Tuesday, June 17, 2008

the me i wish i had the balls to be

It blows my mind that this preview of the film that Liz Phair made to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Exile in Guyville only features interviews with GUYS.

That album is the ultimate pissed off, slightly f*cked in the head chick album (screw Jagged Little Pill, the character that Liz Phair plays in Exile in Guyville could kick Alanis Morrissette's Dave Coulier-loving ass).

You should have interviewed ME, Liz. I would have told you about the tape that David made me, which lyrics reminded me the most of Andrew, how others thought of me when they heard the CD -- the me that I wish I had the balls to truly be, in 1993 and in 2008.

(But I do love the fact that one of those guys is John Cusack. Someone, at some point, sang those lyrics alone in their room to their Lloyd Dobler.)

Update: Thanks to Tim F. for pointing me in the direction of this piece from Ann Powers at The Los Angeles Times.

"Double-consciousness is what Phair expresses on “Guyville” – the impossible position of a woman trying to be true to herself in a man’s world. These songs don’t vacillate between desire and contempt for the men they address; they tangle these feelings together until they can’t be undone. In a song like “Flower,” with its unprintable lyrics, Phair showed how girliness is obscene and profanity is sweet. “Mesmerizing” presents seduction as an act of violence and a longed-for goal. In “Glory,” Phair’s crush comes on like a lizard and a king."

4 comments:

Atkins Gal said...

That video... the audio wasn't great. Maybe she'll release a 2nd set of interviews with listeners, not record insiders.

That album looms huge in my personal history, too. I sang "F--k and Run" (and later "Jealousy") in my college cover band and I listened to the album over and over while flying to my foreign study. I put her songs on every mix I made for friends. I'm sure I scared a lot of people.

abf said...

I'd like to hear from the listeners. And she was a contemporary of both the "Lilith Fair" and Riot Grrrl scenes. A little something about the sincerity/reality of the female empowerment message in her music and in those scenes would have been worth some time.

Tim F. said...

Alison,
Check out what Ann Powers (chief rock crit of the LA Times) had to say about the re-issue. There are women interviewed as counterpoint to the men in the documentary.

http://tinyurl.com/5klkce

abf said...

Thanks, Tim. I just read the article and added the link to the post. Good stuff.