Rules Of The Game #6: The Boney Joan Rule

[koganbot]

Latest column, in which I explain why everything is everything else.

The Boney Joan Rule

Your own examples or refutations are welcome.

(I'm not back from vacation, but I did find my way to a computer, and maybe I'll succeed in doing so again soon; sorry to Dave, Nia, Kat, and Jessica for not getting a chance to respond to your most recent comments.)

EDIT: Links to my other Rules Of The Game columns

Comments

Variation 8c, a.k.a. The Arcade & AJ Rule

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

When Arcade Fire, grown-ass men 'n' women, act like little immature brats, they end up with their strongest & deepest material, when they go way too serious, their songwriting is strong as ever and I couldn't be bothered to give a crap. When Aly and AJ, not-quite-grown-ass women, act way too serious, they end up with etc., when they go immature brat, their songwriting is strong as ever and etc.

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

Not hugely relevant, but I remember a friend of mine saying he didn't like the Beach Boys because they were too dumb, to which my response was "...says the Elvis fan."

This column is true, and it's certainly the case that our reasons are very frequently more complex, compromised and contextual than a brief statement can capture, and it is as far as most people go. I'm sure I could find examples in my own singles reviews, for instance, where I've abused some indie band for qualities I have exalted in an R&B or hip hop or pop track.

Sometimes we use different words to pretend our meanings are different. I recall a discussion about auteurism in movies, where one friend dismissed the idea that Capra was an auteur. I cited nostalgia for old values as one of his pervading themes, and he claimed that wasn't a theme at all, just weakmindedness. Soon after, he cited 'things aren't what they used to be' as one of Ford's great themes. I do the same thing, calling a mood sad or wistful when a soul singer expresses it, but whiney when I hear it in indie or emo. I can also find this within a genre - there are certain kinds of material that I dislike when it's a male R&B singer but love when it's a woman. This is like your Boney Joan thing - there is much more to say about why it works for me in one context and not another (in the last example the context is the sexism in society as a whole, mostly).

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I used to give Consistency an awful lot of importance, especially as a teenager and a student. It's much less vital now I've grown up a bit and trust my own opinion as to whether something is good or not.

Within the super-broad sphere of dance music there are plenty of different genres that are so divisive for very inconsistent reasons. To illustrate what I'm getting at, on Thursday I'm going to a dance music festival. This festival has a number of stages according to 'genre': Techno, House, Breaks, Psy-Trance, Wrong Music Mentalism, Chillout, Roots (world music, hip-hop, salsa etc). I can tell you now without even looking at the lineups that I will stick to Techno, House and the Wrong Music (like I did last year!). Other dudes won't leave the Breaks tent all weekend. The goths like Psy-trance and Wrong music but not Techno. Fair enough - everyone has different tastes. But ask them WHY they like Techno and not Psy-Trance but still like Breaks, and they'll go 'ummm Psy-trance doesn't have a pounding 4-4 beat like Techno.' Ah but neither does Breaks! 'But Breaks has whooshy bits and has more variety in the beats.' Psy-trance is ALL whooshy bits & the beats are all over the place! Personally I like bibbly squelch noises common to Techno and Psy-Trance but dislike the latter genre for its lack of structure and flow. However I'm sure that Psy-trance enthusiasts would ALSO say that Techno has a lack of structure and flow, but mean something quite different! Basically my point is that two styles of music can be very similar indeed (my Mum certainly wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Techno and Psy-trance at all) but polarise opinion nonetheless - and those opinions are based on different interpretations of the same reasoning. Does that make sense?

[koganbot]

If only LVW hadn't put my Monday followup columns on hiatus, you lot would have all be in them this week for sure.

Counterpoint: We don't get to hurt anybody

[koganbot]

Just posted this on Bluesky:

I was hard on Joan Baez's singing back when I wrote The Boney Joan Rule. But this morning I heard her speak briefly at a resistance webinar & she was the right person at the right time: "You can't match their ugliness, can't match their power. We don't get to hurt anybody, can't get to kill anybody"

— Frank Kogan (koganbot) April 13, 2025 at 8:10 PM

This is The Boney Joan Rule
https://lasvegasweekly.com/news/archive/2007/jul/12/the-rules-of-the-game-no-6-the-boney-joan-rule
And this is a Joan Baez song I've always liked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7bnthnLa2Q

[image or embed]

— Frank Kogan (koganbot) April 13, 2025 at 8:10 PM