The Cliche

In ’Little Sister’, on 18 Monkeys on a Dead Man’s Chest Thomas manages to say, or to sing, the word “Yeah” for by my count something approaching 40 times in a row; we hear it - it is repeated, it’s said once and again, where this is done without losing the feel of variation and continuity that music needs - it works as a kind of balancing act - and since it comes off - he nails it perfectly as one of the instruments of the rock canon: the cliche in the affirmative.  Yes, yes, yes; it is realised as a music and it is hilarious.  Of course what he really means is “No”.  But.  But what does “No” mean?

Tags: Homelessness, Pere Ubu, Rock, The Cliche, Yes