david bazan continues to inspire and blow me away with his master storytelling and dreadful themes. the last song he recorded as pedro the lion is called "the devil is beating his wife." it's a tale of the father and husband who is resisting his role as a family-man. so he begins to fantasize about all the fun and adventure he could have if he were only "free" from the shackles of marriage.with "high hopes" he sets out on a road trip of drunkenness and debauchery. the listener is provided with flashbacks to the family- the toddler is developing and dad is missing each beautiful moment... of course, things only spiral downward on the road as he is met with disappointment and disaster, only to then confront God with fierce accusations. meanwhile the haunting refrain echoes throughout the song- "it wasn't as sweet as it had been in his dreams."
listen to the song. read the lyrics.
image copyright: phil nellis, 2006.
4 comments:
Came across your blog and added it to my reading list. Good stuff.
thanks grooms, look fwd to the conversation.
phil... when i came across this picture on your elnellisart site (before you posted it here) i was thinking it was reflective of your car woes and questioning "where is God in all this?"... so one one hand, it spoke to me on that level (just about the silence of God, and where is he when all hell breaks loose?)
...but then as i read it in the light in which you created it, i'm just so impressed with your ability to bring to life and add a visual dimension to music, or any other cultural artifact. you really possess a gift for taking lyrics, stories, etc. and incarnating them... (i.e. wise blood, slow and steady wins the race, and so on...)
keep breathing life into culture... i'm enjoying seeing the creative fruit that comes from it...
Yeah Phil, your art is flippin sweet, it friggin rocks. I'm a die hard fan, especially the kids books, because you drew stuff for kids books and then you would show me some bloody gothic Conan looking drawing that would give me nightmares. Stinking awesome. If anyone out there hasn't seen the children's books that Phil has drawn for, make sure you get him to see them. This man is multi-facted and sexy
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