Art Imitates Nap I
Let's have a smile for an old engine driver
In our second instalment of Featured Guest Friday, we’re thrilled to welcome our old friend, Dr. Bunsen MF Honeydew! We’ve mentioned him once or twice before, and he finally caved and has graced us with 250 or so of his words. I love this piece and am super excited to see where he goes with it!
On my train commute the other day,1 I was listening to The Who’s classic “A Quick One, While He’s Away” from the eponymous 1966 album and heard mention of a nap in the lyric:2
I missed you and I must admit
I kissed a few and once did sit
On Ivor the Engine Driver's lap
And later with him, had a nap
Although based on the song’s theme the nap in question may have involved limited if any loss of consh, this called to mind a question: how have naps been represented in song and in art in general?3 How has the nap itself shaped art history? In this installment we’ll begin to delve into this untapped treasure trove of snooze-related discovery.
Based on a to-be-continued preliminary scouring of the web, naps appear to be relatively under-represented in song given that many artists must be napping frequently to keep up the pace of touring and recording in combination with their inevitable rock n’ roll lifestyles. However, naps aplenty are to be found in the art world. Let us consider first Paul Gauguin’s gorgeously textured painting, The Siesta, represented below:
Intriguingly, this painting appears to capture a group of women on the verge of napping but not yet in repose. The artist seems to anticipate the glorious shaded outdoor napping to come, and a group nap no less. We will continue to uncover the role of napping in fine art and music in posts to come.
Train commute naps are themselves of interest to this group and more may be forthcoming.
Ed.: Every time I hear this song, I think of the revenge montage in Rushmore (Bill Murray’s changing facial expressions!). Also, check out this awesome version of My Morning Jacket covering this tune with Eddie Vedder. I heard once that the band’s repeatedly singing “cello” at the beginning of the “you are forgiven” part, was supposed to be a placeholder for them to add cellos, but they kept it the way it was (definitely the right call).
Ed.: I’ve thought about this in the past. So far, all I’ve got in literature are Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” (I guess there are only so many words that rhyme with “rapping” and “tapping”), Mo Willems’ classic Elephant and Piggie tale I Will Take a Nap (read aloud here — napping cheat code?), and The Napping House, an excellent children’s book by Audrey Wood (and baby gift to our older daughter from none other thanand his family)!