# John Cage is Laughing at You



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Why is John Cage laughing at you?
Because you cannot hear sounds.
Because you are obstinately clinging to your notion of what "music" is.
Because you think art should come to you, not the other way around.
Because you can't silence the voice of your own ticker-tape "ego" dialogue long enough to hear the sounds around you.


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I can hear the sounds just fine. Just not the ones Cage would want me to hear. Let him laugh, I am sure he never heard the sounds I heard, together with my favorite composers. If he did, he would have been composing different music.


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Alright John Cage, he's the man!
http://johncage.org/empty.html


----------



## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

millionrainbows said:


> Why is John Cage laughing at you?
> Because you cannot hear sounds.
> Because you are obstinately clinging to your notion of what "music" is.
> Because you think art should come to you, not the other way around.
> Because you can't silence the voice of your own ticker-tape "ego" dialogue long enough to hear the sounds around you.


So did Cage give the money for his performance to the people who made the sounds?


----------



## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

I haven't seen a later photo before. John Cage looks like Bob Ross without the 'fro.

I don't know if this thread is a good idea.


----------



## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

millionrainbows said:


> Why is John Cage laughing at you?
> Because you cannot hear sounds.
> Because you are obstinately clinging to your notion of what "music" is.
> Because you think art should come to you, not the other way around.
> Because you can't silence the voice of your own ticker-tape "ego" dialogue long enough to hear the sounds around you.


Did he laugh when the people who performed his works booed him on stage?


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Johnnie Burgess said:


> So did Cage give the money for his performance to the people who made the sounds?


People? None that I know of, except one guy who got paid for farting. And there's a couple of rich crickets out there...


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

eugeneonagain said:


> I haven't seen a later photo before. John Cage looks like Bob Ross without the 'fro.
> 
> I don't know if this thread is a good idea.


Really, I felt the same way when I was posting it. :lol:


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

eugeneonagain said:


> I haven't seen a later photo before. John Cage looks like Bob Ross without the 'fro.


Really! I had never made that connection! There is a definite similarity!

"Now, there's a little SQUONK! from a prepared piano that lives right here, and a little cricket chirping in 4'33". Remember, this is your little world, and you can listen to any sound you want to! Isn't this fun?"


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Johnnie Burgess said:


> Did he laugh when the people who performed his works booed him on stage?


Yes, he laughed even louder, because they were foolish enough to have gotten that involved.


----------



## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

millionrainbows said:


> Yes, he laughed even louder, because they were foolish enough to have gotten that involved.


Or if part of an orchestra and wanted to keep their job, did their part in the concert and got paid and let the world know what they thought of his music.


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

SiegendesLicht said:


> I can hear the sounds just fine. Just not the ones Cage would want me to hear. Let him laugh, I am sure he never heard the sounds I heard, together with my favorite composers. If he did, he would have been composing different music.


But John Cage _wants_ you to hear these specific sounds (noises) as music, and next time he's going to figure out a way to force it down the throats of the audience members. I think one of those sound-cannons developed by the military that sends low-frequency shock waves out. It will loosen teeth, and make people incontinent. He loves incontinence; his whole career was based on similar things.


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Johnnie Burgess said:


> Or if part of an orchestra and wanted to keep their job, did their part in the concert and got paid and let the world know what they thought of his music.


But it was because the orchestra was "holding it in" that gave the performance such a sense of palpable tension. Then, afterwards, when they unleashed all those invectives, it was such a release! Better than Wagner!


----------



## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

millionrainbows said:


> Why is John Cage laughing at you?
> Because you cannot hear sounds.


I find it very disrespectful of Cage to laugh at deaf people.


----------



## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

millionrainbows said:


> But John Cage _wants_ you to hear these specific sounds (noises) as music, and next time he's going to figure out a way to force it down the throats of the audience members. I think one of those sound-cannons developed by the military that sends low-frequency shock waves out. It will loosen teeth, *and make people incontinent. He loves incontinence*; his whole career was based on similar things.


I always knew that I needed pantyliners when listening to Beethoven, but I never realized that I needed diapers when listening to Cage! :lol:


----------



## Zhdanov (Feb 16, 2016)

millionrainbows said:


> he laughed even louder


looks like some kind of a diabolical person doesn't he? but what *we* have to do with all this? can't he and his boss go elsewhere and leave us alone?


