There is one thing I like about postmodernism. Generally I consider the whole thing nothing more than a haven of excessive relativism, pseudo-profundity and bad writing (although there are certainly exceptions), but there is one quality of postmodern thought that really appeals to me. They, of all movements, have finally properly embraced contradiction.
I'm not going to bother to get into a whole backload of theory, but suffice it to say that, as you may have noticed, our minds tend to work in fairly contradictory ways. The reason Orwell's doublespeak was so horrifying and prophetic was that the human mind is more than capable of holding two conflicting thoughts at once, and even believing firmly in each. Now, doublespeak is dangerous only because one of the two things you are asked to affirm is false, and the type of things you believe is carefully manipulated by the government for their own ends. Thus it is, suprise, bad.
There are cases, however, where the matter you deal with is fairly slippery, and there is no one truth about it. Lots of things. Often big things (life, music, etc.). And so the capability, not to believe things so that they cancel each other out, but to recognize the truth in each, can be very valuable.
My favorite musical example is two of my favorite songs: Pulp's 'Dishes' and Ride's 'Cool Your Boots'. Musically they are quite distinct: 'Dishes' is the hurricane's eye of Pulp's This Is Hardcore, the calm centre that the psychosis of the rest of the album swirls around. It's a domestic picture of a guy who would like to make this water wine/But I've got to get these dishes dry. In short, it's a bit of a celebration of mundanity. The couplet I've got some matches if you ever need a light/I'll read you a story, if it helps you sleep at night is, in my opinion, terribly romantic. Jarvis is singing a quiet, peaceful song (both sonically and lyrically) about not being able to do everything, about not being any sort of star. And the climax, and relevant part for our discussion, is this:
And I
I'm not worried
That I will never
Touch the stars
'Cause stars belong up in heaven
And the earth is where we are
And aren't you happy just to be alive
You've got no cross to bear, not tonight
'Cool You Boots', on the other hand, has a whole bunch of other adjectives that could be applied to it, and to Ride's post-shoegazer album Going Blank Again as a whole: dense, swirling, pounding, charged, and so on. 'Cool Your Boots' doesn't occupy a position of importance on the album the way 'Dishes' does, by virtue of the fact that Going Blank Again isn't really telling a story the way This Is Hardcore is. But it is still a great song, employing all of the adjectives listed above. It's got a sample from "Withnail & I", some great glassy keyboard sounds in the outro, and it rages for about six minutes without wearing out it's welcome. In many ways it's an opposite to 'Dishes'. And then there's this:
You smile for yesterday
I think I'm in the way
You seem concerned
And say I should slow down
But how can I see stars
If my feet are on the ground?
An opposite response to 'Dishes', in fact it could be a response to 'Dishes' if not for time, space, and a bunch of other factors. The point is, there is something in each song, and each sentiment, that I indentify with and strongly believe in. And they don't cancel each other out, but they definitely don't work with each other either. And there's nothing wrong with that.
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