respostes de Mrs. Fripp

Afterwards, in the studio & personal space during the preparing-to-leave-the period, a young euro-journalist whose hovering, pouncing presence had made itself felt throughout, approached with his CDs to be signed.

YEJ:    Will you sign my CDs?
RF:    No.
YEJ:    Why don’t you sign CDs?

Emanations of narcissism, blending with avarice, accompanied this joy-bending winged-life destroying exchange.

Emanations of narcissism, blending with avarice, accompanied this joy-bending winged-life destroying exchange.

His first question, on this day & in this particular context, was inappropriate & out of place. Nevertheless, within the currently-acceptable social norms of fetishisation, intrusiveness & lack of consideration for others, perhaps it might be filed under understandable-even-if-not-quite-right. However, the second question is known as The Second Question. This goes too far, even for a young euro-journalist whose head is placed where sunshine never falls. Simply put, anyone who needs to ask The Second Question will never hear the answer/s. The Second Question may only be asked by leaseholders, if not freeholders, of The Basement.

Why don’t you sign CDs? This is not, in itself, a question: it is a criticism. A question is: Why sign CDs? There is a range of possible answers to this, converging on the centre of gravity of the principle involved.

Generally, it doesn’t matter too much if we are stupid, providing we know we are stupid. This is normal-abnormal. We are all pretty dopey most of the time, but a person of maturity cultivates a certain distance from their dopey-manifestations that, in time, confers a measure of personal freedom. One example of which is, that I don’t have to ask dopey questions because I know dopey questions generate negative repercussions that (inter alia) cause waste & are destructive. If we don’t know the depth of our stupidity, we have no distance from our mechanical & automatic behaviours. That is, if we don’t know we are stupid, we are dangerous.

An innocent DGM visitor might now read this & ponder: Old Goat! Ranting on again about innocent punters who have guaranteed rights to autography! Such exaggeration & heartlessness! This man is a creep! Yet, in this simple exchange with one Young Euro Journalist, there is revealed The Fall From Grace; this typed with no exaggeration in the keypad at all.

Following this short, illuminating reminder of our graceless nature, I enjoyed a conversation with Artist Advocate Andy Leff. Following which, the journalist still hovering with several of his CDs set out on a studio surface, an area he should not even have been within – who let him in & remain in the private space? - a second brief exchange followed…

RF:    Why do you want your CDs signed?

YEJ:   It makes them personal
RF:    I don’t know you.

YEJ:    What’s left without that? (ie what value are the CDs without a signature to personalise them?)
RF:    The music.

YEJ:    But I know you.
RF:    You don’t know me at all.