Maddenation
Thoughts on Singing
Selfishly, I want to use the blog to record some possibly future-useful quotes about singing (which may be interesting to others as well). I was spurred to this by my A Word A Day email today, which quotes Cervantes saying something pithy. I looked up the quote on Bartleby.com, and found a more complete version:
‘Yes, sir,’ quoth the slave; ‘for there’s nothing worse than to sing in anguish.’ ‘Rather,’ quoth Don Quixote, ‘I have heard say that he which sings doth affright and chase away his harms.’ ‘Here it is quite contrary,’ quoth the slave; ‘for he that sings once weeps all his life after.’
They’re missing each other’s meaning because the slave is using “sing” as in to spill the beans and confess to a crime. Anyway, it appears the aphorism (some variation of “He who sings scares away his woes”) is older than Cervantes even. The Spanish is much more concise, and it rhymes: El que canta sus males espanta.
The Spanish have a few other good quotes about singing.
I’m relying on Spanish rock music now though. Andrés Calamaro sings metaliterarily:
No me gustan las canciones porque mienten
Porque todo se resuelve en tres minutos
I don’t like songs because they lie
Because everything is resolved in three minutes
And Emiliano Brancciari of Uruguay’s No Te Va Gustar sings simply:
Una canción que te saque de la duda
No la hay
Patrick • Quotes • 05/27/04 • 0 commentsA song to chase away your doubts—
There’s no such thing
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