Equi-vocals: Big Star--"The Ballad of El Goodo"

In the spirit of punning as well as the desire to sometimes only focus on a few lines of a song rather than the whole thing, I will be characterizing posts with a narrow focus upon an ambiguous line or two, as "Equi-vocals."

I am starting off with Big Star's "The Ballad of El Goodo" because the sheer insistence of this song's refrain has always drawn my attention to it, and to the question of just what lies behind it.



This line, "And there ain't no one gonna turn me 'round/ Ain't no one gonna turn me 'round," embodies the spirit of opposition and independence that the song is all about. The question that this insistent line prompts, however, is the meaning of this opposition. On the one hand, "Ain't no one gonna turn me 'round'" sounds like a cry of an individual determined not to let anything stop him, which would make this song a kind of celebration about the kind of person who can resist the temptation to just be like one of the crowd, or the masses. But on the other hand, this line could also reflect a kind of insane recognition that one has gone too far, that,consumed by the spirit of opposition one is beyond all help and there is no turning back from the looming abyss.

This song's glorious melodies and overall triumphant sound certainly suggest that the former is the better interpretation, but I still can't shake the sense that the latter lurks beneath the surface. I am reminded of Aristotle's saying early on in Book One of the Politics, that "he who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god: he is no part of a state." Even if this song is about resolute opposition to all of the powers that will "zip you up and dress you down and stand you in a row," there is nevertheless still a point at which that opposition can go too far and become madness, a denial of one's own humanity.