"Like you, I know exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard Amanda Palmer had been killed. Like you, I know no more than that...It became a national obsession. "Who killed Amanda Palmer?" bubblegum cards were traded and traded again in schoolyards across America."
To put into words the phenomenon that is the music of Amanda Palmer (shown in the image to the right) is truly difficult. As one of the most complex artists I have ever stumbled upon, the music of Amanda Palmer is truly an art. Amanda Palmer, of the Dresden Dolls and of whom I have never heard of before a couple days ago, released a solo CD, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, in late 2008.
To begin, Amanda Palmer writes phenomenal lyrics. The opening track, "Astronaut: A Short History of Nearly Nothing," deals with the difficulty of a person to hold on to their distant lover. As she sings with her extremely powerful voice (think of Tori Amos plus Regina Spektor plus a small portion of Rufus Wainwright come together), she sings "is it enough to have some love / small enough to slip inside a book / small enough to cover with your hand." At the same time, the song deals with the significant others of those who died in the Challenger crash.
The first couple times the chorus is sung, it reads:
but you are, my love, the astronaut
flying in the face of science
i will gladly stay an afterthought
just bring back some nice reminders
until it changes to...
YES you are, my love, the astronaut
crashing in the name of science
just my luck they found your upper half
it’s a very nice reminder
Another ear-catching song, Leeds United deals with the necessity of love in a culture so driven by cheap-thrills and glitzy entertainment. As the title of the CD would suggest, an overarching theme of the album is the triviality of death in American culture. On the hauntingly powerful Guitar Hero, Amanda Palmer contrasts video games with the war in Iraq. In the eyes of a video gamer now at the front, Amanda eerily sings "how do you get them to turn this thing off? / this isn't at all like the ones back at home / just shut your eyes and flip the cassette." To truly understand the complexity of the lyrics, I recommend checking out Amanda's website as it includes videos and pictures pertaining to each song. Be warned: Amanda is a bit eccentric, you could say a bit...gothic.
In addition to incredible, though bone-chilling lyrics, the musical production amazing. The CD was produced by Ben Folds and he plays simply tremendous piano on many of the songs (Thank goodness for this CD, it's been a long time since he's done anything good in the music world). While Leeds United jump
s out at you for its powerful horn section and the guitar mastery of East Bay Ray smashes Guitar Hero home, the true power of Amanda's voice comes on slower, piano-driven songs such as Ampersand and the Point of it all.I could go on and on about the artistic incredibleness of this album and the website associated with it. At the same time, you should go listen to it. And, of course, I would love to sit down and talk with Amanda as a Christian perspective of the world shatters the fatalistic resignation so much of her lyrics express.
