird That You Can't See - The Apples in Stereo (ShivSidecar)
I Unseen - The Misunderstood (magicman)
Darker Glasses - Keen (severin)
The Little Man Who Wasn't There - Glenn Miller Orchestra feat Tex Beneke (BanazirGulbasi)
Supernaut - 1000 Homo DJs (happyclapper)
Invisible - Michael Penn (Fred Erickson)
Santé - Stromae (pejepeine)
How To Disappear - Lana del Rey (magicman)
Invisible City - Hannah Peel (DiscoMonster)
In The Hidden Places - Mountain Goats (Shoegazer)
Unseen Guest - Steel Pulse (Nicko)
Guru’s Wildcard Pick:
Cowgirl – Underworld
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: See through this: songs about the invisible or unseen. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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