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Sonnet Youth: Confusion is Sex/Kill Yr Idols

$1.00


This mini-zine features a re-imagining of Sonic Youth's 1983 masterpieces, the "Confusion Is Sex" LP and "Kill Yr Idols" EP (which usually get bundled together into one album). All eleven song lyrics have been rewritten by Jeffrey as eleven sonnets in the Shakespearian mode! 


SKU: SONNETSEX Categories: , Product ID: 26225

Description

Limited edition of 400 copies, signed and numbered by Jeffrey Lewis. This mini-zine features a re-imagining of Sonic Youth's 1983 masterpieces, the "Confusion Is Sex" LP and "Kill Yr Idols" EP (which usually get bundled together into one album). All eleven song lyrics have been rewritten by Jeffrey as eleven sonnets in the Shakespearian mode! Each line is in iambic pentameter (generally that's the soft/loud/soft/loud 5-beat rhythm of "To BE or NOT to BE, that IS the QUEStion…") and each poem is structured into the sonnet architecture of three quatrains and a closing couplet. Naturally there's also accompanying illustrations by Jeffrey.

For example, here's the complete original lyrics for the song "Kill Yr Idols" (copyright Thurston Moore and the rest of Sonic Youth circa 1983):

KILL YR IDOLS (original Sonic Youth lyrics): I don't know why / You wanna impress Christgau / Ah let that shit die / And find out the new goal. Kill yr idols / Sonic death / It's the end of the world / Your confusion is sex.

AND here it is in Jeffrey's sonnet form re-write KILL YR IDOLS (Jeffrey's sonnet version): It fills me up with anger and depression / There's more to art than being on a list now / So why still try to make a good impression / On any music critic, even Christgau? Leave behind all former tags and titles / Slay them with your brutal sonic force / As Nietzsche said, you have to kill your idols. / All uncertainty is intercourse Keep skepticism strong and un-suspending / Perhaps that's what the message of this tune is / The world you knew is coming to an ending / So kill it and embrace the crazy newness. And kill me also, if I get too preachy. / Treat no one sacred – me, Christgau or Nietzsche.

Now you may ask, what exactly is the entertainment value in a little 3-inch stapled booklet of sonnets based on a dozen old Sonic Youth songs? We're not sure. A dollar or two perhaps?

And will there be more of these mini-booklets to come? Yes! "Sonnet Youth: GOO" is now available (and "Daydream Nation" is in the works)!

SONNET YOUTH: CONFUSION IS SEX/KILL YR IDOLS

1) (She's in a) Bad Mood

2) Protect Me You

3) Freezer Burn/I Wanna Be Your Dog

4) Shaking Hell

5) Inhuman

6) The World Looks Red

7) Confusion Is Next

8) Making the Nature Scene

9) Kill Yr Idols

10) Brother James

11) Early American (Note: A twelfth song, "Lee Is Free," does not appear here rewritten in sonnet form because it's an instrumental.)

Additional information

Weight 2 oz
Dimensions 10 × 7 × 0.125 in
by

Jeffrey Lewis

ISBN