Unpopular opinion: for a variety of reasons, the Elvis Costello quote ‘talking about music is like dancing about architecture’ irritates the heck out of me.

EC is a brilliant and vital musical figure, but that’s always felt so glib to me.

If I find the right drink to do so over, I may go through the reasons.

This is good. https://twitter.com/robertrotifer/status/1297640546517880840

Okay, reasons this quote fucks me off, in no order of importance:
- It really depends who you’re discussing it with. A point about an aspect of music that had never occurred to you and might give you a new angle is a good thing. Sorry, but it is: music isn’t a bloody key to a…

…magical door, and the proliferation of the idea that it is can be hugely alienating. It’s like the Lee and Herriing sketch where when Jesus, when presented with a problem with his proclamations, goes ‘ahhhhhh’ instead of answering. Different people experience music differently.

- what’s wrong with dancing about architecture? What are you meant to do ‘about architecture’? I expect the answer is ‘live in it’, but then I refer you to the above. It’s all a bit ‘let the experts crack on and just let the magic we weave wash over you’. It’s a nope from me.

- the next issue is to do with inverted snobbery, which punk has been quite prone to. I get where it comes from; the spectre of the over-educated bouffant, with his tower of keyboards, gatekeeping economically and educationally, whilst turning out abominably irrelevant…

…music. Yes, that’s a thing. That’s always been a thing. But I refer you to point 1: talking to the wrong people about music isn’t the same as ‘talking about music.’

That’s enough for now but goodness, I’m tired of the idea that snobbery is the same thing as curiosity. I’ve seen this quote a couple of times in the last week, and I think some people see it as a trump card in difficult conversations about music, and I wanted to reject that.