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Love in the Time of Breakbeats |
"the breakbeat...is that part...that you look for in the record...
that lets your God self just get wild."
--Afrika Bambaataa
i need to love you in the breakbeat.
this is not me worshipping at any kind of you-shaped altar
this is about the replay of my words
to your time-tested extended rhythms.
about an old schoolhouse rocker learning new techniques on the technics
about you appreciating where this all came from.
and this is so much less about hip hop
as it is about you.
it is so much less about rare grooves
as it is about the digging for those sounds.
about the reiteration and reinterpretation
of the oldest song imaginable.
in a perfect world
we could extend the break for years
love would stay right there in the pocket
and the beat
would go on.
but this is us.
we try to be better than button pushers
more profound than clever samples
we try to blend horn-drenched hearts and polyrhythmic minds
taking some of those parts
and making them more than the sum of their parts.
the best deejays do it
the best lovers do it
let's do it
let's insinuate ourselves into the groove with diamond needle precision.
we'll remix all of our personal demons
into free spirits
we'll have a haunted house party
and let our God selves just get wild.
benedictine monks will get down with pole dancers.
the pope and larry flynt will be in the corner playing dominoes.
the flyer will read:
"there is a heaven above
and a hell below
and to this jam you all gotta go"
and there you'll be.
up in the cut like what.
the only selector who could bring angels and devils together on the parquet
and my two left feet may trip and skip like irreparable vinyl
but my heart dances like electric boogaloo.
when you needle drop your social science
i remember why it's called soul music.
so i am learning to love you in the breakbeat.
my old fashioned love song is redefined
ten seconds at a time.
i am practicing my emotional transformer scratch
'cause this is more than meets the eye
and i am through staring daggers sharp enough to cut records
so somewhere between 33 1/3 and 78
is my revolution rattling under ribs.
you deconstruct my quiet storm
down to rain dances
you reinvent me
one blue note at a time.
when you spin doctor my heartbreak
all the other parts drop out.
and all i can ask
at the risk of sounding like a broken record
is
bring that beat back
bring that beat back
bring that beat back.
copyright 2004
Ratpack
Slim |
