Interesting Results
Last evening while thumbing through a small book of Ariel Pink lyrics I was contemplating the creative process put forward in the song “Interesting Results.”
Q: Will I write a song you love today? A: There is no way to tell, and who cares? Well I don’t. Thank the lord that my standards for success are so low.
At one level it makes an aesthetic statement, one characteristic of the lo-fi artist, being a rejection of perfection in favor of something else (insert new possibility), like in this case, a product uncommonly naked in the medium, sketched or unfinished, unpolished. More specifically, I think the song offers a good solution to the impasse of art that sets itself at unrealizable heights, where creating anything becomes impossible. It’s a suggestion to write without getting consumed in the idea of reception, without the erasure of doubt. There is a bravery in making that appearance. At least we find interesting results.
I have found it very difficult to write since going to school. I continually doubt whatever I work on. This song speaks to me. I hope to take this advice and flood the world with some distasteful music and writing, without shame. Take this as an attempt to step through that open door.