Translation with comments. An excerpt from Goethe's Faust

- "What is your name?"

petty question
In the mouth of one who is indifferent to the word,
But he takes things seriously
And he looks at the root, at the essence of things, at the foundation.
I, part of the power of that which is without number
He does good, wishing evil to everything.
I am a spirit always accustomed to deny.
And with a reason: nothing is needed.
There is nothing in the world worth pitying
Creation is no good.
So I am what your thought has connected
With the understanding of destruction, evil, harm.
Here is my inborn beginning,
My environment.
I am true to the humble truth. Only arrogance
Your human with bold self-conceit
He considers himself as a whole instead of a part.
I am the part the part that was
Once upon a time she produced light for everyone.
This light is a product of the darkness of the night
And took her place from her.
He won't get along with her, no matter how much he wants to.
Its destiny is the surface of solid bodies.
He is chained to them, connected with their fate,
Only with their help can you be yourself
And there is hope that when the bodies
They will collapse, burn down and he will die.

Goethe as Mephistopheles

Other articles in the literary diary:

• 22.11.2008. Light... Darkness
• 08.11.2008. Dream
• 11/06/2008. Lola-88
• 02.11.2008. Anathema

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Unfortunately, we have not yet received the real Faust in Russian. This statement may be taken with indignation by some readers. How so?! For someone else, but Faust, it would seem, was lucky. It was translated not only by the pedantic Kholodkovsky, but also by such a master of words as Fet. And the translation of Boris Pasternak is generally considered to be almost perfect. However, only those who have not read the original can argue this way. For the first time, some doubts arose in me when, during a friendly feast in the summer of 1976, on the left bank of the Don, German students sang the famous "Gretchen's Song" for us. Remember, Pasternak:
The king lived in distant Fula,
And a golden cup
He kept, a farewell gift
Beloved one…
A kind of sentimental-tearful romance of a chubby German burgher. But in the mouths of the Germans, he sounded like a gloomy Teutonic ballad. And in front of me immediately stood the severe medieval castle of Meissen, where we had a chance to go on an excursion. When I later compared Pasternak's translation with the original, I was not just disappointed, but annoyed by the translator's swashbuckling disdain for the author. And this despite the fact that Boris Leonidovich is one of my favorite poets. But the work "under the order" and on time did its job. Pasternak's translation conveys neither the spirit nor the letter of the original. That does not detract from certain merits of Pasternak's work.
I do not want to bore anyone with careful critical research and comparisons. It would be useful, but out of place. But at least here is a remark: in none of the Russian translations did the authors preserve or even attempt to preserve the play on words that is constantly found in Goethe's poems. For example, in one of the passages in Faust, the spectator runs to the card table after the performance. The pun is not rich, but obvious: Schauspiel (performance, performance) and Kartenspiel (card game) are in the same line. In Russian, it is extremely difficult to keep this within a single line, and I resorted to an internal rhyme:

As soon as the actors bow - they rush to the card salon,
Others rush into the arms of whores...
To torment and torment them what is the reason?
What do you need, dear muses?

Elsewhere, the Director encourages the Poet to break up the piece to make it more alive. Two meanings of the word Stueck are played out - a play and a part, a piece. The director calls to give "stuff" on "stuff". And here, in my opinion, the translator must at least break into a cake, but find something adequate! At least like - "Striving for honors - Let's do everything in parts." And so on. Moreover, if in the above passages the play on words does not carry a serious semantic load, then in the passage about piracy, for example, the translators do not notice the obvious mockery of Mephistopheles over the Trinity

Man fragt ums Was, und nicht ums Wie.
Ich muesste keine Schifffahrt kennen:
Krieg, Handel and Piraterie,
Dreieinig sind sie, nicht zu trennen

(They are interested in the What, not the How.
I don't know any sailing:
War, trade and piracy -
They are triune, they cannot be separated).

