Live Blogging Okkervil River's "Singer Songwriter"

Okkervil River, Singer Songwriter

Your great-grandfather was a great lawyer,
and his kid made a mint off the war,
your father shot stills and then directed films
that your mom did publicity for.
I saw your older sis on the year's best book list,
and your brother, he manages bands. —This is very Royal Tenenbaums. Then again the sister/novelist reference reminds me of Colin and Maile Meloy.

And you're keen to downplay
but you're quick to betray
with one well turned out wave of your hand,
you come from wealth,
yeah, you've got wealth.
What a bitch they didn't give you much else. —Great line! I know people like that—trust fund pricks! Yes, they are lame. Ease of life is often the path to an unenlightened mind!

I heard cuts by the Kinks on your speakers, —the Kinks! So cliché.
I saw Poe and Artaud on your shelves. —I had to look up Artaud.
While The Last Laugh's first scene —I had to look that one up too.
on your flat panel screen —(I want a flat panel TV).
lit Chanel that you've wrapped around yourself.
You've got outsider art by an artist who arguably kidnapped a kid on the wall, —Why was the kid on the wall in the first place? Did the artist really kidnap him or was he just helping the kid get down? (Just kidding; I know what you're trying to say.)
while your designers have slyly
directed the eye down clean lines in your well-lit hall. —The proletariat wouldn’t hire a designer! (They’d watch HGTV and then not do anything!)

You've got taste, you've got taste,
what a waste that that's all that you have. —Not counting wealth, which you also have.

You wrote your thesis on the Gospel of Thomas, —Wait, that’s impressive. This guy’s starting to sound smart.
you shot some reversal film in Angkor Wat, —I would love to go to Angkor Wat! I have to say, I’m starting to feel insulted on this guy’s behalf. He doesn’t seem so bad: he travels, he’s well read, he apparently got an MA in history or religious studies, he seems to know how to make a film, and from the title of this song he is also a songwriter. Not to mention, he’s probably had a lifetime of fascinating dinner table conversations if his parents were artists and filmmakers and his sister is a novelist. I’m kinda wishing I had this guy’s family—or at least knew him. I mean, you kinda misled me on the first couple verses, making it sound like he was a do-nothing rich kid; but then you’re trying to tell me that he actually does do stuff—he writes, he travels, he makes music. I’m not on your side any more. (Or should I just trust you that he’s a hack?)
and this book you once read
says there's less people dead
at this point now than those who are not. —What does this have to do with anything?
And this film we once saw was reviled for its flaws,
but its flaws were what made us have fun. —Wait, you’re friends? Because up ’til now you really sound like you’ve been mocking this dude. You’re really coming off like a two-faced dick.
And the life some folks had might have made us feel bad, —made us feel bad? So you've got a priviliged life too, huh? Hypocrite.
why feel bad man, it's nothing that you've done.
It's all in your hand, it's all in your hand,
like a gun, like a globe, like a grand. —Now you’re just being self-righteous.

And this thing you once said disappeared from my head
in the time that it took to be amazed.
And this thing you once did might have dazzled the kids,
but the kids once grown up are gonna walk away. —Just because this guy is making art that you don’t get much out of doesn’t mean it’s bad, or wrong that he’s making it. I mean, you've just enumerated the array of culture this guy has been exposed to for his entire life—art, music, film, foreign cultures, literature, higher education. I haven't heard this singer-songwriter's music, but the one thing you can't say about it is that it's not well informed. Frankly I'm beginning to question your taste level.
And your world is gonna change nothing
And our world is gonna change nothing —So, what, we’ve arrived at the wisdom of Homer Simpson? “Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.“

Postscript: In truth, the above represents my thoughts over a handful of listens to the song—it took maybe five or six listens before I absorbed all the lyrics from beginning to end. But it does represent my unfolding thought process in how I perceived the song with each listen. I thought at first it was only about mockery, then became confused by the references before finally realizing that I sided with the mockee more than the mocker. From there, it still took me thinking about the lyrics a little more to understand it wasn't the song's flaw; it was its intent.

The key is in the title, considering that nowhere in the lyrics is it clear that the "you" of the song actually is a singer songwriter. But if you understand that he is, then none of the cynicism matches up with something Will Sheff would actually feel (not to mention Sheff's lyrics are rarely if ever from his own perspective; see "Pop Lie"—"He's the liar who lied in his pop song / and you're lying when you sing along"). To taunt a singer songwriter for being literary, well educated, culturally aware, and without a chance of making a lasting impression on his listeners—the song is about the anxiety of an artist, not cynicism toward a poser. Extra points to Sheff for creating a song which turns you against the narrator midway through. I can't think of another pop song that's done that.