Get Off Raskolnikov!

November 28, 2008 8:48 AM

I've forgotten the name of a poem I read a month or so ago, and the only thing that I can recall is that it references Dostoevsky's character Raskolnikov from his novel Crime and Punishment. I think he rhymes Raskolnikov with 'off'. Does anyone know the poem I speak off, or can help me find the name of the author and/or poet.

I've had a good old search on google, ran it thorough some databases but no luck. Post whatever suggestions you have on here and I can tell if it's right.

posted by ashaw to writing & language (4 comments total)

There's a song written by Howard Devoto (a great writer of lyrics) for his band Magazine called "Philadelphia," with the lyric:

"I'd have been Raskolnikov / but Mother Nature ripped me off."

Normally I wouldn't reference a song in response to this question, but lyrics from the same song were used for a Magazine boxed set, with a lot of reviews quoting the song . . . and Devoto's lyrics from this period were actually issued as poems, in book form.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 11:13 AM on November 28, 2008

Was it My Friends On Shelves by Emily Marie Dunn?
posted by splice at 11:14 AM on November 28, 2008

Thanks for the replies, Dee Xtrovert I read your post and was soo sure you'd nailed it, but there's a niggling feeling that it mightn't be the right one after I read all the lyrics, I don't recall any other part of it...

Still open to further suggestions! The more i think about it the more frustrating and annoying it is, nothing worse than something on the tip of your tongue. I fear I might be driven mad. The worse thing is that the more I try to recall further details, the hazier it gets.

Sigh...
posted by ashaw at 1:22 PM on November 28, 2008

I was going to say Howard Devoto too. Here are the lyrics.

Your clean-living, clear-eyed
clever, level-headed brother says
he'll put all the screws
upon your newest lover
Buddha's in the fireplace
the truth's in drugs from Outer Space
maybe it's right to be nervous now

Who are these madmen!
what do they want from me!
with all of their straight-talk from their misery

Everything'd be just fine
if I had the right pastime
I'd've been Raskolnikov
but Mother Nature ripped me off
in Philadelphia
I'm sure that I felt healthier
maybe it's right to be nervous now

I had liberty of movement
but I'm so lazy
I'm so lazy
I'm just so lazy

You're just a big kid
you're not so big at that
you never got the hang of it
now you're being looked at

Where have I seen you before!
'Same place you saw me, I expect
I've got a good face for memories'
in Philadelphia
I'm sure that I felt healthier
maybe it's right to be nervous now

posted by unSane at 2:39 PM on November 28, 2008