the song "Save it for Later" by the English Beat is now podded, and I've been listening to it repeatedly. Peter Townshend also does a version, with acoustic guitar and somewhat slower. both versions are nifty. the Beat's version starts off with a few jangly chords from a slightly jarringly tuned guitar. very inviting. I like the song for being--oh my god can I saw this?--genuine in its emotion. emotional content in art, especially in performances is something to be leery of. I mean, is it being faked up, heartstrings and all that? EB's song has some lush strings in it, that came directly from the Left Banke's "Walk Away Renee". neither song is smarmy tho you wonder why not. the lyric content of the song is sad and wistful, yet the beat is bouncy, the sax is a happy yelp, and there's a shouty countdown to the 2nd chorus in the background that's plain enthusiastic. it comes together. manipulated emotion, see, or emotion with intention, is right out. yet emotion is a core drive in the arts, leastwise if we include confusion as as emotion. I think of Frank O'Hara's work, which can be chatty, arch, funny, surprised. his work is an intersection in which "he", the writer, exists, within or amidst the crossing rays, those rays being the various emotional impulses connecting at that moment. Jack Kimball's poetry collects voices of varying effect. there is no one emotion to his work, but there is the moment of the poem. I would say I strive for that, if I strive for anything. I know I've written my share of singular impulse poems. these are poems I somehow thought I had to write, from sadness, anger, love, whatever. I guess the point is to sway, not to steadfast it in one direction. because we live in currents of emotions, or eddies. SIFL is 'about' disappointment and loss, yet its beat is gleeful. I like these curious complexities and find them essential in all art.