Left-hand Theory

Reading Lisa Jardine's meditation on left-handedness in a BBC article put me in mind of an old rock song from the 1970s. An odd recollection? No, because the song was called "Left Hand Theory" hence the post title. PFM's "Left Hand Theory" is a potted history of left-handed achievements in culture. Mentioned are southpaw baseball players, witches, associated with the sinister- sinistral = left-, guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, and for the artists, Leonardo da Vinci, who was ambidextrous.

Left-handed people are comparatively rare in the adult population- 7-10%. You're in good artistic company if you're a left-handed person with a creative inclination. Looking at a list on a site called Famous lefthanders, I see Leonardo and Michelangelo amongst the artists, but I didn't know Rubens was part of this talented company. Knowing that, I'm even more impressed at the fluency with which his brush, pen and chalk traveled the artistic surface. Durer's on the list- but that seems wrong. As Jardine rightly points out, the self-portrait drawing of Durer does not show left-handedness; he's using a mirror so the image is naturally reversed.  

Here's the lyric to "Left-hand Theory", a beautifully concise presentation of the creative left-hand.  

 

Left-hand Theory- PFM

 

You left-handed people

You have your own special flair

Fast left-handed players

Slow men had better beware

Tough baseball southpaw

Left tennis smash

 

Left-handed person

Once was a sign of a witch

Now the world needs them

To teach us a different stitch

What do they mirror?

A contrast in view

 

Think of da Vinci  

His ambidextrous arts

Hendrix's guitar sang

Sweet feedback lightnin' from mars

And in reflection

We see the stars

Comments

[Term Papers]

Very good post. I have been searching for this post since many days. Now I have implemented the same for my site.