Quote, seeking a home

[redbird]

In a discussion on james_nicoll's journal, the quote "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" came up, with the attribution to Frank Zappa and, I think, observation that it's hard to track down where/whether Zappa said it. A quick Google got me a discussion of who said it first, which comes to no firm conclusion, but eliminates some possibilities (e.g., some people credit Laurie Anderson, but she says she got it from Steve Martin) and includes an email from someone who decided to try dancing about architecture. At an open mic.

Comments

[the-gardener.livejournal.com]

I know that quote as "writing about wine is like dancing about architecture", because one is trying to describe in words a question of taste. But perhaps there are multiple variants of the quote, depending on the subject being glossed.

[baldanders.livejournal.com]

That line always makes me grind my teeth. It's a smug line, and breaks down under even a little thought (like, all art-forms are not about equivalent things, and writing is at least as much about communication as it is about art).