Music with Motif: A Tragic Tale

Given the plethora of comedy tours that visit the Warwick’s Art Centre, I’ve been trying to explore comedy more, and it has had me pondering over my favourite examples of tragic satire in music, both explicit and accidental.  l

A bizarre moment that comes to mind is Elvis’s 1969 performance of ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ where he changes the lyrics to “Do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair”. He proceeds to laugh and stumble for the remainder of the track, but the soprano singer, Cissy Houston, and the band continue to play, leading to a dream-like and uniquely personal moment. At first, this was remembered for its comical nature, but it can also be examined through a more tragic lens. The juxtaposition between the background of the dictatorial treatment by his manager, Tom Parker, and a rare blip against robotism could paint the incident as a pathetic symbol. It reminds me of Ken Kesey’s characterisation of Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, whereby his years-long silence is symbolically ended with a hoarse laugh, yet the system marches on.  

The only organic, life-bearing thing within the album’s frantic, illogical world

Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart need no introduction to their satire and humour in their music, so much so that their movement is known as the Los Angeles Freak Scene. My personal highlight of Captain Beefheart’s satire would be the phrase “fast and bulbous” recurring on the Magic Band’s most nonsensical work, Trout Mask Replica, which seems to be the only organic, life-bearing thing within the album’s frantic, illogical world it creates, combining a weird blend of food and sexual imagery. However, despite its poetic qualities, in true dadaist fashion, it was only included as a motif in the album because it sounds satisfying.  

As the scene began to simmer, an even more boundary-pushing and absurdist band came from the ashes. The Residents are much like the scene’s pioneers, but satire is even more at the forefront of the band’s aesthetic, going as far as to conceal their identity by each member wearing a suit and an eyeball for a head. Their most conventional albums, Duck Stab and Commercial Album, have regular rock-song structures but are by no means vanilla. For example, on Duck Stab, the opening track ‘Constantinople’, which has been covered by Primus, is a cryptic, heavily distorted chant, symbolically announcing to the music industry their ambitious conquest over convention. No two tracks sound the same, and many are supremely dadaist, often dropping the listener into an eccentric story. This continues to be a primary theme on Commercial Album, where there are 40 one-minute-long snippets, meant to be played three times to emulate the repetitiveness of pop music. ‘Amber’ and ‘Moisture’ embody the unsettling and consistently hapless stories across the project, with a diverse, experimental backdrop to each tale.  

Aesthetically merging the worlds of hip-hop, rural America, and horror

 A modern classic, Sematary, is an artist that shouldn’t work, as he combines Chicago drill, trap, emo and noise music, whilst aesthetically merging the worlds of hip-hop, rural America, and horror into a ‘deep-fried’ mixture that is impressively well-balanced. He is aware of his absurdity, parodying horror tropes and rural American culture, while paying homage to hip-hop ironists before him, such as Lil B. I’d put a spotlight on the track ‘Toothtaker’ that is less noisy (emphasis on less, it still begins with a blaring producing tag: “DJ SORROW!”) and heartfeltly sang with an acoustic guitar before the trap drums and 808s kick in. The unfortunate, trap ballad tells the tale of someone who’s fallen prey to the ominous Toothtaker and how he’ll wear their teeth on his chain forever.