The Literary Corner: Outkast, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge
EDUTAINMENT By David D. on November 23, 2009 at 8:45 pmWelcome back, class.
If you recall, the last installment of the Literary Corner featured a comparison between the almighty Ghost Deini and Gerard Manley Hopkins. This time we’ll look at works through the generations that are two sides of the same coin: the works of English Romantic poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge along with Atlanta lyricists Big Boi and Andre 3000, collectively known as Outkast.
Lyrical Ballads — This collection of poems, featuring works by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, originates from the early Romantic period. The book had two very disparate voices based on who was writing each poem. Wordsworth wrote about his loves and the beauty of nature around. Coleridge was the ear to the street. While Wordsworth was bathing in pathos and emotion, Coleridge was keeping it grimy telling stories of mariners and dead sailors.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below — It’s hard to imagine two more different albums packaged together. 3 Stacks was lighting Badupuddissy-scented candles in the studio and singing his heart out about tip-toeing to the sun and masturbation. I think we all know what was in the air when Big Boi made his opus. Tales of prostitutes, church and down-home Atlanta living.
“Knowing” Vs. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner“
Only four poems in Lyrical Ballads were written by Coleridge. He was the least popular of the duo, as Wordsworth was seen as the frontrunner. Sound familiar? Big Boi has always been the lesser appreciated Stankonian in the eyes of the mainstream. But Big Boi and Coleridge have shown brilliance that stands out in comparison to their collaborators.
Coleridge’s masterpiece was an epic poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” about a group of sailors that come across and albatross that leads to their deaths. The gruesome part of the story is the decay that each mariner faces. Death approaches the ship with decaying features that mimic the crew’s:
“Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold :
Her skin was as white as leprosy,
The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she,
Who thicks man’s blood with cold.”
This sounds very similar to Big Boi’s Wanda:
“Now that’s ass backwards
All you got in the frigerator is bratwurst
And your stomach is balled in a knot
…destroyed by the need to enjoy the finer things in life.”
Coleridge and Big Boi were able to use their work to delve into less-“romantic” topics to deconstruct humanity and the choices we make.
“Tintern Abbey” Vs. “A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre”
Though the more harmonic songs on the album fit well with Wordsworth’s poetry, I’m going to highlight Andre 3000’s rapping performance – a five-minute long stream of conscious track at the end of the album – and compare it to Wordsworth’s epic poem at the end of Volume One of Lyrical Ballads.
Literary critic Judith W. Page wrote a book called Wordsworth and the Cultivation of Women in which she chastised the poet for silencing women in his work, only using them as props in his quest to explain his own emotions. She uses “Tintern Abbey” as an example. The poem, in which Wordsworth’s sister is a character, is one where “the beloved sister silently serves as a mirror in which the poet can gaze into his past and hope for his future.”
And so along similar lines, we take “A Day in the Life of Benjamin Andre,” which begins with the line “I met you in a club in Atlanta, Georgia…” The female subject is given grazing details; she had a baby, drove him to the Dungeon, etc. But, she is only there to allow Andre to tell the story of his and Big Boi’s careers. The woman is again silent. Honestly, I don’t know if I buy Page’s argument that this particularly wrongs the women, but it is fascinating and binds the two works. And, Andre’s dopeness on that track is pretty much beyond criticism.
That’s all for today, tune in next time when we compare William Blake to a young Nasir Jones.
Posted in EDUTAINMENT, Everything Else, GENERAL, SMOKE BREAK — Tags: Andre 3000, Big Boi, Judith W. Page, Lyrical Ballads, Outkast, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Wordsworth and the Cultivation of Women
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22 Comments
David, just know, this is incredible. Even if no one else comments.
“This sounds very similar to Big Boi’s Wanda.”
How so?
Charles Bukowski Vs. Playboy Tre?
I always sensed they were kindred spirits of sorts, but perhaps Tre’s not established enough.
@Ivan similarly decayed features…Wanda’s decay is as physical as it is emotional and psychological especially of course by the end of the song.
@Pat thanks mayne!
I love these posts. Not that much into poetry, but I can dig this.
Fresh is respected for this post.
Respect.
you crazy for this one double d!
keep these coming!
that was brilliant. well done.
i was never into Coleridge (barely remember reading any of his works to be honest) but to make that connection is inspired genius.
I do take a bit of umbrage about 3 Stacks being the most popular of the Outkast duo. This is not really true of those who were along for the ride on the 1st 2 albums. Big Boi was always the more lyrically smooth in the beginning but more because the sound especially from the 1st album was quite easily more tailored to his style. 3 Stacks is the now more in the forefront of the group but only due to what looks like Andre’s focus on the business end of the job.
Let’s not take so long on the next one, I like the connections.
I loved this.
Keep this series going, D.
Hoooot shit (c) DOOM
very very good read. I appreciated this
Thanks for putting me on B. Whitt
I love the way you connected your points, a great read man.
Oh, I see. I thought you were saying the structure (and “sound”) was similar.
You should check this out (in case you haven’t yet): http://www.amazon.com/Book-Rhymes-Poetics-Hip-Hop/dp/0465003478
(HHIReview Pending)
You now baby bro…I am in the process of trying to get my students to explicate poems that they do not find interesting at all! They didn’t even want to compare Tupac’s “Dear Momma” to Hughes’s “Mother to Son!!!! You have given me a compare/contrast explication that will prove to 10th graders that literature is timeless! I will be printing this up and allow my students to see a true master at work! Thanks for the teaching model! Your check is in the mail!
Uhhhh…that i suppose to be “know”. My bad!
It’s write ups like these, which makes TSS my homepage.
I’m not deep into poetry either, however, I can appreciate these posts.
The fresh is definitely respected.
i like these Literary Corner posts, thanks for the break down homie.
yawn…niggas take a survey course and become honorary doctors of literature. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is about communion with nature and the repercussions that you face when you disrupt nature. Coleridge wants to inspire respect for nature by forcing the mariner to survive to tell his story at a wedding when his mates were all killed. I dont see how the content connects. you can take a stanza from a 500 line poem turn it into anything you want out of context.
Ya D!g ?