Meanwhile, it is extremely necessary to emphasize the demonic nature through demonic speech:

What is important, not how you take it;
Take a look at the sailing
War, trade and robbery,
Like the Trinity of the Lord, merged.

There is not the slightest exaggeration with the Trinity here: in Goethe he used the word dreieinig, and in German the Trinity is just Dreieinigkeit. This is a CONSCIOUS pun on Goethe, since "triune", "one in three persons" - this term is one of the cornerstones of Christian teaching.

In general, one thing is clear: "Faust" cannot be quickly translated into Russian. This is the work of more than one decade. The work of the ascetic. Talented ascetic. Maybe even genius. I don't claim it. I do not pretend to be competitive either, presenting to the reader my translation of the scene of the meeting of Faust and Mephistopheles in the office. Rather, I propose to reflect on the APPROACH to the matter.

STUDY

Mephistopheles, dressed in the manner of a traveling scholastic, as soon as the fog settles, emerges from behind the stove.

FAUST:
What a pig the poodle has planted for me!

MEPHISTOPHELES:
Salute to the scientist! I'm really barely alive
You gave me the heat today nicely.

FAUST:
What is your name?

MEPHISTOPHELES:
insignificant question,
I think, for the one who despises the word,
Doesn't take appearances seriously
And only deeply penetrates into the essence.

FAUST:
About the nature of those like you
Rather read by name.
They won't lie what kind of spirit you are:
A molester, a liar, or a master of flies.
So who are you?

MEPHISTOPHELES:
Part of the power that always
He does good, wishing everyone harm.

FAUST:
And what does this riddle mean?

MEPHISTOPHELES:
I am the spirit that forever denies!
And with the right; because what lives is valuable,
That will surely perish in time;
So it would be better if nothing happened.

I called it my native element.

FAUST:
You are whole, and you yourself introduced yourself as part of ...

MEPHISTOPHELES:
And I told you the humble truth now.
The world of human dope is familiar to me:
You only think of yourself as a whole.
I am part of the part of that which was everything,
Part of the darkness that gave birth to light,
A proud son in the desire for space
Seeks to drive his mother from the throne.
But only in vain: after all, no matter how hard you try -
As he was with the bodies, he remained.



With the bodies of light and the end will come.

FAUST:


And I decided to start with small dirty tricks.

MEPHISTOPHELES:
To be honest, I didn't quite finish them.
Non-existence challenges its own
Dummy, your world is stupid and funny.
I took on the case from all sides,
Trying to hurt him
Wave, storm, shaking, fire -
And as a result, everything is in place in it!
And take the bastards, that animal race,
What is human: there is no more strength,
So many I have already exterminated!
But young blood is coming to replace them.



Cold, hot, wet and dry!
Thank you, you can go to hell, I can return,
Otherwise, I wouldn't know where to go.

FAUST:
So you are the creative power of the eternal,
Good, healing, alive,
Embraced by endless malice,
You poke your demonic fist!
Born of chaos and darkness
Find an easy way for yourself!

MEPHISTOPHELES:
We'll discuss it with you
But only later somehow.
Now will you let me go?

FAUST:
What is the question? be healthy
And run, my sworn friend,
Under this hospitable shelter.
Here is the door, or you can from the window,
Yes, and the pipe is not new to you.

MEPHISTOPHELES:
To be honest, there is one
A hindrance to anyone's path -
The sign of the sorcerer is above your threshold.

FAUST:
Are you confused by the pentagram? But sorry:
She closed the way back to you -
How did you manage to get in here?

MEPHISTOPHELES:
You did not reach the end of the ray -
Forward the devil from the devil the stars are better!

FAUST:
Well, what a happy occasion!
So you, it seems, are in my captivity?

MEPHISTOPHELES:
Yes, the dog ran in and did not notice the sign.
Now things are different:
The demon cannot leave the house.

FAUST:
What about escaping from windows?

MEPHISTOPHELES:
Spirits and devils have one law:
As you entered, so you go out.

