New Swords!

It's fauxtation time again!

"Guitars are the new swords."

So speaks Jenni Brooks, writer, poet and chum. And I think she makes a lot of sense. You can do a lot of the things guys used to do with swords with a guitar instead. Swagger, impress women, attract attention, hide your inadequacies, make a reputation, ruin or make a party. You can make films and write books about the people who wield them and their exploits. And the hardware can be iconic objects of great beauty made with extreme love and expertise, symbols defining the time and culture in which they originate.

One might spend many a happy hour speculating which sword equates with what guitar. If the Fender Stratocaster is the guitar equivalent of the Samurai's sword, for example, does the Highland Claymore correspond to the Les Paul? Perhaps the ukelele could be said to parallel the skein dhu that every self-respecting Scot sticks into the socks he wears with his kilt.

Of course, she might have been talking about phallic symbols. I wouldn't know.