Wayback music challenge: Day 7 - Step Across The Border

Fred Frith - Step Across the Border

I was nominated by @katharsisdrill to participate in this challenge, where you have to write seven consecutively posts about songs from your high-school/college years, that somehow were important for you.

The album I probably played the most during my college times (and which is still one of my all-time favorites) is Fred Frith's Step Across the Border. The really brilliant thing about it is, that it's actually the soundtrack of one of my favorite documentaries, which two German filmmakers made in 1990 on English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith.

Like the music of Frith, the whole film is improvised, too:

In Step Across the Border two forms of artistic expression, improvised music and cinema direct, are interrelated. In both forms it is the moment that counts, the intuitive sense of what is happening in a space. Music and film come into existence out of an intense perception of the moment, not from the transformation of a preordained plan.

Source

To get an idea of how the film is puzzled together from various music, talks, places and musicians, you can have a look at the first 20 minutes in this video. The opening song is called Sparrow Song.


Step Across the Border

I can't really say, how often I watched the film in theatres, on my old VHS and later on DVD, but it just never started to bore me. One of my personal favorites for dancing was a song called Legs and I remember, that I already talked about The Morning Song and Same old me before.

So this time I choose the song from the closing sequence of the film called "Too Much Too Little" and it's very inspiring, what Fred Frith says in the scene before:

People are very happy to receive information all the time and this information is usually coming from some central authorities like a television station or a government and people don’t question this at all anymore.

But there is something you can do in cultural terms, that will make people react in a different way by finding something in themselves that they didn’t know about. Because all kinds of concepts, that we do in theatre events or dance or anything like this, when it works, it’s because it strikes some accordance and they have to look at themselves in relationship to the society, they are in. And there aren’t many things, that make people do that. Most of the time, people don’t even think about it.

(Transcription by me)

Fred Frith - Too Much Too Little

Too much power, too little brains
They say it pours when it rains
The losses certainly outweigh the gains
When there's too much power and too little brains

Too much power, too little heart
Carve up the world, just tear it apart
Use it up, throw it away and make a fresh start
That's too much power and too little heart

So much to do and so little time
What the eye doesn't see, the heart won't mind
If they don't die here, they could die anytime
So much to do and so little time

Too much power, too little brains
Doesn't everybody feel fear and pain?
So how come we make the same mistakes again
And again and again and again and again?

Source

Closing Words

I really enjoyed participating in this #waybackmusicchallenge and it was very interesting to see, how it turned into kind of a life-story. Music is really a great soundtrack for life and I somehow agree to the lyrics of the famous John Miles song Music:

Music was my first love
and it will be my last.
Music of the future
and music of the past.

Thanks for reading!

@shortcut


The #musicwaybackchallenge rules:

  • Choose one song from your high-school/college years.
  • Write a few words about who made you listen to this song for the first time, what this song means to you (was it a breakup song? you blasted it at 100% on your audio system when you were partying with your friends?) whatever you want.
  • Write your text while listening to the song. As soon as the song ends, wrap up what you where writing and submit it.
  • Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated
  • Mention one person who should do this on each day.
  • Tag it with #musicwaybackchallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post
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I'm really glad you took @katharsisdrill 's challenge, yours and his 7 posts really demonstrated the vast ocean of possibilities in music. It was a journey for us readers (and listeners) too.

I had never heard of this film, I bet it was really powerful when you got to see it on the big screen. I particularly enjoyed the sax interlude around the 15 minute mark of the first clip.

Another cool share!!!!

Thanks so much for your appreciation! It makes me very happy to know, that you enjoyed the ride :-)
The movie is really a gem and when you have a chance to watch him on big screen one day, you should go for it. It kind of became the soundtrack of my life for a certain time and it was a real matter of heart to share it with you and my other followers.

Yes a lot of out of the box improvision and originality in Across the Border and the other video is fun and novel in the taping. Thanks so much @shortcut for introducing us to some unique and fun music

Welcome! You should definitely watch the movie one day ;-)

I came to enjoy it @shortcut. it is nice way to find old music, Thank you

You should consider participating. I wonder, what kind of music you heard in your college/high-school years.

I think I should write something on my morgenseiten next time @shortcut

Yes, cool idea! Looking forward to ;-)

Wonderful music
Thank you for sharing post

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