----------



## JeffD (May 8, 2017)

John Cage is laughing at me!? 

Tell him to take a number and wait his turn.

You know its hard enough to ignore people one at a time, now I gotta ignore them all at once!?!?


----------



## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

He can not be laughing he is dead and hopefully in 100 years his music will as dead as he is.


----------



## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

I have the deepest respect for 4'33" insofar that it was the best thing that Cage ever wrote.

What I like to do is to listen to just about anything Cage wrote and then follow it with 4'33'. The sense of relief is overwhelming.


----------



## Zhdanov (Feb 16, 2016)

DaveM said:


> I have the deepest respect for 4'33" insofar that it was the best thing that Cage ever wrote.


it wasn't him in fact he only stole the idea from some obscure french composer i already posted someplace on this forum.


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Sloe said:


> I find it very disrespectful of Cage to laugh at deaf people.


Yeah, they're deaf _and_ dumb! :lol:


----------



## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

Actually the photo posted was made when he WAS laughing,
anyway now he is still laughing, 








and working hard to improve his 4'33''


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Bettina said:


> I always knew that I needed pantyliners when listening to Beethoven, but I never realized that I needed diapers when listening to Cage! :lol:


Yes, that is _an exciting new area_ that you & klassik can explore on STI! I can hardly contain myself!


----------



## Zhdanov (Feb 16, 2016)

millionrainbows said:


> Yeah, they're deaf _and_ dumb!


and he is not? Cage is ok then? nothing wrong with him? not a sick perv is he?


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Johnnie Burgess said:


> He can not be laughing he is dead and hopefully in 100 years his music will as dead as he is.


Wow, that's compassionate! I guess he's a "laughing skull."


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Zhdanov said:


> and he is not? Cage is ok then? nothing wrong with him? not a sick perv is he?


Yes, he was gay...but that doesn't mean he was perfect by any means. It just meant that he had better taste in food, clothing, furnishing, art, music, wine, and everything else, than the average joe.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I hate when anyone laughs at me. So what's the beef?


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

DaveM said:


> I have the deepest respect for 4'33" insofar that it was the best thing that Cage ever wrote.
> 
> What I like to do is to listen to just about anything Cage wrote and then follow it with 4'33'. The sense of relief is overwhelming.


Wow, you have the Complete Works box set?


----------



## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Zhdanov said:


> it wasn't him in fact he only stole the idea from some obscure french composer i already posted someplace on this forum.


It's an easy work to plagiarize.


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

hpowders said:


> I hate when anyone laughs at me. So what's the beef?


...and yes, they are laughing at you. The beef? I think Cage was a vegetarian.


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

DaveM said:


> It's an easy work to plagiarize.


I heard that he got the score from that French guy and stuffed it down the front of his pants. That's why most people object to 4'33," it's the smell.


----------



## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

millionrainbows said:


> I heard that he got the score from that French guy and stuffed it down the front of his pants. That's why most people object to 4'33," it's the smell.


This is turning into STI!


----------



## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

Bettina said:


> This is turning into STI!


Well, what was you expecting? ...music???? :lol::lol::lol::lol:


----------



## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

meh.... deleted to be more diplomatic. My fingers are going faster than my thoughts.


----------



## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I've got no problem with Cage laughing at me. He's got his point, he's developed it well, he makes no two ways about it. He's no hypocrite, and he's got the right to laugh to those who are. Me, I still believe that i) sound is not music and ii) music is not sound, so I feel the same grudging respect for him as Van Helsing feels to Count Dracula!


----------



## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

Selby said:


> Is this intended as an insult? I think it puts him in the very good company of Stravinsky and Debussy; not to mention Salvador Dali, John Waters, The Stooges, and many others. I'm pretty sure Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven received high levels of antagonistic criticism in their days also. Oh yes, and Christ himself.


Wow, this level of fanaticism around cage is new to me.


----------



## Zhdanov (Feb 16, 2016)

millionrainbows said:


> he had better taste in food, clothing, furnishing, art, music, wine, and everything else, than the average joe.


don't see how it makes him any useful to others, though; he appears to be nothing but a self-serving troll.


----------



## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

This thread is problematic and has been closed until the moderators can decide how to proceed.


----------

