Robyn Hitchcock wants to go backwards: Part 5 · Oct 30, 10:58 AM by Don
As Robyn Hitchcock’s gig at Shank Hall on November 2 approaches, I’m sharing music and a lengthy profile/interview I did with Robyn in 1996 for Josh Modell’s Milk magazine.
Read Part 1.
Read Part 2.
Read Part 3.
Read Part 4.
This fifth section is titled, “‘But who are you, anyway?’ asked Tim, in a state of bewilderment.”
Last spring at Austin’s annual South by Southwest music convention, Robyn played a brief but enjoyable set in the small courtyard of a local club. Someone who wasn’t paying attention to the unconventional lyrics would have surely thought that it was a folk singer: a lone performer, an acoustic guitar, an enthralled audience. Even the courtyard and stars above made it all feel like the performance of a medieval minstrel. But despite Byrds covers and inspiration from Bob Dylan at an early age, Robyn politely refutes the notion that he is a folk singer.
Don: Do you consider yourself a folk singer?
Robyn: In origin, but not really. Because folk is really music of the people. It has to do with stuff about everybody’s lives and it’s probably obsolete now. It came from a time when people communicated through songs. Since the early years of this century, music has come from a music industry, and although songwriters now all write their own songs, it is still industry-based. True folk music would have nothing to do with the big companies and all the hype that inevitably accompanies records being put out. So I’m not a folk singer. My stuff isn’t relevant to most people’s lives. It might be relevant. I’m not singing about mining disasters or plane crashes or big armed robberies or modern versions of that, like people dying of AIDS or people killed in gang wars. I think rap is probably the closest we have to modern folk music. But, you know, even that has become stylized and made into a sort of financial thing. My songs only represent my world. The only thing I know is my own life and so I write exclusively about that. And there are points where that intersects with what happens to other people. And maybe I’ll have a song like “She Doesn’t Exist” and your friend will cry.
Read Part 1.
Read Part 2.
Read Part 3.
Read Part 4.
mp3 – Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians – Eight Miles High :: Byrds cover from the “So You Think You’re in Love” single (1991)
mp3 – Robyn Hitchcock – Tangled Up in Blue :: Bob Dylan cover from the Uncut magazine compilation, Hard Rain, Vol. 2: A Tribute to Bob Dylan (2002)
:: :: ::
Songs in the MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 format are offered for a limited time only. Songs that are no longer downloadable from Timedoor can be streamed for several weeks courtesy of Hype Machine. Dead mp3 links take you to the top of page one.
Support your favorite artists by buying their music at your local independent record store or eMusic.
Commenting is closed for this article.
Robyn Hitchcock wants to go backwards: Part 4 Robyn Hitchcock wants to go backwards: Part 6
I know songs are only offered for a limited time but I was wondering if there was any way I could get Rufus’ “Machusla” – I saw him this summer in Dallas and he did that song and I looked all over for it because I loved it so much and I missed your posting. Please please.
— Laura Oct 30, 02:26 PM #