I know, I know, it’s a sad moment: the Rufus seminar is over. We had our last class of the quarter. (We are on quarters at UCLA, which means 10 weeks: the first class was an introduction.)Today the class was “teacher’s choice” meaning I brought in my iPod and played my favorite songs outside the canon (the officially released four CDs). If this were a class of music majors or composers, I would have played:

The Red Thread
Schubert Song
The Bela Song
The Money Song

But these were bright undergraduates NOT in music, and so I picked he following songs:

I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise (G. Gershwin)
Ups and Downs (quotes from Boris Godinov)
What’ll I do? (with Antony and the Johnsons)
Sonnet 29 (a Shakespeare setting)
The Maker Makes (if this were not used in BB Mountain, would is sound cowboy like?)
Some Children See Him (sentimental Xmas song)
Minuet Chretiens (”O Holy Night” in French; different)
I Eat Dinner (by his mom, Kate, sung her with Dido)
He Ain’t Heavy (He’s My Brother) (a cover of a Hollies song)

The students filled out class evaluations at the beginning of class. Paymon bought cookies for all. It was interesting: usually at the end of class, the student leave instantly at 3:50, yesterday, they all lingered, like me, not really wanting it to end. Sigh….

—————

In the “my favorite new instrument” category, I choose the following instrument:

Here is what this instrument sounds like.

Download audio file (builda.mp3)

This instrument seems to be a brass/string instrument, analagous to a violin, but with a bell so that it’s sound can be projected, and compete with the brass, saxes, and percussion. But what the hell is this thing called? Anyone know? Rufus performed George Gershwin’s “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise” on Conan O’Brien, and this dude was in the orchestra. I don’t own the video, so I don’t know whether this instrument also appears in “The Aviator” which is where this performance originally was heard. If anyone has the video, let me know… Later on in this performance we see a huge brass, or metal string bass analogous to the double bass but made of metal with a kind a pewter patina.

Our final discussion session had two songs on the agenda: “Damned Ladies,” and “Oh What a World.”

I started the class by playing Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero.” “Bolero” is quoted toward the end of “Oh What a World.” I explained how the piece works, and identified the overall shape. I speculated that the opening tune “men reading fashion magazine” was likely improvised over “Bolero” but that source is not revealed until the end of the song.

This song opened Rufus’s debut with the LA Philharmonic at the 2004 Hollywood Bowl. His rather icky behavior was unfortunate. Rufus was a bit pissed that the orchestra didn’t seem to be miked, but he sure was. (I’ll leave this issue, “damage control,” to another posting.)

A student summed up the meaning of the song in a few sentences. The class burst into an instant discussion of “metrosexual” and everyone seemed to have their in-cement definition of the term. For those of you who don’t, it kind of means a guy who isn’t gay, but pays attention to facial products, clothes, hair product, and y’know, kinda looks gay, but isn’t.

I was embarassed to have not gotten the source of the title, which is from the scene where the wicked old witch is melting. Hey, learn something new every day!

The cyclical nature of the lyrics is reflected in the cyclical bolero rhythm that is omnipresent.

—–

“Damned Ladies” was described instantly as a song where all the opera heroines are ones that are about to die. Rufus wants to save them from their fate, but alas. I played the opening oscillating minor 9th and asked what this music foreshadowed.

“Death.” “Doom.” “Bad.”

I asked whether the music “sounded Classical.” The answer was surprisingly and overwhelmingly no. I was puzzled as this is some of Wainwright’s most harmonically daring moves.

Time ran out as a student said that this song was likely a diary for Rufus’s anti-social I-only-wanna-listen-to-opera phase.

“Peach Trees” and “Memphis Skyline” were on the agenda for today.

“Peach Tree in Bloom” by Vincent Van Gogh

We started with “Peach Trees” and I confessed I didn’t understand it. Fortunately, one of the class is from Manhattan and his explanation helped with putting the song into context. Bryant Park is a place where people go in Manhattan to watch old movies, which explains the James Dean reference. There may be peach trees there (could someone please confirm this for me?). “Being held in the month of May” near peach trees refers to being in blossom, but not bearing fruit.