COMMENT TO TRANSLATION
EXTRACT FROM "FAUST"

1. Let's start with a remark:
"Mephistopheles, dressed in the manner of a traveling scholastic, as soon as the fog settles, emerges from behind the furnace."
In original -
Mephistopheles tritt, indem der Nebel faellt, gekleidet wie ein fahrender Scholastikus, hinter dem Ofen hervor.

I had to slightly rearrange the semantic parts: in the original, the piece about the scholastic came AFTER the settling fog. I took the liberty of removing the ambiguity that arises: "as soon as the fog settles, dressed in the manner of a traveling scholastic." It involuntarily turns out that the fog is dressed like a scholastic.

2. FAUST:
* What a pig a poodle planted for me! *

It would seem that a fairly simple replica of Faust -
Das also war des Pudels Kern!
(literally - “therefore, that was the core of the poodle!”) -

And it translates quite simply. Its meaning is what is hidden under the guise of a poodle. From Pasternak:
“That means what the poodle was stuffed with!”

It seems to be great for sure. In fact, such a translation does not convey the spirit of the original. It is no coincidence that the expression - "Das also war des Pudels Kern!" - has become a catchphrase in the German language and is used no less often than the phraseological unit, of which it is a paraphrase. In German, there are a number of phraseological units with the word Kern. For example, j-m steckt ein guter Kern: "someone has a good gut." Or the saying - Ein guter Kern steckt sich oft in einer rauhen Schale: and under the unsightly shell, a sweet nucleolus often hides. That is, Goethe ironically reinterprets the folk “good gut” into a dirty surprise hidden in the poodle, “guter kern” into “pudels kern”. It is this irony of the great German that is not noticed by his translators. By the way, now the Germans often mix Goethe and folk, saying: hier steckt des Pudels Kern! (here's the thing, that's where the dog is buried), where "nucleolus" is already used in a neutral sense.

I had to sacrifice literalism for the sake of conveying Goethe's intention. “Planted pig”, in principle, corresponds to the irony of Goethe, his punning rethinking of the folk “kind kernel”. Although, of course, it will cause a storm of indignation among pedantic interpreters.

However, if we talk about literalism, I also had another option, FORMALLY corresponding to the text of Faust:

*FAUST
That's what kind of nucleolus a poodle has inside!
Wandering scholastic? However, it's funny.

MEPHISTOPHELES:
Salute to the scientist! I almost lost my mind:

However, the SUBTEXT of the phrase is lost. And for me, ARTISTIC accuracy is more important. In addition, if some "liberty" in the finale of the "main" version of the translation can be forgiven due to an attempt to convey a pun, then here, alas, this will not "get off".

Another option is even more accurate:

*FAUST
So that's what the poodle was hiding in his belly!
Wandering scholastic? However, it's funny.

MEPHISTOPHELES
Salute to the scientist! I'm all sweaty and sweaty:
I swear you gave me the heat nicely.

Why do I say that this option is one of the most accurate?
To understand, "jump over" immediately to the fourth line.
In original:

Ihr habt mich weidlich schwitzen machen -
(You made me sweat a lot).

In this variant - IN THE ONLY ONE - it was possible to convey exactly the indication that Mephistopheles was sweating. The fourth line actually varies and broadens this statement of Mephistopheles. Compare - "You made me sweat thoroughly" and "You gave me the heat nicely." Almost literal.

So, we see that the second part of the quatrain in this translation is conveyed in the most successful and accurate way. Why didn't I choose this option? All for the same reason: the pun of the first line disappears.

There was another option, quite funny:

*FAUST:
Well, let's see who's buried in the dog!
Wandering scholastic? However, it's funny.

MEPHISTOPHELES:
My fiery salute, learned gentleman!
I swear you gave me the heat nicely *.

