--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: (On the book \"Been Down So Long It Looks…" description: "\"“(On the book \"Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me\") Coming on like the Hallelujah Chorus done by 200 kazoo players with perfect pitch. Hilarious,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/thomas-pynchon-533_books_on-the-book-been-down-so-long-it-looks-l_2418403.jpg" --- # (On the book "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me")… ![“(On the book "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me") Coming on like the Hallelujah Chorus done by 200 kazoo players with perfect pitch. Hilarious, chilling, sexy, profound, maniacal, beautiful and outrageous all at the same time.” quote by Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/thomas-pynchon-533_books_on-the-book-been-down-so-long-it-looks-l_2418403.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/thomas-pynchon-533_books_on-the-book-been-down-so-long-it-looks-l_2418403.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/thomas-pynchon-533_books_on-the-book-been-down-so-long-it-looks-l_2418403.jpg) > ““(On the book "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me") Coming on like the Hallelujah Chorus done by 200 kazoo players with perfect pitch. Hilarious, chilling, sexy, profound, maniacal, beautiful and outrageous all at the same time.”” [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The description likens an intense, chaotic performance to a massive, perfectly tuned choir of kazoo players, highlighting its wild, contradictory, and exhilarating nature. **In simple terms:** A chaotic performance feels both wild and perfect. Key Takeaway Embrace contradictions in creative expression. Themes creativity chaos contradiction exuberance Mood playful intense Type literary critical When to use this quote - live concert - experimental theater - avant‑garde art - spontaneous jam sessions Key Concepts artistic excess paradox Questions to Reflect On - What makes chaotic art compelling? - When does excess become detrimental? A Different Perspective Such extremes can alienate audiences seeking coherence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Hallelujah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallelujah/) ## Related quotes > [In a thousand voices singing the Hallelujah Chorus in Handel's "Messiah," it is possible to distinguish the leading voices, but the differences of training…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/in-a-thousand-voices-singing-the-hallelujah-chorus-in-handel-s/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [If I had my way, I would build a lethal chamber as big as the Crystal Palace, with a military band playing softly, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/if-i-had-my-way-i-would-build-a-lethal-chamber-as-big-as-the-crystal/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [“All of her hormones had sat bolt upright and immediately launched into a stirring rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayne-ann-krentz/all-of-her-hormones-had-sat-bolt-upright-and-immediately-launched/) [Jayne Ann Krentz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayne-ann-krentz/) > [Every night in my dreams, a man appeared from the darkest recesses of my mind, as if he'd been waiting for me to fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darynda-jones/every-night-in-my-dreams-a-man-appeared-from-the-darkest-recesses-of/) [Darynda Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darynda-jones/) > [Despite the heat in her face, it felt as if cold needles of ice were running up and down her veins. 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Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-dixon/) > [The curses of the ungodly are more pleasing to God's ears than the hallelujahs of the pious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/the-curses-of-the-ungodly-are-more-pleasing-to-god-s-ears-than-the/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [I think sometimes we can use spirituality as a vehicle to go closer to the things that frighten us and sometimes we can use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-foreman/i-think-sometimes-we-can-use-spirituality-as-a-vehicle-to-go-closer/) [Jon Foreman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-foreman/) > [I feel like shouting, hallelujah, all the time, when I think that I ever I knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/i-feel-like-shouting-hallelujah-all-the-time-when-i-think-that-i-ever/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [In old age the consolation of hope is reserved for the tenderness of parents, who commence a new life in their children, the faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/in-old-age-the-consolation-of-hope-is-reserved-for-the-tenderness-of/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory” (Rev. 19:6–7). On into eternity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/hallelujah-for-the-lord-our-god-the-almighty-reigns-let-us-rejoice/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [Hallelujah, there's forgiveness in the wind. Hallelujah, it's time to let go and let the love in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hallelujah-there-s-forgiveness-in-the-wind-hallelujah-it-s-time-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This world is full of conflicts and full of things that cannot be reconciled. But there are moments when we can... reconcile and embrace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/this-world-is-full-of-conflicts-and-full-of-things-that-cannot-be/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. 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As if something trembled below its surface, waiting to burst through.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/how-strange-tonight-this-city-as-if-something-trembled-below-its/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“It was one of those great iron afternoons in London: the yellow sun being teased apart by a thoasand chimneys breathing, fawning upward without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/it-was-one-of-those-great-iron-afternoons-in-london-the-yellow-sun/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Surely for as long as there have been nights as bad as this one---something to raise the possibility of another night that could actually,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/surely-for-as-long-as-there-have-been-nights-as-bad-as-this-one/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Death glided by, shadowless, among the empties on the grass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/death-glided-by-shadowless-among-the-empties-on-the-grass/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“People read what news they wanted to and each accordingly built his own rathouse of history's rags and straws.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/people-read-what-news-they-wanted-to-and-each-accordingly-built-his/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Out of that night and day of unconditional wrath, folks would've expected to see any city, if it survived, all newly reborn, purified by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/out-of-that-night-and-day-of-unconditional-wrath-folks-would-ve/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“As spread thighs are to the libertine...so was the letter V to young Stencil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/as-spread-thighs-are-to-the-libertine-so-was-the-letter-v-to-young/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Oedipa wondered whether, at the end of this (if it were supposed to end), she too might not be left with only compiled memories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/oedipa-wondered-whether-at-the-end-of-this-if-it-were-supposed-to-end/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/if-they-can-get-you-asking-the-wrong-questions-they-don-t-have-to/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“remember didn't you sneak away from camp to have a moment alone with What you felt stirring across the land . . . it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/remember-didn-t-you-sneak-away-from-camp-to-have-a-moment-alone-with/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Through rain...then through dreaming glass, green with the evening. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“(On the book \"Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me\") Coming on like the Hallelujah Chorus done by 200 kazoo players with perfect pitch. 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