“Is true love a trip to Chinatown?”

I asked the class how many have gone out of their way, or to extremes in order to see, or be seen by the object of their affection: the response was unanimous. I posited that perhaps Chinatown is far from Rufus’s home, but the schlep is worth it in case “true love” is found.

“Or being held in one’s opium gaze”

This line could refer to the look on one’s face as we watch a movie, or perhaps the stare-down in cruising.

Another student pointed out the omnipresence of images of “waiting.”

• a trip to Chinatown
• opium gaze
• I’ll sit and wait
• held in the month of May
• until you come and get me
• tired of waiting in restaurants

The song relects this and the music actually drags in time. Chord progressions are very slow. Each phrase of the text is separated by several measures, giving the impression of things processing at a very slow pace. Some students didn’t like the song exactly for this reason: it drags.

Another student pointed out that this is a song about looking for love, and not finding it.

Tie all these observations together, and we find three stories involving three different places our author hopes to find “true love” perhaps by chance, perhaps by date: at a restaurant (verse 3), a trip to Chinatown (verse 1), and watching an old James Dean movie at Bryant Park (verses 2, 4).

Several musical elements of note in this song were pointed out by the class:

• how the notes slide around in Rufus’s voice, giving the music a slightly dopey or lethargic feel
• the pedal steel guitar slide gives the song a definite Hawaiian feel
• the song has a “crooner” quality to it

——————————
“Memphis Skyline” is a song about Jeff Buckley, but also incorporates other elements.

One student pointed out the resonance with the “Orpheus” legend ["Hades," "my harp," and "Turn back" referring to the moment when Orpheus turns back to see Eurydice and she must return to Hades]. The Mississippi thread pertains to the city that Jeff Buckley, or more precisely, the river that Jeff drowned in. The reference to Ophelia resonates with her drowning, as well as Buckley’s [mad] performance in the cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

We discussed the Buckley-specific text. The phrase “…always hated him for the way he looked in the gaslight of the morning” was duly noted as an image from his, CD “Grace” … or was it? Um, how ’bout this?

Jeff Buckley: photo by Plateselskapet

There is a predominance of major 7th chords in the song, and it was interesting to hear the class try to describe the song’s primary harmonic component. “Eerie,” “melancholy,” “sad,” ….

For an extensive analysis of “Memphis Skyline” read this.

“The Art Teacher” and “Danny Boy” were discussed today.

With respect to the meaning of “The Art Teacher” the first order of business was whether the story teller was a boy or a girl. Most felt it was indeed from a woman’s point of view, but one student said that she remembered Rufus saying in a concert that actually he was both characters. The line “I was just a girl then” has double meaing for an effeminate man. This notion of Rufus’s effeminacy was briefly discussed: his speaking voice is effeminate, but his singing voice is not. [I will devote a chapter to this in my book.] I opined that Rufus takes singing very seriously, and that he could sing the phone book with devastating conviction.

Discussing the form, we identified each verse, and saw that at the end of each was a refrain: “But never could I tell him it was him,” sometimes sung once, sometimes three times. In toto, there are 5 verses, one being an instrumental verse (solo horn). There is one contrasting section (”All this having been said…”) where there is a fascinating harmonic digression. [A complete analysis will be forthcoming, and the musical level was beyond this class so I soft-pedalled that...]

“Danny Boy” offered a spring board for talking about a few related topics. After playing the introduction, I asked the class what the sound reminded them of.

“A harpsichord?” No. “A hammered dulcimer?” Yes. “Piano used in silent films?” Yes.

I steered the conversation towards the notion of a “honky tonk” piano and how the sound is made. The timbre, or sound quality of pianos heard in cowboy saloons, or in old silent films are often one of two things: either the hammers of the piano have become so hardened from age and smoke, that they create a very sharp attack when they strike the strings; and the other is that people would actually put tacks on the felt hammers (listen to “Matinee Idol” for other examples of this sound) — hence the name “tack piano.”

