Mike Scott is pop’s only literate lyricist who would dare take on the stately iconography of William Butler Yeats. Forget about the living proof provided by his band the Waterboys as they tackle the Irishman’s prickly poems through a series of 14 daringly diverse arrangements on the new An Appointment With Mr. Yeats (Proper American). You’d know that if you’ve listened to Scott’s richly robust catalog of Waterboys albums made since 1983, or even read his recently released book, Adventures Of A Waterboy. Though imbued with an intellectual curiosity beyond that of the most wizened scholar, Scott has long found himself inspired by Yeats’ vivid world-weary lyrical textures and smartly grammatical manner. On the other hand, he’s a big Twitter fan. Go figure. Scott will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Q&A with him.
Last time the Waterboys played San Francisco we visited the City Lights bookshop, spiritual home and publisher of the Beat generation writers: Kerouac, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti and Co. I was delighted to note that the crossroads on which City Lights stands is a kind of Beats district, with the Beat Museum across the road and two bars with Beats associations and memorabilia on the same block.
But I was intrigued to note that the same crossroads also has several dodgy looking sex shops with no Beat connotations at all. Thus, I mused to myself, the crossroads of Columbus and Broadway is both a Beats district and a Scuzz district. Why should soul-infused art and dumbed-down porn thrive so close to each other? I don’t have the answer, but in my musings I came up with a number of possibilities, none of which I take any responsibility for whatsoever. They just floated into my head, honest.
1) The universe has conspired to place the Beats and the Scuzz together for balance—and in a universe of polarity, this is in the natural order of things
2) The universe has put Beat there to help transform and raise the vibration of Scuzz
3) Beat has a fatal flaw that lets in Scuzz
4) They aren’t actually both thriving: Beat is dying out, while Scuzz is rising
5) Or Scuzz is dying out while Beat is rising
6) By some quirk of the universe art flourishes especially well in the loosened, degraded environment created by the presence of Scuzz
7) Beat and Scuzz have common denominators—transience, anti-establishment, the satisfaction of desires—so it is natural that they thrive in the same physical locations
8) The Beats were scuzzy
9) The universe is random; what’s the big deal?
10) The crossroads was inhabited in pre-Columbian times by two very different native tribes with radically differing outlooks and practices, corresponding roughly with Beats and Scuzz—and their energies imprinted themselves so strongly on this location that modern-day humans who resonate with their qualities are attracted here
Maybe you can think of some more.
Video after the jump.
3 replies on “From The Desk Of The Waterboys’ Mike Scott: Musing San Francisco”
Loved the video Mike. In my experience, it seems several North American cities have this juxtaposition of Beat & Scuzz. Could it be that creative/artistic types are more accepting of other lifestyles? If you’re in Toronto, try Queen Street West !
i agree with them all except nine.
also, other art forms may say of scuzz – not in our backyard thank you, while the beats would never be so presumptuous.
nice piece mike.
Mike, don’t forget the foul language in “Howl” was considered “scuzz” as well so…#9 What’s the big deal? I was visiting my sister who lived in the city once upon a time and we had a wonderful day in Chinatown and made a visit to City Lights bookstore and happened to run into Allen Ginsberg: he autographed my copy of “Howl!”