There’s an expression I quite admire. It’s something about if you change someone’s mind against their will, you’ve not succeeded in changing their mind at all. So, I searched for the exact quote and found: “a man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still.” This is very close to what I want to convey. It was quoted online by someone who professed to be in a rush, yet who nevertheless went on at great lengths; something on the topic of egos, I think. He attributed this quote to Benjamin Franklin with much confidence. It seems Mark Twain and Benjamin Franklin both have had their fair share of quotes attributed to them, and probably just as many of their quotes attributed to someone else, and visa versa. Twain thought the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco, and that golf is a good walk spoiled. Anything humorous seems to go to him. Franklin espoused, “either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” Anything that sounds wise and/or folksy seems to go to him. Looking over Franklin quotes with a linguist’s eye, it’s apparent he was given to repetition: As with the “something worth writing” quote above, there is, among others, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Yet, I don’t see much rhyming, so I question if the quote I’m after is a genuine quote of Franklin’s. That said, even repetition isn’t a guarantee. Case in point: “a penny saved is a penny earned.” Everyone knows Franklin coined the phrase. And, while it fits all the “Frankliness” of a quote: the caution, the wisdom, the repetition, according to the Franklin Institute website, he never said this. On the Institute’s list of “7 things Benjamin Franklin never said,” the closest to this adage was found in the 1737 Poor Richard’s Almanack: “a penny saved is two pence clear.” Further searching found the quote I’m after about changing a person’s mind is attributed to many people, including Dale Carnegie, as well as the famous “unknown.” So, I’m not sure who actually said it, or exactly how it’s worded. Nevertheless, the point of “a person convinced against their will, is of the same opinion still,” might save many of us a lot of angst and conflict if only we used empathy rather than brute force to settle our differences. Oh, and by the way, it appears that it wasn’t Mark Twain who said golf was a nice walk spoiled. It is, however, a good example of how easy it is to convolute words and phrases. My name’s Remedy. And this is an appreciation and exploration of linguists, language, poetry, and clever word play as framed by the peerless poetry of the modern day master, Elvis Costello. --- Dig it Today’s slow drag is with “Let Him Dangle,” from “Spike,” released in 1989. The songwriting is credited to Elvis Costello. It’s a grave ballad with an ominous refrain and catchy chorus. It’s a page out of the irreversible past of 1953 Britain that would have warranted a 12-part podcast if it were to have happened today. You might be familiar with this story, the story of Derek Bentley, Christopher Craig, mob mentality, and the consequence of ambiguous language. Bentley said to Craig, "Let him have it, Chris" They still don't know today just what he meant by this Craig fired the pistol, but was too young to swing So the police took Bentley and the very next thing Let him dangle… Bentley is Derek Bentley, 19 years old at the time. Craig is Christopher Craig, 16 years old at the time. Imagine a darkened rooftop where Bentley was nabbed as he and Craig were out to commit burglaries that night. “Let him have it, Chris.” Five words whose meaning has been debated, and even questioned if they were even uttered. Five words that filled the headlines the year after London saw a rise in crime and four police officers killed in the line of duty. Tensions must have been running high. Bentley had surrendered, he was under arrest When he gave Chris Craig that fatal request Craig shot Sidney Miles, he took Bentley's word The prosecution claimed as they charged them with murder Let him dangle… It is poetic license that Elvis Costello uses to report how Bentley was “under arrest,” when he was more than likely merely “detained” by Detective constable Fredrick Fairfax, one of the first officers on the scene at the Barlow & Parker Confectionary Company, where the two boys had gone to burglarize the place. According to Capital Punishment UK dot Org, the technical difference between Arrest and Detained is quite important. Just as important, Bentley was not only compliant, he was armed with only a knife and knuckle duster (brass knuckles as we know them in the States), which DC Fairfax took off him without incidence. In fact, Bentley stayed with DC Fairfax, even after Craig had shot DC Fairfax in the shoulder. The burglars and first responders had been up one the roof for a half hour when other officers arrived and made their way to them. Craig shot the first officer who came through the roof door, killing him instantly with a shot to the head. After firing off the rest of his bullets in quick succession at more officers coming through the door, the cornered Craig leapt from the roof, breaking his back and other bones as he feel 27 feet into a greenhouse below. They say Derek Bentley was easily led Well what's that to the woman that Sidney Miles wed? Sidney Miles was the constable who was killed as he came through the door to the roof. And while Bentley was 19 years old, his mental age was reported to have been that of an 11 year old. Though guilty was the verdict, and Craig had shot him dead The gallows were for Bentley and still she never said Let him dangle… Bentley proved to be a quite confused witness on the stand. He couldn’t explain if he was actually under arrest or not. Had Bentley been under arrest, and not merely detained, “it could have easily have saved Bentley as being under arrest is a strong defense.” The more lingering and perplexing issue was the exact meaning and intention of “let him have it, Chris.” Both Craig and Bentley were tried and convicted. However, because Christopher Craig was a minor, and since Bentley was of age, the death sentence was handed down to him. Well, it's hard to imagine it's the times that have changed When there's a murder in the kitchen that is brutal and strange If killing anybody is a terrible crime Why does this bloodthirsty chorus come 'round from time to time? Let him dangle The sense from the more level headed amongst them seemed to agree it wasn’t gangster speak Bentley was using; it was a simple request to give the gun to DC Fredrick Fairfax. It seems the only thing Bentley was guilty attempted burglary. Not many people thought that Bentley would hang But the word never came, the phone never rang Outside Wandsworth Prison there was horror and hate As the hangman shook Bentley's hand to calculate his weight Let him dangle, This was 1952 and 1953 Britain. Well, it's hard to imagine it's the times that have changed When there's a murder in the kitchen that is brutal and strange Capital punish was done away with permanently in the UK in 1969, with its final executions by hanging of co-conspirators, Evans and Allen, on August 13th, 1964, a year before the practice was suspended, and then ultimately abolished five years later. Despite the abolition of the capital punishment, despite the continued outrage the Derek Bentley case has elicited, there are those who advocate for the reinstatement of the death penalty. If killing anybody is a terrible crime Why does this bloodthirsty chorus come 'round from time to time? Let him dangle This goes back to the saying about changing someone’s mind against their will. Instead of a declarative, “capital punishment is barbaric,” Elvis Costello asks, “if killing anyone is a terrible crime,” then why is the death penalty trotted out as a form of punishment? From a welfare state to society murder "Bring back the noose" is always heard Whenever those swine are under attack But it won't make you even, it won't bring him back Let him dangle Using an inflammatory term such as “swine” seems to betray the poet’s stance on the death penalty, but logic quickly takes over before a passionate statement turns into a heated argument. “It won’t make it even. It won’t bring him back.” Derek Bentley was hanged on January 28, 1953, and was buried in the Wandsworth prison cemetery. He was eventually reburied outside the gates of the prison in 1966. It wasn’t until 1998, nearly a half-century after his hanging, that Derek Bentley was provided a posthumous pardon. This was due in part to the use of forensic linguistics, a growing and invaluable field of language science that looked at Bentley’s “idiolect,” or his individual way of speaking, and concluded the phrasing was more apt to reflect the way the police officers spoke. As of the time of Bentley’s 1998 posthumous pardon, Christopher Craig was still alive; he expressed “relief” over the pardon, and continued to maintain that Bentley, in fact, never even uttered those five fateful words. It won’t make it even. It won’t bring him back. ---- Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Let Him Dangle” from 1989’s, “Spike.” The haunting handshake, the rush to judgment, to scapegoating, the long road to redemption. His headstone reads: “Here lies Derek William Bentley, A Victim of British justice.” It’s a song filled with calm logic and restrained contempt. It doesn’t bog down in argument, it simply lays out the fact, asks a logical question, and then chills you to the bone with the meaning of a casual handshake. How many other people had come before Derek Bentley that had honed the hangman’s talent? So, until next time, Adieu, my little ballyhoo