I then asked: “what is unique about the opening vocal melody in this song?” The class was baffled. “It’s that Rufus stretches each syllable out for a very loooooooooongggggg time. Can you think of any other artist who does this?” Again silence. I then took out my sonic microscope and said “what are we hearing in Rufus’s voice?” At this point, I demonstrated singing in overtones showing how the lips are essentially filters for your vocal chords. Rufus Wainwright has a very “bright” voice that is quite rich in overtones. That vocal quality is attractive to many, and annoying to others.

I asked whether there was any relation between Rufus’s song and “the original.” Many looked puzzled, so I sang “Oh Danny Boy” and the puzzlement evaporated and the answer was “no.” There was a very brief discussion of the meaning of “Danny Boy” but we ran out of time.

Today we discussed “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” (CaCM) and “Poses.”

Discussing the music, we determined CaCM to have the following form:

A A A’ B
A A A’ B
B’(instrumental) A” A”’

A’ is the minor version of A; the instrumental “interlude” that appears after the second B is based upon the refrain “B.” The final section, A” is harmonically still A, but the melody is varied, and the last line of the A is repeated and varied (”Tower of Pisa…”). A”’ is simply the reiteration of the opening line, giving the song a book-end close.
The child-like qualities were identified with the piano introduction’s almost merry-go-round character. The tune is largely a pentatonic (the “black” keys) scale, which evokes a sense of simplicity.

Regarding the words, the class determined it was a song about “desire” or, to use Rufus’s favorite word “Want.” The “things we won’t mention” were thought to be sex and drugs. All objects of desire may ultimately leave one “brokenhearted.” Most of the imagery was self-explanatory, but I was surpised that only I found “the Tower of Pisa” to refer to an erection. “So please be kind if I’m a mess” shows Rufus’s state with his various obsessions/desires. (I will post a complete analytic essay on this in coming months.)

The class had some interesting interpretations as to the imagery in “Poses.” Many tapped into the notion of a self portrait in Manhattan, a reference Rufus himself has made. Different kinds of “poses” were found in the lyrics:

• walls lined with portraits
• my new red fetching leather jacket
• comparing sunglasses
• smoking
• drunk and wearing flip flops on 5th Avenue
• classical virtue and torture

Other interesting observations included:

• the three predominant colors mentioned, red, yellow, and green, are the colors of a stoplight
• picking up roses or pretty as princes are effeminate images for a man
• a concerned friend or family member is cautioning “Baby, watch your head about it”
• Eden is referenced in the passage about “classical torture ruined my mind like a snake in the orchard”
• classical torture was thought by one to be “the rack” and by another as parental discipline

Harmonically, “Poses” is fairly straight forward. However, I pointed out the utterly unusual chord that plays against “all these poses, such beautiful poses” and how damn near impossible it is to analyze it. I pointed out that the powerful chord imprinted a marvelous sense of magic on each of the passages. The left hand figure was pointed out to resemble the latin rhythm, the habañera, not unlike the one from Bizet’s Carmen.

Download audio file (habanera.mp3)

Both songs exemplify an excellent sense of overall melodic shape and design, with a dramatic sensitivity to placing the high notes in the appropriate structural place. Both songs were deemed to be self-portraits.

(The class happened at breakneck speed today, trying to cover all this material and dip into the text meanings only briefly. This is a brief and hurried report to those who are anxious to know what we covered in the seminar. A polished analysis it is not.)

Per Mark Carlson’s right-on suggestion, we emphasized the music in today’s class. We discussed “The Gay Messiah” and “Old Whore’s Diet.” I cringed in realizing that I would likely show up on the “dirty thirty” list here at UCLA with the range of naughty stuff we discussed today. I was able to skate over some of it concentrating more on the music side.
We highlighted elements in the songs that might be considered “over the top:”

• The first was Rufus singing “The Gay Messiah”on the cross in his recent tour. He performed the act mostly in Europe (couldn’t remember whether he did it in his New York concerts). I suggested that he might likely be burned at the stake if he did that performance in the US red states (although I hear Broke Back Mountain did really well there). The mass Beatles album burning occurred after John Lennon said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. This mass hysteria hasn’t happen to Rufus yet, but he’s not really at the same “fame” level as the Beatles were in 1966.
• The timbre of Antony’s voice in “OWD” was another example of pushing limits. Antony’s ultra-feminine voice made quite a few listeners very nervous.
• The double image of the beheading of John the Baptist and oral sex was acknowledged and we debated the meaning of tubesocks.

