[Ads-l] dancing about architecture

[Bill Mullins]

Today was Thelonius Monk's birthday, and he is sometimes associated with the saying "Trying to explain music is like trying to dance architecture."

QuoteInvestigator pushes the saying back to Sep/Oct 1979, where it is attributed to Martin Mull:  "writing about music is, as Martin Mull put it, like dancing about architecture."  It also has been previously discussed on the list:
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-January/thread.html#95796

New sources have come on line since (presumably) the research for the above was done, so Garson's site can be antedated in a couple of places:

_Detroit Free Press_ 18 Feb 1979 p 19C col 5
"Martin Mull . . . Comedian-Musician on music criticism: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." "

Cleveland OH _Plain Dealer_ 10 Oct 1980 p 36 col 1.
"He thinks talking about music is like singing about football." ["He" refers to David Coverdale of the rock band Whitesnake.]
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