The pun is good: instead of "that's where the dog is buried" - "that's who is buried in the dog." But, firstly, in the German language there is already a phraseological unit hier ist das Hund begraben (a dog is buried here), but Goethe did not use it. Secondly, the connection with the previous episode is lost, where Faust conjures a black poodle, and instead of a dog, Mephistopheles appears with an offer of his services. So what's the "let's see"? Everything is already visible.

There were also a number of options in the traditional style, which I rejected due to their triviality:

* "Yeah, so that's the poodle's secret!"
(“My fiery greetings to the scientist!”) *

* "So that's what they serve with stuffing in a poodle!"
(“To the scientist - my fiery salute!”) *

* "So that's what they stuff poodles with now!"
("My fiery salute to the scientist! Hey, she,
You gave me the heat today gloriously "*

"Hey-she" me, to be honest, jarred. I don't like unnecessary interjections for the sake of rhyme.

So, having tried a lot, I still settled on a pun with a pig. Bye. Because, too, as they say, not a fountain. All the same, the pun with the "nucleolus" is not conveyed.

3.
*Wandering scholastic? However, it's funny.

Pasternak has a completely wild suggestion:

The dog hid the schoolboy in itself!

“Scholar” and “scholastic” (especially wandering) are, as they say in Odessa, two big differences:

Ein fahrender Skolast? Der Kasus macht mich lachen.

Of course, if Mephistopheles had appeared to Faust as a schoolboy, then there could not have been a conversation on an equal footing. Unforgivable negligence of the translator.

4. MEPHISTOPHELES:
*Salute to the scientist!*

In original:
Ich salutiere den gelehrten Herrn!

Pasternak's
I will give you a respectful bow!

Which does not correspond at all to either the original or the character of Mephistopheles, but is dictated only by the desire to rhyme the third line with the first. Goethe literally says “I salute the learned gentleman!”. It seems to me that Goethe chose the word "salute" for a reason. In addition to the direct “greet” (ave, caesar, morituri te salutant), this word has a clear connotation of fire (salute, cracker, fireworks). Some critics have remarked to me that this sounds "pioneer". Which in itself is not bad: an additional irony ... But seriously, such associations appear only among readers brought up in the Soviet years. It will pass. Moreover, the pioneers themselves adopted both the name of the organization and the name of the greeting from previous generations.

5.
*Part of the power that always
Does good, wishing everyone harm * -

Ein Teil fon jener Kraft,
Die staets das Boese will
Und staets das Gute schafft
(Part of that force that constantly desires evil and constantly does good).

In this case, instead of "evil" I use "harm", which essentially corresponds to "evil", although less globally. But still - a certain liberty of the translator.

It is also curious that the Germans actually have no difference between the words "good" and "good". For them, this is the same thing - "das Gute".

Goethe, in principle, played on the winged words from Voltaire's "Zadig": "There is no such evil that would not bring good, and no such good that would not bring evil."

But the Russian language in this sense is deeper and richer. For a Russian person, "good" and "good" are not the same thing. So, Mikhail Bulgakov takes the exact prose translation from Goethe's scene "Faust's Study" as an epigraph to the novel "The Master and Margarita":

"... so who are you, finally?
“I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good.”

To translate "das Gute" it is the word "good", not "good" that is used. Moreover, Mikhail Afanasyevich is so pedantic that he does not even use the poetic translation of Kholodkovsky or the prose translation of Sokolovsky, although both there and there it is also about the good.

From N. Kholodkovsky:
"FAUST
…So who are you?
MEPHISTOPHELES
I am part of eternal power,
Always desiring evil, doing only good.

A. Sokolovsky:
"Faust. ...Which one are you?
Mephistopheles. I am a particle of that force that constantly strives to do evil, but does only good."

Bulgakov's rejection of the presented translations is primarily of a stylistic nature. In Kholodkovsky, after all, it’s not “good”, but “good”, and Mikhail Afanasyevich needs absolute accuracy of the wording. As for Sokolovsky, Bulgakov’s translation is generally more accurate. Wer bist du dtnn? - this is exactly “So who are you, finally? ", and not" which of them? always"), while Pasternak's - "forever". In the style of the novel, this word is more appropriate.