The melodic structure of the song was analyzed alongside the form. Here is what we came up with:

The Gay Messiah

Instrumentation:
guitar, electric guitar, bass, drums, backup singers, synthesizer

Introduction (chords of the verse; instrumental)

Verse 1 A
He will then be reborn (a)
From 1970’s porn (b)
Wearing tubesocks with style (a)
And such an innocent smile (b)
Refrain 1 B
Better pray for your sins (c)
Better pray for your sins (c)
‘Cause the gay messiah’s coming (d)

VERSE 2 A
He will fall from the star (a)
Studio 54 (b)
And appear on the sand (a)
Of Fire Island’s shore (b)
Refrain 2 B
Better pray for your sins (c)
Better pray for your sins (c)
‘Cause the gay messiah’s coming (d)

VERSE 3 A’
No it will not be me (a)
Rufus the Baptist I be (b)
No I won’t be the one (a’)
Baptized in cum (e)

BRIDGE C
What will happen instead (f)
Someone will demand my head (g)
And then I will kneel down (a’)
And give it to them looking down (e’)

VERSE 4 A
(Instrumental)
REFRAIN 3 B
Better pray for your sins
Better pray for your sins
‘Cause the gay messiah’s coming

We identified all of the melodic material (themes a, b, c, d, e, f, g), and discovered that the form is ABABA’CA’B’.

“Old Whore’s Diet” on the other hand resembles a theme and variations:

THEME — solo

VARIATION 1 — Rufus, Antony, and together

VARIATION 2 — instrumental

VARIATION 3 — Rufus, Antony, and the girls (Martha?)

BRIDGE — Climactic contrasting section; text pacing cut in half

THEME — fragment of opening theme with sparse accpt.

It seemed the class liked spending time with the music this time. slvrlark was right: the music is a huge chunk of my/our attraction to Rufus Wainwright’s music.

Today we discussed “Agnus Dei” and “The Maker Makes.” The class opened with an attempt to define the difference between “religion” and “spiritiuality.” There are all types in the class: Catholics, Jews, agnostics, atheists, humanists, Muslims… and each had their own takes on the notion of spirituality.

I didn’t tell them what I knew to be Rufus’s own reasons for writing “Agnus Dei” but rather let them discover what it might be. There was, of course, the traditional analysis of the Latin text verbatim. One wondered whether he liked the text more for emotional reasons than doctrinal. One speculated that WE are the lamb of god, and that WE are urged to take away the sins of the world. Several commented on the distinctive Middle-eastern flavor of the tune. I put a five note minor scale (abcde) on the board, outlining the melody on the piano, and then showed how at the end, the C was replaced by C#, making it major instead of minor. The substitution of the B flat for the B is the culprit in making the tune sound Middle-eastern. So, the beginning of the tune features an ascending minor (I put the example in a minor instead of B flat minor which is too scary for non-majors), abcde, and as the tune descends, it becomes A Bb C# D E. The gap between C# and Bb is known as an augmented 2nd. I asked why Rufus might be interested in evoking a middle-eastern flavor and the class got it.

In the interest in not revealing the plot in “Brokeback Mountain,” I’ll keep my report on “The Maker Makes” brief. The class found the song to be completely and perfectly tied to the movie’s plot. It delighted in certain ambiguous words that could mean different things to different people: the “maker” could be God, but could also be the society that makes the rules that prevents men from loving one another in a gay relationship; “notch” was interpretted as ticks on the wall in prison, or counting the days until the separated lovers reunite, as a notch on a gun or fighter plane to denote killed soldiers or downed enemy planes, and also notches as wrinkles on the face.

