Famous
New York performance artist Laurie Anderson dedicated
a song called "Gravity's Angel" on her album
Mister Heartbreak (Warner Brothers, 1984) to
Thomas Pynchon. The album shows some of her most mature
work to date, profoundly influenced as she was by her
collaborations with Adrian Belew and William S. Burroughs.
Belew, currently reunited with King Crimson, was well-known
for his rubber stretch-guitar, virtuoso twang-bar work,
and singular torturing of his Fender with various kitchen
utensils in Anderson's major-release performance film
Home of the Brave, and Burroughs, the bad man
of American fiction, provided her with dangerous vocal
talents fresh from the Interzone. Other noteworthy contributors
to the album included Peter Gabriel, who did a duet
with Anderson in the song "Excellent Birds,"
Phoebe Snow, David Van Tieghem, Bill Laswell, and Anton
Fier, prolific percussionist who has played in bands
as diverse as the Golden Paliminos, Los Lobos, and Pere
Ubu. Possibly the best song on the entire album was
not the Pynchon piece, but, rather, the wonderful "Sharkey's
Day."
Lyrics
Gravity's Angel
(For Thomas Pynchon)
You can dance. You can make me laugh. You've got x-ray
eyes.
You know how to sing. You're a diplomat. You've got
it all.
Everybody loves you.
You can charm the birds out of the sky. but I, I've
got one thing.
You always know just what to say. And when to go.
But I've got one thing. You can see in the dark.
But I've got one thing: I loved you better.
Last night I woke up. Saw this angel. He flew in my
window.
And he said: Girl, pretty proud of yourself, huh?
And I looked around and said: Who me?
And he said: The higher you fly, the faster you fall.
He said:
Send it up. Watch it rise. See it fall. Gravity's rainbow.
Send it up. Watch it rise. See it fall. Gravity's angel.
Why these mountains? Why this sky? This long road. This
ugly train.
Well he was an ugly guy. With an ugly face.
An also ran in the human race.
And even God got sad just looking at him. And at his
funeral
all his friends stood around looking sad. But they were
really
thinking of all the ham and cheese sandwiches in the
next room.
And everybody used to hang around him. And I know why.
They said: There but for the grace of the angels go
I.
Why these mountains? Why this sky?
Send it up. Watch it rise. See it fall. Gravity's rainbow.
Send it up. Watch it rise. See it fall. Gravity's angel.
Well, we were just laying there.
And this ghost of your other lover walked in.
And stood there. Made of thin air. Full of desire.
Look. Look. Look. You forgot to take your shirt.
And there's your book. And there's your pen, sitting
on the table.
Why these mountains? Why this sky? This long road? This
empty room?
Why these mountains? Why this sky? This long road? This
empty room?
CDs,
CD-ROMs, Books
Mister
Heartbreak
Laurie Anderson / Audio CD / Released 1987
Our Price: $11.49 ~ You Save: $0.48
Big
Science
Laurie Anderson / Audio CD / Released 1987
Our Price: $11.49 ~ You Save: $0.48
Bright
Red
Laurie Anderson / Audio CD / Released 1994
Our Price: $12.99 ~ You Save: $3.98
Laurie
Anderson Card -- At the Ultimate Band List, this
page has a collection of links to Laurie Anderson Web
sites and information.
Puppet
Motel CD-ROM -- Laurie Anderson's mesmerizing work
of computer art, Puppet Motel combines music,
computer graphics, and a sense of Myst-like wonder for
an unforgettable computer "game."
Anderson,
Laurie.
Famous New York performance artist Laurie Anderson
dedicated a song to Pynchon on her Mister
Heartbreak album.
Benatar,
Pat.
Believe it or not, she named a final album Gravity's
Rainbow.
Benny
Profane.
English hard rockers from Liverpool, they took
their name from a character in V.
Blowtorch,
Eric
Reggae influenced artist putting Pynchon's lyrics
to music.
Cassiber.
An avant garde German group used Gravity's
Rainbow to tell a different tale.
Corey,
Prof. Irwin.
The man who was the infamous stand-in
for Thomas Ruggles Pynchon.
Dangtrippers.
They recorded Maxwell's Demon Box on
their album, Days Between Stations.
Einhorn,
Richard.
Another rendition of music devoted to the
Demon, and much more.
Fariña,
Richard.
An long-time friend of Pynchon, this folkie named
an instrumental work after a Pynchon novel.
Favorite
Color, The.
A New Jersey band sets a selection from V.
to music on their album Color Out of Space
(1996).
Fool,
The.
Surely not Slothrop's band, this was a short lived
group which did, in fact, have a harmonica player.
Forked
Yew.
Independent, highly experimental rockers and Pynchon
fans from the American South.
Frith
& Kaiser.
An instrumental pair with a piece called The Kirghiz
Light.
Hall,
Ed.
An early 90's band influenced by Pynchon, they
named a song Roger Mexico.
Insect
Trust.
This jazzy, psychedelic group mined V.
for lyrics to The Eyes of a New York Woman.
Jazz
Butcher.
AKA Pat Fish, who named a track Looking for
Lot 49 on his Fishcoteque album.
Jones,
Spike.
Pynchon himself wrote the liner notes for Spiked!
Knopfler,
Mark. The Sultan of Swing sails to Philadelphia!
Koron,
Barry.
Weilding the Sjambok never felt so good!
Lot
49 (Ontario).
This now retired hardcore outfit hailed from the
hometown of Spermatikos Logos' own Laurence
Daw.
Lot
49 (NYC).
Indie NYC rockers named after Pynchon's second
novel.
Lotion.
A New York group whose liner notes were penned
by the Man himself.
Maas.
A visit to San Narciso.
Nirvana.
Wasthe famous tune Smells Like Teen
Spirit acutally inspired by a song from Gravity's
Rainbow?
Nova
Mob.
A "Rock Opera" filled with references
to Gravity's Rainbow.
Ocker,
David.
Musical meditations on Eight Facts About
Thomas Pynchon.
Okasek,
Ric.
Ride The Rocket with the former frontman
of The Cars.
Pere
Ubu.
David Thomas' legendary, seminal band shows some
Pynchon influences.
PopCanon.
These literate Indies hail from Flordia, and have
a song about Wanda Tinasky which is highly recomm-ended!
Poster
Children.
This group from Champaign, Illinois, covers a
lot of Pynchon ground!
Radiohead.
English art-rockers who incorporate many Pynchon
motifs into their work.
Rapoon.
An offshoot of Zoviet France, Robin Storey's
group named Rapoon released an album
called The Kirghiz Light.
Sauter
& Dietrich, Moore.
More liner notes written by Pynchon !!
Six
Finger Satellite.
Indie electro-rock futurists Six Finger Satellite
make a reference to Gravity's Rainbow.
Soft
Machine.
Seminal "proggies," they recorded a
full-scale work called Esther's Nose Job
in 1969.
Spock's
Beard.
In memory of "the evil Spock," they
do homage to V.
Time
in Malta.
A California metal group with a name taken from
V.
Ware,
Tim.
Pynchon scholar, Web master, and MIDI Musician.
Whole
Sick Crew, The.
Purveyors of pirate folk-punk, truly a gang like
their Pynchon namesakes.
XXX
Atomic Toejam.
F. Thorendal, from praised thrash-heroes Meshuggah,
gets one in for the Vikings.
Yo
La Tengo.
Making music indebted to The Crying of Lot
49.
Yoyodyne.
Related to New York's Lot 49, ths Florida
group also takes their name from Pynchon's work.
Zevon,
Warren.
He recently released an album containing work
inspired by Pynchon.