But in general, Bulgakov follows in line with the Russian tradition.

And what's the difference - good or good? the reader may ask. - It's still about something bright and good.

This is not entirely true. There is a difference between good and good.

The good includes the concept not only and not so much about good, but about the benefits, about the benefits, about changes for the better. A philosopher would say that the concept of the good is not a categorical imperative. Simply put, the concept of the good is not limited by rigid moral boundaries. After all, it is no coincidence that they say: what is good for some is misfortune for others. That is, the good stands outside the moral categories.

A simple example. If in one country there is a terrible drought, and in another there are excellent weather conditions and a rich harvest, then the misfortune of the citizens of the first country turns into a boon for the citizens of the second, since they can profitably sell the fruits of their labors to the victims. Another example. Killing a tyrant is a good thing, but not a good thing at all. Good, by definition, cannot be "bad." Good is beyond evil. From the point of view of the good, it may even seem cruel, unfair, stupid, harmful. It is no coincidence that for centuries there have been heated debates about the death penalty. After all, the ban on the killing of one's own kind is a good deed. But is it good for society? Is it fair to show mercy to a maniac who dismembered several dozen people? The question remains open.

That is why Bulgakov also translates "das Gute" precisely as a boon. Because Woland and his retinue do not do good at all, but good.

And yet I chose the word "good." So clearer and sharper for today's man is the paradox that lies in the words of Mephistopheles.

6.
*MEPHISTOPHELES:
So, what are you accustomed to call sin:
Devastation, evil, attack, collapse -
I called my native element *.

In original:
So ist denn alles, was ihr Suende,
Zerstoerung, kurz, das Boese nennt,
Mein eigentliches Element
(So ​​whatever you call sin,
Destruction, in short, evil,
There is my immediate element).

Note that at first I took the liberty of translating "element" as "part":

Collapse, devastation, evil, attack -
All this is my essential part.

Faust:
You named a part - but in general, what are you?

Mephistopheles:
I'm only stating the humble truth here.

However, one of my critics, Mr. Tretyak-Unknown, rightly noted that "element" means "element, environment" - fire, water, earth, air in the view of medieval scholastics. Mein eigentliches Element - "my native element" (Evil). But by no means "my essential part."

I objected that the word Element also means " component”: it is easy to verify this by opening the German-Russian dictionary.

And yet, on mature reflection, I had to admit that my opponent was right. The error was that due to my inattention, I incorrectly translated the line -

Du nennst dich einen Teil, und stehst doch ganz vor mir?
(You call yourself a part, but you stand in front of me all, completely?)

In my translation -

*You named a part...*,

Although it is definitely necessary - "You called yourself a PART".

Hence the erroneous connection with the previous line - "all this is my essential part" and further "you named a part, but in general what you are." Meanwhile, Mephisto called not his part, but himself a part of evil force.

So I express my belated gratitude to Mr. Tretiak-Unknown.

By the way, Pasternak's last phrase is translated both long and clumsily:

You say you are a part, but you yourself are all
Are you standing in front of me here?

I can’t imagine how such a great artist and master could afford such a monstrous tongue-tied tongue - three “you” in one line!

7.
*MEPHISTOPHELES:
It comes from the bodies, and gives them shine,
And the body serves as a barrier for him;
And in the not too distant future
With the bodies of light and the end will come *.

I allowed myself a pun about the “end of the world”, which is not in the original (Und mit den Koerpern wird "s zugrunde gehn). But it hurts to the point! Write Goethe in Russian, he would not have passed by either. I think so.

8.
*MEPHISTOPHELES:
Even if you get mad, it's getting worse year by year!
Wherever you throw - on land, in air, in water,
Some sprouts, embryos all around,
Cold, hot, wet and dry!*

As for "fuck off": in the original - man moechte rasend werden. Rasend has the meaning "mad", that is, possessed by a demon. But in Russian this connection is much clearer and more advantageous in translation.

Mr. Tretyak-Unknown remarks in connection with the translation of this passage:

“And“ wherever you throw it ”- why“ don’t you throw it ”? look? Pretty clumsy ellipsis."

The comment is completely unfounded. We open the phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language of A. Fedorov (1995): “Wherever you throw it - 1. For whatever you take, whatever you turn to. – Wherever you throw, you stumble upon aesthetics. (Pisarev. Realists). 2. Around, everywhere, everywhere. - Wherever you throw - factories are standing, factories are standing, students are not studying ... (M. Yudalevich. Fifth year).

9.
*FAUST:
Now I understand the nature of your activities dear!
You can't do great wickedness,
And I decided to start with small dirty tricks *.

Mr. Tretyak-Unknown remarks about these lines:
"Occupations dear" - here the adjective "cute" is justified only by the necessary rhyme with "forces". Goethe has wuerd'gen Pflichten. I will not translate, because it is obvious that you know the language. In other words, you sin in the same way that you sinned your predecessors, including Pasternak."

To which I gave the following explanation:
"Let's think again. "Würdig" is worthy, respectable. It is quite clear that Faust could use this epithet ONLY IN THE IRONIC AND EVEN SARCASTIC SENSE. You are right in the sense that, having preserved it in Russian, we would have retained, in fact, this irony. I tried to do it with another epithet, which, in my opinion, does not destroy the author's intention. So the point is not so much in forced rhyming, but in semantic adequacy.
However, I accept your remark and will try to translate these lines closer to the original. It doesn't cost a lot of work, and the translation only benefits from such edits."

True, so far I have not begun to translate anew. Not that difficult; just don't get your hands on it. Yes, and my objections seem to me well-founded.

10.
*MEPHISTOPHELES:
You did not reach the end of the ray -
Forward hell from hell the stars are better! *

Naturally, "to draw from the devil" is again one of my few liberties. Well, a person is weak... Although otherwise, as the reader who speaks German can be convinced, in translation I try to be pedantic to the point of literalism.

11.
*FAUST:
Unexpected good luck is in the world!

MEPHISTOPHELES:
Yes, the DOG ran in and did not notice the sign.
Now things are different:
The Devil cannot leave the house.

I could not resist and replaced the "poodle" with a dog (in the original - Der Pudel merkte nichts, als er hereingesprungen - The poodle did not notice anything when he jumped inside). But how to miss the RUSSIAN consonance of the words "dog" and "demon"?! Sometimes you have to choose between the letter and the spirit of the work.

12.
*FAUST:
What about escaping from windows?

MEPHISTOPHELES:
Spirits and devils have one law:
As you entered, so you go out *.

Yes, by the end he completely unbelted! The puns rolled. And - already in the course of the last editing. I'm sorry Uncle Johann...

"Mephistopheles" (1975)

