… and massive moat
By The Landlord
“Neurotics build castles in the air, psychotics live in them. My mother cleans them.” – Rita Rudner
“Castles are forests of stones.” – George Herbert
“If you don't build castles in the air you won't build anything on the ground.” – Victor Hugo
“Why should we strive, with cynic frown, to knock their fairy castles down?” – Eliza Cook
“99.99% of all castles in America are located in fish tanks.” – Demetri Martin
“Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that the driver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the sky.” – Bram Stoker, Dracula
“Be thine own palace, or the world's thy jail.” – John Donne
What are these great stony, grand designs? Moat-surrounded military strongholds, seats of great government, history, wealth and grand ideas, but also expressions of inequality, corruption and always targets of seige-able power? Forefronts of fighting but also fantasy and fairy tales? From ancient to medieval, Tudor to baroque, rococo to goth or modern, grandly stylish impressive feats of architecture and design, or gross creations borne of enormous, fragile egos? Emblems of permanence eventually bound to crumble? Grand homes that for some end up being mental prisons, or just somewhere with a very expensive heating bill?
Castles and palaces have many sections, from dungeons to grand banqueting halls, huge fire-roaring bedrooms to secret tunnels to turrets, and in turn mean all things to many. They have more parts than complex songs. But whether real or fictional, or metaphorical, or simply floating concepts of the mind, these chateaux and more are all on this week's musical visiting list. Tickets? Just follow this way ...
An Englishman's home is his castle, goes the saying, which allows for much subjectivity, but in a literal sense there are many far grander elsewhere. And, as it happens, this topic comes to mind as I've just begun a long-wished dream trip to Japan, and, having just landed in the city of Osaka, my first fabulous, famous, and striking landmark visit this morning was to Osaka Castle, an impressively layered, moat-surrounded reminder of that country's extraordinary history, surrounded in the distance mostly by skyscrapers. It’s also the focus point of one of Japan's most famous figures, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, whose life is itself a piece of grand architecture built up, literally from the dirt.
Born a peasant, apparently with a 'monkey face' (possibly seen as a good thing) Hideyoshi worked his way up through a feudal system, serving various local landowners lords, then became a samurai, then a very clever warlord, and eventually one of the founders of unification in the 16th century in a period when Japan was a wild east of feuds and power vacuums, ascended as Kampaku (Imperial Regent) and then Daijō-daijin ( Chancellor of the Realm). Osaka Castle is also one of his legacy, and alongside Fushimi Castle in Kyoto is one of the country's most striking pieces of archecture.
But castles and palaces are double-edged swords, not just literally in a bloody 16th century Japan, but everywhere, symbolic of great wealth and power, to be fortified and protected, but naturally attracting attention. They are symbolic of human achievement, but in another sense, utter failure, which makes for a great focus point and lyrical reference in song. After all you don't live in one to be ignored.
People in castles inevitably look down on those without them (as in outside them). You only need to catch this clip from Monty Python and The Holy Grail as a reminder:
Castles and palaces are almost always huge buildings, and, with many parts and perspectives to explore, could perhaps also build a big song topic. Linked as they are to so many social, cultural and historical associations, there's however only time for a very quick tour in this introduction. But what do castles and palaces mean to you and what's the first that comes to mind. Buckingham Palace? The Palace of Versailles? The Taj Mahal? Maybe somewhere you visited as a child? Caernarfon Castle, anyone?
But perhaps your associated song-related palace is one of the mind, a place of preciously stored music and mnemonic devices. There are further visitors to the Bar this week, alternatively using the phrase as a metaphor for idealism. “There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds,” suggests the novelist Gilbert K. Chesterton.
“But,” adds the Jamaican-American writer Claude McKay, |idealism is like a castle in the air if it is not based on a solid foundation of social and political realism.”
Philosopher and naturalist Henry David Thoreau, reckons that: “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
Castles and palaces do indeed live in the mind as much as in reality. Like Bram Stoker's Dracula castle, some inspire many emotions and reactions, from fear to awe. Here's another vivd castle passage, this time from Charles Dickens and The Pickwick Papers:
“Huge knots of sea-weed hung upon the jagged and pointed stones, trembling in every breath of wind; and the green ivy clung mournfully round the dark and ruined battlements. Behind it rose the ancient castle, its towers roofless, and its massive walls crumbling away, but telling us proudly of its own might and strength, as when, seven hundred years ago, it rang with the clash of arms, or resounded with the noise of feasting and revelry.”
But for further inspiration, here's a selection of further examples of famous and otherwise palatial creations. Some will last longer than others.
Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
Chateau de Chambord, France
The National Palace of Pena, Portugal
Hawa Mahal, Jaipur, India
Bran Castle, also known as Castle Dracula, Transylvania
Sandcastle built on Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York …
And finally, as I began in Japan, so will end, with a moving example. Hayao Miyazaki's fabulous Howl's Moving Castle in fact, one of his Studio Ghibli masterpieces, which this year celebrates 20 years since its release. A walking castle of the mind. Where will yours take you?
How’s Moving Castle (2004)
Talking of which, helping lay the solid foundations for this week's eventual playlist, whether they are on sand, rock or other surfaces, is this week’s king of the rock, Marco den Ouden! Suggest your songs in comments below for deadline at 11pm on Monday UK time, for playlists published next week. Lower the drawbridge and let them all in ...
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
Fancy a turn behind the pumps at The Song Bar? Care to choose a playlist from songs nominated and write something about it? Then feel free to contact The Song Bar here, or try the usual email address. Also please follow us social media: Song Bar Twitter, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube, and Song Bar Instagram. Please subscribe, follow and share.
Song Bar is non-profit and is simply about sharing great music. We don’t do clickbait or advertisements. Please make any donation to help keep the Bar running: