melee
\MAY-lay\ | noun

1 : a confused struggle; especially : a hand-to-hand fight among several people

I love this word. It sounds so refined yet it defines something with no refinement at all. And wouldn’t you rather be in a melee than a brawl? It makes you think you were having some kind of classy fight. Although, I wouldn’t mind having a brouhaha or a skirmish. And a tussle wouldn’t be too bad either.

Someone has named their band Melee, which is just plain silly. A pop group called Melee makes no sense whatsoever. (Don’t be fooled by the URL of the site. Melee most definitely doesn’t rock.)

Sand castle virtues are all swept away, in the tidal destruction, the moral melee.

Jethro Tull! Now Jethro Tull most definitely does rock. Ian Anderson made it cool to be a flute player. And I never knew he was Scottish; now I want to hear him talk.

I also never knew Thick as a Brick was the only song on the album, both sides, part one and part two, more than 40 minutes. Talk about the ultimate album rock song. :-) It was apparently created as a “send up” of concept albums, a spoof of albums by bands like Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Whether it was intended to be funny or mocking or not, it’s a wonderful song, although I think I’ve only ever heard the shortened version. I’m super damn curious to hear the whole thing now.

So many great lines, including the one above, but just a couple more:

The do-er and the thinker: no allowance for the other
as the failing light illuminates the mercenary’s creed.

I may make you feel but I can’t make you think.

The full lyrics are wild; I so need to find the entire song.

Just look at them. This was a live performance from 1978; is it any wonder me growing up in the 70s had a very “anything goes” attitude toward fashion. That I absolutely adored those shirts that supposedly looked like a shirt and sweater, possibly the most unfashionable piece of clothing ever. And that hair! As insane and odd as it was, though, I do miss the 70s. Things were a lot simpler then. (Oh lord, I sound like an 80 year old woman.)

And to close things out and bring it back to the word of the day, here’s a shot of a melee no one would want to get in the middle of. And this picture:

It’s of the Stonewall Inn in New York. The Stonewall riots were the start of the Gay Rights movement; an example of a melee that while painful and difficult had an exceptionally wonderful outcome. There’s a long way to go but we’ve definitely made great strides.

© 2009 With the Passing of Time