I have gotten really emotional listening to Wesley
Willis,
I'm sure it hit harder because of other things that
are going on, with questions about reality and medication that will be dealt
with more in some of the non-music posts.
I first saw Wesley Willis recommended by Face the
King, though Berwanger mentions him a lot. There wasn't anything that would
give me a context for who he was, also an artist, also schizophrenic and known
for his obscene phrases and bestiality references that were a way of fighting
his demons as he personified them.
That gave me concerns about listening, largely about
whether I was even up for listening to a lot of profanity and bestiality
references, but also worries about whether it was exploitative (a common
concern for many critics). It started out okay, with me avoiding certain song
titles, and then really turned around with Rock n Roll Will Never Die.
That is my favorite of his albums, for multiple
reasons. I love the cover, with his art in the background and a really happy
looking Willis in the foreground. Given the joy that rock gave him, that feels
appropriate, and then the songs started reminding me of the joy that rock shows
give me.
The tracks are repetitive - musically and lyrically.
The music repeats because it was usually pre-programmed tracks from his
keyboard. That works. I have played with Casios and Yamahas and they had tracks
I would just listen to sometimes. I knew they were formulaic, but it was a
formula that worked.
(Actually, there are parts of the musical and vocal delivery
that remind me a bit of zydeco artist John Delafose, which makes me wonder how
Willis might have been different if he had been in New Orleans instead of Chicago.)
The lyrics made me think more. If the crowd roared
like a lion at multiple shows, well, that does happen at multiple shows. At
smaller shows you do get to meet the band a lot. I don't know if jam sessions
after are common - maybe that was specific bands or venues or maybe you only
get to go to those if you are a musician, but yes, there are things that are
the same. It doesn't make the thrill less sincere or enjoyment less real. Some
people worry about describing it in a way that is new; Willis used familiar
words but he used them sincerely.
That was when the repetition of commercials jingles
started to make more sense. A lot of them become earworms and blend with the
soundtrack of parts in your life. The Pontiac one - yeah, my brain
repeated that one at odd moments too.
One of the last songs I heard was
"Outburst". It has a different backing track. His vocal delivery is
different, despite some familiar phrases. It makes sense for it to stand out.
The other songs are real, but they are either about fun things or playful about
bad things. "Outburst" is serious and real and heartbreaking. Getting
kicked out of the art store and faced with a potential ban goes beyond
embarrassment because of the importance of his art to him. It's worse than
getting thrown out of church (which also happened).
Paired with "Chronic Schizophrenia" on Rush
Hour, it feels like a greater opening up. It makes you wonder how much more
someone has to take. Then you get the answer because that was 2000 and in 2003
leukemia killed him, so there you go. (And it's long ago enough that there
wasn't a big web presence, but I am including some links about his art.)
There are laughs in the songs - "Cut the
Mullet" comes to mind ("Do something about your long filthy
hair") - but there is a lot of sadness too. That is probably aggravated by
only learning he even existed fourteen years after his death. There is also
relief that he had an outlet. He made something, and it was real, and it's
still out there. His voice was raised and heard.
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