Today we discussed two songs: “Go or Go Ahead” and “I Don’t Know What It Is.”

Go or Go Ahead

Another excellent class with passionate and excellent interpretations of the songs. The juxtaposing concepts in the opening lines (”thank you” vs. “bitter knowledge,” “guardian angel” and “stranded”) were cited as strong ironic images. The religious/sacred imagery was pointed out: “guardian angels” “looking at stars” “Mars” “feathers” “Heaven” “crucify” “unholy” “mythic powers of love.” There were differing views as to whether there was a God hovering above the song and whether Wainwright’s agnosticism imprinted itself on the song. There was a brief speculation that this was another family song, but this was dismissed. The bulk of the lyric analysis dealt with the notion of the song being addressed to a lover. This theory was tested with a line by line analysis. The notion seemed to fit. Many related the images to their own experiences in love, and falling out of love. The image of “Mars” was discussed as the god of war, as was Medusa, a goddess who turns those who stair at her, into stone. These images were puzzling in the context of a song about a lover. The lines about “steel eyed vampires of love” and “kiss me and crucify” continued to confuse the lover theory. After the class seemed somewhat convinced of their interpretation I told them “Rufus says: ‘this song is about crystal meth.’” I assured them I wasn’t telling them to take crystal meth or glorifying its use, only what I had heard in interviews and in print. We then revisited the lyrics with this theory seeing that all the “lover” images could also be seen as “drugs as lover.” I posited my own take on the lyrics as a grand exorcism — an exorcism being a (Catholic) rite to expel demons, in this case, crystal meth — and that this perhaps accounts for the religious imagery, as well as the incredible dynamic crescendo that the piece has. I also pointed out the highly effective use of holding back the climactic section (the part beginning with “look in her eyes”) and how it took the song to even higher ecstacy. The almost but not quite shouting order “Go or go ahead” thrusts the intensity ever higher. The room was quiet; an angel flew over.

I Don’t Know What it Is

This song was interpreted as the conflict between uncertainty (”I don’ know…”) and certainty, or resolution (”but you got to do it”). The omnipresent train imagery was pointed out as an element of continuity and meaning in the song. The image and symbol of the “locket” as something held dear to one’s heart, and often a picture of family, was brought up as something yearned for, but illusive. This locket, or person symbolized thereby, pushes the writer to “lose my perfunctory view” of everything. This person encourages him to take a step toward positive resolution. The notion of drugs came up with the line about “mysterious bruises” as one student, who worked in an AIDS ward, told the class that crystal meth users easily bruise and gave us of other disturbing images. The image of “war in far off places” was interpreted as both an anti-war statement and as a reference to his familial “war” with his parents’ divorce. “Is there anyone else who is through with complaining about what’s done unto us” was interpreted as Rufus’s resolve to put the pain of his parents divorce behind him, perhaps a veiled message to his sister who clearly has tremendous anger towards her father. And the final line “you gotta do it” and “you gotta be there” as either Rufus pushing himself to heal, or asking the person in the locket to be there and give him courage.

[Background: I am teaching an undergraduate 1 unit Freshman seminar at UCLA on “The Music of Rufus Wainwright.” The students are mostly Freshman, and are not music majors. I will post my somewhat scattered recollection of the class, and hope that the participants will post comments to correct, clarify and amplify their thoughts. Others are invited to post their comments as well. I have posted responses to the online seminar from the rw.com bulletin board.]

The first session of the seminar met today and was marvelous. The topic was “Family:” LITTLE SISTER, BEAUTY MARK, and DINNER AT EIGHT were discussed. We focused mostly on the texts.