If we talk about Mephistopheles, then no other demonic image, except perhaps for Lucifer himself, has found such a wide display in human creativity, in poetry, prose, music, and painting. According to some ideas (according to the treatises of Black Magic), this image penetrated into medieval Europe from Persian mythology. Others believe that Mephistopheles was "invented" by the Hellenes, who were worried about the problems of heuristics, or by the Jews, according to the Talmudic tradition of which the demons were created by God in the twilight after the first Sabbath ... But I will not stray too far from the music.
As you know, Mephistopheles, this grotesque spirit of evil, not devoid of intelligence and humor, and often identified with Satan (which is probably not entirely true), appears in numerous operas: Ludwig Spohr's "Faust", Hector Berlioz's "La Damnation de Faust", Robert Schumann "Szenen aus Goethe's Faust", Charles Gounod "Faust", Arrigo Boito "Mefistofele", Ferruccio Busoni "Doktor Faust", Sergei Prokofiev" Fire Angel"and many others.
In recent years, Mephistopheles appears as one of the main characters in rock operas and thematic albums of such bands as Avantasia, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Kamelot, and some others (I don’t remember all of them). Moreover, the parts of Mephistopheles were performed by the best modern vocalists - Jorn Lande, John Oliva, Roy Khan, Shagrat (from Dimmu Borgir). But the rock opera (or so) of the Australian project "Mephistopheles" was somehow undeservedly forgotten for many years. The 1975 album is often referred to as Paul Gaffey "Mephistopheles" in modern Internet publications, although I think this is strange, since Simon Heath wrote the music and lyrics for the album. In addition, the project itself is his idea. Paul just sang all the parts. So I took the liberty of listing the album without mentioning the vocalist's name. It is known that both of them later sued, trying to challenge the copyright of the work, and won the lawsuit, surprisingly, Mr. Gaffey ...
In addition to Paul, Stan Wilson (organ, piano), Peter Harris (Mellotron), Doug Gallagher (drums), John Young (bass guitar), Mark Punch (electronic and acoustic guitars), Jim Kelly (acoustic guitar) took part in the recording of the opus , Simon Heath (moog synthesizer), Tony Buchanan and Don Wright (both saxophone), "The Singers Of David" choir and an orchestra of fifty musicians. The album is sustained in an exquisite symphonic prog vein, but sometimes the musicians allow themselves to relax and switch to pop music (for example, in the song "Paradise"). This, of course, is not "Jesus Christ Superstar" and not even "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", but an extraordinary work, one of the best in classic rock, deserving close attention. At least let's relax, listen to the intricacies of oratorios and once again recall the phrase that Mephistopheles said in Goethe's Faust: "Theory, my friend, is sulfur, but the eternal tree of life is green" (about the translator who most accurately managed to translate this maxim into Russian language, keep silent ...).

"So Sad"

"Dear People"

Excellent article on rock opera by Timothy Reedy
__________________________________

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What if someone decided to make a Prog album, and along the way a really bad off-off-Broadway musical broke out? The kind that music teacher you had back in 9th grade auditioned for as a young lad full of dreams, but backed out of because of the nude scenes and the lecherous old tart of a producer who kept wanting to buy him Beefeater gimlets and precious, shiny trinkets - on an "understanding", of course. Or better yet, the kind of album that sounds like a gay karaoke bar in the Theater District, where wizened old queens sit nursing their lemondrops and bile, smoking fuchsia-colored cigarettes and defiantly belting out “MacArthur Park” at last call, frazzled in their lost youth, distempered and desiccated, too old to beg a cab ride or a quickie blow-job in the alley, truculent decrepit bitches positively shrieking out that last chorus of “It took so long to bake it...and I'll never find that recipe aga-a-a-in”...a Blanche DuBois meltdown each and every night and solemn rejoinders out the door that “I can sing, you pack of jackals and gypsies – goddamn you all I can sing!!!”

Lots of people think they can sing. But perhaps no one has ever been more cruelly misled regarding his talent than poor Aussie popster Paul Gaffey, who followed up a very minor Oz Top 40 hit about the lost era of ballroom dance with a super-ambitious retelling of the Faust legend, and baby , you ain't heard singin' until you've heard Paul Gaffey do it. There is literally nowhere to start with this absolute masterpiece of schlock and horror, so let us breath deep and prepare for the indefatigable vocal gifts of Mr. Gaffey the only way I can think of: ladies, belt down a Martini or two and prepare to be walloped like a “curious” Marine heading to his first Bangkok bathhouse on a 48-hour pass. ‘Cos you’re in for a treat, honey.

The Faust legend has seen many classic treatments – from Gounod’s astonishing opera to the very best book of Thomas Mann’s career, and of course Goethe and more obscure variations like the silent film The Student of Prague. But it has never been done like this. Nothing has. Starting with the oh-so-melancholy Mellotron (backed with real strings!) opening to the stupendous treacle of Mephisto's final send-off, you are so far into the delusional world of a quasi-artist that at certain points I had to put down my cup of coffee, take off the headphones, and go outside and stand in the rain to stave off madness and complete despair. He didn't actually just sing off the register about a big party in Hell fraught with movie stars and demons, did he? Oh yes he did – and he does it a couple of more times before the song “Paradise” ends. Paul Gaffey you gorgeous hunk of man, name your kink because I'm game – anybody with balls big enough to perpetrate an atrocity this overwhelmingly flamboyant and sublimely bombastic can make “Do as Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law” with me anyday ! Oh god – please download this album and listen to it. If you've ever stared at a car wreck or just couldn't help yourself and looked up burn victim photos on the Internets, then you have what it takes to face Paul Gaffey. He is truly without peer in the world of Pop or Prog, a sui generis satchel of grandiosity, pomposity, magniloquence and the worst tenor voice ever heard outside of William Shatner’s storied and apocryphal audition for Hair.

Lots of incredible music is perpetrated on the first few tracks. But as the album goes on, the production seems to get shallower and more basic. I couldn't help but think that the would-be auteur Gaffey blew the whole budget on the first epic track, and by the time he got to “Paradise” had no money to pay the string section or anybody except some poor bastard at a stand-up piano who was forced to provide “accompaniment” for perhaps the greatest moment in singing history. Yes, the rest of the album is splendidly awful and there are little tricks like the pizzicato in “Dreamer of Dreams” that are so formulaic as to almost strip Mephistopheles of its value as the anus mundi of obscure Oz Prog. Ah, but then THE moment occurs – when the Devil himself makes an appearance, beckoning jocularly from the very fires of Hell, part raconteur and part impresario, and arrives on the record absolutely FLAMING!

Who knew The King of Hell was such a randy nance? Gaffey's bawdy dance-hall strumpet of a Satan makes Peter Allen look like Merle Haggard. This Lucifer is Freddie Mercury with a pitchfrok, Scott Walker with bat wings and horns. What kind of infernal Dark Prince of the Underworld would sing something like “I've got just the place for you/ Be you Cath-o-lic, Hindu or Jew” and do it in a production that is so kitschy that Meatloaf would have put his foot down? Would Beelzebub really shriek out “Rock me baby!” right before a really cheese-ball saxophone solo? And who the hell is “Fifi LaMour”? Apparently she's in Hell and hoofing it up nightly, and the party is so blisteringly swish that all the Devil can do is stand there and hiss out “Ha cha cha!”, a moment of pure genius, the one flirtation with orgasmic that Mephistopheles makes, and something I will be listening to until I die. When a self-pitying Mephisto closes the album with a poem so mawkish that Rod McKuen would have protested, you will be in raptures of amazement that something so openly fab-a-lous was ever sold in a record store not on Fire Island and hawked by muscle-T shirted mustachioed joy boys who are the very picture of strict disciplinarians with a soft, sentimental underbelly. Oh joy, Oh heart – Paul Gaffey, you are glorious!

Mephistopheles is such a grand album that it must be reserved for the most solemn of occasions. Someday I shall be on my deathbed, and my hours short. And my factotum or house boy will come and say – “Master, the time is nigh. What shall I bring you to ease you from this world?” And I shall say, “There is only one thing that can stanch the maudlin flow that is each man's indulgence in his moment of demise. Go, Hwang Mi – go to the musical room and bring me my Gaffey.” And the smooth Chinese boy will put the album on the phonograph, his ephebus-self glistening in the soft morning honey-hued light, and perhaps I will cough my final vile sputum to lips cracked and rasping their last – but they will be lips wearing the idiot grin of the astonished and overwhelmed, the grin one can acquire only through moments of contemplating the most pure-hearted artistic catastrophes. Yes, with glee shall I leave this world – shuffled off by Paul Gaffey, indeed, off to – Paradise! -TR
Posted by Timothy Ready