I heard the story of the song’s genesis only once, when the Roberta Flack version was current. Aside from that one occasion I wouldn’t know either.
I cannot believe this thread got so long with no mention of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit
Clearly some people in this thread forgot to feed their heads this morning.
That [FONT=Times New Roman]is surprising. I hadn’t thought of it either.[/FONT]
White Rabbit >>> Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
A good example because it defines/redefines a work of art. Only since [FONT=Times New Roman]*White Rabbit * is Lewis Carroll’s children’s literature indelibly associated with hallucinogenic effects.[/FONT]
My personal favorite on the [FONT=Times New Roman]White Album, side 4 track 3 (vinyl), certainly the best song George Harrison ever wrote, might be an example of ecphrasis.
I can endlessly contemplate Savoy Truffle, so, to me it is art. But can a box of chocolates be art? I can’t speak for the Good News brand George and Eric Clapton were having fun with, but I once (and only once) did experience a superlative box of chocolates. Perhaps there is an art in such things. I know I never see a box of chocolates, especially if each individual piece is labeled, without thinking of Savoy Truffle.
Both sides of the equation are required to be art though, so this example is ‘iffy.’[/FONT]
More connections with Vincent! Vincent van Gogh’s 1887 oil painting of The Courtesan is inspired by a nineteenth-century woodblock print by Keisai Eisen depicting a high-ranking courtesan.
There’s also Gauguin’s painting of van Gogh Painting Sunflowers. Not sure if that qualifies or not.
Interesting thought! There’s a painting by Dali that may be an even more tail-swallowing example. I don’t know the name (and extensive Googling is no help), but I saw it at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida about 15 years ago.
It’s a gigantic painting, maybe 20 feet high, a section of the gallery’s floor having been lowered to accommodate it and a few others of similar size. What has stuck with me about this one is that it wasn’t signed; instead, at the bottom left corner, Dali painted himself into the picture. He’s standing there down at the corner, holding a paintbrush and palette in front of an easel on which he’s painting the very picture we’re looking at. His head is turned, looking back at us. It’s a bizarre effect: This is not a painting of the occurrence that occupies most of the canvas, but rather a painting of Dali, painting this painting we’re looking at.
I hope I’m describing it effectively; it is both a painting of the occurrence (which I think had something to do with Jesus’ ascension and DNA), and a painting of Dali, painting this painting. It reminds me a bit of the movie Adaptation., in which we’re watching the movie at the same time that we’re watching the screenwriter write the movie, in which he is also a character. Or, to go even further back, of Tristram Shandy.
I suspect that these aren’t really what the OP meant, but it’s an interesting sub-genre of ecphrasis: The work that posits itself as a work about itself, which sets up a weird kind of self-conscious duality in that we get a bit cross-eyed trying to view it from two different angles at once. When it’s done poorly (coughDavidFosterWallacecough) it’s intolerably cutesy, but when it’s good it can be brilliant.
You do describe it well, and categorize it. It could, very well, be a sub-genre. Some of the other examples in this thread are also quasi-ecphrasis.
As might Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, John Lennon’s homage to his son Julian’s drawing of his friend Lucy (in the sky with diamonds).
I combed through that album, in my mind, thinking it might be fertile ground, after ‘Annie-Xmas’ (Post 23) mentioned [FONT=Times New Roman]Mr. Kite, but missed Lucy In the Sky. But it’s true, Julian’s drawing is forever associated with a Lennon-McCartney song, and from Sergeant Pepper, no less, whether or not John was being completely forthcoming about LSD the drug.
By the way, is there a term for a reverse acronym, like “Lucy in the sky with diamonds”?[/FONT]
‘jackelope,’ in my Reply to your very interesting Post 48, I did not intend to quote in its entirety, just salient points. It must have seemed you were seeing double this morning when you logged on. I [FONT=Times New Roman]wish I had editing privileges.[/FONT]
Wow! Thanks, ‘OneCentStamp.’ It’s a bacronym. There’s a lot on that page to digest, and it’s all new to me. Thanks again for the info.
Paul Hindemith’s opera Mathis Der Maler is about the life of painter Matthias Grunewald, and was particularly inspired by the famous Issenheim Altarpiece.
Searching for Carrie Fischer
Which is inexplicably missing on IMDb
I’m reforming as of today, ‘OneCentStamp.’ Over the weekend I viewed this thread on my father’s computer. In my posts, the Times New Roman italics were very outsized, enormously so, compared to the Verdana. I identified the problem as: My father has ‘Text Size’ on his browser increased for easier reading. But the Times New Roman italics increase enormously while Verdana increases just a little. When I reduce his Text Size my posts look alright.
On my home, work, and library computers everything always looked fine – I never dreamed there was any problem. I now see it was madness to mix fonts. I’m mortified my posts look like ransom notes.
It always amazes me how many ways there are to screw up with Text Editors, from Word to Outlook to Message Boards. I’m conforming to the Board’s default starting now – I’m amazed they put up with me this long. Thanks again for your invaluable input.
Beach Boys - Don’t Worry Baby was an answer to Ronettes - Be My Baby
I know it may not count, but interesting nonetheless - the hominid fossil “Lucy” was named after the song: Lucy (Australopithecus) - Wikipedia
*The Girl with Pearl Earing * by Tracy Chevalier is an historical fiction novel inspired by Vermeer’s work by the same name.
In the book, we learn the (fictionalized) motivations that prompted that particular work to be painted. I cannot think of the painting without thinking of the book.