LITTLE SISTER

“I’m Mozart and I’m mean and have an upper hand with my sister who I tell she’s going to need more than just her musicality to get by. I know everyone is going to think the song is about Martha (his sister who often accompanies him on record and live shows), but I have three sisters, and it’s beyond just sisters it’s really about all women entertainers.” *

There were different views on Rufus’s attitude towards Martha [the class assumed it was about Martha]. Some found parts a bit condescending, others found the lyrics “big brotherly.” There was debate about the meaning of “hips as fodder.” Did this mean that her future was as a mother and not an artist? We puzzled over the meaning of “ave” knowing it means “hail” as in Ave Maria. “Remember that your brother is a boy” — why “boy” and not a man? It was suggested that they wished to hold on to their youthful sibling love, and also suggested that as a gay boy, that perhaps Martha thought of them as sisters, and Rufus wished her to remember that he is male. One female participant hates this song because she hates Baroque music, and one male participant finds this his favorite song on the album. One found the “prim and proper” nature of the song rather theatrical. One speculated that history favors males (from the “hips as fodder” line), but then history “is just a game.”

BEAUTY MARK

“That’s about my mother. We spar a lot. She’ll write a song, I’ll write a song; she’ll put me down, I’ll put her down. I’d written a bunch of stuff she thought was terrible (and she was right). But “Beauty Mark” won her over – it was my comeback. I had to rise to her challenge. I said to myself, “Okay, I’m gonna write a perfect little classy thing. I’ll show mama!” It’s the happiest song on the album.” *

There was discussion as to exactly what is a beauty mark. I said I didn’t recall seeing a mole or anything on Kate’s face. One speculated that the mark was Kate’s expectation that Rufus would be a beautiful [heterosexual] male. A Filipina related her experience with her mother who had Catholic expectations of her as Kate may have had for her son. He didn’t want her religion. One chap said the song was more about Rufus than it was about Kate. I pointed out that the song was really a list of dissimilarities and the few similarities were cast with the same melody. Their differences in musical tastes were exemplified by Kate liking a Broadway musical figure (Robeson) and Rufus preferring an opera diva. We discussed his locking himself in his room listening to opera and his parents’ dissatisfaction with this antisocial behavior. A few people shared their relationships with their mothers, male and female.

DINNER AT EIGHT”Four or five years ago, my father and I had a really horrible argument concerning show business and our careers, and I wrote “Dinner At Eight” as a kind of retort. For a long time I didn’t want to release it or even perform it – I thought it was a little too intense so I ignored it. But the song stuck with me, and when this record came around, I realized I had to put it down. I decided now was the time; I finally felt comfortable recording it. I thought he’d understand it and not feel threatened by it. He’s heard it, and he loves it. So, yeah, there was a lot of housecleaning to do before this record was made.”

All agreed this is a deeply touching, beautiful song. One pointed out the irony of such beautiful music paired with such heart wrenching, angry and confessional lyrics. I told them that Rufus in an interview after the fact, referred to this as a love song and asked whether they believed it. They all said NO. One pointed out how strikingly intense the verbs are: take you down; break you down; must go; told to flee; drifting (referring to Loudon’s early departure); put up your fists; running away. And after that, how devastating it was to hear “you loved me.” Reference to David (Rufus) and Goliath (Loudon) was made. One speculated that Loudon was not a good father to have had children who bore such rage; one woman went off on Martha’s vitriolic rage towards her father. I pointed out that Rufus offered to remove the song from the album if his father asked. Loudon replied “go ahead, I probably deserve it.” Loudon and Rufus have subsequently buried the hatchet.

The entire seminar was, although only 50 minutes, was a very intense session. Wedged in between discussion of the songs were stories of coming out. P. talked about his Muslim mother who, after coming out to her, was furious for a week, and now they are best friends. It was mentioned that Rufus’s gayness is not an issue to him, and that some gay people wished that he were more political about being gay. There was discussion about whether members of the class would choose to air their dirty laundry in a public venue, like a song. Some would, some wouldn’t. I asked whether the class talks about their parents to their friends: one woman said yes, that she and her mother are quite close; another pointed out her strong differences with her mother (”she wanted me to be more lady-like; so I joined the men’s crew team”). One member stated: “all of Rufus’s lyrics are about himself.”

Everyone in the class had something to say. Everyone is quite different. Some don’t know his music at all, and others are Rufus fanatics.

* Quotes attributed to Rufus Wainwright are taken from “Oh What a Rufus World.”