Tom Houser – 29th September 2011
Tom Houser is not the next Jackie Collins
Copywriting is something I’ve been mulling over a lot recently.
Seeing as it’s my turn to SCAB, forgive me while I indulge myself in some Dave Trott format rambling.
(If you haven’t yet come across the blog of Trott it’s quite amazing, check it out).
First off, a confession.
The writing of copy is not a vocation I feel hugely knowledgeable about (luckily i’m learning).
Writing is a ‘pursuit’ after all, running around after words.
But, in adland it’s only English in silly adverts.
We’re not going for the nobel prize for literature or anything right?
Excitingly I just stumbled upon this amazing online slogan generator!
How good is that, the computer can do it again and again and again.
Job done, let’s go down the pub!
No?
Oh, how disappointing. Is it not that simples?
I don’t expect to be the next Salman Rushdie or Jackie Collins, but even a short ad is a writing responsibility.
Though statistically improbable, there is a small danger someone might actually look at it.
I enjoy writing chiefly because it’s really hard, which I think is a decidedly above average reason.
I treat punctuation with the utmost suspicion.
I toy with short phrases like a cat with a frog, until they feel ‘right’.
I don’t know what i’m doing, which is probably where the fun comes from.
When I studied Sculpture, I always wished I could make a piece of art behave like a pop song.
Short, distilled, captivating, immersive, mood altering etc.
Three and a half minutes then you can move on, or play it again.
Unfortunately my amazing theories weren’t embraced by the world of art.
A few years on and ‘doing advertising’, the goal is the same.
For me an advert should be like a good song.
It should resonate with the feeling of something you know is true.
Handily the teachings of SCA match up neatly(ish) with my pop theorem.
My hypothesis: songs and adverts need the following three elements to work together in order to be awesome.
Story (muy, muy importante).
Lyrics (copywriting).
Melody (to make this work, we’ll have melody as art direction).
See? It’s a totally banging notion.
So when I get stuck writing, I don’t reach for a D&AD annual, I listen to music.
I was going to make you all a radio show stuffed with my favourite lyrical delights.
‘SCA late night lyric lovin’ with DJ Houser’
But I thought that was a teeny tiny bit indulgent.
(maybe next time?)
Instead I am going to just share some lyrics and videos by my favourite Icelandic person ever.
The amazing Björk.
I first listened to Hyperballad when I was about 10 or 11, in the car on the way to Wales.
It totally blew my tiny mind at the time and still does.
What I love about her music is the way that she isn’t afraid to fuck with English.
Obviously it isn’t her first language and she manipulates it, makes it unfamiliar.
Using very little to express huge insights.
Some Youtube vids below and the accompanying lyrics, and my favourite love song – Hyperballad.
(The art direction of these alone merits a blogpost, so enjoy that too).
Play Dead (the first two lines alone are superb)
Darling stop confusing me
With your wishful thinking
Hopeful embraces
Don’t you understand?
I have to go through this
I belong to here where
No-one cares and no-one loves
No light no air to live in
A place called hate
The city of fear
I play dead
It stops the hurting
I play dead
And the hurting stops
It’s sometimes just like sleeping
Curling up inside my private tortures
I nestle into pain
Hug suffering
Caress, embrace
I play dead,
It stops the hurting
Triumph Of A Heart (insane cat video)
The nerves are sending shimmering signals
All through my fingers
The veins support
Blood that gushes impulsively towards
Is the triumph of a heart that gives all
That gives all
The triumph of a heart that gives all
That gives all
The stubborn trunks of these legs of mine
Serve as pathways for my favourite fuel
Heading upwards towards my kidneys
(That celebrate)
The triumph of a heart that gives all Smooth soft red velvety lungs
Are pushing a network of oxygen joyfully
Through a nose, through a mouth
But all enjoys, which brings us to
The triumph of a heart that gives all
That gives all
Hyperballad We live on a mountain Right at the top
This beautiful view
From the top of the mountain
Every morning I walk towards the edge
And throw little things off
Like car-parts, bottles and cutlery
or whatever I find lying around
It’s become a habit
A way to start the day I go through all this
Before you wake up
So I can feel happier
To be safe again with you I go through all this
Before you wake up
So I can feel happier
To be safe again with you It’s early morning
No one is awake
I’m back at my cliff
Still throwing things off
I listen to the sounds they make
On their way down
I follow with my eyes ’til they crash
I imagine what my body would sound like
Slamming against those rocks
and when it lands
Will my eyes
Be closed or open? I go through all this
Before you wake up
So I can feel happier
To be safe again with you I go through all this
Before you wake up
So I can feel happier
To be safe again with you I go through all this
Before you wake up
So I can feel happier
To be safe again with you Safe again..safe again..
All is full of love (awesome robots)
You’ll be given love
You’ll be taken care of
You’ll be given love
You have to trust it Maybe not from the sources
You have poured yours
Maybe not from the directions
You are staring at Twist your head around
It’s all around you
All is full of love
All around you All is full of love
You just ain’t receiving
All is full of love
Your phone is off the hook
All is full of love
Your doors are all shut
All is full of love!
be the little angel All is full of love, all is full of love
All is full of love, all is full of love … Joga All these accidents, That happen,
Follow the dot,
Coincidence,
Makes sense,
Only with you,
You don’t have to speak,
I feel. Emotional landscapes,
They puzzle me,
Then the riddle gets solved,
And you push me up to this State of emergency,
How beautiful to be,
State of emergency,
Is where I want to be. All that no-one sees,
You see,
What’s inside of me,
Every nerve that hurts,
You heal,
Deep inside of me, oo-oohh,
You don’t have to speak,
I feel. Emotional landscapes,
They puzzle me – confuse,
Then the riddle gets solved,
And you push me up to this State of emergency,
How beautiful to be,
State of emergency,
Is where I want to be. State of emergency,
How beautiful to be, Emotional landscapes,
They puzzle me,
Then the riddle gets solved,
And you push me up to this State of emergency,
How beautiful to be,
State of emergency,
Is where I want to be. State of emergency,
How beautiful to be,
State of emergency,
State of, state of,
How beautiful,
Emergency,
Is where I want to be. State of emergency,
How beautiful to be,
State of emergency,
Is where I want to be. State of emergency,
How beautiful to be.
And that concludes my blogpost, thanks for coming along for the ride. I hope it made some sense (tell me if not).
If you are new to SCA then welcome.
If you aren’t then welcome back.
P.S. Anyone up for karaoke, am happy to put on my best Icelandic accent and treat you to these ‘live’.
What a treat that would be.