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Appreciation written, produced, and narrated by Remedy Robinson, MA/MFA Twitter: https://twitter.com/slowdragremedy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow_drag_with_remedy/ Email: [email protected] Podcast music by https://www.fesliyanstudios.com Rate this Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/slowdrag ---------------------- References: A learning journal who cites Ben Franklin: https://wiki.auckland.ac.nz/display/MGMT300/A+man+convinced+against+his+will%2C+is+of+the+same+opinion+still Benjamin Franklin misquotes from the Franklin institute blog: https://www.fi.edu/benjamin-franklin/7-things-benjamin-franklin-never-said Why it’s a waste of time trying to determine who said “a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still”: https://quotationcelebration.wordpress.com/2017/02/20/a-man-convinced-against-his-will-is-of-the-same-opinion-still-unknown/ Hunting down who coined “writing about music is like dancing about architecture”: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/11/08/writing-about-music/ Derek Bentley, “A Victim of British Justice?” http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/bentley.html UK Bentley case breakthrough: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/24208.stm Craig’s Relief at Bentley’s Posthumous Pardon: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/142351.stm Newsnight – Derek Bentley #1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiy6Dx8DvBw Linguistic ambiguity: http://michealaxelsen.com/blog/?p=347 Syntactic Ambiguity: https://www.thoughtco.com/syntactic-ambiguity-grammar-1692179 Britain’s last executions: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/13/britain-last-executions-hanging-criminals-low-key Derek Bentley’s Headstone: http://veryverybritish.blogspot.com/2014/06/derek-bentley.html “Let Him Have It” Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7kjmN2SFGo Comments are closed.
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AboutSlow Drag with Remedy is an Elvis Costello podcast appreciation. It's an exploration of linguistics, language, poetry, and clever wordplay as framed by the peerless poetry of the modern-day master, Elvis Costello. Slow Drag by Song
Poor Napoleon Alibi Church Underground The Big Light Georgie and Her Rival Joe Porterhouse No Hiding Place 20% Amnesia All This Useless Beauty Let Him Dangle King of Thieves Damnation's Cellar Stripping Paper Pidgin English Riot Act Bedlam The Quickening Art Luxembourg Chemistry Class Living in Paradise My Mood Swings Waiting for the End of the World Little Atoms Two Little Hitlers Crimes of Paris You Tripped at Every Step Needle Time Men Called Uncle Peace in Our Time The Loved Ones I Almost Had a Weakness Our Little Angel Invasion Hit Parade Turpentine Miracle Man A Voice in the Dark The Greatest Thing Satellite Hand in Hand Clubland Tart Glitter Gulch Stations of the Cross Science Fiction Twin Possession This Sad Burlesque Flutter and Wow Soul for Hire After the Fall Blue Chair Monkey to Man Mouth Almighty Watch Your Step ...This Town... Distorted Angel Worthless Thing No Dancing Miss Macbeth Charm School Poor Fractured Atlas Brilliant Mistake My Little Blue Window Suspect My Tears Coal Train Robberies Fish 'n' Chip Papers I Hope You're Happy Now Man Out of Time 13 Steps Lead Down Go Away Sweet Pear The Name of This Thing is Not Love Jimmie Standing in the Rain The Deportees Club The Birds Will Still Be Singing Starting to Come to Me Pay It Back Five Small Words Pretty Words Radio Silence Human Hands Night Rally I'll Wear It Proudly Motel Matches Drum and Bone Harpies Bizarre Nothing Clings Like Ivy Why Won't Heaven Help Me Next Time 'Round The River in Reverse A Room with No Number Clown Strike The Invisible Man My Most Beautiful Mistake All the Rage The Town Where Time Stood Still Episode of Blonde e of Blonde No Flag A Slow Drag with Josephine That Bridge I Burned Sour Milk Cow Blues You Little Fool Spooky Girlfriend Suit of Lights There's a Story in Your Voice Dishonor The Stars The Other Side of Summer Mischievous Ghost They're Not Laughing at Me Now White Knuckles Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind? Black and White World The World and His Wife
God's Comic The First to Leave Green Shirt The Man You Love to Hate Lip Service American Gangster Time Blame It on Cain The Spell That You Cast Lipstick Vogue The Difference Stella Hurt Tears before Bedtime |