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110
by Jennifer Maidman
Robert Wyatt:
A Philosopher
Now and Zen
Someone once said that writing
about music is like dancing about
architecture, an impossible or even
stupid thing to do. No wonder then that I feel some trepidation in
writing about Robert Wyatt, a musician and writer who it’s been
my joy and privilege to know and to work with from time to time.
Many Western musicians and artists have been drawn to philosophies
or religions associated with the East but Robert as far as
I’m aware, has not been one of them. Unlike many of his contemporaries
he appears to have little to say publicly on the subject.
It is interesting then that some aspects of his work appear
to resonate so strongly with perennial Oriental ideas. Consider
the following line from Robert’s song ‘Free Will and Testament’:
“What kind of spider understands arachnophobia?”
This kind of paradoxical, seemingly irrational question could easily
pass for a Zen Buddhist Koan, the most well known example of
which is “What is the sound of one hand clapping”, attributed to
the great 18th century Japanese Zen Master Hakuin Ekaku. Zen
conundrums use language layfully with the aim of arresting the
intellect and opening the mind to the true nature of itself and of
reality. Much of ‘Free Will’ seems to be just such a pondering of
the imponderable: “Be in the air but not be air be in the nowhere”
Robert sings, using the kind of ‘word-play’ he loves and which is
frequently found in his work.
The idea of ‘non-sense’, something which transcends the merely
rational, also has an important role in Zen. The lyrics of Robert’s